Film 2011

[Trufflehound]

Oscar Favourite The Artist (2011) - IMDb is out after Christmas, it is a mostly silent movie paying homage to an old era in filmmaking. trailer

Saw this on Sunday. Thought it was very good. Yes, it does pay homage to the silent era, but it's also quite clearly a modern movie that happens to be silent. And yes the storyline is similar to Singin' in the Rain, but without the singin'. The few critics I've come across for it seem to have a problem with the fact it isn't Birth of a Nation or The General, or some other classic from that day. I don't, and think it works just the way it is, with a few clever inventive touches that could have only come from a modern mind. A movie with no sex, no violence, no swearing and only one bang... (you'll have to see it to understand the latter reference) - and all the better for it.

8.5

Oh, and the dog steals the show...*



(*I never believed I would ever find myself saying that.)

 

[Nibble]

Saw Let The Right One In. Thought it was ok.

 

[Acker79]

Call yourself a film buff. You missed out on the biggest release of the year

9/9/11 - Steven Spielberg - Warhorse.

No I didn't. I simply predicted it would be released in the uk 13/01/12.

 

[Acker79]

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
I liked this, it was more of the same so if you liked the first you should like this, but it doesn't feel as fresh or as new as the first.

 

[Acker79]

Had a good double bill this evening, probably my last cinema visit of the year.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I've seen the original a couple of times, read the book, and listened to the audiobook, so am familiar with the story. This film was well made and everything but I'm not sure it did anything too fresh or different to make it worthwhile. I didn't feel like it was any more graphic (except perhaps the cat). There were some differences to the other film where different cuts were made, different changes. I was glad to see Blomkvist's daughter play her part in the story, but I wasn't a fan of the change the resolution. The epilogue part of the story wrapping up the wennerstrom tread seemed to go longer than in the other version, yet didn't feel like it gave us anything more.

It was a good enough film, and I'm sure if you've not seen the swedish adaptation you will enjoy this a lot more than I did, but I just don't think this brought anything new to the story to warrant the making of it, though I am hopeful the follow ups will be better than the swedish follow ups.

Mission impossible: ghost protocol
I don't think this film has the strongest/most interestingly complex story of the four, but it was a lot of fun and the action set pieces were quite impressive and seemed to draw a lot of gasps and created a good sense of tension. Oddly, despite the fantastical storylines an set pieces, there was a degree of realism with the fights (I mean, when someone takes a blow to the leg, he limps the rest of the fight).

It was still a fun movie, one of the better popcorn action movies of the year. It seemed to strike a good balance between serious action and fun cheese.