Pride and Glory

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Directed by: Gavin O'Connor

The Skinny: Corruption within a New York City police precinct bubbles to the surface when four cops are killed in a drug bust gone suspiciously awry. Caught on competing sides of the resultant mushroom cloud are four members of a police family, played by Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Colin Farrell and Ed Norton, whose investigation puts him at odds with them all.

The Good: It ain't Serpico, but Pride and Glory does take an honest stab at addressing the moral relativism surrounding cops on the take, along with the more specific impact it has on a blood legacy of New York's Finest. This is a drama, not an action flick and, thanks to its cast, it provides several moments of sincere, pucker-clenching dramatic tension, as its antagonist willfully bulldozes further into the world he's created for himself. And that world crumbles around him in direct proportion.

The Bad: There's very little here that you haven't likely seen before, most recently in American Gangster. And anyone who's become a fan of recent procedural TV dramas like The Wire will find its portrayal of police bureaucracy lacking academically. Finally, you will find the film's climax either touchingly tragic or cornier than Nebraska.

¡Hope you sabes Español! Being set in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood, the occasional conversation in Spanish is a given. Unfortunately, subtitles translating those conversations in this movie aren't, so you might want to bring your landscaper.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? It's more must-see than Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but in this economy, it'll play just as satisfyingly on Netflix.

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Let the Right One In

Rating:


Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

The Skinny: Set in 1980s Sweden, Let the Right One In is about 12-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a quiet kid who chooses to repress his pain rather than fight back against the constant bullying he experiences every day at school. He then forms a tentative friendship with the new girl next door (Lina Leandersson), only to discover she's a creature of the night.

The Good: We know, we know—a movie with Swedish subtitles about pre-teen vampires probably, on the surface, sounds as appealing as an all-day IKEA shopping trip. But hang in there, this is absolutely worth it. Director Alfredson gets completely natural performances out of his two leads (who are actually 12), and uses the blank, gray Swedish backdrop to—pardon the pun—chilling effect. The movie isn't so much "Boo!"-scary (something on which Hollywood horror movies rely way too much, which is why most of them are tedious and stupid) as it is genuinely creepy and unsettling…and also, inexplicably, kind of sweet and thoughtful. Definitely worth seeing, especially since an American remake is being talked up which will, without a doubt, replace "natural performances" and "thoughtfulness" with "emo crap." (See: Twilight.)

The Bad: Some of the special effects, though used sparingly, are YouTube quality. Sweden obviously doesn't have an ILM equivalent—the almost-laughable "cat attack" scene almost threatens to blow the nearly perfect tone Alfredson establishes.

Near Myths: A big part of what makes LTROI work is the refusal to explain Lina's "condition." No crazy La Magra Blood Gods or overly-complicated mythologies which tend to make most vampire movies less blood-curdling and more eyeball-rolling.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? If you can read and find a decent arthouse theater (a tall order, agreed), this is worth your time. If not, check it out on DVD. You'll be surprised.