Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel

Guess who The Movie Slut met at a New York screening of this fascinating doc about one of history's most stylish chicks — ever.

Tim Gunn! Yes, Project Runway's own fashion guru!

And he loved this film.

DV is for fashionistas and if you're one of the chic set, and MS sincerely hopes you are, you will be in heaven at the multiplex.

Brought to us by the fashion doyenne's great-granddaughter-in-law, the film is brimming with photos and videos from Vreeland's days at Harper's Bazaar, Vogue magazine and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

You'll also hear from Angelica Huston, Ali McGraw, Calivin Klein, Carolina Herrera, the Missoni family and the great photogs of her day. Vreeland passed away in 1989, but her influence on fashion will never die.

Who could forget her bon mots, including: "Pink is the navy blue of India," and "Blue jeans are the most beautiful things since the gondola."

Looper: The End Justifies The Means

Past and present meet in the future in this snappy, time-traveling sci fi thriller. The plot is captivating and often makes sense. But what mars the otherwise smart flick is the monumental body count and the avalanche of Hollywood blood.

Seriously.

Maybe Bruce Willis believes his fans (Die Hard, Die Harder, Die Hardest) demand a mountain of corpses. But here it just dumbs down the plot and takes away from the murders that define his character.

When The Movie Slut left the multiplex she was numbed down. Heaps of violence can have that effect on moviegoers. But after thinking about the totality of this film, she warmed to it. The end, may not exactly justify the means. But it almost made up for them.

For A Good Time Call: 1-800-mmm-hmmm

The Movie Slut wanted a good time at the multiplex. The title of this thoroughly modern movie sounded promising.

It's a tale of two post-college gals trying to make it in the big city, New York, to be exact.

That makes it a bona fide chick flick. Unlike the disappointing "Bridesmaids," this movie had its finger firmly placed on the female pulse. It was raunchy at times but never gross or scatological. (Let's face it girls may want to have fun, but not in the bathroom.)

Good Time feels like a flick for chicks, by chicks and about chicks. It understands what 20-somethings of the XX variety have on their minds.

It's fresh and funny. And yes, The Movie Slut had a good time at the multiplex. A very good time.

Arbitrage: Cynicism as an art form

Does everyone have a price?

If you've answered "yes" to this question, you'll probably like this movie more than those who answered,"no."

Arbitrage is smooth, swift, slick and uber-cynical. It's about a Master of the Universe (Richard Gere), who's made a monumentally bad investment.

The film hinges, to some extent, on movie-goers caring about what happens to this financial schemer. Which isn't difficult for many viewers who've loved Gere unconditionally for 32 years, ever American Gigolo.

And just as this reservoir of good feeling begins evaporating in this dark film, we meet two other characters, who may actually have ethical standards.

The real strength of this edge-of-your-seat flick is the way it moves and feels like a thriller, even though not a firearm finds its way to the screen.

The weakness is the ending, which leaves a bunch of loose threads, allowing viewers to wonder who was really bought.

  

Trouble With The Curve: A Home Run

Clint Eastwood made the Movie Slut's day. And it had nothing to do with chairs.

Now, MS is not one of those movie goers who worships at the alter of CE. She didn't even love Gran Torino. Or Million Dollar Baby.

But this time around Eastwood, who brings back his role of crusty curmudgeon, is helped by Amy Adams, his daughter, who's as stubborn and angry as he is. And maybe smarter.

Trouble is a hybrid movie, a father/daughter flick, a romance and, most especially, a baseball film (with all the emotions this brings with it). Sure, it's predictable, but the narrative and sub-plots behave like curve balls, keeping the viewer interested and sometimes, even, surprised.

Justin Temberlake, as a young baseball scout learning at the creaky knees of Clint, a well-seasoned scout, elevates every movie he's in.

Trouble my not be a must-see. Still, it's a shouldn't-be-missed movie.

Words: Leaves you with thoughts.

Words is like a Russian nesting doll. It's a story within a story within a story. Which means, dear movie goers, that you get three stories for the price of one ticket.

If that's not enough to get you to the mega-plex, well then, you may not be enough of a movie lover.

The critics — the professional ones — did not write laudatory reviews of this flick. The Movie Slut wonders why. Three good stories! And terrific performances by Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid and Zoe Saldana. What more do they want?

They fussed about the end of the movie, which was a bit wordy and threw out several ideas to think about. And perhaps the movie would have been better if the audience were left to its conclusions.

The movie brings up ideas about ethical judgements, repercussions of poor judgements and moving beyond the past. Lots to think about here.

Searching for Sugar Man: A Musical Mystery

In 1968, a young musician burst on the scene. Like Dylan, he was a poet. Like The Beatles, his music captured the lyrical nature of the times.


Some thought he was the next big thing.
Then he disappeared.

The musician's name is Rodriguez. And before he vanished, he'd become a cult figure in Apartheid South Africa.

And so, it was a small group of South Africans who set out to discover what happened to him.

Searching for Sugarman is a gripping mystery and an auditory delight.

It's a must-see movie and that's all The Movie Slut will say. Oh, one suggestion. Don't read any reviews that might give away the ending.