This past (two) week cycle saw me frequenting the theater for some much needed fall redemption. After a summer filled with lackluster blockbusters, it’s great to really chew into some of the finest the year has to offer, a commonplace trend of the December month. After loving Disney’s Frozen, being rather disappointed in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and being blown away by Out of the Furnace, I also got a chance to see a few of my most anticipated of the year in Her, American Hustle, and Saving Mr. Banks, reviews of all to come out this week.

At home, the biting cold of December forced me inside to do a lot of in-bed watching, which is as you know, the hardest part of this job. I caught up on a couple new guys, Byzantium & Grabbers, but also took a look at a number of films that I’d been meaning to watch forever, The Raid, [Rec], Waiting for Guffman, and slipped in Election, which I hadn’t seen for at least ten years. Now down to what I thought of them…

THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011)

An immensely enjoyable actioner that is sure to divide audiences right down the gender line, The Raid is kung fu at its most thrilling. The bone-breaking fight sequences are masterfully choreographed and it zips along from one clever shootout to another, making you all but apathetic to the fact that that film doesn’t really have a plot or characters. Even so, your blood will boil hot and you’ll be glued to the screen awaiting the next bit of “Aww snap”-inducing violence. Even though it’s a dumb movie to its core, The Raid is action movies at their most basic and most fun.

B+

BYZANTIUM (2013)

Yet another vampire movie that tries to replace glitter with guile, Byzantium is an uncommonly artsy beast that fails to go above and beyond expectation. A pair of fine performances from Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan help to legitimize the derivative story but their acting alone can’t really save it from disengaging directing. Like Neil Jordan‘s last foray into the vampiric (Interview With a Vampire), Byzantium is slow building and more focused on mood than plot beats. This fact is both a gift and a curse but ultimately ends up being the final nail in its own coffin. Although Arteton bears all, it’s ultimately a forgettable experience that’s just another “artsy” vampire movie.

C-

GRABBERS (2013)

What better place to stage an alien invasion movie where the aliens are intolerant to drunk people than in Ireland? Grabbers, named for the tentacle-laden monsters of the film, does exactly that. The acting is fun (especially once everyone decides to be perpetually hammered) and the monsters are taken fairly seriously, making this an easy suggestion for creature-feature lovers. But good fun and a silly premise aren’t enough to heighten Grabbers into must-see recommendation territory. However, it is ripe to be turned into a full blown drinking game.

C+

ELECTION (1999)

One of Alexander Payne‘s earlier works about Nebraska sees an acclaimed teacher and a brown-nosing student square off against each other. Although often hailed as one of his greatest works (and squarely in the ranks of cult classics) Election lacks the sophistication of Payne’s later efforts. The characters are smartly drawn and early performances from Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon are right on the money but there’s just far too much voice over that acts as the sole agent propelling the story forward to really applaud the story as a whole. Payne does show off some flair with the camera and uses a number of visually interesting framing choices but, by and large, it’s not his greatest work.

C+

[REC] (2007)

An often terrifying Spanish horror movie that employed found footage before it was such a phenomenon, [Rec] is claustrophobically menacing. While following a crew of firemen for an after-hours series, reporter Ángela Vidal is quarantined in an apartment building with the residents, some of who are showing signs of an aggravated disease. Not quite a zombie movie but, hen again, pretty much a zombie movie, [Rec] isn’t the most original of concepts but uses their limited resources to great result. The final sequence in the dark is as unnerving as any great horror scene and you’ll be sure to be peeking around corners for the next few nights after watching.

B-

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996)

A fan favorite of Christopher Guest‘s, Waiting for Guffman takes on community theater and lambasts it in typical Guest style. While it lacks the one-liners of Spinal Tap!, and Best in Show, all the regulars are there in Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, and Parker Posey but their chemistry isn’t quite as zingy as we’ve come to expect. Guest’s uncommon brand of mockumentary is usually rife with arresting, bottom of the gut laughter but Waiting for Guffman doesn’t pack the nonstop comic punch of Guest’s greater works. Having said that, it’s still funnier than 90% of the other comedies out there.