The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I really had no interest in seeing this movie. The previews just didn’t interest me. Figured Rooney Mara got a Golden Globe nomination I’d see it. Have to admit I was also a bit worried about the length of the movie as well. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. The story turned out to be very interesting and done well enough that I am interested in seeing the entire trilogy.

I do wish they could have found a way to bring the two characters together sooner. I have to say I was a bit surprised with how many pointless scenes there were in this film both before and after the characters storylines came together. Don’t usually have that problem with a David Fincher film. I have not read any of the books or scene the original movies, so my opinion is based purely on a cinematic view point.

I really was not impressed with Daniel Craig. He just bored me in every way. The supporting cast they put together was remarkable and they all gave nice performances.

That leaves us with Rooney Mara. This was a quite the role to take on as a first big lead and break out performance. You pretty much have to hit it or you’re probably done. She definitely hit it. Wouldn’t say she hit a home run but, it was a good solid performance. I had some problems with the character but, they weren’t based on her performance. It was more about the fact that I didn’t feel certain things were true to the character. Rooney had to give a performance that can be difficult for even the most seasoned of actresses. She had to give an emotive performance but, she had to keep all the emotion contained. Putting it out there with her eyes, body language, and vocal inflections is not the easiest thing to do. She had a lot of stuff to go through and she did it perfectly. I really wanted to know more about her character. Her nomination for a Golden Globe is very well deserved.

Of the three performances for lead actress in a motion picture drama that I’ve seen I’m torn between her and Viola Davis.

This was worth the full price of admission.

The Iron Lady

There is really not a lot to write about this movie. The acting is top notch but, the film itself is not all that well constructed. It suffers from the same issue that “J. Edgar” did. That issue is that the movie jumps between the characters later in life and early in life too randomly. It is even more unexplainable here because she is not in the process of writing her memoirs.

I find biopics are generally better served by being done in a linear manner. It really seemed like there was a lot of stuff that got left out for no other reason than to show her as an old woman who may have been losing her mind. It seemed to be a cinematic bullet point list of the things Marget Thatcher did in her political life. It wasn’t anything deep or probing.

Meryl Streep does give a very strong performance. One that is much better than it seems to be in the previews. The previews had me worried that she was playing the character as a caricature. Thankfully that was not the case. It is absolutely the type of role that has a tendency to get nominated for awards. However, of the three lead actress in a motion picture drama that I have seen I do not feel it is the one that should win.

Saw this at the matinee price and that was probably too much. I’d say discount or dvd on this one.

Carnage

I had no idea what to expect going into this movie. All I knew was the basic plot line and that it had a stellar cast. It turned out to be a great movie. Insanely funny and so true how when you put people in that situation they will start out at one place, switch alliances, and then go back to where they were at the beginning.

It is such a simple little concept. Take four people put them in a room and make them attempt to deal with some “traumatic” situation. In this case four parents dealing with a playground argument that resulted in one child assaulting another. Amazing how intricate the writing and the performances are to display the difference in how the parents want to deal with it.

Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the parents of the child who committed the assault want nothing more than to escape the whole situation. Christoph is barely even present in the situation as he deals with a crisis for one of his clients. Kate wants to seem like such a caring and concerned parent but, truly she feels the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. They both are desperate to get out of the situation but, are designed to be too accommodating so they keep accepting odd invitations back into the apartment of Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly.

For their part Jodie and John’s characters just don’t want anyone to leave mad or think poorly of them so they are constantly trying to make everything better. Of course this is clearly going to be accomplished with cobbler and coffee and eventually liquor. Once the liquor comes out then the fun really begins and there is a brief portion of time when it’s women versus men. And that’s when Jodie and Kate really shine and show why they were both nominated for the Golden Globe.

This movie was absolutely worth full price. And it is Jodie or Kate who deserves to win the Golden Globe since they are true comedy performances. Honestly if I were voting I’d probably have to flip a coin to determine who to vote for.

My Week with Marilyn

I’ve made no secret over the years of how overrated I find Michelle Williams to be. She made strides last year with “Blue Valentine” and I felt the short comings had less to do with her and more to do with the script and director not going far enough. This was the first time I went into a movie with Michelle Williams with anything that resembled expectations for her. And I am pleased to report that I was not disappointed.

The movie as a whole was lacking. I haven’t read the book that the film is based on but, I’m guessing they wanted to stay pretty true to what was in the movie and not embellish it too much. Unfortunately that leaves you feeling very much like there is something missing. Kenneth Branagh completely disappears into Sir Laurence Olivier. Fantastic performance as a man both frustrated and captivated in many ways by Marilyn Monroe. Judi Dench also gives a nice performance as Dame Sybil Thorndike, a woman who almost seems to patient and understanding to be true.

The entire movie though was going to live or die on the performance of Michelle Williams. Inhabiting Marilyn is not an easy task but, Michelle did it in a manner that actually seems effortless. Not only was I surprised by her ability to become Marilyn but, I was more surprised by that effortlessness. So many times when I have watched her she hasn’t seemed to be in the moment she seems to be thinking and trying too hard. While she may win the Globe (unjustly) for this performance I don’t believe it will be the performance that delivers her an Oscar. The reason I feel her winning a Globe would not be right is because “My Week with Marilyn” is a drama. It is not a comedy and book ending the movie with recreations of Marilyn singing in certain roles does not make this a musical either.

When it comes Oscar time though I rule nothing out, upsets always manifest and this could be one of those moments. She has to get nominated first and there is some stiff competition this year.

Paid full price for the movie and it’s probably more worth matinee price.

Young Adult

Normally movies like “Young Adult” offer great characters and hilarious interactions as people attempt to relieve their high school days believing those were their best days. However, this movie did not deliver that at all. None of the characters were all that well developed. It’s not that they weren’t developed as adults it’s that the characters just weren’t developed to the point of being that interesting.

There really isn’t a character to truly root for. The closest one is Matt (Patton Oswalt), a guy who was crippled by the several jocks in high school because they thought he was gay. This fact is introduced in a joking manner as if it’s supposed to be funny that it happened especially since you know it turns out he’s not actually gay. Our heroine Mavis (Charlize Theron) finally realizes who he is and refers to him several times as “the hate crime guy”. Later as she struggles to get her high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson) to believe Matt isn’t gay we learn that she used to refer to Matt as one of those “theater fags”. She laughs it off as is it’s just something you say, and that it is acceptable.

If there was a greater lesson learned from this incident it might work okay. If there was a character that was gay and just part of the cast that got the same kind of treatment as all the other characters, no problem. However, there is nothing funny about hate crimes so this is an ill conceived part of the story. The fact that Mavis later lays into him about not moving past things that happened in high school only makes it worse.

As for Mavis there is nothing worth supporting in that character. Honestly if this movie hadn’t been written by Diablo Cody I don’t think anyone would have given it a second look. Who on earth thinks a movie about a character that sets out to get her high school sweetheart back after receiving an announcement about the birth of his first child is a good idea? You spend the entire movie rooting against her, hoping she will be made a fool of. Which thankfully does happen but, she doesn’t seem to learn anything. In the end she gets a pep talk from another character that we are supposed to feel sorry for and she heads back to her fancy life in the big city.

There are some good comical moments in the movie. And there are some moments that do feel true to life. At least she didn’t remember every single person she came across. The parts where she overdressed for everything were amusing. Although I’m not sure how no one ever made an insanely bad come on to her. In the end this movie seemed to be design as an insult to people who live in small towns. Every character was set up as a way of saying anyone who lives in a small town is a loser and only those who get out and go to the big city are worth anything.

I paid matinee price to see “Young Adult” but, the only thing that made it worth it was Charlize Theron. There was nothing all that amazing about her performance but, since she was the movies only saving grace it’s understandable how she got nominated for a Golden Globe.