Begin Again (2014)

I love “Once,” the Dublin-set debut from John Carney that sucked the whimsical romance out of the meet-cute genre and gave us one of the best musical soundtracks in many a year. In “Begin Again” –- once called “Can a Song Save Your Life?,” a better title -– Carney hits the USA with Brit Keira Knightley in tow to play music with Mark Ruffalo. Once again, so to speak, Carney avoids the easy romantic lines and lets adults be adults, ones who exist by song: Creating them, listening to them, savoring them. Knightly is the cheated-on girlfriend of a rising pop star, and Ruffalo is on the skids of a broken marriage and dying music career. Then he hears Knightley sing and realizes a new reason to thrive. I’ll stop there. As with “Once,” music is key to every scene, but never breaks from reality. This is a good, smart film as much about New York as the couple at story’s center. Carney only over reaches when trying to make his leads seem ultra-hip independents when they share guilty pleasure songs while walking the Big Apple. Her embarrassed choice: “As Time Goes By.” Seriously, who doesn’t love to hear Dooley Wilson’s voice? B+

The Secret Village (2013)

Two low-budget films: “Monsters” –- made by “Godzilla” director Gareth Edwards -– and “Blair Witch Project”— the found-footage creep-out that launched a genre. Tightly edited. Tense scenes made sharp with glimpses of the unearthly. Finales that leave emotions raw. Similarly budgeted horror-thriller “The Secret Village” has … none of that, not an ounce of ballast to carry its Midnight Movie plot. Here, a young journalist (Ali Faulkner) arrives in a New England town to investigate numerous deaths reaching back to the Salem Witch Trials. Townsfolk are hostel: Leave or die. She is stalked. All along, something is off deep inside her. Sounds intriguing? No. Director Swamy Kandan has made a film so direly boring and incomprehensibly edited, I was left admiring home architecture and the bed comforters. Kandan has other film credits. Guessing on his go-to scare tactic, they must all feature chubby old men in robes. F

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

With “Paranormal Activity 4” topping the box office this weekend, I realize I only ever saw the first film, and bypassed a crop of sequels. Until now. “Paranormal Activity 2” may have been titled “Paranormal Activity Too” as it follows the sister (Sprague Grayden) of the woman (Katie Featherston) haunted and left fate unknown in the low-budget, hand-made 2009 box office smash. This is a prequel, stand-aside, and carbon copy, with the same found home surveillance and video camera “evidence” footage showing a mysterious force ripping apart a family. Cue slamming doors, bizarre attacks, and -- one hour in -- a frying pan falling off one of those pot hanger thingies in a kitchen I envy.  “PA1” was a surprise film made by a guy who wanted to scare the crap out of folks, and he made it in his own home. “PA2” has moments –- floating baby does provide spooks galore -– but it’s studio product made to make coin, and that’s very normal activity. The entire film builds up and previews “PA3.” Should I see that? B-

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Paul Dano, the blood in “There Will Be Blood,” is a novelist who hit big at 19 and crashed by 29, sidelined by writer’s block, insecurities that befuddle his family, and no girlfriend on the horizon in “Ruby Sparks.” For a guy named “voice of his generation,” Calvin Weir-Fields is a pipsqueak. Then one day, the perfect woman (Zoe Kazan) walks right into his life, and introduces herself as the too-perfectly-named titular character. She’s his dream girl. Literally. He dreamt her up as a writing exercise, and now she’s cooking eggs, screaming happily at zombie flicks, and meeting the family. Smart, hilarious, dark, and able to stand within the long shadow of another cinematic gem, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” this indy film was written by Ms. Kazan for herself and real-life squeeze Dano, and it’s not just a career play, but a scorching satire on artistic ego, What Men Want, and the stark difference between wishing for a devoted girlfriend and getting exactly that. Kazan, granddaughter of Elia, takes a blowtorch to every boring, submissive rom-com female stereotype with her writing and acting, both radiant. Bravo! A-

Exam (2010)

Eight adults sit at desks in a small, gray, cube-like room and for 80 minutes must battle with wits and then more physicals means for a job at a mysterious bio-tech company in “Exam.” Very independent and consistently smart, “Exam” was co-written and directed by Brit Stuart Hazeldine and feels like an off-off-Broadway play as the film never leaves its one room. An unnamed man (Colin Salmon) lays out the task: “There is only one question,” and the recruits must figure out what it is. The last man or woman standing gets the job. It’s not just any job, either, as the firm likely has a cure for a virus that has rocked England to its knees. Among the recruits –- all named for their ethnicity or hair color -– is narcissistic White (Luke Mably), devoted Christian Black (Chuk Iwuji), ex-Special Forces loon Brown (Jimi Mistry), and head-shrinker Dark (Adar Beck). Reaching the One Question pull up dozens: Who among the eight is a plant, has the virus, or is desperate enough to kill? Taunt and exciting, “Exam” ingeniously turns Gen-Y yuppies into biblical savages, fighting for the favor not of God, but a CEO perhaps as powerful. Or wholly not. A-

Alien Armageddon (2011)

“Alien Armageddon” is one a series of independent micro-budgeted flicks with bit-part actors as leads, Mac-laptop-made special effects, and a biblical spin to a well-worn tale: The aliens attack Earth and cook up an evil plot against humanity genre, with the survivors – here, a shop-owner mom (Katharine McEwan) and a murderous cowboy (Don Scribner) included – fighting back. Seen anything like this before? The wholesale cheap sets and locations, and vagueness of a big picture ironically work as writer/director Neil Johnson is open for surprises awesome (are the aliens of God?) and unnecessary (a WTF lesbian scene). It’s an ugly flick, for sure, but it’s more curious about what THEY are, versus normal Hollywood dribble such as “Cowboys& Aliens” or “Battle: Los Angeles,” the latter of which this film was once titled. Be warned: This is not a film to eat by, or for women who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant. B-

The Way (2011)

Emilio Estevez is a quiet and introspective writer and director of the self-funded “The Way,” a family drama starring real-life pop Martin Sheen (ne Ramon Estevez) as a grieving father coming out of his all-for-capitalism shell. It deals with fathers/sons and religious values, and not cheekily so. Sheen is Tom Avery, an aging eye doctor who receives a call while on the golf course: His son (Estevez) has died while walking the famed trail Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Tom goes to Europe to collect the body and return home. But, alone and openly weeping in his hotel, he decides to finish the son’s journey, one he openly mocked to the son’s face. So, yes, Tom will have his own awakening. His eyes (did you miss that symbolism?) will open. I wish we knew more of Daniel’s intent (why that trail, why not hike in Chile?), but the film is about Tom’s character, and stopping to see sunsets and going to church. Even if you don’t believe. Sheen is stoic in this quiet thoughtful tale. (He is just as stoic in person, I saw this screen in his presence at Virginia Tech. Amazing man.) P.S. I want to see Estevez cut as wildly loose behind the camera as he did on camera in “Young Guns.” That would be a freakin' blast. B+

Monsters (2010)

A man and woman are trekking through a massive swath of Mexican jungle, dodging ungodly large alien creatures that have killed scores of other people. Their destination: The fortress wall that divides Mexico and the United States. This is the premise of “Monsters, ” a stellar film made for less than $500,000 that again proves in sci-fi that less can mean more, especially when you have compelling characters, a strong plot and moody editing that reveals the scares bit-by-bit. Independent filmmaker Gareth Edwards directed, wrote, filmed and produced this great, smart flick with shoot-and-run photography and a desktop PC. For that feat alone, I love this film. Throw $150 million at this film’s premise and we’d have lots of fleshy CGI. No bone. This has bone, and character. The split-second Mobius strip ending is a kick to the head that almost demands an instant re-watch. Scoot McNairy and Whitney Ableare are the leads. Tense. Brilliant. Paced out as is the best of true sci-fi treats. A-