The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review

Oh those crazy Swedes and their sex and violence filled ideas... ahh... but seriously this is a thriller that does have it's healthy dose of both. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is one of those films that includes many elements for which we've seen before in thrillers, mysteries and horror films, but finds a way to piece them all together in an interesting and provocative way. At the same time it's a much rougher film than I expected including sadists and rapists coupled with the already running who-done-it and what'd-they-do mystery.

Our girl with the dragon tattoo is named Lisbeth Salander a punk, qusi biker/goth sleuth and hacker that works for a major security firm in Stockholm. After she's put onto the job of tracking a magazine mogul/ reporter after he's sentenced to prison she continues looking into him after her job has ended. The magazine reporter, Mikael Blomkvist is spending his remaining six free months by taking a job in another part of the country for an old man trying to find the killer of his favorite niece. Fun part, a body was never found and the incident happened over 40 years ago. Needless to say he's got a lot of work ahead of him. The man is one of the heads of the Vanger group, which was a family owned corporation with a lot of secrets. However what is not so secret is the fact that most of the family hates one another and so it could have been any number of them who killed her. As time passes Mikael delves further and further into the families past and uncovers more and more dirt, but still not much of anything to link a single person to a crime with no clues. Not until Lisbeth comes to the forefront of his life.

Now going into to her background is a bit tricky as I don't want to give much away in the area of the darker, nastier things in the picture. But I'll tell you that she's not somebody to fuck with and have her just take it as she proves throughout a number of scenes. Noomi Rapace plays Lisbeth with a bit more doe-eyed-ness then I would've expected, but there's something within her performance that works. I guess I like the idea of the tough sleuth character considering we see so many sheepish ones in films nowadays. I'm sure with the other two films probably making their way to the U.S. soon we'll see what the rest of her story is really about, but there's a lot of hints to her sorted past. Fun stuff me thinks.

As a whole I don't find it as perfect a thriller, but a damn entertaining one made with a lot of style and guts. There are things that remind of 'Se7en' as well as elements that pop up in a very novel fashion like they would and probably do in the book series. It's not something enough to shout out rip off or anything or even enough to distract from the picture. Fact is I'm just damn pleased to see so many well made mystery based films in one year that are getting big press. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is one of those that'll be talked about highly for a while before disappearing (like "The Vanishing", pun not intended) or perhaps it's fate will be decided upon the release of the next two films in the series; who can say just yet. But it's a film for those who love crime thrillers and grim character pieces. It's got its thrills and bumps and humor and sex appeal to go with it's expansive and classy yet gritty storyline. If the film is near you it's definitely something to go check out.

The Ghost Writer review

A good mystery nowadays is hard to come by. Reason being is because of peoples need to A: know how something ends before they see it and B: because mysteries don't sell tickets anymore; at least ones that hide too much in their trailers. Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer" is a fantastic return to the mystery films we don't see anymore, just as much as Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island"was (in fact they'd probably make a good double feature). It's a classy, intelligent and handsome looking picture with one of those endings that's 'movie awesome'. As in it's far fetched to happen in the real world, but in a film it's great stuff.

Ewan McGregor plays the ghost writer who is hired to replace another writer who killed himself or had accidentally killed himself from a mix of too much alcohol and a fall from a ferry at night. He'll be working on the memoirs of former British Prime Minster Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). The ghost has little care for politics and as it seems politicians but because of that he can get to the heart of Lang which could help turn the massive manuscript into something that might actually sell in stores. He travels to Cape Cod and meets Lang, his wife and his crew; he quickly realizes that this might not be the easiest job he's taken on.

Lang is constantly taking in phone calls that seem to aggravate him thus making the writing sessions hellish. Kim Cattrall plays Lang's assistant and probable mistress with adds a heavy tension when Lang, his wife and the assistant are all in a room together . And Olivia Williams, who I feel like I haven't seen since "Rushmore" plays Lang's wife who's mood and interactions with the ghost range from close and nearly personal (sometimes beyond that) to filled with piss and vinegar. Interestingly enough the way the whole mystery kicks off isn't from this other worldly clue dipped into our main character's psyche; it actually comes from his boredom on the island after Lang leaves to Washington D.C. to face some public allegations of war crimes and approving tortures. After a a brief conversation with a local man (aka the amazing Eli Wallach... if you have to ask who he is, then God help you) his interest in what happened to his predecessor is peaked, and along his minor investigations he begins discovering odd mix ups in the the old manuscript as well as hidden documents, secret messages and pictures, mysterious cars following him and a strange British protester.

Yeah there's a lot in "The Ghost Writer". And it works in that classic mystery, drama sense. McGregor is perfect for this kind of role because like most Polanski mysteries the main character is smart, snarky and often in way over his head. Those are some of McGregor's best types of characters because that a bit of him in reality. However the two performances that are actually award worthy are Williams and shocking enough Brosnan. Williams delivers a spit fire performance with much subtly and intelligence and is fantastic at misdirection. Brosnan delivers one that's pitch perfect for a politician. Someone who is out of touch with the world outside his little bubble, but wants the world to see him in a most regal light possible. And more importantly someone who's got something to hide from the ghost and the public to keep that lie going.

To quote Michael Caine, this isn't a pisser. As in not a movie you can run out to get food during or use the bathroom and come back and everything necessarily add up. Everything is done for a proper reason of atmosphere and building to the finale in which something(s) come to light. However while watching the film you might catch various other things that could lead you into asking completely different questions about a character's motives, that's always a good sign to me. Roman Polanski is a fantastic artist, a pretty shitty human being... but that's something he has to live with and doesn't effect his work. It's nice to see him returning to the forefront of the cinematic world with something so strong and it gives me hope that other filmmakers of that same caliber who have almost fallen out of sight (Brian DePalma, William Friedkin, Philip Kaufman etc) could return if only given the chance to do material that works as well as this does and I have no doubt some of them can find material this strange to get made. Right now "The Ghost Writer" is jumping around theatrically, but if it hits your area it's well worth seeing and is definitely one of the best films of the year so far.

Shutter Island review

The sole regret I had after watching "Shutter Island" last night was that more thrillers couldn't have a little of this kind of artistry or this kind of eeriness. There are stomach tightening moments of tension almost throughout the entire 137 minutes of the film and the perfect finale that's emotional and gives you that wonderful fork in the road train of thought, to think about it in different ways. Martin Scorsese has also brought us a film with some of his finest imagery. There are scenes of sheer poetry and horror and all played out in a 60's noir film style. After all the hype and release date shuffling, it was damn well worth the wait.

You've all seen the billions of ads for the film so it's no mystery as to why Teddy (DiCaprio) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are headed to Shutter Island. It's also no mystery that everything there seems to either be hiding something or are just being purposely illusive while being interviewed. Ben Kingsley plays the head doctor, Dr. Cawley. First off I want to mention that this is a great role for him after seeing such a great actor in shit comedies like... "The Love Guru" or mediocre action fair like "Lucky Number Slevin", finally we see that old Kingsley that could make you believe anything he says. Cawley isn't as illusive as you might think, in fact he's pretty forthcoming on some levels... but there's always something just out of reach for Teddy and Chuck while talking to him. Then there's the head of the board Dr. Naeharing played by Max Von Sydow. He's a German doctor which begins cementing Teddy's feelings of what's really going on at this mental home.

Like all great film noir, our protagonist is flawed. In the case of Teddy he is constantly haunted by images of his time in World War II. He sees flashes of the frozen dead bodies by train cars and of a Nazi who attempted suicide, but failed and Teddy watched him slowly die in his office. He sees Dolores, his deceased wife. He tries to hold on to her memory as hard as he can, but she always leaves him. He feels some unsung sympathy for this missing patient even though he doesn't know her and her crimes were quite horrible. But in reality there is another reason Teddy has come to that island. This... along with a shit ton of other things I can't tell you. In fact no one should tell you because you need to see it. You need to take this eerie as hell, masterfully made journey.

I will say however that "Shutter Island" may not be for everyone. This isn't for that crowd who goes to see shit like "Prom Night" or "One Missed Call"... yes I know they're very different movies from this, but they both attempt a heavy stroke of mystery to make their films work and they also turn quite a profit to be so shitty. "Shutter Island" is for those who like actually dark movies. Not Tim Burton crap, but movies about killers or monsters, real monsters. This is for people who like "Zodiac" and "Se7en"; for those who can still watch and love Hitchcock pictures and read Kafka. For everyone that digs into Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby", hell probably even his new film "The Ghost Writer".

What Martin Scorsese has done is made a masterful piece of mystery cinema. Seriously the kind of stuff we might get once a year, twice if we're lucky and often goes unnoticed by audiences. Finally though I feel like through the massive promotions and star power behind it, we'll have a mystery flick that'll shine up the box office. DiCaprio gives probably my second favorite performance of his, second only to his Frank Weller of "Revolutionary Road", which was damn find work and his emotional pitch was perfect. In a lot of ways I see Weller in Teddy Daniels, but with that 50's noir scowl making him more movie real, than real life. Ted Levine is one of the dozens of supporting people that I must highlight. In his small role as the warden, he provides a humorous, but creepily insightful dialogue with Teddy about his violent perspective of the world. Michelle Williams provides the best work in the supporting cast as Teddy's wife. Her performance is subtle and coupled with Scorsese and cinematographer Robert Richardson's dream sequences creation makes her moments on screen kill time after time. It just works, even at it's most oddly placed sections.

At the end of the day, when it's all said and done I'm interested to hear what people think. Some will be thrown by the finale; others will love it (like myself), but the key is to make you think for a change. So far this year we've seen some great genre pictures and "Shutter Island" is another great one. In fact I'd wager to say that it's the best film of the spring thus far and had it come out in 2009, would've made it in the ten Best Picture category. Movies like this are why we even bother to go at times. Sure it's not a bunch of giant effects and all that, but it's those stories and that wonderful artistry behind them that make us remember moment after moment. Needless to say I'll be seeing "Shutter Island" again this weekend.

Sherlock Holmes review

I found something interesting last night as I was reading through my twitter messages. Apparently as of next summer with "Iron Man 2", Robert Downey Jr. will have had four films hit over one hundred million dollars and giving him probably the best actor come back of all time. Downey Jr. has been adding character after character to his rose gallery ever since he's returned and he can proudly add Sherlock Holmes to it now. Indeed it seems he was the man to play this part just as Jude Law was perfect for Dr. Watson. I will say that this film has three main things to not just like about it for me, but love about. The first two are them and the third is for all the big budget action moments and all the small seemingly uninteresting scenes, director Guy Ritchie STILL makes his style and tone present through it all. This is a dymanic looking and feeling movie. But not without it's draw backs.

On the scale of Robert Downey Jr. films most everyone goes ga-ga for "Iron Man". Hey it was a good movie. But I've never thought it as great as everyone else. Neither is this, but it's better. With the team of writers under Ritchie, the plot to the film is interesting and it's reveal is quite good, but it goes through so much complication that it sometimes feels that for all this guy's smarts, we should've come to this conclusion sooner. Furthermore Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong don't feel as strong character wise as Holmes and Watson and yes I know that they are supporting characters and what not, but one thing Ritchie is great at is handling a ton of characters throughout an overly complicated plot.

However even with those flaws there is so much to enjoy in "Sherlock Holmes" that they're never that big of an issue. The Holmes-Watson banter is great and their chemistry is perfect and Hans Zimmer delivers one of his best scores yet. I mean if nothing else, the score to this film is brillant to no end. McAdams is...welll... still as beautiful as ever and has some very fun moments in the film, but it never felt like she was given too many great lines or pieces in which we could enjoy her acting. Mark Strong has an equally annoying issue as the villian. Strong is an awesome actor and I feel like we're going to be seeing a lot of him in the future. As Lord Blackwood he's lines are very stationary villian and so his is general appearence. Although some of the stuff he does is pretty damn cool.

I think what's holding me back from loving the hell out of the movie is that it's a franchise starter and it's directed towards that sort of general action fans. Which isn't bad, but it means that a lot of it is pointed squarely at what they know people like. That's why the idea of a sequel gets me very excited because that's when you can take some risks and do things a bit differently. And have a feeling a sequel to this is gonna really knock it out of the part. So aside from my personal issues... "Sherlock Holmes" is very fun, smart and generally entertaining for everyone. It's got a great style and terrific actors at work within it. Definitly one of the better holiday films out.

"Sherlock Holmes" *** out of ****