Felicity Huffman brings the character of Bree, a transgendered woman who learns that she has a teenage son, to life with such perfection and sensitivity that it hardly seems like acting. This funny, poignant journey of discovery comes to a satisfying conclusion, thanks to great scripting and a brilliant cast.

Grade: A-.

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This massive collection of remastered hits includes almost all of the chart toppers and many more obscure tracks of one of the most successful female vocalists of all time. The song-writing is unforgettable, Donna’s vocals set the bar high for other singers, and the choice of tracks is superb.

Grade: A.

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Jet Li is Huo Yuanjia, a legendary martial artist from early 20th century China, in his last martial arts film. Our hero shows uncharacteristic arrogance, finds himself, learns humility, and discovers the true meaning of his craft. This epic was beautifully choreographed with astonishing action sequences and dazzling fight scenes.

Grade: A-.

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A magnificently stunning work of cinematic perfection, this masterpiece sets the bar high for historical biographies. The story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than 1100 Jews from Nazi death camps, is brilliantly scripted, acted, and scored. This film truly shows us what one person can achieve.

Grade: A+.

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Caroline Dhavernas milks her sitcom persona for all it’s worth in this cute independent comedy about three girls who seduce a hunk thirteen years their senior (David Boreanaz) and manipulate him into maintaining flings with all three of them. The story is nothing new and some parts are downright silly.

Grade: C+.

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This set features a couple of decent tracks, although nothing very adventurous, and a bunch of tedious, minimal, yawn-worthy songs that only work as background music. Most of this set seemed to consist of old school bass riffs, homages to acid jazz, simplistic synth licks, and bland drum patterns.

Grade: C-.

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Steven Spielberg reimagines H. G. Wells‘ science fiction masterpiece with a huge budget and a stunning array of heart-stopping visual effects sequences. The script wanders significantly from the original literature and cheats lamely in the ending. With competent acting and palpable tension, it delivers quite a decent thrill ride.

Grade: B.

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There is a certain temptation for children of the eighties to idealize the popular culture of their childhood. Sometimes, this is warranted. In the case of this terribly written toy commercial, it isn’t. Sometimes, silliness and childishness are just fun. This was an offensive litany of stereotypes, violence, and idiocy.

Grade: D.

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This refreshingly original psychological science fiction thriller throws seven individuals into a massive matrix of room-sized cubes with exits, sometimes leading to variously booby-trapped neighbors. The small picture is fantastically scripted and well-acted, despite the low budget, obscurity of the actors, modest production values, and constricted scope.

Grade: B+.

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The conclusion of the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, this book wanders through questions of biology, philosophy, religion, and the differences between two worlds. It’s a decent story, although some of the plot twists were difficult to swallow. Many situations are rehashed and some sections unrelated to plot seemed like obvious filler.

Grade: C+.

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