Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the story of the hunt for a Soviet mole high within the ranks of the British Intelligence Service.  The film is an adaptation of a novel written in 1974 by David Cornwell.  Cornwell didn’t have to look far for inspiration for this novel.  He was an MI5 agent whose identity was given to the Russians by double agents, including one very high-ranking member of his service.

The very first thing I noticed as the film started was the cinematography.  In the world of sharp, bright, HD where you can practically count the hairs on an actor’s arm, this movie has a distinct grey and vintage feel.  It has a film grain filter applied, that makes the movie look like it was filmed in the 70’s or 80’s.  Since the story takes place in the 70’s, the effect really adds to the feel of the movie.  The acting is superb.  While most of the characters are stiff and flat, they give the occasional glimpse of raw emotion that shows beneath their dignified fronts are normal men. 

The storyline is incredibly complex, and uses flashbacks to tell much of the story.  Today most directors don’t use inference to communicate important and/or subtle plot details.  This movie is one of the rare exceptions.  Nearly everything in this movie is subtle.  It feels as if you blink, you will miss something important.  I believe that it is going to require a second viewing to catch all the subtleties.  The movie isn’t like most modern spy movies.  There are no high-speed chases, running gun battles, exploding buildings etc.  The movie is strictly intellectual, and I feel is a better story because it is so different.

If you want to go to the movies and just be entertained, this movie is probably not for you.  This movie requires focus and to intuitively understand the character’s actions.  If you like a good intellectual movie, this film definitely fits the bill.  I give it 9 / 10.  

The Season of the Witch (2011)

In Season of the Witch, a knight named Behmen (Nicolas Cage) and his buddy, Felsen (Ron Perlman) are serving in the crusades.  After following orders to kill women and children, they desert and head for home.    When they are captured as deserters they are given the option to assist in escorting a confessed witch to a distant monastery.  They agree and begin the dangerous journey toward their freedom.

The Season of the Witch is quite short at 95 minutes, which is a good thing. The story left me sighing constantly, and shaking my head so much I looked like I had Parkinson's.  The graphics were lame, and done poorly.  The demons in the comedy TV series Reaper, looked better than in this big screen film.  During a sequence where bad guys are dropping down from the roof, it looked as if they kept reusing the same footage of one landing.  It felt like the space battle scenes in the original Battlestar Galactica series.

When the only good thing you can say about a movie, is that it could have been worse...there is a problem.  I did not enjoy this movie, and am grateful I didn't spend money on it.  Not worth watching.  I give it a 5 / 10.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

How a movie with sex, rape, forcible sodomy, nudity torture, mayhem, violence, dismembered people and animals, drug and alcohol usage, was able to get a R rating instead of NC-17 is beyond me.  Now normally I would say that all these things are a cheap way to drag people into the seats for the shock factor only.  But not so with this movie.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is based upon the first book in the trilogy by Stieg Larrson.  There is already a Swedish version of this film made in 2009.  I’ve not read the books, or seen the original screen adaptation, although it and its sequel have been in my Netflix queue for months.

The story is that of the brilliant hacker Lisbeth Salander, played by Rooney Mara, and journalist Mikael Blomkvist, Daniel Craig, as they work together to try and solve a decades old murder.  While the movie is told with Mikael as the main character, it is Lisbeth who is the real heroine, and total bad ass, to the story.  After being sued for libel and loosing, Mikael is discredited and financially ruined.  He is approached by a billionaire and asked to investigate his family to try and determine who killed his great niece back in the 1960’s. Mikael agrees and hires Lisbeth to assist.  Along the way the pair delves into the entire family’s sordid secrets.

I’m not a huge fan of mysteries because I usually predict the ending within the first half of the movie.  To my pleasant surprise, that was not the case here.  The movie is full of twists, turns and red herrings. At over 2 and a half hours, the movie is very long...however it doesn't feel like it.  The pacing is perfect, and kept me riveted the whole time.  The performances by the main characters, and even the supporting characters, were excellent.  I expect to see several Academy Award nominations for this film.  The beautiful Rooney Mara, has already been nominated for a Golden Globe.  She will be up against competition like Viola Davis (The Help).  I do not think she will win, since she is nude in the movie, and in close competitions, the movie with nudity usually looses; but at least her performance was strong enough that they recognized it despite the nudity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  Much like Black Swan, it has a real dark feel to it, but is an exceptional story.  I would highly recommend you see this film, but DO NOT let your children watch it. In fact, I would discourage letting teenagers watch it.  I give it a 9 / 10.

Natural Born Killers: Director's Cut (1994)

First off I want to point out that Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone's famous Natural Born Killers had to be edited 5 times to earn its R rating. The version I saw is the director's cut, which would have been NC-17.

I've been told many times that NBK is a film that I needed to see. It has been in my Netflix queue for months. When I saw that it was expiring on January 1, I figured it was time to watch it.

NBK uses a multitude of graphic styles, from black and white, to super saturated, to 50's sitcom, to America's Most Wanted. It is extremely violent and graphic. It tries to be a comedy, a social commentary, an action film and an artistic expression. In the end it just ends up being a jumble.

I can see some merit to the film, such as the transformation of Detective Scagetti from an officer specializing in mass murderers, to a murderer himself. This directly relates to the quote by Neitzsche "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze
into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." However the social and philosophic commentaries are not enough to overcome the feel that this movie is violence for the sake of violence.

Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis deliver good performances, but every other character is ridiculously stereotyped and one dimensional. Even Robert Downey Jr, and Tommy Lee Jones's characters were so ridiculous that even their acting couldn't save them. Oliver Stone's
directing was unique and carried the film farther than it could have gone. The Mythbusters proved that you can actually polish a turd, but the fact remains...a polished turd is still a turd.

This movie is the epitome of a polished turd. I would advise against wasting your time watching it. It is definitely not something your kids should watch, and definitely deserves a NC-17 rating. I give it a 5/10.

Notting Hill (1999)

Last night my wife wanted to watch a movie with me and chose Notting Hill, a film neither of us had seen. Notting Hill was released the week we graduated from high school, and would have been a perfect date movie for us to go see. After all it had only been 11 days since I asked Lisa to be my girlfriend. Unfortunately, I never had the sense to take her. While I had heard good things about the movie, a romantic comedy is not something a guy just watches on his own normally. Thanks to my wonderful bride, I was able to enjoy this movie while retaining my man card.

Notting Hill went on to be nominated for three Golden Globe awards. One for best picture, and one each for best actor/actress in a comedy/musical for Hugh Grant and the beautiful and talented Julia Roberts.

The film is your typical romantic comedy plot line. Poor boy gets the girl, looses the girl, gets her back. Along the way both have transformations of character and come out of the crisis even more in love, and better for the experience.

With that said, this movie is extremely funny. My wife and I were laughing throughout much of the movie. Roberts and Grant had great chemistry, and worked well together. The movie had some great dialog and banter. The cinematography was typical for a film filmed mostly indoors on sets that are supposed to be inside. There was one time morph sequence that was exceptionally well done, cute, and effective.

All in all my wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The next time your girl wants to curl up on the couch and watch something romantic, pull up Notting Hill on Netflix, etc. You will enjoy the comedy, she will enjoy the romance. It is a win-win for you. I give the film 8/10.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

If you are like me, when you first heard they were making a movie based upon the classic television series Mission Impossible, you were stoked. Then after watching the film, and each subsequent sequel, you felt disappointed. Well the string of disappointments is over. Ghost Protocol finally delivers a movie worthy of the franchise name.

When the MI team is framed for the bombing of the Kremlin, it falls to Ethan and a few agents to clear the organization's name, bring the real terrorists to justice and prevent nuclear war.

Tom Cruise may be bat-shit-crazy, but he certainly delivers a brilliant performance. Each of the main characters delivers superb, in-character performances. While the story is of course so far fetched as to have no semblance of reality, it fits for the franchise. The story successfully blends action, mystery, comedy and drama to create a well rounded mood.

The movie is rated PG-13 for action and violence, which is a fair rating. This movie is bound to make a ton of money, and may even see some nominations at the various awards shows. I would encourage you to go see this film on the big screen. I give it a 9/10.

The Descendants (2011)

George Clooney plays Matt King, the descendant of Hawaiian nobility. He is a lawyer and the executed of the family trust worth billions to him and his cousins. When a new law forces the trust to sell off its property the Kings begin looking for a buyer. Tragedy strikes when Matt's thrill seeking wife is critically injured in a boating accident. Matt finds himself trying to gather his children, deal with his wife's coma, keep up his practice and proceed with the sale of the family trust. When Matt finds out his wife had been having an affair, Matt's world is thrown even further into chaos as he struggles to come to terms with the pain and provide guidance for his immediate and extended family. This movie is an emotional drama/comedy that leaves you sympathizing with the main characters. Each actor delivers an exceptional performance. I was particularly impressed with Clooney's performance. Each character has depth and different facets to their personality. The writing is exceptional and the cinematography is beautiful. Some will feel that the movie moves too slowly, but I feel it is paced appropriately for the story being told. The Descendants is rated R primarily for language. While I believe that teenagers would be fine watching the movie, they will probably be bored. I would encourage you to see this film. I give it a 9/10.