Blue Valentine ****

Sometimes when you see a couple heading for a breakup, you wonder how they got together in the first place. "Blue Valentine"shows us the before and after of love, from the heady warmth, support, fun, and transcendent sex of love awakening to the cold remains of a love lost, when it's too painful even to go through the motions of love making. Cutting back to the early days, and back to today, this movie shows us how a couple started out, even though there were signs of a mismatch from the beginning.

We see dreams deferred, dreams abandoned, and a lovely child that both adore. There are no easy answers about what happened, but many clues to consider. Often painful to watch, this ultra-realistic portrait of a working class couple coming apart is searing, with two truly outstanding performances from the principals. I think Ryan Gosling deserves the same recognition that Michelle Williams has received for her work. Cinematography is up close, expressive, and often inventive.

Rated R (originally rated NC-17 for sexual content, changed after an appeal by The Weinstein Company). 112 minutes. Derek Cianfrance - Director / Writer, Cami Delavigne - Writer, Joey Curtis - Writer, Lynette Howell - Producer, Alex Orlovsky - Producer, Jamie Patricof - Producer, Andrij Parekh -Cinematographer, Inbal Weinberg - Production Designer, Jim Helton - Editor, Ron Patane - Editor. Produced by Hunting Lane Films. Distributed by The Weinstein Company.

Principal actors: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka, John Doman, Mike Vogel.

Michelle Williams is nominated for the Academy Award for best performance by an actress in a leading role.

The Illusionist ****

A lovely, unhurried, witty and warm animation drawn with the style and hand technique of the old school, "The Illusionist" presents a gentle parable about growing up and putting away childish things. Clearly a labor of love, director/writer/composer Sylvain Chomet has produced a beautiful tribute to famed French comic Jacques Tati, who wrote the original screenplay as a love letter to his daughter. The story, told in images with indistinct vocalizations standing in for dialogue, follows an illusionist down on his luck, who travels from France to Scotland, where a young girl, enamored of his magic, adopts him. Their life and small adventures in Edinburgh make up most of the movie, as he struggles to live up to her fantasy, and she matures into a young woman. Bittersweet yet satisfying, "The illusionist" is a welcome respite from the surfeit of slick computer-generated superheroes we've had of late.

Rated PG. 80 minutes. Sylvain Chomet - Director / Writer (adaptation) / Composer, Jacques Tati - Writer (original screenplay), Sally Chomet - Producer, Bob Last - Producer. Priduced by Pathe. Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Sony Pictures Classics.

Principal voices: Jean-Claude Donda, Eilidh Rankin, Duncan MacNeil.

Academy Award nominee for best animated feature of 2010.

Another Year ****

In a Mike Leigh film ("Secrets and Lies," "Vera Drake") you not only get to know the characters, you start to feel like you're there with them. Sometimes you cringe for them, and wish you could interrupt or change the subject before they can do more damage. The lady behind me in the theater today couldn't stop herself from exclaiming or tut-tutting whenever someone would start to embarrass themselves in this latest superb work from the master of intimate storytelling.

Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and husband Tom (Jim Broadbent) have reached their mid years happy and content with their lives and each other. Over the course of a year, as they work their rented garden plot and invite old friends over, we see that they may be the exception in their happiness. There's their unmarried son, Tom's old drinking buddy, Tom's taciturn brother, and above all, Gerri's co-worker of 20 years (Leslie Manville), whose single life seems to be going seriously off track. Much like Christian Bale in this season's "The Fighter," where Mark Walhberg is the rock and Bale the soaring aerialist, this is Leslie Manville's picture. It's her story that bounces off all the others, and her performance that will bring the accolades.

Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. Mike Leigh - Director / Writer, Georgina Lowe - Producer, Dick Pope - Cinematographer, Gary Yershon - Composer, Simon Beresford - Production Designer, Jon Gregory - Editor. Produced by Film4 and Focus Features. Distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics.

Principal actors: Jim Broadbent, Leslie Manville, Ruth Sheen, Oliver Maltman.

Black Swan ****

"Black Swan" sneaks up on you. What at first seem to be a ballerina backstage rivalry drama becomes increasingly fractured, bizarre, and engrossing as rising star Nina (Natalie Portman) loses her grip on what is real as she prepares for the dual roles of Swan Lake: the white swan heroine and the evil black swan twin who steals her love and dooms her life. This film manages at once to portray the hard life of a dancer, the psychological challenges of performing in a troupe, the hidden and welling desires of the heroine, and the frightening but sensual world of her mind. Often it's not clear until later what is dream and what is reality, but there are subtle clues: red eyes, crawling skin, shouts that turn into screeching bird cries.

Director Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") has once again produced a small masterpiece with the most limited of budgets. And the performances he elicits, especially from Portman, as the ice queen melting, and Mila Kunis, as her sensual rival, are nothing short of astounding.

Rated R. 108 minutes. Darren Aronofsky - Director, Mark Heyman - Writer (screenplay), Andres Heinz - Writer (screenplay) (story), John McLaughlin - Writer (screenplay), Scott Franklin - Producer, Mike Medavoy - Producer, Arnold Messer - Producer, Brian Oliver - Producer, Matthew Libatique - Cinematographer, Clint Mansell - Composer, Therese DePrez - Production Designer, Anbdrew Weisblum - Editor. Produced and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Principal actors: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder.

The Fighter ****

I saw "The Fighter" today in advance of tomorrow's Golden Globes Awards, whose four top actors are all nominated. This unlikely but true story of light welterweight champion "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dickie (Christian Bale), who helped train him for his shot at the world title in the '90's is a fascinating and rewarding movie. Unflinchingly set in working class Lowell, Massachusetts, Micky's drive and Dickie's tutelage after a bout with drugs and crime are well presented. Melissa Leo as their domineering mother/manager turns in an Oscar-worthy performance, as does Amy Adams in a foul-mouthed departure from her Disney roles as Micky's bartender girlfriend. Thankfully the focus is on the lives much more than the carnage in the ring. I have to say the hype for the movie is deserved, and all, especially Bale, are a joy and wonder to watch.

Rated R. 115 minutes. David O. Russell - Director, Scott Silver - Writer (screenplay), Paul Tamasy - Writer (screenplay) (story) / Producer, Eric Johnson - Writer (screenplay) (story), Keith Dorrington -Writer (story), Dorothy Arufiero - Producer, David Hoberman - Producer, Ryan Kavanaugh - Producer, Todd Liegerman - Producer, Mark Wahlberg - Producer, Hoyte Van Hoytema -Cinematographer, Michael Brook - Composer, Judy Becker - Production Designer, Pamela Martin - Editor. Distributed in the U.S. by Paramount Pictures.

Principal actors: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Mickey O'Keefe, Jack McGee.

1/16/2011 note: Christian Bale won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor drama, and Melissa Leo won for best supporting actress drama. They are the ones to bet on for the Oscars.

Casino Jack ****

In "Casino Jack," lobbyist Jack Abramoff explains his profession: "You can legally give me money for me to give to congressmen." After all, the right of the people to petition the government is in the U.S. Constitution. Abramoff's expansive view of his role extended into some areas that were not constitutional, and in fact led to corruption and much worse, not to mention contravening the ethics rules of his employers. Abramoff's showy lobbying was exactly what buttoned down K Street firms did not want, and he ultimately paid the price for his missteps.

How he got to federal prison is the subject of this movie. It's an intimate look at two years of his personal life (2004 and 2005) and dealings with Indian tribes and casino owners who did not have the savvy of Fortune 500 companies, some of whom vastly overpaid for his services, and his close ties to Tom Delay and other prominent Republicans. Kevin Spacey inhabits this colorful character fully, from the grandiose plans for restaurants and a school, to his penchant for quoting famous lines from movies, in character. Spacey is a whirlwind of spot-on impressions, movement and ideas, always moving to the next thing, but strangely blind to the dangers of talkative associates or skeletons in partners' backgrounds or what it could all do to his family.

The intersection of Republican money politics, Bible study groups, golf, greed, sex, and hubris are all on gaudy display. Some of it is so smarmy you may feel ill, but some of it is so funny you will laugh out loud. (The corruption investigation ultimately led to the conviction of two White House officials, a Representative, and nine other lobbyists and Congressional aides.)

Spacy is the burning core of "Casino Jack," but supporting players are very good, a sure indication of quality direction by George Hickenlooper in this which was, tragically, his last movie. He died in Denver in October 2010 at age 47 from a heart attack, in town to receive recognition for his work and this film at the Starz Denver Film Festival.

Rated R. 108 minutes. George Hickenlooper - Director, Norman Snider - Writer, Gary Howsam - Producer, Bill Marks - Producer, George Zakk - Producer, Adam Swica - Cinematographer, Jonathan Goldsmithy - Composer, Matthew Davies - Production Designer,William Steinkamp - Editor. Distirbuted in the U.S. by ATO Pictures.

Principal actors: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Jon Lovitz, Kelly Preston.

True Grit ****

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about "True Grit," and it certainly has been remarked upon, is what a straight up western it is. It is extremely well done, with a couple of great performances (Hailee Steinfeld as the girl out to punish her father's killer, and Jeff Bridges as the marshal "Rooster" Cogburn she hires), beautifully photographed and scored. But it is without, somehow, they say, the Coen brothers' stamp.

But maybe not. After all, doesn't the story of a 14-year-old girl hiring a trigger-happy bounty hunter in 1870's Arkansas kind of fit their M.O.? Weird characters and gritty (if you will) realism abounds. Maybe it's not so far from "Fargo," "No Country for Old Men," or "Burn After Reading" after all.

The difference may be the widespread familiarity with the story, such that, even if you haven't seen the famous version with John Wayne, it seems still to be known. And then there is the loving use and preservation of novel author Charles Portis's locutions, a style of speech as dated and charming as a daguerreotype, when the only mass media was the printed word, and the classics were memorized by school children. This love of language is another constant in the Coen canon.

I say settle in and enjoy it, savor its western flavor, spunk, and grit. And think about how these stories don't settle into easy categorization. Which is another sure Coen trademark.

Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Ethan Coen - Director / Writer (screenplay) / Producer, Joel Coen - Director / Writer (screenplay) / Producer, Charles Portis - Writer (novel), Scott Rudin - Producer, Roger Deakins - Cinematographer, Carter Burwell - Composer, Jess Gonchor - Production Designer, Roderick Jaynes (Ethan), Editor, Roderick Jaynes (Joel), Editor.

Principal actors: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin.