"Fantastic Mr. Fox": I can't remember a time when a live-action director has so seemingly transferred his visual and thematic style to animation as Wes Anderson has here. Just a delightful, beautiful film in every way. I'm a longtime Anderson apologist, although I didn't love "Darjeeling Limited" as much as his other work; "Mr. Fox" is a welcome return to form.
"Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans": I don't know what bizarre confluence of events allowed this movie to exist, but whatever they were I'm glad they happened. What a nutso, ridiculous delight- Werner Herzog, remaking "Bad Lieutenant," with Nicolas Cage, set in New Orleans, only as a super-black comedy with random reptiles all over the place. Just delightfully insane from beginning to end, with Cage delivering a turn that makes his "Leaving Las Vegas" performance look subdued by comparison. My favorite part was that he had different accents depending on which drug he was on- his cocaine voice, for instance, sounds like a bad Jimmy Stewart impression.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon": The sad part is, I sort of liked the first one. But the sequel? Yeesh. Much less well-acted, well-written, well-plotted and well-directed than the original, "New Moon" lost me even before its bonkers third act. Just when it's starting to get interested, the plot abruptly jumps halfway across the world and suddenly turns into "The Matrix Reloaded," with men in robes who we've never seen before giving long, incomprehensible speeches. Though I did enjoy Michael Sheen as a sort of Vampire Pope. The movie was clearly rushed into and through production; I don't remember ever seeing a blockbuster movie with such laughable special effects.
Ignore this and watch "True Blood" instead. At least the vampires actually have sex on that show.