The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

***1/2 stars

Leave it to David Fincher to adapt the enormously popular Swedish book and films series by Stieg Larsson and Niels Arden Oplev into an electrifying American thriller. This is a film so well shot and edited your brain will spin for hours after trying to decipher the speed and mastery of an almost three hour film. Rooney Mara is electric as Lisbeth Salander, the dark and mysterious hacker who goes through hell, only later to unleash it. She is need of help from disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as he is hired to investigate the disappearance (or murder) of a young woman from over 40 years ago. While the mystery begins with her disappearance, there’s plenty more to uncover. The duo becomes entangled in a web of corruption and ruthlessness. The setting is cold and bleak, the locations dark and narrow, with many scenes shot at night or in troubled weather conditions. It only adds to the chaos of the story as David Fincher directs a brutal, yet masterful thriller that is guided with top notch performances from its cast (particularly Rooney Mara, who steals every scene she is in) and the fantastic editing by Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall. The film was marketed as “the feel bad movie of Christmas”. The only way to feel bad about this movie…is to not see it. 

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

***1/2 stars

No recent blockbuster does a better job at creating organic action than Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the best action movie of the year. If you’re going to kick-start a franchise back into high gear and avoid staleness, you better do it right. Many can’t say that. This franchise installment can. 

Tom Cruise is underrated. Yes, the biggest movie star on the planet is underrated. Why? Because no one can do what he does. I dare you to find another actor that would hang from the highest building in the world by one wire and then beg for multiple takes in the process. On screen, the man is a perfectionist. The true action star is still alive. His name is Tom Cruise. And he isn’t going anywhere. 

The movie picks up with Ethan Hunt in prison, only to be immediately broken out of in the first scene. But things are just getting started. Hunt and his team must track down a terrorist named Hendricks, who may be on his way to launching nuclear weapons towards American soil. In one captivating scene, the IMF team breaks into the Kremlin and attempts to take him down. Not only does it end with the Kremlin being blown into pieces, but Ethan Hunt and company are blamed for it. IMF has been disavowed. Now they must stop Hendricks to avoid a nuclear war and to prove their innocence. 

With great stakes and stunning set pieces, Ghost Protocol delivers. I’d like to discuss the one scene everyone is talking about. You know, that scene. The one where Tom Cruise climbs, runs, hangs, and flies around the highest floors of the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa in Dubai) and creates such an outstanding scene because of it. No CGI. No bullshit. This is real, scary filmmaking. It will leave you breathless. The rest of the movie manages to be about the same. 

The Artist

**** stars

This is one of those films that’s so entertaining and educational on every single level that it’s a shame it’s not being widely released. The Artist has been one of the most talked about films of the year. For people who haven’t seen it, you’re probably sick of hearing about it. Why? Not because you don’t want to see it, it’s because you can’t. Sure, it’s expanding to more theaters every week, but when you have a movie that’s an Oscar frontrunner, that won the crowd over at Cannes, and that it’s the first legitimate silent movie to be released since the World War II era, you wonder if it it's really as good as everyone says it is. The answer is yes. The performances, direction, and music are completely spot on. It captures an era of Hollywood that is so long ago it feels like science-fiction. And how ironic that in 2011 where Hollywood is now all about loud-and-noisy sequels that the movie that could represent the year is a silent movie? Expect Oscar nominations around the board for best picture, director Michel Hazanavicius, lead actor Jean Dujardin, and supporting actress Berenice Bejo. Dujardin and Bejo, who evoke so much emotion without saying a single word, deserve to be heard regardless. The Artist is a film to be treasured, appreciated, and loved over and over again.

My Week with Marilyn

*** stars

There is something innocently fascinating about watching a modern day star portray a star from the past. It’s always a great role for the modern day actor as it captures their range and fundamentals as a figure people have already come to have a perception about. Plus, the Academy Awards pay close attention to you. Robert Downey picked up his first Oscar nomination portraying Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin and Cate Blanchett won an Oscar playing Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator (there’s plenty more to choose from here). Here, Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe and she absolutely nails it. As does Kenneth Branagh as Sir Lawrence Olivier. In the film, Monroe is on set for the famous director’s The Prince and the Showgirl. However, My Week with Marilyn is not through the point-of-view of the prolific stars, but rather of a third assistant director who just landed his first real job in the business. Apparently for a week, young Colin Clark’s intrigue for Marilyn grows into more than just an attraction. She invites him into her life and the two become close for a short period of time. About a week I'd say (no pun intended). While it was probably the highlight of Colin's life, for Marilyn it feels like she's just passing time considering how much she had gone through in her lifetime. However, Michelle Williams is an odyssey to behold as the legendary actress, one in which if she continues with performances like this, she will be well on her way to becoming one herself. 

The Descendants

**** stars

There’s a reason why George Clooney is the frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race for best actor. He’s superb. And not just in that consistent George Clooney way. Here he seems to be putting his whole career into this performance. A funny, touching, and heartbreaking performance. With these three components mixed in with director Alexander Payne’s masterful blend of comedy and drama, you have an American masterpiece. Clooney plays Matt King, a successful lawyer who for too many years spent most of his time at the office than at home. When his wife suffers a boating accident and falls into a coma, things obviously start to change. He’s never had to be a full-time parent before. Now he does. His two daughters, Alex, age 17 (played wonderfully by Shailene Woodley) & Scottie, age 10 (Amara Miller) are good kids, but there’s clear signs of disconnect between them and their father. The beautiful conflict here is that for the first time since they all can remember, just the three of them are forced to spend time together. At the same time, Matt is on the verge of selling off his Hawaiian land for a huge chunk of change. Oh, and one more thing. His comatose wife was cheating on him. So where does this guy start? How can he get his life back together? Alexander Payne paints a portrait of Hawaiian paradise mixed in with the trials and tribulations of a family’s tragedy. A surefire Oscar contender and a homerun for all involved.