Twin Bill

BEAUFORT

This tense, tough war movie is a modern classic. It’s about a small detachment of Israeli soldiers defending a 12th Century crusader castle in southern Lebanon in 2000. But after 18 years of bloody occupation, the Israeli army is pulling out of Lebanon – and these are the last guys left. The movie never raises the question, but the implication is clear: as the GIs said in Vietnam, who wants to be the last soldier to die here?

The Israelis have gotten used to daily barrages of mortar fire, more a nuisance than an outright threat, but when Hezbollah fighters up the ante with US-made missiles, things start to look very dicey. When an appealing young soldier is killed by a roadside bomb, the officer in charge, Liraz (Oshri Cohen) begins to crack under the pressure. The countdown begins to their ultimate withdrawal, but first they will mine the entire fortress with high explosives. Then they’re told to stay put for at least another day – and the tension ratchets even higher. We never see the enemy in this war movie, but we always know they’re out there, somewhere in that beautiful mountain landscape.

Joseph Cedar directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Ron Lesham, who wrote a novel about his real life experience in a situation very much like this one. “Beaufort” was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film (it’s in Hebrew). Look, I know you’re probably not going to run down to the Movies on Exchange Street to see this one, but look for it in your next Netflix order.

It’s rated R for realistic warfare.


HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY

Now for something completely different. I really enjoyed the rude, crude humor of the first Harold and Kumar movie. Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) are sort of a stoner Abbott and Costello, bickering buddies who get into all sorts of hot water over the smallest issues.

In “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle,” the two set out on a quest for burgers that seemed to go on forever. In this new one, they’re on a plane for Amsterdam when their bong is mistaken for a bomb, and before they know it they’re in orange jumpsuits at Gitmo. The humor here is pretty dark: Guantanamo is seen as a cross between a medieval dungeon and a homosexual rape camp, a broad and unfunny reference to Abu Ghraib, I suppose.

Fortunately for H & K, their sojourn in Cuba is cut short and off they go on another cross-country quest, in search of someone who will get them out of this mess. They are pursued by an implacable moron from the Department of Homeland Security (“Daily Show” alum Rob Corddry), and along the way encounter some moderately amusing characters, including a Texas madam (Beverly D’Angelo), a Ku Klux Klan Wizard (“Law and Order SVU” star Chris Meloni, using a fake name in the credits) and President Bush hisself (James Adomian).

This edition of the Harold and Kumar series was written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who co-wrote but did not direct the original. Maybe that’s why I felt this one was bogged down by leaden humor and slow-moving gags. Oh, it has its moments, particularly when the Rob Corddry’s character comes up against the very Americanized parents of the two fugitives and has an interpreter address Harold’s family in pidgin-Korean, even when they respond in perfect American English. In fact, the real subversive joy of the Harold and Kumar movies is not the grossout gags, but the fact that a Korean-American and an Indian-American are the new faces of American comedy.

Rated R for sexual and scatological humor.

The Visitor

If heavy metal movies like “Iron Man” or “Speed Racer” are not to your taste, may we suggest a smaller, more digestible film, perhaps? My pick in that category is “The Visitor,” a quiet, careful and compelling little movie with some noteworthy performances and a powerful message.

I am always interested in movies that were written and directed by the same person; they are usually personal statements that resonate, in contrast to the committee and focus group-helmed productions that often suffer from terminal bloat. “The Visitor” was written and directed by Thomas McCarthy, a multi-talented young fellow who has appeared in supporting roles in dozens of movies and TV shows, and also wrote and directed the delightfully offbeat 2003 movie, “The Station Agent.”

As with “Smart People,” “The Visitor’s” central character is a disenchanted college professor. Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) is a quiet man, a widower as solitary in the campus cafeteria as in his empty suburban home. When circumstances require him to attend a conference in New York City, he returns to the small apartment he and his wife shared there, only to find it occupied by a young immigrant couple. Tarak (Haaz Sleiman) is Syrian, his girlfriend Zainab (Danai Gurira) is Senegalese. At first, Walter wants to throw the squatters out on the street, but he soon relents and before long is sharing the apartment with them.

Tarak plays the Tabl, a Syrian drum, with a jazz trio in the Village. Charming and gregarious, he begins to instruct the reserved professor in drumming and starts to thaw this frozen personality. Zainab, who makes jewelry and sells it on the street, is wary of the older American now living in the apartment, but is willing to go along with Tarak. There is a wonderful drum session in Central Park. Then a sudden twist of fate turns this movie into a very different story, one that soon involves Tarak’s mother, played by the elegant Israeli Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass.

I won’t give away what happens, but I can tell you that you won’t soon forget the outcome of this movie. There are many quiet pleasures to be had in “The Visitor,” not the least of which is the New York backdrop. The characters are believable and human, beautifully underplayed by a strong cast. There are moments of great joy and a powerful undercurrent of sadness. Life is like that.

“The Visitor” is a perfect little movie for an imperfect world. It’s rated PG-13 for adult language and situations.

Iron Man

Better get this one posted quickly, because the entire country will have seen this movie by next weekend. It already did $100-million in its first two days, and guess what: your movie ticket is money well spent.

That's because with only a few missteps, this movie is everything a summer blockbuster should be. It's action-packed, has terrific special effects and most of all it's a ton of fun to watch, thanks to a hip director (John Favreau, of "Swingers" fame) and a top-drawer cast. Heading that A-list is Robert Downey Jr., the coolest cat ever to play a super hero.

Downey has so much fun as playboy arms billionaire Tony Stark that I almost hated to see him become all grim and determined when he donned his Iron Man armor. We first see him, Scotch in hand, riding in a Humvee in Afghanistan, flirting with a woman soldier and joking with other GI's. Then all hell breaks loose, with some very realistic combat scenes.

Stark is captured by a shadowy group of terrorists (although they sure looked like Mujahadeen to me. Mistake number one.). They waterboard him. (I'm not sure why they adopted this all-American form of torture, since their leader comes up with a much nastier idea later in the movie. Mistake number two.) When they force him to replicate his deadliest weaponry, Tony comes up with a plan of his own -- and the movie is off and flying.

Backing up Downey's terrific performance is a strong supporting cast: Jeff Bridges (the Dude!) now sports a shaved head and a full beard, but still shows off a sly acting style. Terrence Howard ("Crash") is Downey's sidekick, apparently on loan from the Pentagon. And Gwyneth Paltrow is a smart, perky office manager back at Stark Enterprises. They all perform their functions admirably, as does a wonderfully sarcastic software program, which seems to do most of Tony Stark's gruntwork, including helping him fly that suit of armor around.

I won't give away too many of the movie's surprises -- you've already seen one of them if you saw the trailer. It's a great scene where Downey tries out some of the powers of his Iron Man armor and does a sudden backspin right into the wall. Throughout scenes like this, Downey keeps the hip patter going, providing his own hilarious narration. You've seen CGI stuff before, but never with the ironic voice of Tony Stark explaining what's going on.

What sets the comic book character of Iron Man apart from so many other superheroes is that there is no element of tragedy in his creation. Superman was sent out from a doomed planet, Spiderman can't catch a break, The Hulk is a scientist trapped in a monstrous body. Iron Man is simply the creation of a gifted tinkerer, who goes from taking apart vintage sports cars to assembling a flying, fireball-shooting suit of armor. That's it: no super powers, no tragic past, just a hep cat who sets out to rectify his ill-gotten gains with a little firepower.

This summer is sure to bring some ham-handed box office bombast in the guise of a comic book movie. Enjoy the first such entry of the season for what it is -- one very cool thrill ride.

This one's rated PG-13 for some comic book violence, and a soupcon of sex.