Bruce Willis

There’s nothing funny about real-life identity theft, but that didn’t stop screenwriter Craig Mazin and director Seth Gordon from attempting to milk laughs from the subject. In “Identity Thief,” the pair tell the story of Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman), a finance executive who gets swindled by a shameless female grifter named Diana (Melissa McCarthy). Diana starts by stealing Sandy’s unisex name. Then, she runs up masses of credit card debt, ruins his reputation and triggers a warrant for his arrest. 

Time-travel films are fraught with complexities that leave thoughtful moviegoers debating merits and flaws long after the credits roll; and “Looper,” written and directed by Rian Johnson, is one of the strongest entries we’ve seen in years. The movie is set in the United States in the year 2044. Time travel has not yet been invented, but a select group of criminals know the technology will arrive in just three decades. 

The sparse dialogue in Wes Anderson’s films captures detachment and suppression – a part of all human relationships. Yet, his films also portray misfortunes and difficulties we encounter with those closest to us in a warmhearted, positive light. His films manage to capture the joys of relationships, despite their challenging complexities. Anderson’s success rides largely on his unique depiction of these two conflicting sides of human behavior -- our social tendencies and our hermetic ones.