Sunday, February 5, 2012

Weekly Round-Up (1/29/12 - 2/4/12)


Haywire (Steven Soderbergh) **1/2 - This is an interesting piece of work. What it is, it's essentially a pure B-movie plot done in the distinctive Soderbergh-style, almost arthouse in its look and pacing. It sort of/kind of works but it would have been better if Gina Carano was a slightly better actress. She kicks ass extremely well but she's a barely adequate actress. The supporting cast (except for Channing Tatum, who's slightly BELOW adequate) give interesting performances. All in all, a nice try.

Voyage to Italy (Roberto Rossellini) **** - A married couple from England travel to Italy to sell off the house inherited to them by a dead relative and soon they realize how fragile their marriage really is. Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders are terrific as the couple and director Roberto Rossellini's use of the sights and sounds of Italy to juxtapose and reflect on the couple's relationship lends a lot of complexity and layers to the film. It's a fantastic piece of filmmaking.


 Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards) **** - I saw this as doing my part to commemorate my friend, Damien Bona (see post below) since this is his favorite film of all time. Though I don't rate it as highly as he does, I do think it is one of the best romantic comedies ever made. Mickey Rooney's offensive yellow-face performance as an offensive Japanese stereotype should NOT tarnish its reputation.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher) *** - Having already read the book and seen the original Swedish adaptation, this English-language version of the same story holds very little surprises. Apart from the terrific opening titles sequence, David Fincher's filmmaking style actually does not do all that much to make this any more than just a solid thriller. Overall, i think the Swedish original film was better as an adaptation. I do however think that Rooney Mara made a better Lisabeth Salandar than Noomi Rapace. She is EXACTLY how I imagined the character to be when I read the book. It's not one of Fincher's best works.

Chronicle (Josh Trank) ***1/2 - I was very wary of the "found footage" format of this film. But I was surprised by how much it actually worked, at least for the most part. This film manages to combine two genres that are starting to show signs of fatigue and twisted it enough to make it new and fresh. It is a terrifically entertaining, above-average superhero movie (or should I say, an anti-superhero movie). It helps that the actors lend an air of credibility. Dane DeHaan in particular was terrific and he's an actor to watch out for, I believe.

8 comments:

Outcast said...

I'm not really surprised to see you rate the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as low from what I've heard but I'm still intrigued to check it out especially after hearing about a certain... dildo scene... Thanks for the round up as usual mate.

Mark said...

I am still yet to see Breakfast At Tiffany's.

Thomas Duder, Author of the Things said...

@Mark - Dude, highly suggested. HIGHLY suggested!!!

@FGBastard - MAH NIGGAAAA< your friend had divine taste. Indeed, I share his high opinion of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Not even jokin'. Mickey Rooney in yellowface? So over-the-top racist it was funny.

Like drama, there's two kinds of racism - good and bad. Bad? Burning crosses on someone's lawn while wearing ghost costumes with pointy hats. Good? Jim Crow and the other crows in Dumbo. Hell, they even get the second-best song in the film (Pink Elephants was freakin' AWESOME!) and let's not forget the "gently acceptable" racism in Tom and Jerry.

Great? Anything by Mel Brooks. Period.

Unknown said...

Girl with the Dragon Tatoo that low? Seems to be high. I agree with you on Breakfast at Tiffany's though.

Shockgrubz said...

I'll check out Chronicle. It's good to find a movie that works with that kind of shooting.

Anonymous said...

I'll be watching Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soon. I hope it's good.

Shockgrubz said...

Blogger just now let me follow you. Kept glitching out on me when I'd try to subscribe. Thanks for the patience.

Adam said...

I've been meaning to watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo