[6] Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara star in the second adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel about a journalist and a computer hacker who work to solve the mystery of a missing woman. Is there perhaps something wrong with the fact that The Social Network is more exciting than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? People looking at computer monitors and holding board meetings shouldn’t be …
[7] Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam star in this story about a wrongfully-expelled college student who falls into the dangerous British subculture of football ‘hooliganism’. The closest thing we have in America are street gangs, but the British ‘hooligans’ are a little more organized and revolve around football (soccer in America). Wood plays the disenfranchised student while Hunnam plays a higher up in the Green Street Elite …
[5] This early Oscar-winning best picture is uneven at best. Richard Dix makes for a hammy lead, while Irene Dunne is stuck playing his harpy of a wife. The film follows the two as they move west to Oklahoma at the end of the 1800s. The second half of the movie skips through so much time and character development, I felt pretty discombobulated by the …
[8] The teenaged children of a lesbian couple seek out their sperm donor and wackiness ensues. Actually, it’s not all that wacky, and that’s what’s refreshing about The Kids Are All Right. The film steers clear of good/bad absolutes and offers up an ensemble of characters a little more sophisticated than Hollywood rom-coms tend to offer. And while the moms may be gay, I think …
[7] Across the Universe follows a group of young people who come of age against the turbulent backdrop of the 1960s. The film is set to a constant stream of rejiggered Beatles tunes, which allows director Julie Taymor (Broadway’s The Lion King, Titus, Frida) to cut loose with her trademark visual splendor and poetic license in a wide variety of music video sequences. When the …
[7] [SPOILER REVIEW] Sue me, but I like both the Peckinpah original and this remake. Straw Dogs is a home invasion thriller that is either a tragedy about a pacifist man (James Marsden) who must turn violent to survive, or a celebration of the vicious animal in us all. I’m not sure which, but I enjoy the thematic exploration either way. Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and …
[4] Ewan McGregor plays a man falling in love with a woman after his father has passed away. His father, played by Christopher Plummer, was married to Ewan’s mom for decades before coming out as gay and enthusiastically embracing a new outlook on life. Ewan’s character recalls his relationship with his father and tries applying lessons learned to his new relationship (Melanie Laurent). Now, I …
[7] Errol Flynn plays General George Custer in this romantic (though not very historically accurate) panache of the accomplished Civil War general who met a celebrated fate at Little Big Horn. Despite the liberties taken in the script, it’s a fun mini-epic of a movie with a lot to offer the Gone with the Wind crowd. Flynn gives one of his better performances here, opposite Olivia …
[8] Ryan Gosling channels his inner Eastwood in this stylish thriller about a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver. The combination of Hossein Amini’s emotionally restrained script and Nicolas Winding Refn’s visceral direction are a winning combination, boosted tremendously by Newton Thomas Sigel’s crisp, colorful cinematography and Cliff Martinez’s minimalist, evocative score. Gosling’s screen presence can never be disputed after this film. Like …
[7] Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) stars as a mysterious teenager raised in the wilderness by her ex-CIA father (Eric Bana) to be a lethal killing machine. Director Joe Wright steps out of his comfort zone (his previous films include Atonement and Pride & Prejudice) to deliver a stylish thriller galvanized by terrific performances from Ronan and Cate Blanchett, whose never been sexier or scarier …
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