"The Kids Are All Right" succeeds on its acting and impartiality (4.5/5)

A heavy handed film is the quickest way to turn me off. I’d like to think that I’m somewhat intelligent to the point that I can see a (point) being made.  But some filmmakers just aren’t ready to accept my analytical prowess, thus they bludgeon me to death with their messages and socially relevant plot points. What I do find redeeming though are writer/directors who can fathom some form of impartiality in their films. Although this type of filmmaker has become exceedingly rare, I will never give up my quest to find them. Thankfully, the 2010 film year has generated a strong candidate: Lisa Cholodenko, writer/director of The Kids Are All Right. With the rather recent and raging controversy surrounding Proposition 8 in California, The Kids Are All Right, which follows the struggles of a same sex family, could’ve been a film that played the politics up to an obnoxious and predictable level. Fortunately though, Cholodenko passed on taking pot shots at the conservative side, and simply based her film on the pratfalls that can destroy any family.

"Runaway" isn't flawless, but it's arresting (3.5/5)

I scoffed upon hearing the news that Kanye West was directing his own short film. For as much as I love Kanye and his music, I truly didn’t see a future for him as a director, let alone a director on one short film. As  his film Runaway debuted early last week across the Atlantic, early word began to spread that it was actually somewhat good, if not a fine piece of work. Reporters cited the influences of Stanley Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson emanating from Kanye, while Kanye’s images and surrealistic approach were compared to the like of Federico Fellini. That last line is undoubtedly over the top considering the place the aforementioned directors have in the realm of film. Despite the misplaced hype and my skeptical nature about the project, Kanye West impressed me with his ability to generate an assortment of images that emotionally paralleled the new tracks from his upcoming album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”.

"Jackass 3D" treads old ground, but is still enjoyable (3.5/5)

For as dumb and insipid as they can be, the Jackass crew always seems to put a smile on my face. Yes, some of their skits are beyond juvenile and the stunts they perform are beyond idiotic, but there is a distasteful glee about them that is hard to resist. Perhaps it was because they were doing something obscenely taboo, but I’d like to chalk this up to the undeniable camaraderie that can be found within their stunts. Even if they were assaulting one another with pranks, the Johnny Knoxville lead crew always seemed to enjoy the lunacy they concocted together. This can be clearly seen in the television show and subsequently the two films based around the gang’s dangerous exploits. Obviously the body of work that Knoxville, Steve-O, and company have assembled shows an extreme amount of pain threshold, but their behavior can be simply described as stupid shit you do with your friends. Granted, the things they do involve human destruction and copious amounts of the male genitalia, but nonetheless,it's idiotic behavior you’d only do with your friends without feeling an ounce of shame.

"The Social Network" is one of the year's best films (5/5)

Let’s not pretend that our lives aren’t ridiculously linked in to our Facebook accounts. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. With the increased mobility of the Internet, our lives are becoming more and  more entrenched in this digital age. Knowing the profound effect Facebook is having on our social lives, it was only a matter of time until the world’s largest social network worked its way onto the silver screen. Enter in David Fincher’s The Social Network, a film that dictates the rapid rise of Facebook and its creator: Mark Zuckerberg. The common misconception of the film is that it’s simply about Facebook. This isn’t true. As a matter of fact, this film is about Facebook as much as There Will Be Blood is about drilling for oil or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about chocolate confections. Facebook is merely the background, and I can’t stress that enough.