John Travolta and Scarlett Johanssen star in this slow-paced drama about a girl whose estranged mother leaves her a house inhabited by a pair of jobless alcoholics. While some valuable insights are gained, some of the performances seem phoned in. Overall, though, this is an effective, poignant character piece.

Grade: B.

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Cara-Ethyl, an overweight teenage girl, mopes around on her birthday until a hunky pizza delivery guy decides to take her with him on his rounds. While there are some really funny moments, there are an equal number of grating, mean-spirited scenes. This picture shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Grade: C.

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Andreas finds himself in a city with no memory of how he got there, but with an excellent job and a beautiful wife. This Norwegian independent film explores a man who is increasingly dissatisfied with his artificial utopian world and his unquenchable desire to escape back into the real world.

Grade: A-.

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Ellen Page is picture perfect as Juno, a teenage girl who gets pregnant by her friend, Bleeker, and has decided to give the baby up for adoption. Diablo Cody’s screenplay is wonderfully quirky and irreverently funny. All the acting performances are wonderful and the story is hip, fun, and poignant.

Grade: A.

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This exquisite independent drama focuses on a street musician who sings his heart out in Dublin and meets a Czech piano player, who falls in love with his music. The well-written story and the incredible chemistry between the male and female lead make this wonderful picture a must-see.

Grade: A+.

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Michael Douglas stars in this inexplicable Pulitzer-winning Broadway musical, adapted for the big screen. A wide variety of dancers in colorful costumes are auditioning to be on the chorus line for a Broadway show. We are introduced to a large group of quirky people before the final selection is announced.

Grade: C.

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Young William Miller wants to be a rock journalist, so he accepts an assignment from Rolling Stone to follow an up-and-coming rock band, Stillwater, on a national tour. This coming-of-age story features amazing acting performances, a gorgeous script, and a screenplay that makes this journey unforgettable.

Grade: A.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this unsurprisingly badly-acted story about a guy who seeks to avenge his brother’s defeat by training in Muay Thai kickboxing. The plot is very unsophisticated, the dialogue amazingly contrived, and the filmmaking laughable, but for fight fans, this is fun butt-kicking time.

Grade: C-.

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Law student Darby Shaw, played by Julia Roberts, deduces a conspiracy in the assassination of a pair of Supreme Court justices and reaches out to a reporter, played by Denzel Washington, for help. This thriller features a great story by John Grisham, wonderful acting, and intricate well-thought-out suspense

Grade: B+.

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Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett star in this thriller about a man trying to help his estranged daughter recover her daughter from an Apache brujo. Set in rural New Mexico in 1885, the story is tight and focused, with good acting, gritty realism, and a very menacing antagonist.

Grade: B.

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