Reel advice: Stars in our eyes

It's hard to find fault with John Boone's big screen adaptation of John Green's Y/A novel masterwork The Fault In Our Stars (Fox 2000). As faithful as a two hour movie can be to the near-epic tome on which it is based, The Fault In Our Stars is a luminous cinematic tragedy, falling somewhere between Love Story and Terms of Endearment.

Like the book, the movie version eases us into the looming trauma with humor. It's an effective device in putting the viewer at ease while introducing us to the characters. Main character/narrator Hazel (Shailene Woodley) attends a cancer support group, oxygen tank in tow, at the urging of her concerned and caring parents Frannie (Laura Dern) and Michael (Sam Trammell), who think she's depressed. Their nudging pays off because Hazel meets the charismatic Augustus (Ansel Elgort), who lost half a leg to osteosarcoma, and her life is forever altered.

Getting better acquainted via texts (presented animatedly on screen), through the books they share and the movies they watch, Hazel and Augustus fall in love before our eyes. Before you can say "make a wish," the pair is bound for Amsterdam where they hope to get answers from reclusive writer Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe) about some of the mysteries surrounding his one and only book.

This is the proverbial beginning of the end. After sharing a romantic dinner and a night of intimacy, the trip reaches near-catastrophic levels on a few occasions. Once back home in Indiana, things take a sharp turn for the worse and the waterworks begin. If you are prepared for what follows – including the gas station scene – then you will be better able to appreciate the film as a whole, including the breathtaking performances.

Woodley has already proven herself to be a rising star, on par with Jennifer Lawrence, in films ranging from The Descendants to Divergent. But the real star of the show – especially judging by the squeals, swoons and sighs of the tween/teen girls and gay guys in the audience at the screening – and rightfully so, is Elgort. This is a breakout performance comparable to Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise. You never doubt his character for a second and his performance, as well as Woodley's, is Oscar caliber.

Filmmaker and writer Pawel Pawlikowski has a talent for presenting unforgettable female characters such as young lesbian Tamsin – played by Emily Blunt (!) – in My Summer of Love. The same holds true for the titular character in Ida (Music Box Films).

About a week before orphan turned novitiate nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is set to take her vows at a Polish convent, she is summoned to the Mother Superior's office and encouraged to venture into the city and meet with Wanda (Agata Kulesza), an aunt who is her only living relative. Initially, Wanda is cold and distant. She is not above trying to shock Anna, with words and deeds, beginning with asking her if she's a "Jewish nun."

From the expression on Anna's face, the news comes as a complete surprise. But Wanda's not done yet. She tells Anna her real name is Ida and provides sketchy details about her parents who died during World War II, before abruptly departing. But something changes in Wanda while she is at work, and when she returns home, she begins to warm to Anna. She becomes more generous with the details, including that she was the sister of Anna's mother and that Anna is a redhead, like her mother.

The atheist/communist Wanda, aka Red Wanda by her Party pals, wants to be a corrupting influence on Anna, but agrees to accompany her to the town where her parents died. At this point, Ida becomes a road movie, with the two diametrically opposed characters traveling together, dealing with the police (Wanda is arrested and spends the night in a cell after driving drunk), picking up a hot hitchhiking sax player named Lis (Dawid Ogrodnik) and attempting to track down the man who "inherited" Ida's family's farm during the war, who may be the only person who can provide the details of how the family died, including Wanda's young son, and where they are buried.

The use of stark, gorgeous and bleak black and white film not only places the film in the early 1960s, but is fitting for the subject matter in which everything might not be, well, black and white. Full of unusual juxtapositions and some of the most shocking revelations you are likely to see in a movie, foreign or domestic, this year. Exquisite to look at, even in the scenes when you may find yourself looking away, Ida is definitely a film for which it would be wise to have tissues nearby. The performances, particularly those of the two female leads, are stellar and riveting. For not being your typical Holocaust film, Ida is very strongly recommended.

As Lifetime Network biopics go, House of Versace (Lifetime/Lionsgate) towers, like a leggy supermodel, over Liz & Dick. Gina Gershon was born to play platinum fashion amazon Donatella Versace, straddling the line between characterization and caricature. The same can be said for Enrico Colantoni as the Gianni Versace.

Based on Deborah Ball's book of the same name, House of Versace dramatizes the tempestuous but undeniably successful working relationship that existed in the Versace family. "Clever little snake" Donatella (Gershon) has a knack for lining up celebrities to wear her brother's couture designs. She loves the nightlife and isn't shy about whipping out her nose candy dispenser and indulging.

Gianni (Colantoni) is the opposite; a workaholic who prefers being a homebody, snuggling in his pajamas with boyfriend Antonio (Stefano DiMatteo). This type of behavior doesn't sit well with Donatella, who has her own brood (a husband and two kids) to look after, leading to "jealous bickering" between Donatella (her "brother's muse") and Antonio (her brother's man). At least Donatella and Gianni get along with each other better than they do with number crunching brother Santo (Colm Feore), who resents the way that he and his family are disrespected by his closer siblings.

House of Versace's turning point occurs in July of 1997 when Gianni is assassinated by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in front of his Miami palace. The filmmakers do an excellent job of marrying the vintage funeral footage with that created for the film. From this point on we witness Donatella's downward spiral, resulting in the dissolution of her marriage, estrangement from her daughter and son, and the Versace legacy in ruins. Not even the arrival of matriarchal Aunt Lucia (Raquel Welch channeling Sophia Loren) seems to have an effect. To make matters worse, Princess Diana's sudden death sends Donatella over the edge.

All is not lost, however, and an intervention leads to Donatella being whisked away to rehab in a private jet. Clean and sober (but still smoking like a fiend), Donatella comes back better than ever. She designs a new and beautiful collection built on the foundation made by Gianni and peace returns to the kingdom.

Campy fun for gay men and their straight women friends (and, of course, all those lesbians who have been crushing on Gershon since Bound), House of Versace is classic home entertainment. The DVD contains no bonus materials.

Like House of Versace, The Bling Ring (A24/Lionsgate) is based on real people and events. Taken from a Vanity Fair article by Nancy Jo Sales, The Bling Ring follows the exploits of Adderall-popping, selfie-snapping teen thieves who perpetrated a string of Hollywood Hills burglaries.

Gay teen Marc (Israel Broussard) meets Rebecca (Katie Chang) on his first day at the "dropout school" they attend. They click and soon they're getting high at the beach, talking about their future goals and stealing the contents from unlocked cars in upscale neighborhoods. From there they move on to unlocked houses, where they help themselves to money, credit cards, jewelry, purses and cars.

Clubbing with Chloe (Claire Julien), they meet up with home-schooled best friends Nikki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taisa Farmiga). Marc and Rebecca continue their "shopping" spree, with a stop at Paris Hilton's pad, and soon their friends want join in the felony fun. Their desire to "rob," returns the quintet to the Hilton homestead where they help themselves to more goodies.

With Chloe temporarily sidelined following her arrest for a DUI, her besties continue their mission, each take bigger than the previous, including artwork and home décor. Even after a close-call with security at Paris', the group reconvenes, but they get careless and are captured on CCTV while at the home of Audrina Patridge.

Living the high life, in more ways than one, the gang achieves minor celebrity status. That works against them when the CCTV footage makes the news and people rat them out for their crimes. All but Sam, including bling ringleader Rebecca, who has left the state, are arrested, tried and sentenced.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about The Bling Ring , aside from the sociopathic behavior and lack of remorse the teens exhibit, is the way Emma Watson is proving to be such a versatile actress (also see her in The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Not stymied in the least by her tenure in the Harry Potter series, Watson is an actress to watch. However, if you're still waiting for Ms. Coppola to live up to the promise of Lost In Translation, you will have to wait a little longer, because The Bling Ring is a disappointment. DVD special features include Digital Ultraviolet, "making of" and behind the scenes featurettes and more.