Movie Reviews in 50 Words: (R)

Ratatouille (2007)
Pixar transforms normally reprehensible presence of kitchen pests into endearing tale about a rat’s rise to culinary greatness in the human world. Charming animation avoids trend of cramming pop-culture references into a star-powered CG vehicle, instead freeing the fine ensemble cast to comment on acceptance and the pursuit of passion.

Buy it

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Rear Window (1954)
Look past the unnaturalistic line delivery endemic to classic cinema and you’ll see Hitchcock firmly at the wheel, crafting suspense with only a courtyard and a single window, through which a recovering photographer turned voyeur may be seeing too much. Deserves a spot in your queue, if not your shelf.

Borrow it

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Run Lola Run (1998)
A pre-Bourne Potente must thwart fate itself as she plays her role in a money drop. The sense of motion is exhilarating in this German flick, just as the hidden themes are dense with pretension. Maybe her loud red hair isn’t a metaphor for obnoxiousness, if you dig deeply enough.

Borrow it