Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

GENRE: Drama/Mystery
RATING: 18A for brutal violence of rape & torture, graphic nudity
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 38 minutes
STARRING: Rooney Mara (The Social Network)
Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Munich, Cowboys & Aliens)
DIRECTOR: David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club)
WRITER: Steven Zaillian (Mission: Impossible, Schindler’s List)
PLOT: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander team up to find a woman who has been missing for 40 years.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 There are some brutal rape scenes in this film. This is not for the weak of heart. It’s around the end of the first hour and it’s hard to watch. You’ve been warned.
2 Rooney Mara gives a powerhouse performance as Lisbeth. She plays vulnerable and strong and runs the full gamut of emotions. She was good in The Social Network but she rocks in this film.
3 The mystery of the missing girl is interesting but goes a little too slow. About half way through I pretty much figured it out.
4 Some great cinematography, especially with all the snow. I love the way Fincher smoothly pushes in on a character. No tricky shots though like the ones in Panic Room and Fight Club.
5 I enjoyed seeing Lisbeth eating Happy Meals. Thought it would be funny if McDonald’s put rub-on dragon tattoos as their meal prize for a twisted cross-promotion.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Carnage, The Descendants

Film: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

GENRE: Action/Adventure
RATING: PG13 for action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 13 minutes
STARRING: Tom Cruise (Minority Report, Valkyrie, Collateral)
Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead)
DIRECTOR: Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Iron Giant, Ratatouille)
WRITERS: Josh Appelbaum & Andre Nemec (Alias)
PLOT: Ethan Hunt and his IMF team go rogue to clear their name after being implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 Sure, Tom Cruise acted a little weird a few years ago but let all that slip out of your mind as watch him tear up screen in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. He still shines as the virtually indestructible Ethan Hunt. He bring such charisma to this role, you can’t help but root for him.
2 Some fantastic action sequences in this mission. Compliments go to Brad Bird who before now has only done animation. The skyscraper scene is still suspenseful even though most of it has been shown in the trailers.
3 Simon Pegg has been a welcome addition to the franchise. Since being introduced in the third film, Pegg has brought some great humour to the missions. He almost steals the show this time around.
4 Since this installment is written by some former Alias writers, it is fun to see some references to previous JJ Abrams shows: favourite number ‘47’ appears multiple times, Sydney Bristow codename ‘Outrigger’ is mentioned and it is wonderful to see Lost’s Sawyer getting to do some action.
5 You don’t need to watch the third film to understand what’s going on but there are some references made to characters who appeared in MI3. It’s a cool movie anyway.

RECOMMENDATION: See it in theatres now
UPCOMING REVIEW: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Film: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

GENRE: Action/Adventure
RATING: PG13 for action violence and drug material
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 09 minutes
STARRING: Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man, Due Date, Zodiac)
Jude Law (Contagion, Closer) Jared Harris (Mad Men)
DIRECTOR: Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch)
WRITERS: Michele & Kieran Mulroney (newcomers)
PLOT: Holmes and Watson try to take down Professor Moriarty who is plotting a war on several fronts.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This film is just plain fun; there’s action, humour and an intriguing story. Robert Downey Jr is fantastic yet again and in more bizarre disguises this time.
2 Ritchie does an amazing job of the action sequences. The forest scene is classic Ritchie with its playful speed adjustments and the train sequence is a non-stop thrill ride. These two pieces are well worth the admission price alone.
3 Law and Downey provide the bromantic laughs yet again. Their fun dialogue and rescuing of each other carry this film along smoothly.
4 The Sherlock thought process seems a lot cleaner this time around. A great improvement over the first installment. Also the fact that Rachel McAdams role is greatly reduced helps as well.
5 I loved the music in this film. There is this great driving percussion that gets the adrenaline rushing. Sit back and enjoy the closing credit sequence as well.

RECOMMENDATION: See it in theatres now
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Mission Impossible 4

Film: Young Adult

GENRE: Comedy/Drama
RATING: R for language and some sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 34 minutes
STARRING: Charlize Theron (Monster, Hancock, Italian Job)
Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille) Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, Hard Candy)
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking)
WRITER: Diablo Cody (Juno, United States of Tara)
PLOT: A young adult fiction writer returns home to try steal back her highschool sweetheart who is now happily married and has a baby.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 For the last few years, every other Christmas there has been a Jason Reitman film that comes out and ends up near the top of my ‘best of’ the year list. This year, that will not happen. While Young Adult got a few chuckles out of me, it did not have the same quirky fun and high drama his previous films have had. It really seemed like he phoned it in this time. I was pretty disappointed. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but not in a cool way.
2 Oswalt is the glimmer of sunlight in this dark and depressing film. His crippled character brings the much needed sanity but he is unable to stop the train wreck. He plays so well with Theron, I am very interested in his next endeavor.
3 I will credit Reitman or at least his prop master with wonderful attention to detail. An old 90’s cassette brought back some fun memories. I spent most of the time watching the backgrounds. Says something about the story doesn’t it?
4 I loved Juno and found myself rooting for her the whole time. I disliked Mavis and didn’t care what happened to her. Diablo Cody did some sloppy writing on this one. At one point, Buddy says he’s stopped drinking but he’s offering beers at home and going to bars all the time. There’s also a reveal at the end that is not earned in the slightest. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
5 Too many close-ups of finger-nails and toe-nails.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Sherlock Holmes 2, Mission Impossible 4

Film: The Muppets

GENRE: Comedy/Family/Musical
RATING: PG for mild rude humour
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 38 minutes
STARRING: Jason Segel (I Love You Man, Bad Teacher)
Kermit the Frog (The Muppet Movie, Great Muppet Caper)
DIRECTOR: James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords)
WRITERS: Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
& Nicholas Stoller (Yes Man, Get Him to the Greek)
PLOT: With the help of three fans, the Muppets need to reunite in order to save their theatre from an oil tycoon.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I loved The Muppet Show when I was a kid; I still love it today thanks to DVD. So I could easily relate to Gary and Walter’s enthusiasm of meeting The Muppets. It was like getting together with an old friend. Good times.
2 The songs were a lot of fun. Most of them were written by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame. ‘Man or Muppet’ was pure Conchord genius. And I loved hearing Rainbow Connection again.
3 Some fun cameos. I would talk about them but I don’t want to ruin it for you.
4 My one issue was that Kermit was a little too depressing. I like crazy arm-flailing Kermit who tries to the keep the show going. This film is full of sad, reflective Kermit who misses the good old days and wonders what went wrong. Thankfully the others are mostly upbeat.
5 Chris Cooper raps. ‘Nuff said.

RECOMMENDATION: Watch in the theatres
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Descendants