Movies you've seen recently (possible spoilers!)

Beginners. Loved the hell out of this movie. Melanie Laurent stole the show for me, but Christopher Plummer deserved at least an Oscar nod, if not the win he got (which may have been more a lifetime achievement appreciation award). Ewan McGregor is also good. It's just a moving, quirky, funny film with lovable characters.

Killing Bono. Based on a true story of a friend who had a band in school at the same time Bono was in the beginnings of U2. And how one band ended up in obscurity and the other to the heights of fame.

It was very entertaining. You wanted to throttle Neil McCormick, Bono's friend, because at every turn he seemed to sabotage himself in his quest for stardom. He had so many chances it wasn't funny.

Martin McCann who plays Bono is uncanny in his performance. At times you swear it's REALLY Bono in the scene.

Robert Sheehan plays Neil McCormick's brother Ivan. This guy's been just about everything I've watched recently, I swear. I first saw him in the British show Misfits and found him annoying, but now that I've seen him in other things, he's growing on me.

I also watched the British TV 3-part movie called Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980, and Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983. Very good, and creepy. Robert Sheehan shows up in these, as well. As does Andrew Garfield in the first part. All streaming on Netflix, and I'd recommend them.

Oh, I also watched Page One: Inside the New York Times (Gotta love Netflix streaming!). About the decline of the newspaper industry. Since I'm kinda in the industry, I was very interested in this. And then it depressed me. And scared me. Think it's time to find a new job...

And then I also saw The Hunger Games. Wasn't all that impressed with it, actually. I haven't read the books, yet and I really want to, since I feel like I was missing a lot. It felt like a highlights reel, actually. I loved the cast and how it was filmed. And wish it had been made into a miniseries and shown on HBO, Showtime or something like that. I think it would have been better.

That's about all I've seen in the past two weeks. (lol)

I watched Autumn Harvest, A Tale of Two Cities, The Prisoner of Zenda, The Painted Veil and American History X since the last time I came in here. All of them really good films (all of them featuring Ronald Coleman, except The Painted Veil and American History X).

Hanna, starring Cate Blanchette, Saoirse Ronan, the young lady is so good, and Cate Blancette never fails even if she is the bad-guy. a good action film, on the edge of my seat, I felt a little cheated by the ending but, well done

The Descendants. Finally saw this. Sneaky powerful. Great performances from George Clooney and Shailene Woodley and really the whole cast.

Tried watching Titanic in 3D.

Eeeer. Love the first half of the movie. Always have.

Second half bores me to death. Always have. I left the movie theatre and went home sometime after Titanic hit the iceberg. OK, I missed the cute ending, but I have it on DVD.

The 3D didn't really add anything to the experience, methinks, except that the boat looked beautiful in sunset.

Mission Impossible 4. Bleh. So many eye-rolling moments. At least I saw it at the cheap theater.

Possession (1981). An experience I could have lived without. That's all.

The Change-up. Eh, it was slightly better than I expected, particularly the second half or so. But still not that great.

The Avengers. Started out slowly, with lots of melodramatic scene chewing, but once it ramped up, man it was good. Whedon really understood not only the action but the dynamic between the characters. Definitely looking forward to the sequel. Iron Man 3 starts filming a few hours away later this month (might even be filming now). Might have to go hang out with Robert Downey and Sam Jackson.

Girl with Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Very good remake of a very good film. And impossible to not compare the American version to the Swedish one. I preferred Noomi Rapace to Rooney Mara in the role of Lisbeth Salander, but then I preferred Daniel Craig to Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist. Rapace seemed more alluring in her own way, and maintained a hint of fear under the iron mask. Mara seemed more sure of herself. And Craig added a warmth and character to a fairly average role. And they also added more to the subplots around him in the American version. So something lost, something gained all through. I ended up liking the movies equally much, but in different ways. There were two things I disliked in the American remake, however:

I felt the opening credit was too much of a James Bond pastiche, and seeing it is indeed "James Bond" in the lead role it seemed too much of a meta reference.

Also, the mock Scandinavian accent all except Daniel Craig put on... I know some of the actors WERE Scandinavian, but it also applies to American Rooney Mara and a couple of others. I found it distracted me from the story. Not because I mind an accent, but because it felt fake. And pointless. However, the filmography from Sweden was very atmospheric and proper, and I liked the pace David Fincher maintained throughout.

So yes, a very good movie, both in its own rights, and when compared to the Swedish book and movie. I hope they make the full trilogy at this level. Glad to hear Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara is signed up for it, at least!

"Forbrydelsen" (The Crime)

Danish crime series. Twin Peaks meets CSI meets... something else. Was hooked from the first episode. The actual story takes place over ten days, and since the series is really long it almost feels like real time... (which it of course is not). But time flies when seeing it!

Main plot: a young girl is brutally raped and killed. Who did it? Only when taping the next last episode the cast themselves was told the identity of the killer. I might be wrong, but I feel this affects their acting. Everyone suspects everyone, and it feels genuine. The murder involves top politicians, youngsters, the police force and many others. All seem just as likely to have committed the murder, and this is much of the appeal.

Sofie Gråbøl is wonderful as the leading investigator, she has such a presence on screen. Understated, yet a bit rough. And she features gorgeous knitted sweaters from the Faroe islands, I see the hype now. The supporting cast is also excellent throughout, as is the shots of Copenhagen and surroundings.

I must admit the MOTIF of the killer was somewhat disappointing. But the series overall left me wanting more, a lot more. And I was thrilled to see a second season had been made. Though not a direct continuation of the first, it features Sofie Gråbøl in the lead and a similar plot taking a more political turn (Afghanistan, terror etc). I was even more thrilled to see it features the Danish Phantoms Flemming Enevold and Preben Kristensen!! Off to see some episodes now...

The Danish original has aired in England and many other countries. But there's also an American remake called "Who killed Rosie Larson?". The story is set to Seattle, and most names are changed. Maybe some of the plot as well. It's high on my list of stuff I want to see.

The Empire Strikes Back. What? Vader is Luke's father?!? I bet you're gonna tell me that Luke and Leia are brother and sister next...

R.

Last weekend I saw My Week with Marilyn, and then watched The Prince and the Show Girl right afterwards.

Michelle Williams is uncanny at times in her portrayal of Marilyn, even the scenes recreated from the movie were amazing.
She definitely deserved that Oscar nomination.

Last night saw Dark Shadows. I've been watching the series on Netflix so to get an ideal what the movie would be like. Burton did a pretty good job. Even some of the sets were right out of the old TV show. It was really campy and soap-operay but that made it fun, too.

Today, off to see Avengers in 3-D at a new Alamo Draftouse which opened less than a half-mile from my home (Love it. Dinner and a Movie, and within walking/biking distance. Woohoo.)

The Dictator. Well exceeded my expectations, which weren't very high based on the trailers. Sort of a cruder modern Coming to America. Since it's scripted, it doesn't feel as real as Borat, but it's really hilarious, and has several moments of brilliant cultural and political satire.

I've seen a number of movies in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

Cowboys and Aliens. Pretty bad script with shallow characters. Shame with all that talent in front of and behind the camera (Jon Favreau, Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, etc.).

Iron Lady. I've gotta admit I wasn't that thrilled with this. I love Meryl Streep, and she's good, but the movie itself just didn't do it for me. I also think Michelle Williams deserved the Oscar for...

My Week with Marilyn. Wow, what a performance from Williams. She just exudes Marilyn Monroe's playful sexiness, and she made me downright melt. But she also captured the dark side and the insecurities so well. It was also just a really well-made film, well-written, well-shot, and well-paced--never a dull moment. Eddie Redmayne (can't wait to see him as Marius now) and Kenneth Branagh were also really good, and a tasty small role for Emma Watson. Mmmm....

Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Pretty charming movie. Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, and Judy Greer are all great. Heartwarming ending.

Cabin in the Woods. I was disappointed, I guess because I had read that there's a clever twist, so I went in expecting something totally creative, and it was a let-down. Twilight Zone-esque in concept, but they kind of let you in on the man behind the curtain, so to speak, right from the very beginning. Could have been executed better.

Young Adult. Loved the hell out of this movie. Charlize Theron was so good in this role, and I could watch a Jason Reitman movie just about every day. But Patton Oswalt stole the show. His comic timing is perfect, and he actually showed some acting chops as well.

Prometheus. Way over-the-top acting, but I always love Ridley Scott's visual style, and it is a sort of blast from the past. Don't want to spoil the ending, but I'm sure you know what the movie is ultimately about. Hoping for a sequel. Michael Fassbender is really good as a robot, the only actor who felt real, in a sense, because he was so understated, compared to the others.

Albert Nobbs. Glenn Close and Janet McTeer both deserved their nominations for this movie, though the movie itself was only so-so. I never quite got the Nobbs character.

The Amazing Spider-Man. I had been looking forward to this for months, and it was the rare movie that exceeded my already high expectations. Everyone will find something in it to love. Along with the original Superman, Raimi's Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man 2, it's probably in the top five greatest superhero movies of all time. The thing that really made it for me was how they treated the characters. They finally nailed it totally, even better than in Spider-Man 2, which was hard to beat. And there's palpable, electric chemistry between real-life lovers Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, both of whom are individually perfect in their roles. Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary are good in their roles as well. Hope to get more of Sally Field in the next film.

21 Jump Street. I'm starting to appreciate Channing Tatum more and more, and I always love Jonah Hill. Two good cameos toward the end as well. It had its moments, and I laughed quite a bit throughout, but overall, it was a little too ridiculous for my taste.

Ted. Hilarious. Just so well-made. I've never been a huge Family Guy fan, but this was genius.

Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Absolutely loved it, from top to bottom. David Fincher's direction and the score made it feel like a throwback to Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter. Rooney Mara was incredible, and definitely deserved Oscar consideration.

Rock of Ages: It was okay. It was a little slow, and there was really no plot, but it was a fun way to spend a few hours on a particularly bad day.

Hem hem... Magic Mike : Good, not great. More plot than I expected, but a lot of really unnecessary scenes that made it drag on. It really wouldn't have been my first choice, but my friend was pretty set on seeing it.

Spider-Man: I may or may not have already seen this three times (including a midnight showing). As Dustin said, they handled the different characters very well, and there was a great balance of humor, romance, drama, and action. Andrew Garfield in particular gave a top-notch performance, but the whole cast was superb. It easily makes my top three movies of 2012 (maybe even my top one... haven't decided yet).

The ending of Dark Knight Rises really lives with you for awhile after you leave the theater. The movie as a whole was definitely not as good as Dark Knight, and it was a little all over the place, though it was a pretty good Batman movie, and Tom Hardy was great as Bane.

This Means War. Bleh. Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon do what they can, but it's just a generic love triangle/action film in the end.

The Campaign. Zach Galafianakis is amazing, and it's a really funny satire, but as someone who works in politics, I'd love to someday have a political movie that feels realistic and a satire that really goes for the gut and pulls no punches.

Hunger Games. Not really my cup of tea, but pretty well made, and engrossing once the games part started.

When Harry Met Sally. After all these years, I'd never seen it, but I loved it. Just perfect writing, and such great chemistry between Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

The Reader. Also hadn't ever seen this. Pretty good.

Hope Springs. Great, great movie. Amazing chemistry (non-chemistry?) between Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep.

The two faces of Dr Jekyll (1960). Great Victorian Gothic from Hammer, written by Wolf Mankowicz and directed by Terence Fisher. Rich old-school Technicolor by Hammer master Jack Asher, sets by Bernard Robinson and costumes by Molly Arbuthnot made really gorgeous movie. Hyde is young, handsome (?) and really unsympathetic rotter here, but I DO feel sorry for his victims, including Jekyll, prostitute Maria and, despite her adultery, Jekyll´s wife Kitty (red-head Dawn Addams and her costumes looking gorgeous in aforementioned photography!). I don´t understand what Kitty saw in someone like Paul Allen (Christopher Lee looking stylish but playing somewhat unsympathetic character). Paul Massie grinned too much as Hyde, but he was OK as nerdy Jekyll.

The Five-Year Engagement. I was pretty bored by this movie when I first sat down to watch it, but when I resumed last night, I quickly started loving the hell out of it. Very charming and funny, with a superb ensemble cast (Jason Segel (who also co-wrote it), Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Rhys Ifans, David Paymer, Mindy Kalling, Kevin Hart, Brian Posehn, Chris Parnell, etc.).

Skyfall. Saw this last Saturday. One of the best, if not the best, Bond movies I've ever seen. Beautifully made by Sam Mendes, and Javier Bardem is superb in limited screen time as the villain.