The Aviator My two favorite Scorsese films from the second half of his career are Kundun and My Voyage to Italy. The former is largely an anomaly within the oeuvre of a textbook auteur (Even The Age of Innocence was technically a New York Movie! At least Last Temptation had Harvey Keitel!); the latter is a breathless Bazinian paean to Italian cinema. The Aviator, while not as great as either of those films, represents both a refreshing change of pace and a prime opportunity to have some fun with Old Hollywood, Scorsese's other major source of filmic inspiration. It's certainly his most dazzling-looking film since New York, New York, another personal favorite, and the director-subject empathy seems deeply felt. Plus, it's never remotely boring any time that Cate Blanchett's on screen here. She's a hoot!

Ocean's Twelve 'Better than the first one' doesn't even begin to do this justice. Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven was a more or less by-the-numbers heist movie livened up by some nice stylistic flourishes; better than the classic-by-default original without hardly trying but not even in the same universe as, say, Kubrick's The Killing. Ocean's Twelve is not only a sequel that's vastly, almost incomparably superior to its predecessor, but something even rarer than that: It's an event movie that actually feels like an event! The heist(s) here are strictly MacGuffin material; Ocean's Twelve is ultimately about nothing so much as itself--and it's terrific! Here is a movie loaded with A-list celebrities that simultaneously playfully satirizes and shamelessly revels in the very idea of a bunch of movie stars (to borrow a line from Eddie Izzard, who turns in a great cameo) just hanging out and being groovy in gorgeous, endlessly photogenic European cities. This is E!: The Movie, but made by a filmmaker good enough (when he feels like it) to out-Tarkovsky Tarkovsky.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Wes Anderson's quirkily pop-friendly mise-en-scene is as instantly recognizable as that of any director making movies today. The only problem with this is, it gets very predictable very quickly. The Life Aquatic feels like lame self-parody. It's, by a long shot, his least funny effort to date, and, worse yet, (despite the Jacques Cousteau tribute in the closing credits) it's his first film that registers less as a loving homage than as a broad spoof. It has its moments, to be sure, and I have to admit the Sigur Ros song caught me off-guard and was quite beautifully used, but, on the whole,...eh.

Finding Neverland A movie made for nobody. (Well, except maybe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.) It's certainly not going to cross-over with the kids, I can tell you that much. They want Spongebob Squarepants and The OC--not some sanctimonious pap about the magic of imagination rah rah. The film earns that PG rating, too, awkwardly dodging decidedly less whimsical adult matters. The most curious thing about this is that it was apparently made by the same guy who did Monster's Ball. (Right--the one with that Halle Berry sex scene you downloaded.) Try and wrap your head around that one! Oh yeah--the Willy Wonka trailer was pretty fantastic!

The Door in the Floor If you've ever had the strange desire to sit through a lethargic filmization of a John Irving novel that features a lifetime supply of Jeff Bridges's ass (surprisingly, not as aesthetically pleasing as Charlize Theron's), then by all means, rent this.