Seven Psychopaths ***

A more twisted and Hollywood-centric homage and satire of life in the unreal world of L.A., "Seven Psychopaths" follows a blocked writer (Colin Farrell) and his strange friends in the strange underworld of tinsel town. Christopher Walken is a standout as a small-time crook who makes ends meet by kidnapping dogs and returning them to their well-heeled and grateful owners. Director Martin McDonagh takes up the themes he explored in "In Bruges" to good effect. Creepy, bloody, funny, and weird, "Seven Psychopaths" is a film lovers fevered dream.

Argo ****

Fantastically, suspense-fully constructed, "Argo" tells the true story of the rescue of six American embassy personnel who managed to elude capture in the take-over the embassy during the Iranian revolution and who were hidden at the Canadian embassy. Director Ben Affleck also stars as Tony Mendes, the CIA operative who hatched the idea of having the six impersonate a film crew scouting locations. It seems like such an over-the-top caper movie that it's hard to believe it actually happened. Affleck proves himself an accomplished director as well as actor in this piece, and John Goodman and Alan Arkin lend knowing Hollywood insider performances as the producers who constructed the movie side of the subterfuge. It's kind of amazing that even though you know the ending, the movie still delivers on white-knuckle apprehension.

Looper ****

A dystopian science-fiction brain-tease of a movie, gritty and brutal, "Looper" plunges into time travel paradoxes to follow Joe, a killer for hire in a future so controlled that criminals can only eliminate their quarry by illegally sending them back in time to face his blunderbuss. But one day young Joe, masterfully played by Joseph Gordon-Levit in heavy makeup to resemble his older self, the old Joe embodied by Bruce Willis, must eliminate himself, and close the loop. But there are larger issues at work, and the chase that ensues, and the woman with the special child (Emily Blunt) bring a new urgency to the tale of one man, the repercussions through alternative futures begin to fan out. It's an original take on an old story of a mother's love, and a fun ride.