mcsheehey

Featuring two of the year's finest performances, as well as an unabashedly honest script, Andrew Heigh's "Weekend" transcends the typical mold of the "gay movie" without making any apologies or concessions to the prudish cinematic standards that have squandered the potential of so many LGBT films of years past. The film tells a simple story, but it does so with such rawness and complexity that it ultimately defies expectations and conventions alike.

The two terrific leads, Tom Cullen and Chris New, portray Russell and Glen, two men who just happen to be gay. After meeting at a club and taking part in what begins as simply a one- night stand, Russell and Glen spend the rest of the weekend together, drinking, smoking, getting high, walking, and engaging in beautifully heartfelt and nuanced discussions about sex, love, marriage, money, and the like. Rather than whitewash these conversations to calm and comfort uneasy audience members, writer-director Haigh allows raw authenticity to dominate every word spoken.

In fact, everything about this film feels real, from the suitably straightforward cinematography to the naturalistic performances, which manage to make the whole affair seem unscripted, despite the clarity of the story's arc as a whole. However, perhaps even more impressive than the film's realism is its intense focus and narrative drive. While each scene does come across as a slice of life, the movie refuses to resort to an episodic or seemingly random "lifelike" structure. Instead, scenes subtly build upon one another as the audience becomes more acquainted with the two primary players, and as these complicated, but always likable, characters develop a deep relationship of their own. In the end, the film culminates in a climax of massive emotions, only to settle into a sincere and sweet finale that elevates the movie to the status of a masterpiece.

While the harsh language, the drugs, and the homosexuality will surely, and sadly, drive some moviegoers away, for those viewers who are willing to open their minds, this phenomenal film offers up one of the finest romances in recent cinematic history.

"Kick-Ass" sets out to lay waste to the archetypal superhero movie, but some see the film as just another addition to the superhero genre. Those who argue for satire point to the first half of the film, where Aaron Johnson's "everyman" character learns the hard way that becoming a superhero isn't as easy as it looks in movies like "Spider-Man" or "Batman Begins." You see, Kick-Ass earns a reputation as a superhero, but he lacks the skills of the more covert Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, who lurk in the shadows with high-grade weaponry and martial arts mastery. While Hit-Girl and Big Daddy fight crime, Kick Ass must deal with the everyday plagues of the American teen. In a funny bit, Kick Ass' alter ego, Dave Lizewski, learns that the "love of his life" wants him to be...well I won't spoil it, but I will say that it stands in the way of Dave's dreams for a little while.

Bits like that one enrich the first half of Kick Ass with a dose of funny reality. Kick Ass comes off as kind of a loser, Hit-Girl looks way too young to be saying the things she says (and doing the things she does), and Nicolas Cage's Big Daddy stands as one of his funniest creations. He's like an overbearing Little League parent on steroids. Less funny are the villains. Mark Strong, an excellent actor, must play a fairly bland crime kingpin. He does his best to enliven his character's dialogue, but he still comes across as a cross between "Daredevil's" Kingpin and "Iron Man's" Obadiah Stane. This composite villain has an equally bland son, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse as a dull redux of McLovin. Still, in the first half of the film, these characters only slightly distract from the bold comedy surrounding the protagonists. Unfortunately, as Jackson Browne once sang, "all god things must come to an end."

The good things in "Kick-Ass" come to an end when the story begins to embrace the formula it's supposed to be tearing apart. Director Matthew Vaughn abandons humor almost entirely as the film claws its way to a gun-crazy climax. There's nothing funny about a scene in which gangsters kidnap and plan to televise the execution of good, if misguided, characters. Vaughn seems eager to comment on his audience's potentially disturbing fascination with violence. This is clear in the film's first half when Kick-Ass enters a fight with high hopes, only to suffer real consequences. It's similarly clear early in the film, when Hit-Girl dispatches some baddies in gruesome and methodical fashion. Towards the end of the film, however, Vaughn seems to fall into the very trap on which he sought to comment.

The encounters toward the end of the film drip with violence, but it's all very stylized. In order to grip the audience, Vaughn employs a type of violence that allows viewers o revel and cheer. This type of violence dominates most genre superhero films (just look t "Iron Man's" robotic smack-down, or at "The Incredible Hulk's" creature clash), so I would never expect it from a supposed "satire" of those films. Generic plot convention after generic plot convention, standard fight scene after standard fight scene, and ridiculous dialogue piece after ridiculous dialogue piece made the second half of Kick-Ass a huge disappointment That said, most of the action is well-shot, the pace still moved along well, and the film's ending has a certain charm to it.

"Kick-Ass" was not the film that it could have been. It starts off satirizing genre superhero movies, but it ends up becoming one. Still, the film works well on the whole. It has an exciting visual style, a number of cackle-worthy comedic bits, and some great hammy performances. It doesn't totally kick ass, but it just might kick butt.

When you walk into "The Kids Are All Right," don't expect a treatise on the issue of gay marriage in the United States. The film is, simply put, a great comedy about families. Different audiences will surely extract different themes and meanings from the film, but 'extract' is the key word. Director Lisa Cholodenko refuses to editorialize or preach; she simply puts forth a story to which most people can relate (love is, after all, universal), and allows them to see it as they will.

"The Kids Are All Right" centers on the marriage between Nic (Annette Beining) and Jules (Julianne Moore). Nic works hard to support what she sees as "her" family, but her tough-as- nails attitude sometimes frustrates her children, as well as Jules. Jules is much more laid- back and impulsive, which creates conflict and unrest throughout the film. Yet, despite their flaws, Nic and Jules make a great team, and their children seem, in fact, better than "all right." Joni (Mia Wasikowska) prepares to enter a top-ranked college, and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) excels at sports. All in all, the family is doing just fine.

Things change when another player enters the mix. Desperate to meet his and Joni's sperm donor, Laser has his sister track down the mystery man. The nebulous donor turns out to be Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who uses the phrases "but whatever" and "I'm just weird like that" on a minute-by-minute basis. Paul sends shockwaves through the family; Nic wonders what drove her kids to track him down, and Jules starts to crave something new and different in her life. At the same time, Paul's somewhat selfish and free lifestyle influences the kids. Joni begins to assert her independence, and Laser starts to see himself as an individual.

What begins as hilarious comedy becomes increasingly dramatic as conflicts flare and distrust looms. "The Kids Are All Right" hits all the right notes throughout; it handles the drama as well as the laughs. The kids really are all right, but this film transcends that level.