American Hustle (2013)

Director David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”) opens his great 1970s-set conman comedy/drama “American Hustle” with the tagline, “Some of this actually happened,” which means we’re in for a blast of hellacious fun. Screw the facts. Entertain us. We open on a fat, slouching Christian Bale as he plasters a comb-over job atop his head until –- in his eyes -- he’s the suave lady-killer of his youth. It’s a laugh riot, a self-con from a sad sack unaware he’s done. Bale is Irving Rosenfeld, a NYC loan shark suffocating inside a mafia-heavy squeeze alongside his con-artist partner/mistress (Amy Adams), his metal-in-the-microwave wife (Jennifer Lawrence), a loon FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) with a bad perm, and a Jersey mayor (Jeremy Renner) who’s far too trusting and nice. That’s the gist. “Hustle” is too much a blast to spill more. Channeling early Scorsese with a wink-wink gleam, Russell nails the Me Decade with its big clothes, jewelry, and cars, with everyone wanting the gold ring promised to them by TV, and constantly checking their hair, even after a beat down. The acting is bonkers good, with Louis C.K. stealing thunder as an FBI boss obsessing a childhood ice fishing story. That man amazes. A

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

Pissing at a massive plot hole in a “reboot” of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale that takes two kiddies who kill a witch inside a candy house, and ages them into black leather, machine-gun-toting adult brother and sister bounty hunters of Medieval Times is … well, futile. But in “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” we are asked to swallow a cauldron of brain sludge reeking of inanity. Mainly: Is it likely two adult siblings  cannot recognize their hometown, and for the villagers not to recognize their own two legendary celebrity offspring named Hansel and Gretel now grownup as two celebrity witch-killing adults named Hansel and Gretel? Um, no. The actors seen unsure. Jeremy Renner (bored mode) and Gemma Arterton (just rollin’ with it) are the titular characters in what may have been at one point a sick LOL incest-heavy live-action “Road Runner” gore-fest spoof, but the studio blinked. At 1 hour 20 minutes, it shows near-fatal edit flaws and can’t dodge a scene where Hansel can’t dodge a boulder that bounces when he hits it. I have no clue what writer/director Tommy Wirkoloa (“Dead Snow”) is aiming for, but this is one sticky mess. C-

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

“The Bourne Legacy” is an apology of a movie. After three films as the Robert Ludlum-created 007 agent on steroids Jason Bourne, unlikely bad-ass Matt Damon passed on a fourth film after his director of Parts 2 and 3, Paul Greengrass, sneered at another go-round. That did not stop the studio. The film’s tagline shouts “There Was Never Just One” in a faux shocker as, duh, we all knew that already. So, enter Jeremy Renner (“Hurt Locker”) as Aaron Cross, another super super-agent who finds himself, very Bourne like, hunted by the dastardly CIA suits out to cover their own asses for reasons to complex to explain. That’s the problem right there: It’s the same story, down to the terrified female pal (Rachel Weisz). Director/writer Tony Gilroy (he wrote the previous films) tosses in countless references to Damon/Bourne in CNN shots, photos, shouted oaths, and –- in a ridiculous scene -– a carved signature under a bunk bed, not much as a tissue connector, but regret. “We miss Matt, too!” Forget the tired chase plot and the blank ending, if the movie wants to hook back up with the ex, why care about the new guy? C-

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol (2011)

Never discount Tom Cruise. Whatever his quirks, he is a blazing fireball on screen, and his latest Ethan Hunt outing -- “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” according to the credits, but “Mission: Impossible: There’s an App for That” by my reckoning from the countless Apple plugs -- is the best of the series. Brad Bird, director of animated hit “The Incredibles,” has fashioned the Hollywood Action Film of 2011, a spectacle of stunts – from the side of Dubai’s Burj Khalife skyscraper to a high-rise robotic car park in central Mumbai – that boggles the mind because I’ll be damned if I could see the CGI seams. Using IMAX cameras, Bird makes a packed theater gasp in wonder at the high heights and then wince at every plummet. The plot shenanigans are mostly second-rate as Hunt and his M:I team (Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner) hunt a madman (Michael Nyqvist) who sees nuclear war as humanity’s best hope. Renner’s dull agent is so badly written, you can see hope die in the actor’s eyes when he has to speak. But the stunts and action atop the world’s tallest building are for the ages. Witness Cruise re-born as an unstoppable movie star. A-

The Town (2010)

Critics are falling over themselves to praise Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” his follow-up to the 2007 drama “Gone, Baby, Gone.” Me? Not loving it. It’s not Affleck’s direction –- tight and so localized, one feels like they just received a private, gritty tour of Boston’s Charlestown –- or even his acting. It’s the problematic script (co-written by Affleck) that dives from smart crime thriller into a contrived romance before falling into a vat of sentimentality. People who compare this film to 1970s gritty crime dramas need new eyeballs.

The story: Charleston, it is said, is home to the largest per capita population of bank and armored car thieves in the world. Children follow their fathers into a life of crime with no reservation. Doug MacRay is such a child, with an old man (Chris Cooper) in prison. The plot kicks off with Doug's group robbing a bank. In a panic, hot-headed leader Jem (Jeremy Renner) takes bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage. She’s insurance, and once the guys are safely away, Claire is set free. But not for long. Jem decides to kill the woman. Doug, our Robin Hood, wants to save this distressed damsel. In the process, Doug falls in love with Claire. And she with him, not knowing her man was her captor. Meanwhile, an FBI agent (John Hamm) is on Doug’s tail. It all ends in a shoot out at Fenway Park and an eye-roller escape.

Look, the trailer laid out every plot detail to this film beforehand, so I have no problem dishing openly on the Bunker Hill-sized plot holes: 1) I did not buy the rich girl/poor boy relationship of Claire and Doug, nor its silly outcome. 2) Once Claire learns of Doug’s secret, she cries and yells, but then gives in. She loves this guy too darn much. Really?!!? 3) Once Hamm’s Fed gets wind of the tryst, he suspects Claire is an insider on the theft. “Get a lawyer,” he says. But the accusation is dropped. Not believable.

What saves “Town”? That local flair. The bartender, cops and the guys at an AA meeting are wonderfully true. This is no CW show full of anorexic models. These people don’t just know the Boston neighborhoods, they are the neighborhood. Renner, Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite rule in their roles, the last playing a crime boss florist who turns pruning roses into an act of menace. I also dug the car chases through Boston city streets. Every tight corner turn leaves a surprise for the getaway driver.

"Town" as a drama offers no such surprises. Affleck's Doug is too much an aw-shucks saint to make a full impact, and Hall –- a wonderful actress -– as Clarice is also too damn nice. Is it too much to ask for this woman to snap in seething anger? To claw out the eyes of the guy who robbed her, kidnapped her, lied to her –- and screwed her –- literally? Why must women in crime flicks be wilting wallflowers desperate for a man? I have large hopes for Affleck’s directing career, there’s much good here, and I dug “Gone, Baby, Gone.” But “Town” left me feeling robbed. B-

The Hurt Locker (2009)

*Update 29 March 2010. Third viewing.

No film in 2009 hit me as hard as “The Hurt Locker” did, and stayed with me as long. I’ve seen “Locker” no fewer than three times, waffling back and forth between the sheer magnitude of its emotional and gritty depiction of war and the jarring factual errors throughout. I first gave the film an “A” and had it at the top of my 2009 Best List. Then it fell, with a “B,” off the list. The third viewing, I was blown away again. What a great film, flaws and all.

What better recommendation can I give a film than to say it is, quite literally, unforgettable. Unshakable.

Since my third viewing, “Locker” has won Best Picture, Best Adopted Screenplay and Best Director. So, if you’re a film buff, you well know the story. Directed Kathryn Bigelow, who made once kick-ass action films such as “Point Break” and "Near Dark,” this nonpolitical (thank God) war film follows a U.S. Army bomb disposal unit in Baghdad in 2004, when the situation was grim as hell. To put it mildly, and non-politically.

In a white-knuckle opening, the unit (led by Guy Pearce) finds itself tracking an IED. The team must dismantle the bomb with careful precision, or risk leveling a city block. You can see the gears cranking away behind Pearce’s eyes as he carefully prepares his mission. It’s a near impossible task.

Unlike almost any previous war, though, the enemy here can be anyone within proximity, old or young, shopkeeper or bystander. And they need not carry a gun. Cell phones detonate bombs. Kites signal attacks or any myriad of deadly messages. A guy with a video camera is filming not for pleasure or YouTube, but for study in warfare. Like those football game reels that teams watch before meeting an opponent. The enemy. All this, or near all this, is communicated in 10 minutes. Maybe less. Brilliantly.

That’s the thrust of this film, back in my mind as one of the year’s best, and the tension never lights up.

Pearce’s character is slain within the first few minutes. And his replacement is William James (Jeremy Renner), a hot-head thrill seeker who does not grind the gears in his brain. The gears ain’t there. He just goes. No questions, no hesitation. He’s an adrenaline junkie, and if bombs or snipers don’t kill him and his unit mates (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty), then that recklessness might. He loves war.

It’s a great character, the "Rebel Without a Cause" of today, and he is fully explored when James returns home – briefly – for a stay with his son and girlfriend (Evangeline Lilly of “Lost”). James can rip apart a bomb-laden car with shocking disregard for safety. It’s natural. Yet, picking cereal at a grocery is difficult. It’s a helluva tricky character, and Renner ("The Assassination of Jesse James") pulls it off with grace and cool. The guy is a star.

If the film states that American soldiers may have changed, possibly hooked on violence, it’s with good or understandable reason. The rules of war have not just changed. There are no rules. This is beyond urban warfare. Children are sliced neck to groin, and planted with C4 explosives. Or they might be trained to kill. Business men are kidnapped and strapped with bombs, and their pleading brings out sympathetic American soldiers to help. Or they might be trained to kill, and are great at acting. No one knows for sure. And “Locker” provides no answers.

How can anyone deal with these pressures and not fall apart? (This U2 lyric comes to mind: “I’m not broken, but you can see the cracks.”) That James has become addicted to this life is the true horror the film, and the riddle that wraps around your brain.

At the same time, writer Mark Boal makes sure that James is not representative of all U.S. soldiers. The soul of Pearce’s careful, concerned bomb disposal engineer seems to hover long after the character is killed. As well, Anthony Mackie's soldier is upright and brilliant. The younger unit member is scared for his life, and those of others.

Bigelow shows all of this with no need to politicize or point fingers. It blows my mind this woman is not cranking out quality films every year, especially in a world where Michael Bay has unlimited budgets and freedom, no matter if the end result is pure garbage. She deserved the Oscar. And more.

I know the film is not realistic of modern fighting and bomb disposal units in Iraq. And this is with my zero knowledge of combat. I'm a liberal weenie. My brother is the soldier, now in Iraq, God love him. I well know bomb disposal guys don’t clear buildings or play the part of sniper team. Other people have those tasks. For damn sure I know soldiers don’t ever sneak off buildings. And bomb units don’t go out alone on missions. Ever. Death, jail, capture or any number of terrible fates await such actions.

The film skates awful close to the dreaded territory of “CSI” and “Law & Order” that bastardize criminal investigators with false sci-fi equipment and cops who go ape freaky during suspect questioning.

The direction, acting, editing, cinematography and the drama all still excel. And it’s human truths scream real, too. Many classic films, war or crime, have taken liberties, while reaming true to the conflicting, changing human spirit, and they are on my all-time favorites list. Certainly “Platoon” skated close to more of a symbolic, Faustian story than absolute realism. Hypocritical? Bullshit? Maybe. I won’t say I’m not the first and full of the second. But I can’t shake this film. It’s too good. It's flat out, indeed, one of the year's best and most important film. Faults and all.

Many cameos up the star quota of the film: Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse. That their roles don’t distract is further testament to Bigelow. And Renner. A