Latest Bellwether Films: 25 July 2010

Angelina Jolie is CIA secret agent 'Salt' in the summer's best action flick

Borrower Arietty, The (借りぐらしのアリエッティ) - Japanese speculative-present kid-centric animation

The Clock family are tiny people who live under the floor of a big house in the country. They make their way about by “borrowing” items from the old couple who live in the house. They fear exposure daily. If humans see them, they move. One summer day, a boy named Sho arrives for a nearby disease treatment regimen. When he spots the Clock’s 14-year-old daughter Arrietty, she solicits Sho’s help in keeping their secret existence and whereabouts. Upshot: A Japanese anime reinterpretation of Mary Norton’s 1952 Carnegie Medal-winning children’s novel. Satisfaction rating: ABOVE AVERAGE - 78

Cyrus - Indiewood domestic drama comedy

Disheartened that his ex-wife (Catherine Keener) is about to remarry, a freelance film & video editor (John C. Reilly) finally meets his perfect love match (Marisa Tomei) at a party. But her 21-year-old live-at-home aspiring-musician son (Jonah Hill) does not welcome this new intrusion into his life and deploys every underhanded and manipulative tactic he can contrive to break up his mom’s new romance. Upshot: An atypical blend of veteran studio actors with indie-spirited personalized improv humor. Satisfaction rating: ABOVE AVERAGE - 64

Flirting Scholar 2 (唐伯虎點秋香2之四大才子) - Chinese sword & sorcery goofball comedy

TANG DYNASTY (618-907 AD), CHINA. Always ready to stand up for what’s right, young Tang Bo Hu (Xiaoming Huang - 黄晓明) finds himself in trouble for fighting. His mother forbids him to use martial arts again and sends him away to study at Qingfeng Monastery. Tang finds monastic life boring and cannot adjust to the austere accommodations. Three fellow students - together the future ‘Four Great Scholars of Jian Nan’ - sneak him out for a short tension-breaking excursion. During their covert adventure, Tang runs into and immediately falls in love with beautiful Qiu Xian (Jingchu Zhang - 張靜初). Shortly afterward, a monk accuses Qiu of being a demonic Spider Spirit and wants her burned at the stake. Qiu quickly makes good her escape, but falls into a ravine while on the run and loses her memory. Madam Wah finds the girl and adopts her, giving her the name Chen Heung … thereby setting up the circumstances behind the 1993 rom-com action hit Flirting Scholar starring Stephen Chow and Li Gong. Upshot: This zany Chinese opera-inspired banana peel comedic prequel lacks the charm and coherent story logic of the original 1993 classic. Satisfaction rating: DISAPPOINTING - 36

Moss (이끼) - Korean crime thriller suspense

After losing his job and breaking up with his wife, a young man (Hae-il Park - 박해일) travels to a remote mountain village to attend his father’s (Joon-ho Heo - 허준호) funeral. While there, he begins to suspect that the villagers are hiding something. He confronts the retired-cop-turned-village elder (Jae-yeong Jeong - 정재영) who thinks he’s delusional. When he insists on an official death certificate, the villagers turn suddenly cold, watch him ever more closely and constantly ask when he will return to the city. As he begins to investigate his father’s death, he soon learns that his father’s land has been transferred to the village elder. Upshot: Korea’s Winter’s Bone … well, sort of. Based on an 80-episode 2007 South Korean Internet comic, the film is Korea’s most hotly awaited thriller of the 2010 summer. Satisfaction rating: ABOVE AVERAGE - 79

Ramona and Beezus - Hollywood domestic drama comedy

Although 9-year-old Ramona’s (newcomer Joey King) vivid imagination and boundless energy amuse her parents (John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan), they annoy her teenage big sister “Beezus” Beatrice (Selena Gomez) and give rise to a mild sibling rivalry. But when dad loses his job, Ramona’s irrepressible sense of fun and adventure helps the entire family cope with the subsequent trying times. Upshot: Wholesome and goodhearted, the actors enliven some kid-centric charm from the classic children’s book series by Beverly Cleary. Satisfaction rating: ABOVE AVERAGE - 64

Salt - Hollywood espionage thriller action

Accused by a defector (Daniel Olbrychski) of being a sleeper Soviet-era spy assigned to assassinate the President of Russia (Olek Krupa) on US soil, a CIA officer (Angelina Jolie) must use her covert skills in a deadly cat-and-mouse chase to elude capture by her boss (Liev Schreiber) and CIA security chief (Chiwetel Ejiofor) while seeking to rescue her husband (August Diehl) from abduction. Upshot: Best action flick of the summer! Against the current events backdrop of a real-life nest of espionage moles sent back to mother Russia comes this tense thriller made all the more intriguing by Angelina Jolie’s sterling performance … certainly the most entertaining Jolie picture since Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Satisfaction rating: ABOVE AVERAGE - 75

World's Favorite Films 2010

World's Favorite Foreign Language Films 2010

Aftershock (Chinese)

L'arnacoeur (French)

The Borrower Arietty (Japanese)

Ip Man 2 (Chinese)

Pokemon: Phanton Ruler Zoroark (Japanese)

Confessions (Japanese)

My Name Is Khan (Bollywood)

Nodame Cantabile 2 (Japanese)

Blood Brothers: Secret Reunion (Korean)

Doraemon: Mermaid Adventure (Japanese)

Raajneeti (Bollywood)

Little Big Soldier (Chinese)

La Rafle (French)

Les Aventures Extraordinaire d'Adele Blanc-Sec (French)

Io, loro e Lara (Italian)

Liar Game (Japanese)

Our Rossiya (Russian)

Moss (Korean)

71 - Into the Gunfire (Korean)

Housefull (Bollywood)