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

The Muppets (2011)

My childhood has a pop culture Holy Trinity: “Star Wars,” Superman, and “The Muppets.” So, a new film – after a long silence following the 1999 dud “Muppets from Space” -- is massive in my life. Ask my wife. (No. Don’t.) So, is this rebooted comedy-musical farce, with Jason Segal and Amy Adams as the human leads, all it can be? No. Devout to classic Muppet spirit? No. But it is a start. The plot concerns the old gang -- Kermit, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Fozzie, Gonzo, etc. – reuniting to save not just the rundown Muppet Theatre, but their felt bodies and ping-ball-eye selves, and souls, too. And these things have souls. Better than CGI. It is daft, and spends far too much time on its human stars and has too many fart-shoes jokes that seen unwise, but it’s a blast. As with the TV show and original films, guest stars abound. Jack Black leads the pack. Heaps of hip comics. But no Steve Martin, who knows his Muppets. I wanted that. But I loved seeing Scooter again, and hearing “The Rainbow Connection.” Just wow. I can’t wait for more. RIP Jim Henson. Oh, Chris Cooper raps. Hilariously awkward. B+

Julie and Julia (2009)

Two films in one. Wee! “Julie and Julia” follows modern day New Yorker Julie Powell (Amy Adams) who blogs about wading her way through Julia Child’s famously thick French cooking book, and the story behind how post-World War II-era Child (Meryl Streep) authored the famous kitchen must-have. The Child sections are best and most on target, with Streep playing the tall chef married to a diplomat (Stanley Tucci, winning as ever). Streep has the voice down cold, and the mannerism, too, but never sinks to mimicry. She’s a hoot. The politics of an American woman grabbing her own destiny in Europe crackle, as do the scenes where the poison of McCarthyism seeps into this happy couple’s life. The Powell sections are good, carried more by Adams’ great performance and ever-growing charisma than the writing. The woes of a directionless 30-year-old just don’t resonate as much. Nora Ephron directs and writes. And the food … yum! B+

Doubt (2008)

"Doubt" has a knockout cast with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis, and a well-loved stage play as its source. But it is a let-down.

The set-up: Hard ass, "God Hates You" flag waiver Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep) accuses the kind, loving Father Brendan Flynn (Hoffman) of sexually molesting an alter boy under his care. The priest denies doing anything wrong, other than showing the boy (who is black) compassion the child can't get from his own father.

This should be a hardcore, nail-biter game of Did He or Didn't He?!? But it's not. Instead, with Beauvier coming as a seething hell-bent nun who busts pagans, "Frosty the Snowman" and men's balls with devious religious glee, I didn't care if Flynn was guilty or not. And that's saying a lot. Under the glare of this nun, Madoff might come off as sympathetic. A film like this should make you squirm as you chose who is "right" over and over again, think "Hard Candy" where a psychopathic teen took on a child rapist. There's no challenge here, and the end "shocker" is blunted.

But the acting sells the film past all grievances, especially Viola Davis as the boy's mother who unleashes a soul-shocking nest of desire in a brief scene that is among the year's best. This mesmerizing, brilliant woman deserves every award under the sun as she paints a heart-breaking, upside down world where racism in mid-'60s America is the least of one minority family's problems. Hoffman also is in fine form and Streep is good with her 2D role. But, Davis. She's the miracle here, no doubt. B-

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Once again, the displays and mannequins of a museum come to life during the dark hours in “Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” a sequel to the family comedy hit starring Ben Stiller.

In the first film, Stiller’s Larry Daley lorded over (or patrolled, take your pick) the New York Museum of Natural History. There, a magic ancient tablet brought to life all on display at the historic landmark. It was goofy fun with roaring dinosaur bones and fighting dioramas, even if Stiller coasted – again – on his tired performance of a good-hearted dope who must rise to the occasion and be a good-hearted half-dope. But, by gosh, it had Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney getting their villain on. Seeing those guys break (oh so gently) bad was giddy fun in the vein of Disney’s 1970s best.

Here, we get Stiller at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. As in the first go-round, all the displays come to live as the tablet is moved from one museum to another. The cool: Paintings, including a Pollack, come to life, as does Amelia Earhart (played wonderfully by Amy Adams, fast becoming a favorite actress). And there’s a toss-away cameo by Darth Vadar and Oscar the Grouch, both wanting to get their villain on. But as the main bad guy we have Hank Azaria (“Heat” and a regular on “The Simpsons”) as a lisping Egyptian warlord bent on ruling …. not much. Azaria is funny for awhile, but his banter with Stiller and then Owen Wilson (as a diorama cowpoke) grows tired.

It doesn’t help that Stiller consistently reminds us that none of this hoopla matters because once the sun comes up, waxen villain and good guy alike will fall still. Well, why not sit the whole film out and wait for sun up? Then chop the wax head off the bad guy, or dress him up as Lady Bird Johnson just to mess with his manhood. (Plenty of jokes already abound concerning a tunic being a dress.) Most films are pointless fun, but for the lead character to literally say it on screen is a kick in the shorts. Silly “cameos” by the Jonas brothers are pointless, at least to anyone older than 11.

Adams wins the film major points with charm and 1920s-era know how, pushing it nearly to a win. More films, especially those geared toward children, could use female characters and actresses such as her. That said, the first outing is the better. C+

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

“Sunshine Cleaning” is a slim, neat comedy about two sisters (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt) who seek to better their dreary New Mexico lives by breaking into a niche business – body clean up. Be it murder, a suicide or natural causes, most deaths are nasty, bloody, piss-filled occasions and somebody has to clean up the mess. Why not these gals? The film messes with the hot-actress casting: One sister was the “it” girl in high school and is now a single mom (Adams) who cleans houses for a living and is having an affair with a married cop. The younger sis (Blunt) is a groundless single, dabbling in drugs, bonking a sleazy drug dealer, and may just be discovering she’s gay. This is funny and poignant, and refuses to tie up all the loose strings, bringing it a truthiness vibe. (This is still Hollywood drama.) Alan Arkin is on droll autopilot as the – drum roll -- eccentric grand pop. Shocker. It brings to mind another, better film with “Sunshine” in the title. B