Pick of the week: “Re-Animator“ — Former UW-Madison student Stuart Gordon’s glorious and gory cult ’80s film about a mad scientist trying to resurrect dead tissue, with results going about as wrong as you might expect.
“Next Stop Wonderland” — She plays villains now on shows like NBC’s “Allegiance,” but back in the ’90s Hope Davis sparkled in this indie rom-com, with a great turn by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as her insufferable activist ex-boyfriend.
“And the Oscar Goes To. . .” — My full review is here. Get ready for the big night by watching this entertaining but not particularly deep documentary on the Academy Awards, in which seemingly every star in Hollywood from Tom Hanks to George Clooney has something to say.
“Lars and the Real Girl” — This tale of a shy Wisconsinite (Ryan Gosling) who develops a meaningful relationship with a blow-up doll might have been unbearably quirky, but Gosling manages to make the main “romance” sort of sweet.
“Naked Gun 33 1/3” — Frank Drebin’s final outing isn’t as inspired as the first “Naked Gun” or the original “Police Squad,” but it has some solid laughs, especially in a climax set at the Academy Awards.