The Lookout

 4 out of 5 star rating – A must see

 "The Lookout" is a psychological thriller that is unexpectedly smart, brutal, and uncompromising.  The intelligent crime drama is centered around Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt,), a former high school star athlete, who crashes his car one night due to reckless driving. The accident kills his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend, while his own girlfriend loses a leg. Pratt himself has a head injury that lowers his IQ and diminishes his memory to the point where he has to refer to a notebook to do simple, everyday tasks.

 He manages to get a job as a janitor in a bank and as he tries to maintain a normal life. One day, he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to know him and seems to accept him in his present condition. Wanting to feel normal again, he is drawn into a new world of friendship, women, and living life free and on the edge. But he soon questions the motives of his new friend as he is pulled into a plot to rob the bank in which he works. What follows is a hard-edged story with real consequences. Bolstered by a powerful lead performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this film is believable and both true to the conventions of crime genre and surprisingly different.

 A Mighty Heart 

 4 out of 5 star rating – A must see

 Angelina Jolie stars as Mariane Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in an adaptation of Mariane's memoir recounting the abduction and murder of her husband by Pakistani militants. On January 23, 2002, Mariane Pearl's world changed forever. Her husband Daniel, South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, was researching a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid. The story drew them to Karachi where a go-between had promised access to an elusive source. As Danny left for the meeting, he told Mariane he might be late for dinner. He never returned. In the face of death, Danny's spirit of defiance and his unflinching belief in the power of journalism led Mariane to write about his disappearance, the intense effort to find him and his eventual murder in her memoir, A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl. The remarkable true story behind the murder that shook the entire world.

 Certainly, this is one of Angelina Jolie's most riveting performances yet.