The Sunday Drive: 12/18/11

3. Young Adult
With half a dozen new releases in DC this week, this was actually a tough call to make, but I decided to edge out the entertaining but derivative Sherlock Holmes and the glacial Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with a flawed, but funny film that at least strives to be different. Starring Charlize Theron in her best performance in years, she plays a self absorbed teen fiction writer who goes back to her Minnesota hometown to steal away her former beau. The only problem? He's married with kids.A bit light for a film by the Juno duo of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, but some will applaud their willingness to present a truly unlikable, irredeemable character.

2. The Descendants
Nobody forces actors to embrace their age on screen better than Alexander Payne, who did it once before with Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt, and does it here again with George Clooney. The Descendants has been here for more than a month, and it continues to be in my mind the most complete film of the year, both funny and tragic at the same time, aided by a fantastic cast and beautiful cinematography by Phedon Papamichael. It helps that he has Hawaii as the central location.
1. Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol
For straight up white-knuckle excitement, you'll find no film better this year than Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol. Tom Cruise is back and he hasn't lost a step as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, leading his team in a covert mission to find nuclear launch codes. Brad Bird(The Incredibles) shows that he's just as adept with huge widescreen action as he is with animation. Do yourself a favor, see it in IMAX. The tower scene alone will blow your mind.

DVD Pick of the Week: Fright Night
Best summer for unexpectedly great remakes ever? Nobody was looking forward to a remake of the 1985's Fright Night, the cult classic horror comedy that featured two memorable performances by Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell. But director Craig Gillespie, along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe Marti Noxon got the blend of genuine scares and dark comedy just right. The always reliable Anton Yelchin takes over the role of reluctant hero Charley Brewster, who discovers that his hunky, somewhat enigmatic neighbor Jerry(Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Things immediately go south as Jerry hunts down everyone in Charley's life. David Tennant is hilarious as a Criss Angel-esque vampire hunter, but it's Farrell who steals the show with his magnetic performance as the snaky bloodsucker, who just wants to be left alone.