by Tim Van Schmidt

***** Excellent
**** Good
*** Average
** Poor
* Not Recommended

Cabaret ****

According to "Cabaret," pre-World War II Berlin was a place of decadence and fear as reflected in the whirlwind lifestyle of a cabaret singer, the staid Englishman who gets caught up in it and the rise of the Nazis. The wild and irreverent cabaret stage scenes are the strongest thing about the movie, Joel Grey stealing every scene- but also featuring Liza Minnelli's riveting vocal power, something much more mature than the flighty character she plays.

Directed by Bob Fosse...1972...124 min...featuring Liza Minnelli (as Sally Bowles), Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey, Fritz Wepper, Marisa Berenson.

Alice in Wonderland ****

Alice returns to Wonderland to become the White Queen's champion against the dreaded Jabberwocky. This is a fanciful and imaginative redrawing of the characters, aided mightily by modern filmmaking technolgy and Mia Wasikowska's excellent performance as Alice.

Directed by Tim Burton...2010...108 min...featuring Mia Wasikowska (as Alice,) Johnny Depp (as Mad Hatter,) Helena Bonham Carter (as Red Queen,) Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee.

Whip It ***

Jaba the Slut, Pocket Rocket, Eva Destruction, Bloody Holly, Rosa Sparks, Iron Maven, Smashley Simpson, Maggie Mayhem: just this list of colorful characters that fill "Whip It" tells you something about the movie. It's fun, it's irreverent, it's got a great soundtrack, plenty of action and some heartstring pulling besides.

The whole thing is a little unbelievable- a disgruntled beauty pagaent contestant in a small Texas town becomes a roller derby queen in the nearby big city of Austin- that's a wide swing of change. But none of it is meant to be serious enough to worry about the plausibility. Despite the tough talk and the violence of the sport, this is a pretty lighthearted movie about pursuing dreams- even if they are wild and crazy. Upbeat and even inspirational.

Directed by Drew Barrymore...2009...111 min...featuring Ellen Page (as Bliss Cavendar/Babe Ruthless), Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Alia Shawkat, Eve, Carlo Alban, Landon Pigg, Daniel Stern, Andrew Wilson.

Where the Wild Things Are ***

An overactive, uncontrolled boy indulges his wildest fantasies with the help of a posse of huge, furry monsters.

Directed by Spike Jonze...2009...101 min. featuring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Pepita Emmerichs, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Forrest Whitaker, Chris Cooper.

Frankenfish ***

After seeing a dog like "Righteous Kill" (see below) even a low-grade thriller/gore-fest like "Frankenfish" looks good. It's a monster movie set in a swamp- giant killer fish terrorizing a small community of houseboat dwellers. And it's the kind of movie where just about every character you meet gets killed in some gruesome way or another. That's part of the fun- you can't wait to see how each one meets their maker. Some of the characters you're sympathetic to- like the young female biologist who gets her head blown off by an accident- and some of the characters you want to kill yourself- like the whiney boyfriend who ends up at the bottom of a dogpile of baby flesheaters- but all of them are potential fish food. In a way, it's just like real life- nobody gets out alive except the very lucky and their luck can't last for long.

Directed by Mark AZ Dippe...2004...84 min...featuring Tory Kittles, KD Aubert, China Chow.

Righteous Kill **

Tired tough cop movie.

Directed by Jon Avnet...2008...101 min...featuring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy.