November 2010
7 posts
5 tags
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)...
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the third and final film adaptation of a series of novels by the late Steig Larsson. Very recently (two days ago), I watched The Girl Who Played With Fire, and felt somewhat disappointed by the sketchy nature of “Milennium #2” (referring to the magazine edited by one of the series’ protagonists). Hornet’s Nest is far more...
October 2010
6 posts
5 tags
The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009) review
In anticipation of the imminent USA release of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, I sat down to watch the second in the series of films based on Steig Larsson’s immensely successful “Milennium” series, The Girl Who Played With Fire. Having greatly enjoyed the initial movie—The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo—I looked forward to the sequels and while The Girl...
4 tags
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) review
A film where the shared-viewing experience is really necessary to enjoy the picture at all, Paranormal Activity 2, a prequel to Paranormal Activity, is the cinematic equivalent to a rollercoaster ride. It starts slow, builds to a series of thrilling ups and downs, but when you get off, the effect fades quickly and there’s nothing much left to say about it. There’s no complexity,...
2 tags
Winter's Bone (2010) review
After a “limited” release (mostly on the festival circuit—it won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance), Winter’s Bone finally arrives on DVD, much anticipated by me. Word of mouth was very positive, and I wasn’t disappointed: this is a fine, serious film. Though I was raised in a middle-class exurbia, I’m only one generation removed from hardscrabble roots in Appalachia on the one hand and rural...
2 tags
Red (2010) review
Although it goes a bit off the rails in the latter sections (depending upon your point of view, I suppose—action fans might think the film gets better), Red is a fun, diverting film overall, mixing comedy and romance into the action-film genre. It’s not going to become a classic like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon, but it delivers a satisfactory evening’s entertainment.
Frank...
4 tags
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) review
Oliver Stone is definitely the most overtly political Hollywood filmmaker of the past several decades, and while Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps isn’t quite as confrontational as some of his previous works, it’s didactic enough. This, combined with the director’s manipulation of the film form—including animation, multiple screens, lots of images of television and computer...
