“Boomsday” by Christopher Buckley
Rating: B+

More political satire from the author of “Thank You For Smoking,” this witty novel focuses its sting on the greedy baby boomers milking Social Security dry. Cassandra Devine, a pretty 20-something activist, enlists in the military after her selfish father blows her college savings account on a business venture. Putting her Yale aspirations on hold, she ends up in Afghanistan and is soon escorting a visiting congressman, Randy Jepperson (distant relative of Jefferson!) A roadside bomb sends them injured back to the U.S., where they soon realize opportunity in each other. Jepperson has greater political aspirations and Cassandra wants to put a fork in the elderly; romance ensues! Voluntary suicide is dressed in the term “transitioning” and they take the idea on the campaign trail, winning the hearts and minds of “under 30s” tired of shouldering the burden of an increasingly aged population.

tip! Avoid the Deus Ex Machina epilogue.

“The Bakery Girl of Monceau”
Rating: A

At just 23 minutes long, this French fare by new wave director Eric Rohmer explores love’s patience. A law student sits at a corner Parisian cafe with his buddy, obsessing over a woman who regularly walks by. His desire is obvious, but she seems oblivious to the fact. One day the woman disappears, leaving him mopey and obsessing over what could have been. He soon tries moving on, visiting a bakery where he regularly buys a cookie from a young and comely cashier. Flirting commences and he is eventually forced to choose after the original woman reappears. A natural take on crushes, shot in shaky black and white with erratic jump cuts that are a hallmark of the new wave movement.

“Dark City”
Rating: A

A darkly vivid film noir from director Alex Proyas (“The Crow”), “Dark City” at its core is a sci-fi commentary on memories and reality. With a suspicious amount in common with “The Matrix” (which came out a year later,) our hero John Murdock (played by relative unknown Rufus Sewell) wakes up memoryless in a bathtub while a dead prostitute lies bloody in the next room. He flees the scene, finding out that he has a beautiful cheating wife (Jennifer Connelly) as he eludes both the cops and a bald, floating group of aliens dubbed “The Strangers.” When John and no one else can remember how to get to Shell Beach (whose postcards and billboards are the only vivid color throughout the movie,) we begin to realize that these Strangers are puppet masters in this land of darkness. Teeming with 1920’s New York City-style sets and lighting reminiscent of a Batman or Dick Tracy flick, “Dark City” features a bittersweet ending that is far more satisfying than anything by the Wachowski brothers.