Quiz Show (1994)

Directed by Robert Redford and penned by Paul Attanasio, “Quiz Show” details the “TV is God” bubble pop that no one – or not enough people – ever heard. On the well-loved 1950s game show “Twenty-One,” a guy named Herbie Stempel (John Turturro) is winning night after night. But his nerdy, Jewish-by-way-of-Queens persona doesn’t jive for advertisers. Herb is forced out. Enter Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a Columbia University instructor from a dreamy New England family and with movie-star looks to boot. “Quiz Show” details how this show and these guys came crashing down to earth, because it’s all fake. Redford spins many plates – TV ethics, education, bigotry, the quest to surpass one’s father, and pure corruption of power -- and does so perfectly. The 1950s have rarely been re-created with such loving detail and rhythm, and with such a steely eye on the façade of America as the pillar of truth and success, operated by men who only want money and fame. Best scene: At tale’s end, Stempel looks on with glee and then horror as Van Doren is ripped to shreds, with his parents watching helpless, by angry reporters. Redford’s view of truth on television is timeless. A

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” is another good, but not great, film that somehow landed a bookcase full of Academy Awards. I can see it: It’s a harsh, but feel-good movie about a genius math professor (Russell Crowe) married to a stunning beauty (Jennifer Connelly), but thrown under the train of life by a horrific disease (Schizophrenia). Fictionalizing the complicated, not-romantic biography, “Mind” follows socially inept John Nash, the guy under the train who becomes lost to paranoia, visions and delusions of grandeur – that he, Nash, is a top secret Cold War spy. The cast is perfect, especially Crowe, who preens with striking intelligence in one scene and drowns in utter confusion and despondency during the next. Yet, the screenplay (by Akiva Goldsman) gets lost in sentimentality (a climatic speech, a heart-to-heart talk with open palms). As well, it drags out the delusion scenes long past credibility, and makes them too literal. Yet, it’s rarely dull, always looking deep into the eyes of its actors. It’s not high art. It was made as Oscar bait and succeeded. B

The Musketeer (2001)

“The Musketeer” pitches Dumas’ famous story as the gritty tale of a novice hero (Justin Chambers of “Grey’s Anatomy”) who must spur the outlawed, drunken Musketeers back to French grandeur. I don’t have the will power to go further into detail. See, it takes a moron king to ruin Damas’ work, and director Peter Hyams (“Timecop”) excels at the challenge. Action scenes are shot haphazardly and, in many cases, in utter darkness. Tim Roth, listlessly marching through his umpteenth psycho role, is the most interesting actor on screen by default. That’s because everyone else, including three guys I don’t know as the most witless, drunken Musketeers ever imagined, are void of any personality. How’s this for a seller? Mena Suvari has top billing as a chambermaid. The film reeks like a nightly bowl she'd empty. F

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

In “Law Abiding Citizen,” Gerard Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a family man who goes loopy nutty after the Jabba-fat prick who butchered his family cuts a deal with soulless Philly ADA Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx). Shelton doesn’t just grab a rifle for “Death Wish” or “Gran Torino” kills. He declares war on the entire city of Philadelphia, using his mad-dog engineering skills to chain-bomb cars and rig a cell phone to explode. Even for the often ugly genre of revenge films, “LAC” is grim entertainment. (The violence inflicted on women is astounding.) Director F. Gary Gray and his writers never give us anyone to even remotely root for older than 10. As Shelton and Rice diligently race to kill one another first, Butler and Foxx race to see who can suffocate their own charisma and acting talent fastest. A climatic shocker is so over-the-top ridiculous that even the characters mock disbelief. It’s never good when the filmmakers apologize for what they’ve served up while you’re still watching. Billy Penn atop City Hall needs to check his shoes. The muck is piled high. C-

The Lost Boys (1987)

It was vital to re-watch “The Lost Boys” in the wake of Corey Haim’s demise. Twenty-three years on, this teen comedy/vampire horror flick still holds up as a loose cult/camp favorite. And it’s directed by crap master Joel Schumacher, no less. The easy plot: Teens Sam (Haim) and Michael (Jason Patric) move with their single mom (Dianne Wiest) to a California coastal town haunted by vampires (led by a sneering Keifer Sutherland). It’s far from perfect, especially a red-tinted climax that seemed washed out on my first viewing and still does. But with lines such as, “My own brother (is) a … shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!,” you’d have to be (un)dead not to chuckle huge and just enjoy. The violence is campy fun – all gushing blood and exploding body parts. Haim is a huge star here – even his geekiest kid moments shine with joy, discovery and charisma. (Feldman, too.) A brooding Patric channels James Dean, with a new taste for blood, not cars. And the music – still rocks huge. It’s one of the best soundtracks of the 1980s. But avoid the sequel – it’s a stake to the brain and heart. A-

Creation (2010)

“Creation” is an ironic title for a drama about Charles Darwin's struggle to bring “On the Origin of Species” to life. If only the product were half as smart. Instead it makes the most bone-headed dramatic error I've seen in years. Early in this Jon Amiel-directed film, Darwin (Paul Bettany) is in his study, speaking to his cherubic oldest daughter while his wife (Jennifer Connelly) busies herself elsewhere. It’s supposed to be humanizing, until one realizes there is no daughter. She’s dead. Darwin is talking to a ghost, a figment of his sickened mind. As in “A Beautiful Mind,” which co-starred none other than Bettany and Connelly. What the hell were the filmmakers thinking? What works for one genius, works for all? Darwin’s brilliant work is so controversial that 150 years later it still invites scorn and censorship (hello, Texas!), yet the filmmakers don't seem to think this is enough drama. Order up some ghosts! Yes, there are fine scenes about the war between fact and faith, but Darwin's critics must be rejoicing: They have a film that shows the scientist as an unbalanced mad man, a guy so ill-fitted to survival he can’t even hold a quill. Kill God? “Creation” kills free thought. D+

Zombieland and Dead Snow (2009)

The living dead ran amok inside my movie-soaked brain with a recent double feature. Grrr! Argh!

Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson play an unlikely zombie-hunting pair in “Zombieland,” the American cousin to the infinitely funnier rom-com-zom satire “Shaun of the Dead.” Eisenberg again siphons from previous innocent-geek roles in such films as “Adventureland,” matching only Michael Cerra in redundancy. Harrelson riffs heroically and quite knowingly on his “Natural Born Killers” psychopath. It’s a short, funny film that cracks on American culture targets from Twinkies to Hanna Montana, and features a stellar cameo from a beloved movie icon. B+

In “Dead Snow,” any wit is trounced by scatological outhouse sex, sick comedy and grisly gut-bursting violence. The plot: Student doctors head to the mountains of Norway for snow sports, drinking, light drugs and hard sex. Not planned for: An army of undead Nazi killers out for blood. Director Tommy Wirkola loves the visual of blood on snow -- eyeballs get squished, skulls are cracked open and entrails wrap around trees. It’s all so over-the-top gleefully, knowingly and illogically bloody bad – paying homage to “Evil Dead” and “Friday the 13th” – that Wirkola scores a guilty pleasure. B