Wanted

Wanted - Dir. Timur Bekmambetov (2008)

Nerdy pushover summons the testicular fortitude to man up. Becomes assassin extraordinaire.

A gun-toting guilty pleasure. Super-stylized action film not afraid to go for the hard R.

Lacks the outlandish characters, acerbic wit, and nihilistic edge of the original comics.

Charlie Bartlett

Charlie Bartlett - Dir. Jon Poll (2008)

Neurotic rich boy gets kicked out of fancy pants academy. Sent to public school and becomes de factor psychologist.

Like the lead character this film is a little too smug and assure of itself. Familiar, yet passable, high school dramedy.

Worth noting mainly for a strong performance by Robert Downey Jr. His turn as an alcoholic principal makes my mouth water at what he'll bring to the table for Iron Man 2 ("Demon in a Bottle~!").

Control

Control - Dir. Anton Corbjin (2007)

Biography of the late-Ian Curtis.

Breaks the conventional molds of the music biopic through sheer force of will.

Exceptional black and white cinematography that effectively conveys the melancholic sounds of Joy Division and the depressed, working class life of Manchester, England.

The Assassination of Jesse James

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Dir. Andrew Dominik (2007)

Brad Pitt's biopic is nearly as long as its title.

Western epic by way of Terrence Malick with touches of Altman's McCable & Mrs. Miller and Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.

Career best performance for Casey Affleck. His Ford is an awkward, overgrown kid who finds the fame he so desperately seeks a bitter pill.