Bloglander

Margin Call is the best movie about Wall Street you've probably never heard of. It is also one of the best movies (no qualifiers needed) of 2011. See below.

Feel free to attend one of these other films if you are allergic to excellence.

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BEING ELMO
Ever wonder how a puppeteer feels? Follow the journey of Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo. A fervent puppeteer since his youth, Clash was making his own hand-animals in high school before turning his vocation into a singular life. As the Being Elmo trailer says, "Kevin Clash is most comfortable when he is Elmo." Don't you want to know why? At Magic Lantern (JO) Not rated

LIKE CRAZY
Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Charlie Bartlett) and apparent It Girl Felicity Jones star in a first-love romance about two teens — he American, she British — who fall madly in love and then must deal with separation after she violates the student visa she was in the country under. Impressionistic and earnest to the last, Like Crazy won Best Picture at Sundance this year, and Felicity Jones took Best Actress, but critics have been tougher on it than festival panels have, and so far only Jones’ performance is generating any Oscar buzz. (LB) Rated PG-13

MARGIN CALL
As much a potboiler as a disaster film, Margin Call charts 18 hours in a Lehman-Brothers-like firm on the night they realize that not only is the market about to crash, it already has crashed, and no one has noticed it. Writer/director J.C. Chandor does a masterful job of humanizing the people who gambled hard with the investments of common Americans. He does not make them into heroes, but neither are they the pure evil they are often portrayed as. Their faults are truly human, and Chandor argues persuasively that the blame is not in our stocks, but in ourselves. At Magic Lantern (LB) Rated R

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
In 1956, Marilyn Monroe filmed The Prince and the Showgirl. It was the first time the buxom, blue-eyed Marilyn (Michelle Williams) set foot in merry old England. Although she was on honeymoon with her husband, the temptress took a liking to Colin Cark (Eddie Redmayne), a lowly assistant on the set. Nearly 40 years later, the real Colin published his diary The Prince, The Showgirl and Me. Gracefully, Williams captures the pain behind that famous smirk. Critics seem to consider the film itself a trifle, but Williams’ performance has been deemed Oscar-worthy. At AMC 20 (JB) Rated R

NEW YEAR’S EVE
In a holiday follow-up to his inexplicably gigantic hit Valentine’s Day, director Garry Marshall delivers this constantly misfiring collection of sappy plotlines and mostly pointless attempts at acting in an ensemble piece about the celebration of the last night of the year. It’s supposed to signify new beginnings, but it goes on endlessly, introducing us to one dullard after another, drawing to an inevitable conclusion in Times Square, making us look at Ryan Seacrest and listen to Jon Bon Jovi. (ES) Rated PG-13

THE SITTER
Jonah Hill is a babysitter. What else do you need to know? OK, Jonah Hill is a suspended college kid who begins babysitting the neighbor’s rowdy ankle-biters. And then he takes them all to a party so he can see a lady friend. And somewhere along the way, menacing bad guys get involved. Also starring Ari Graynor and Sam Rockwell. (JO) Rated R