The Descendants (2011)

29 January 2012 - This is the latest addition to Alexander Payne's list of fine films, following About Schmidt and Sideways.
Matt King has to come to terms with the impending death of his wife while learning of her infidelity, wondering how he will raise his daughters and deal with a huge land sale.
George Clooney, arguably our finest English language screen actor, turns in an outstanding performance.
Highly recommended.

X-Men First Class (2011)

27 January 2012 - Prequels don't always work but this is a very entertaining 2 hours or so, especially when watched at home on Blu-ray with beer and pizza.
An excellent performance from Michael Fassbinder and decent from James McAvoy and Kevin Bacon. Unfortunately Rose Byrne is almost as wooden as she was in Damages.

Green Lantern (2011)

12 January 2012 - This is not the greatest Superhero film ever made, that's probably The Dark Knight, but it sticks fairly closely to the Silver Age DC comics story. Particularly hammy acting from Peter Sarsgaard but it passes an undemanding 1 hour 50 minutes or so. They set up the sequel at the end but it's doubtful that it will it get made now.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

1 January 2012 – Despite mixed reviews I enjoyed this, thanks to a well plotted story and a fine performance from Rooney Mara as the titular girl. I’m going to seek out the original Swedish version and read the book now.