We Bought a Zoo ***

Coping with death of his wife and its effect on his teenage son and precocious seven year old daughter, adventurist/journalist Benjamin Mee took the highly unconventional step of buying a run-down animal park teetering on the brink of failure. The movie based on his book, "We Bought a Zoo," is warm, good-humored, and enjoyable. Matt Damon as Mee is completely believable, as is, almost unbelievably, Scarlett Johansson as the zookeeper he inherits. There is the expected conflict with his son, his doubting brother the accountant (a grounded Thomas Hayden Church), and the exacting state inspector (a suitably supercilious John Michael Higgins). The twin challenges of dealing with great loss and dealing with a teenager are well handled for a PG movie, and the couple of weepy scenes are well earned. I thought it was fine.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ****

If you've read the book and seen the Swedish version, David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is still worth seeing, not for the suspense, of course, but for the beautiful craft and art of a master. I found it better paced than Niels Arden Oplev's 2009 effort, better composed, more expressive, and with greater economy in the story telling.

As for the principals, while Michael Nyqvist looks more like the Bloomkvist described in the novel, Daniel Craig is equally convincing as the journalist, and more convincing as the object of female desire, which always seemed to me a bit of wishful projecting on the part of journalist/author Stieg Larsson.

Noomi Rapace created the role of Lisbeth Salander, and in my opinion, remains untouchable as this most fascinating character. Reportedly Rapace was ready to move on, and seems to have done well doing so, adding some much-needed life to the recent, ridiculous "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows." Which is not to say that Rooney Mara fails in any way - her performance is truly outstanding in a very difficult role. I think Fincher was right to cast a relative unknown in the role of Lisbeth rather than a better-known actress who would inevitably bring a certain amount of baggage and expectations.

If you have not read the book or seen the previous version, do see this one, but be warned that it is a dark, often violent story set in a Sweden that is far from the beautiful, bloodless IKEA society of rationality and justice you might imagine. In fact, the Sweden of the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is a lot like the film noir world at home, with serial killers, right-wing extremists, an insulated 1%, and spectacularly dysfunctional families.

The Artist ****

"The Artist"very cleverly introduces the idea of a silent movie as a popular performance in the very beginning, as we see the '20's star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) at the premiere of his latest triumph, accompanied by a live orchestra and showing to an enthusiastic black-tie audience in an opulent movie palace. Wordlessly, he takes a bow, makes the audience laugh, brings out his dog for a bow, and finally his impatient co-star. Before you know it, the story takes off, and there's still no dialogue, just this very appealing actor and the star-struck girl he meets by chance, with an expressive and beautiful score emphasizing the action and adding to the emotional impact.

Director/writer/editor Michel Hazanavicius has mastered the conventions of the silent era to tell this comic story of an actor's struggles in the transition to talkies. Thoroughly enjoyable, this nearly wordless film delights, involves, and entertains. This silent movie is so good, in fact, that by the time the talkies arrive in the story you can understand why Valentin, the artist, does not feel the need to make the change. Berenice Bejo, as chorus girl turned star Peppy Miller, is equally talented and likable, and the magic she and Dujardin create on screen is glorious. See it and have fun!

Young Adult ***

A telling portrait of a "psycho prom queen bitch," in the words of a former classmate, "Young Adult" shows what happens when ghostwriter Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) decides to return to her home town and win back her now-married ex-boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson). The bad choices this now 37 year old have made become clear and old connections and histories reappear. While not autobiographical, there is surely a good deal of closely-observed real life in Oscar-winner Diablo Cody's screenplay. Mavis writes the sequels to another, more famous author's original work for "young adults," which is marketing code for high school girls. Mavis, it seems, has never left that phase, and the quest she embarks on has only the slightest chance of helping her grow up. Director Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") once again captures a slice of Americana, here of high school culture, fast food lifestyle, alienation, and unexamined lives. Illuminated by a stunning, fearless performance by Theron, "Young Adult" is a humorous, fine, serious drama.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol ***

For me, with "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" the magic is back. The plot, the schemes, the disguises, the daring feats, the dazzling technology, the improvisation when the technology doesn't quite function as planned are all back. Shot entirely with IMAX cameras, the locations are stunning, sometimes breath-taking. This one is great fun, with just enough twists and turns. Tom Cruise is in top form, and seems quite relaxed and comfortable in the role. Cruise has been conspicuous by his absence on the promo circuit for this movie, but I think now it's safe for him return if he wants to. Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton all fit in to the new Force supplying the requisite brainy brawn, humor, and cool sex, although not always in that order. This is what a fun action movie should deliver.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows **

Full of action, battles of wit, red herrings, a bit of steam punk, and slightly more than cutting-edge 100-year old science, the second of the new Sherlock Holmes incarnations attempts to dazzle. Again with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as the iconic characters of Holmes and Watson, this edition, "Sherlock Holmes: A Games of Shadows," was, for my taste, a bit too self-consciously clever, too much of a show-off. Up against his smartest foe, Professor Moriarty, the games of out-thinking and out-maneuvering depict Holmes as a paragon of prognostication, a gleeful mental and physical combatant that often veers over the line into self-parody.

Director Guy Richie employs here a short-hand device, disconcerting at first, that compresses flashbacks into a fast-motion swirl of hidden history that aptly suits his purpose. The movie has style to burn, a beautiful dark gypsy (Noomi Rapace, last seen as Lisbeth in the Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), Holmes' eccentric brother (hysterically underplayed by Stephen Fry), and enough gun fire, both in slow motion and Gatling gun fast, to start a major war (which it foretells). For me, it partook too much of the senselessness of a Michael Bay violence orgy, and its set pieces were well-crafted, operatic duds.

My Week with Marilyn ****

"My Week With Marilyn" amuses and instructs as it dramatizes the memoir of a movie-struck young Colin Clark, just out of university, who becomes a gopher and a bit more on the set of his first film, "The Prince and the Showgirl," starring Marilyn Monroe and Sir Lawrence Olivier. Olivier directed this romantic comedy, shot in the late summer of 1956 in England, and the expected clashes between the moody Method actress and the old-school professional were in full flower. From Colin's perspective, it was all wonderful, and his insight into the forces at work was mature beyond his years. "You represent the future to him," he tells Marilyn, "and he represents respectability to you, and neither of you will get what you want from this film."

Colin becomes a trusted confidant, almost a friend, of Marilyn, and he's clearly, deeply infatuated, despite all the warnings from everyone around him. Sometimes it's just commiseration he gets. Watching him on the set, Dame Sybil Thorndike, deliciously played by Judi Dench, observes, "Young love is such sweet despair."

Kenneth Branagh plays the buttoned-up Olivier with relish, and his increasing clenched-jaw frustration with the always late and seldom prepared Marilyn is a masterpiece of contained fury. But this is Michelle Williams' movie, who captures the "blond bombshell" persona that Norma Jeane so carefully created. Williams doesn't try to explain Marilyn, but she succeeds beautifully in showing us her many sides, without apology, without filters or distance. It's a beguiling performance, and a superb film.

The Muppets ***

"The Muppets" is an enjoyable, nostalgic diversion for adults and a good time for kids, who I suppose don't know the characters. I doubt that it's a reboot of the franchise, but it's a nice addition to the canon. The Muppets, now retired or working other jobs, all get together again to save the old Muppet Theater from a nefarious oil man (a suitably oily Chris Cooper) who just wants to drill, baby, and not, as he claims, to restore its former glory.

Aided by super-fans Gary and Mary from the heartland (Jason Segal and Amy Adams), along with Gary's kid brother Walter, who now knows himself to be a Muppet, Kermie assembles the old gang and starts rehearsing a show to raise the money to buy out the oilman before their time runs out. Even Miss Piggy takes a break from her high fashion job to lend a hand. It's a time-honored device, and with tongue firmly in cheek, a fun one.

If the movie has a flaw, it's the surfeit of tongues in cheek, meant I guess as knowing winks to the adults in the audience. I think we're capable of getting it without the winks. Otherwise, the songs are fair to good, the dancing energetic and resolutely cheerful, and the performances are fine, by both the Muppets and the humans alike. Take the kids and enjoy.