According to Roger Ebert, there are 21 stars in Valentine’s Day which gives new meaning to “ensemble cast.” Director Gary Marshall explores almost all the possible permutations of love in this commercial bit of movie confection (most of the audience in our theater were couples, mostly young). Julia Roberts commanded the scenes she was in. Ann Hathaway proves once again she’s one of the best actresses in Hollywood as she plays an “Adult Phone Entertainer.” The web of connections between all the cast members is clever with a few surprises. I liked Valentine’s Day, but more importantly my wife really liked it. GRADE: B

The Single Man is Tom Ford’s first movie as a director so perhaps some of the glacial pacing of this movie can be blamed on his lack of experience. The wonderful cast led by Colin Firth as depressed English professsor George Falconer carry the movie’s plot through a series of flashbacks. We see Falconer’s gay lover, Jim (played by Matthew Goode), dead after a roll-over accident. The glamorous Julianne Moore tries to be more than a friend to Falconer, but finds herself rejected. A student, Kenny (played by Nicholas Hoult), disrupts Falconer’s plans, but Fate steps in to provide an ironic conclusion. Although The Single Man has several fine performances, the action drags. GRADE: C+

Most mystery readers have read some or all of the classic Lew Archer series by Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar). But, before those Lew Archer novels, Ross Macdonald learned his craft by writing some stand-alone mystery novels. The Three Roads presents the reader with Bret Taylor, Lieutenant in the U. S. Navy, recovering from war wounds, memory loss, and the murder of his wife. Taylor, with the aid of another woman, Paula West, tries to recover his lost memories. But when Taylor investigates his wife’s murder (the police investigation stalled), he launches a patented Ross Macdonald convoluted plot sequence. The Three Roads was published in 1948 so aspects of the book are dated. Modern readers will find the heavy dose of Freudian psychology a bit baffling. But, for admirers of Ross Macdonald’s later work, The Three Roads displays the clever characterizations and plotting that would be the hallmark of his Lew Archer novels.

I’ve been an admirer of Roger Ebert for decades. His recent health problems (http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/01/nil_by_mouth.html) fill me with sorrow. Over the thousands of movie reviews Ebert has published during his career, I find myself agreeing with him about 90% of the time. This is one of the 10% of Ebert’s opinions I disagree with. I initially did not go see Synecdoche, New York because I read plenty of mixed reviews of the film. But, when Ebert asserted that Synecdoche, New York was the best movie of the DECADE, I borrowed a DVD from my local public library and watched it. It’s the story of a frustrated director whose marriage is failing and whose career seems headed nowhere. Played by the brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman, theater director Caden Cotard tries to deal with his crumbling life. He’s a hypochondriac. In fact, I could argue that 20 minutes into this film, when Caden Cotard goes into a doctor’s office for an examination, the rest of the movie is Caden’s drug-induced fantasy where he spends years preparing the play that will be his masterwork. This movie did not resonate with me at all, but your opinion might be different. GRADE: C-

WARNING: As soon as you finish reading these wonderful essays about Dryden, Milton, Wordsworth, Tenneyson, Hardy, Houseman, Frost, Stevens, Pound, Eliot, and a dozen other poets you’ll want to drop everything and read their poetry. At least, that’s the way I felt. William H. Pritchard possesses the magic all good teachers have of motivating and inspiring their students to grapple with challenging material. Pritchard’s analysis of Elizabeth Bishop moved me to dig out Poems, Prose, and Letters and enjoy her wonderful words again. The same with Robert Lowell, Philip Larkin, Randall Jarrell, and Richard Wilbur. If it’s been a while since you’ve enjoyed some great poetry, Pritchard’s fine collection of essays on poets and poetry will get you in the mood. GRADE: A

If you missed Emma on Masterpiece Theater the past few weeks, you can catch up fast with this DVD set.  Here are Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, Jonny Lee Miller, and Blake Ritson in what many people believe is Jane Austen’s best novel. Romola Garai plays the meddlesome Emma Woodhouse who fancies herself a matchmaker and manages to disrupt the romantic and marital antics of her friends. I am very fond of the version of Emma that launched Gwyneth Paltrow’s career and Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, but this new version is more detailed and truer to Austen’s novel. This set goes on sale today. GRADE: B+

Red Planet Noir is D. B. Grady’s first novel. Grady’s private eye, Mike Sheppard, is hired by the daughter of a murdered colonel. She wants Sheppard to find out who killed her father. The Air Force, who runs the government side of Mars, had declared the death a suicide. Sheppard runs afoul of the Corporation, who runs the business side of things on Mars, and the union of miners. Sheppard is knocked unconscious several times, beaten several times, and manages to shoot a few people. This is pretty much the private eye template from the 1950s except it’s set on Mars. I figured out whodunit early in the novel. Save your money (and your time): skip this one. GRADE: C-

Denzel Washington plays a wandering character called Eli in a post-nuclear holocaust world that’s as bleak Death Valley in the summer. The survivors in this ruined land are mostly thuggish killers. But when they try to mess with Eli, they’re surprised that this old guy is very deadly. Gary Oldman plays a maniacal warlord of a crumbling town which he rules with the aid of a band of motorcycle psychopaths and a group of gun-wielding toughs. Oldman and Denzel butt heads several times in this rambling movie. There’s plenty of violence, but the central plot device is more inspirational than realistic. Wait for the rental. GRADE: B-