Weekly Round-Up (11/27/11 - 12/3/11)

The Adventures of Tintin (Steven Spielberg) *** - The pedigree behind this film seems like a can't-miss: Directed by the guy who made Raiders of the Lost Ark, produced by the guy who made The Lord of the Rings and written by the guys who made Doctor Who and Shaun of the Dead. By all accounts, it *should* mind-blowingly awesome. Unfortunately, it falls short of that. But that's not to say that it's a bad film. It's actually a very, very good escapist eye candy flick which felt like the film the fourth Indiana Jones movie SHOULD have been. I'm only vaguely familiar with the source material so I can't really say how faithful it is, but as a movie, I had a great time and I was entertained. It flirts with greatness (one particular action scene near the end was pretty spectacular) but overall, it's just a very good escapist B-movie. No more, no less. I saw it in 3D. Very good 3D but I didn't feel like I would've missed anything had I seen it in 2D though.

Satan Met a Lady (William Dieterle) ** - This was Hollywood's second attempt to adapt Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, just right before John Huston's version. The plot is the same except for the fact that instead of a falcon, it's a horn filled with jewels and it's all played for laughs. This attempt at blending film noir and comedy has some good lines here and there and features an interesting performance by a young Bette Davis but it's ultimately a failure. An interesting failure but still a failure.