Scene of the Week: The Girl with the Dragon of Tattoo

directed by David Fincher

Opening titles

The scene: In a sequence that Fincher himself describes as Lisbeth's nightmare we see tar and fire, themes from all three novels - the violence, passion and intensity and elements from their titles - fire and hornets. The music that plays in the background is energetic cover of "Immigrant Song" sang by Karen O - its intensity mixes with the swift editing of the montage setting the pace for the rest of the movie perfectly.

Take Shelter

94/100 (120 min, 2011)
Plot: Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: Jeff Nichols
Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Shea Whigham

"Is anyone seeing this?"

I love watching movies without knowing anything about them. I thought "Take Shelter" will be a story of frantically religious man since I heard he is having "apocalyptic visions". But religion is not a factor in this story. The fact this man's visions are apocalyptic comes from the fact they are paralyzingly scary. They depict things that would frighten every single one of us - beloved pet attacking you, your child in peril, stranger outside your window who then tries to enter your house. Curtis, the main character of the story, suffers those visions through his nightmares and begins to question his sanity.

The best thing about "Take Shelter" aside from its incredible atmosphere is that as Curtis himself, we do not know the reason for his visions. His mother is schizophrenic so he thinks that he is too. When he takes pills the doctor gave him to calm him down he becomes  a little bit better. But then the visions come back, being more and more insane. There are evidence for both reasons - either he is indeed crazy or something terrible is happening. Curtis decides to build a shelter, to protect his family which causes a tension between him and his wife Samantha. But he is determined - if what he is seeing are the signs of what is to come, he wants to do everything to keep his loved ones safe.

One Day

26/100 (107 min, 2011)
Plot: After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, sometimes not, on that day.
Director: Lone Scherfig
Writers: David Nicholls (screenplay), David Nicholls (book)
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess and Patricia Clarkson

The not so charming union of bad accent and bad acting

How hard can it be to make a fine romantic movie? I'm starting to think that it may be the hardest thing in the movie business. Why? Because the amount of crappy romantic comedies and other pseudo romance movies we are flooded with lately is scary. Say what you want about Hugh Grant, but at least when he was starring in those things they were proper movies with lots of laugh and romanticism. Now we get products like "One Day".

How do you make a successful movie? You have to have a good script. How do you make a good romantic film? You have to have two strong leads with chemistry. Does "One Day" has either one of those? Oh no, it doesn't. I can see the producers' reasoning - the story is quite romantic - the idea of two people meeting for one day each year, Jim Sturgess is good looking enough and Anne Hathaway is cute. But the story is horribly undeveloped, Sturgess has the screen charisma of a potato and Hathaway's accent is one of the most atrocious things I've heard in a long time. It could even challenge what Swank sounded like in "Black Dahlia". On the side note - why is an American playing a British girl? I'm pretty sure they could have found much prettier and talented girl than Hathaway in any given pub in London.

Mommie Dearest

65/100 (129 min, 1981)
Plot: Mommie Dearest, best selling memoir, turned motion picture, depicts the abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother...screen queen Joan Crawford.
Director: Frank Perry
Writers: Christina Crawford (book), Robert Getchell
Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid and Steve Forrest

A star...a legend...and a mother. The illusion of perfection.

Joan Crawford. One of the greatest movie stars of the cinema, Academy Award winner, a true actress. MGM screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas recalled, "No one decided to make Joan Crawford a star. Joan Crawford became a star because Joan Crawford decided to become a star." Crawford was known from her temperament and diva behaviour. After her death her adopted daughter Christina decided to write a memoir in which she accused Crawford of life-long abuse. She titled the book "Mommie Dearest".

The movie was made in 1981 and starred Faye Dunaway in titular role. The movie opened to massive critical backlash and was the first movie in history to sweep the Razzies. Dunaway took the failure especially hard - she was truly convinced she will receive Academy Award for her performance. To this day she refuses to talk about this movie and when interviewers start to ask her questions about the subject she is known to stop the interviews. She was infuriated when after the release of the movie the studio changed the marketing campaign - instead of promoting it as a serious drama, they started advertising it as a camp movie.

The Best (and Worst) of 2011

Best movie: The Artist 

(Runner up - Shame)

Although without question "Shame" is much braver film it is also definitely one of the heaviest and most overwhelming movies I ever seen. Also we must ask the question - what if the movie would be made without Michael Fassbender's exquisite performance? With "The Artist" all the elements are top notch. It's the most magical, enchanting movie I've seen since "Amelie", a film that paradoxically by telling a story set almost a century ago, in a matter from a century ago, feels so edgy and unique - precisely because it went back, doing something nobody thought about doing. Almost wordless film, without any stars in it, captures the audiences everywhere - because of the talent and pure love for cinema of everyone involved.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

96/100 (136 min, 1962)
Plot: In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation.
Director: Robert Aldrich
Writers: Henry Farrell (from the novel by), Lukas Heller (screenplay)
Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Victor Buono

Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?

The only thing more famous than this movie are the legends from its set. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, avid rivals, made life miserable for each other when they worked on the film and long time before it for that matter. Crawford's Blanche reasonable, polite sister to Jane, was mean and hateful in reality - during the kicking scene, Bette Davis kicked Joan Crawford in the head, and the resulting wound required stitches. In retaliation, Crawford put weights in her pockets so that when Davis had to drag Crawford's near-lifeless body, she strained her back. Even the director couldn't prevent those two from being horrible to each other.

When Davis got nominated for her work in the film, Crawford launch somewhat an anti campaign which may have cost Davis her win - also when Anne Bancroft had won Best Actress for The Miracle Worker that year, Bette Davis felt an icy hand on her shoulder as Joan Crawford said "Excuse me, I have an Oscar to accept".Crawford was the one who sent a letter to Bancroft, asking if she can accept the award on her behalf. Rumour also has it that at point Davis sent Crawford chocolate box - only instead of chocolates it was filled with dogs' feces.

Soundtrack Wednesday - W.E.

Song: Park
Artist: Abel Korzeniowski
Movie: W.E.

Academy Award Nominations 2012 aka What an Embarrassment!

2011 has been the most amazing year - I have seen so many great movies, with so many wonderful performances. But never fear - the Academy will always manage to fuck up things for us movie goers. This list of nominations is so horrifying I'm still hoping it's some sort of sick joke. I mean I really admire Jennifer Lawrence - if I had to announce this crap I'd just pass out. Or punch the president of Academy.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Artist (2011)
The Descendants (2011)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
The Help (2011)
Hugo (2011/II)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Moneyball (2011)
The Tree of Life (2011)
War Horse (2011)
Never mind the fact "The Descendants" suck. Never mind the fact "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "Young Adult" aren't here. "War Horse" and "ELaIC" prove one thing to us - Academy is a whore. It swallows everything made by Steven Spielberg or containing Tom Hanks, no matter how cheesy and ridiculous it is.

Carnage

74/100 (79 min, 2011)
Plot: Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the evening into chaos.
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Yasmina Reza (based on the play by: "Le Dieu du carnage"), Yasmina Reza (screenplay)
Stars: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz

...and the hamster runs free

"Carnage" is one of the most unusual movies Roman Polanski ever made - it's far from being his best, but as his previous movie "The Ghost Writer" there are only few key players here and they are all that matters. The world in "Carnage" is hermetic as well - almost entire film takes place in one apartment, during one conversation. Despite that the film is engaging - the four people talking in that apartment are so different that they are bound to explode. It's the fact that this explosion never really leads anywhere is the film's biggest flaw.

Two couples played by Jodie Foster, John c. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz meet to write a statement - first couple's- Penny and Michael - son was struck with a stick by mischievous son of Nancy and Alan. First things are polite - Penny, although very uptight and shocked by an event pretends to be all right. Michael acts like a supportive husband and kind guy. Nancy is nice to the hostess, acts reasonable while her husband Alan continuous to talk via his phone, ignoring everyone, occasionally using sarcasm and clearly not being very interested by the whole thing.

Screaming Sunday: Sick Girl

Sati's movie rating - 75/100
Plot: A shy entomologist drawn into a tentative lesbian affair following the discovery of a mysterious new species of bug finds herself faced with a startling metamorphosis in "May" director Lucky McKee's creep-crawly entry into Showtime's terrifying Masters of Horror series. Ida Teeter's (Scream Queen - Angela Bettis) life revolves around bugs, and upon discovering a large unidentified crawler while simultaneously being drawn into a heated affair with a beautiful young woman named Misty (Erin Brown), the studious wallflower's personal and professional lives begin heating up like never before. It seems that the bizarre new insect has some fairly strange feeding habits, and when seduction leads to infection and bloodletting, the stage is set for a horrifying mutation that will find Ida identifying more closely with her insect subjects than ever before
The heroes: Shy and cute entomologist who loves her job and is crazy about bugs, finding her hobby to be a big turn off for possible romantic partners.
The antagonists: Mysterious, dangerous spider.
What makes it so great? The unique blend of "The Fly" inspired horror movie and cute romantic comedy.
Best scene: The ending.
Oh-oh something's not right line: "It's aggressive"

Saturday TV Special: That 70's Show

Plot: Back in the days of Led Zeppelin 8-tracks, TaB colas, and Farrah Fawcett posters, "That '70s Show" continues to flashback to the times where bell bottoms were the hip thing. Set in the Wisconsin suburbs, Eric Forman lives under the authority of his parents, Red and Kitty. Next door is his girlfriend/neighbor, Donna Pinciotti and her parents Bob and Midge. The rest of the gang includes spoiled Jackie, and her on again-off again boyfriend, playboy Kelso, Hyde, a conspiracy theorist who believes Xerox will take over the world, and Fez, a foreign exchange student who is soaking up American culture like a sponge. The gang mostly likes to spend their time in Eric's basement, pondering their lives, parents, and their futures, but they get into many funny mishaps and adventures in their teenage lives.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

94/100 (158 min, 2011)
Plot: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker.
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Stieg Larsson (novel)
Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Christopher Plummer

Men who hate women. Women who punish men.

David Fincher's take on Stieg Larsson's novel - which is and it must be stressed again not a remake of the Swedish film - is superior to the first cinematic version of the story  in every way. I do not know if all those purists saying this movie was unnecessary are blind, but there is not one thing in Fincher's film that wouldn't be better than in Noomi Rapace's version. It is so good in fact, that I will wait to know the rest of the story until new movies get made and just ignore straight to TV efforts from Old Continent. Because the heart of this stories is Lisbeth Salander. And in Noomi Rapace's interpretation she lacks just that - a heart.

The intricate story is flawlessly told - this is Fincher's strength - he knows how to orchestrate all the elements in his movies - while the stories he tells are always complex, they are never too hard to follow. Because of the editing and clever timing there is so much happening in the film - but Fincher knows when to slow down to built appropriate tension. When I was watching the Swedish film I thought how great the story was - too bad the movie is so average. Now we finally have a movie worthy of that story.

Soundtrack Wednesday - Moneyball

Song: It's a Process
Artist: Mychael Danna
Movie: Moneyball

Scene of the Week: The Ides of March

directed by George Clooney

The Betrayal

The scene: After being fired Stephen Meyers decides to switch sides - furious, he is walking in the opposing candidate office, prepared to sell everyone he knows to get ahead. He is looking for Duffy - opposing party advisor who once asked him to join them, who then sees him and freezes, taken by surprise. Beautifully timed by Clooney and scored by Alexandre Desplat the scene is a testimony to Gosling's talent who can show so many strong emotions in even a very short sequence.

The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards

- I never thought I'll say it but I'm completely furious George Clooney won over Michael Fassbender. On the bright side he spent half of his speech talking about Fassy's penis going as far as to suggest he should play golf with it. Thanks to that all over Internet people are discussing the Fassdong. I'm sure Fassbender can have any woman he wants tonight. Or any other night, for that matter. Clooney, watch out!
- On the related note everyone has commented on Fassbender's physique - Mia Wasikowska said the horse he rode on got erection whenever Fassy sat on it, the reviews went as far as to say it's the wonder of the World. When I finally see "Shame" I'm gonna have a stroke or something.
- First shock - Meryl Streep won best actress over Davis. It was hilarious - she was so surprised I thought she will fell off her chair.
- Michelle Williams gave a lovely speech, but she had a terrible dress. Nevermind that - she is so adorable, she kept talking about her daugther and despite tearing up didn't break down on stage.

- Second shock - Spencer won over Chastain in Supporting Actress category.
- Christopher Plummer won for "Beginners" and is pretty much a lock now. So much for our Alan making it.
- When "The Artist" won for best comedy they brought a dog from a movie - adorable Jack Russel on stage. It was beyond cute.
- Robert Downey Jr presented "The Artist" and said something about love conquering all. I melted.
- Another surprise was Scorsese winning for director. Angelina Jolie handed the award - she had a lovely dress, but she still looks like she didn't eat in months.
- Modern Family won for best TV show comedy and Sofia Vergara was hilarious on stage - and on the red carpet - she kept running around kissing all of her co-stars
- Jessica Lange won for American Horror Story!!!
- Madonna showed up so of course they gave her an award. Lame.
- Ricky Gervais was less insulting than last year - the celebrities were in much better spirit too - especially Colin Firth who shook his hand. Natalie Portman on the other hand, just walk right passed him.
- Man, Kate Winslet gives the most boring and longest speeches. They really need to stop awarding her.
- They had pretty good presenters this year. Well, better than most of the Oscars shows I've seen.
- DiCaprio looked pissed. No wonder, they almost never give him anything.
- The show made it look as if "Bridesmaids" was all about women shitting themselves. It was presented by the lovely Emily Blunt - so good to see her.

- Zooey Deschanel brought her sister Emily with her. Taissa Farmiga was there - I wonder if the second of my favorite sister duos was there, because I haven't seen her sister Vera.
- Clooney kept running around the room, kissing everyone and shaking every one's hand. I'm surprised he sat down for his nominations.
- All in all, pretty interesting ceremony but seriously there was not enough Fassbender, the dresses were in most part horrid and the race seems pretty predictable right now.

30 reasons why I love "Moneyball" and why you should see it now.

1. Brad Pitt's beautiful, subtle and delicate performance. The best work of his career.
2. The story which has a happy, but at the same time realistic ending.
3. The fact the film is based on true events.
4. That I know shit about baseball and I loved the film.
5. It is my most rewatched movie from 2011 - I've seen 3 times.

Don't be Afraid of the Dark

37/100 (99 min, 2010)
Plot: A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.
Director: Troy Nixey
Writers: Guillermo del Toro (screenplay), Matthew Robbins (screenplay)
Stars: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison

I have a strange feeling the ghost of Lovecraft is following me. I go on trivia site for this one and it says "Appropriately set in Providence, RI as that was the home of H.P. Lovecraft who wrote the story "The Rats in the Walls" which apparently inspired this film.". I start watching "Masters of Horror" and the second episode is based on his story. I read a little about Alien design by Giger and guess what? He had an artwork published in...book called "Necronomicon". That's all on the side note but I assure you - this is way more scary than the film I'm reviewing here.

It's 2012. You don't expect cheesy CGI anymore. But the CGI in "Don't be Afraid of the Dark" is so bad and laughable it actually manages to ruin the movie. Things aren't perfect before we actually see the monsters as Pearce, Holmes and Madison are just horribly miscast as ensemble and have no chemistry together, despite efforts on Holmes's part. But there is climate, suspense, potential for a good movie here. And then when we finally see what it is that endangers protagonists...it all goes to hell.

Soundtrack Wednesday - The Ides of March

Song: The Betrayal
Artist: Alexandre Desplat
Movie: The Ides of March

Scene of the Week: Pulp Fiction

directed by: Quentin Tarantino

"He fell out of a window"

The Scene: What do you think about what happened to Antwan? Who's Antwan? Tony Rocky Horror. He fell out of a window. That's one way to say it. Another way is, he was thrown out. Another was is, he was thrown out by Marsellus. And even another way is, he was thrown out of a window by Marsellus because of you. Is that a fact? No it's not, it's just what I heard. Who told you this? They. They talk a lot, don't they? They certainly do. Well don't by shy Vincent, what exactly did they say? Let me help you Bashful, did it involve the F-word? No. They just said Rocky Horror gave you a foot massage. And...? No and, that's it. You heard Marsellus threw Rocky Horror out of a four-story window because he massaged my feet? Yeah. And you believed that? At the time I was told, it seemed reasonable. Marsellus throwing Tony out of a four-story window for giving me a foot massage seemed reasonable? No, it seemed excessive. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I heard Marsellus is very protective of you. A husband being protective of his wife is one thing. A husband almost killing another man for touching his wife's feet is something else. But did it happen? The only thing Antwan ever touched of mine was my hand, when he shook it. The truth is, nobody knows why Marsellus tossed Tony Rocky Horror out of that window except Marsellus and Tony Rocky Horror. But when you scamps get together, you're worse than a sewing circle.

Screaming Sunday: H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House

(For next few weeks I'll be recommending best parts of "Masters of Horror" series here. They are a bit stronger than stuff recommended so far - both in terms of gore (with the exception of "The Descent" which was in the first issue of Screaming Sunday) and frights (aside for "Shutter" which remains one of the scariest horror films). Each episode is directed by one of horror legends and lasts around 55 minutes.)

(I was going to open with "Jenifer" but I'll have mercy on you all)

Sati's movie rating - 70/100
Plot: A graduate student questions his sanity after he rents a room in an old boarding house which was the residence of a 17th Century witch, and he figures out that the evil forces still roam within the walls.(directed by Stuart Gordon, who made "Re-Animator" - the adaptation of another of Lovecraft's works)
The heroes: Young and brave student, who for some reason finds himself being the target for the witch and needs to protect not only himself but also the baby that lives next door with his young mother.
The antagonists: Evil witch and her familiar rat with human (that's right) face, set on killing little baby.
What makes it so great? Surreal vibe and the fact the author of the story didn't hold any punches.
Best scene: The sex gone sick and witchy.
Oh-oh something's not right line: "She's comin'... She's coming for you."

Saturday TV Special: Homeland

Plot: Centers on Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq and being held prisoner and tortured, and Carrie Mathison, a driven and hardworking (and possibly unstable) CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America and has turned sides and joined the enemy.
Structure: The episodes pick up where the previous one left off, there is one intrigue which has many smaller plots connected to it, almost like a spider web.
Verdict: The show has a very strong "24" vibe to it, minus the annoying clock. The whole plot is very interesting and the individual scenes - like Carrie following Nicholas or the scene where loud music is played in order to break the person that can have valuable information - are amazing.
What makes it so great? Fascinating main character played by Claire Danes who delivers astounding performance, especially near the end of the season. The plot is interesting and the show is simply addictive - especially because Carrie is so unpredictable - few times you think "there is no way she will..." and then she does it.

Young Adult

97/100, (94 min, 2011)
Plot: Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now married with kids.
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody
Stars: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt

The Defense of Mavis Gary

"Young Adult" is an amazing movie - although advertised as a comedy, it is profound and moving character study. I enjoy Reitman's films and I like Diablo Cody's writing, however none of their films every hit me that hard and stunned me - in "Young Adult" both the script and Charlize Theron's fearless and flawless performance are just pure gold.

When I read opinions about the movie it struck me how many people call Theron's character monster. The only thing more shallow than some of Mavis's actions in the film is calling her that. We see a deeply hurt, damaged woman, who desperately needs help and worst of all - she didn't realize it. How can anyone can call person like that a monster? I wanted to hate her before seeing the film - we all know these Prom Queen types, who could get any guy they wanted in high school, had best birthday parties etc. I thought how fun it would be to see a movie where a person like that is a complete mess. But it wasn't fun - instead of hating Mavis, I felt sympathy for her.

Soundtrack Wednesday - Shame

Song: Brandon
Artist: Harry Escott
Movie: Shame

Perfect Sense

82/100 (92 min, 2011)
Plot: A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
Director: David Mackenzie
Writer: Kim Fupz Aakeson
Stars: Eva Green, Ewan McGregor and Connie Nielsen

"And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry

And all you touch and all you see

Is all your life will ever be"

- Pink Floyd, Breathe

Love in the time of Apocalypse

"Perfect Sense" is one of those movies that are extremely difficult to shake off. Its premise, the mysterious virus that causes everyone to loose their senses, one by one, although hiding underneath the love story which is the main focus of the movie, is horrifying. The thought of how awful the end of the world would be in this form is truly haunting. By the end of the film, although it has a beautiful ending, there is only darkness and fear left.

The story follows two people - the scientist Susan who while being friendly and liked by her co-workers is rather distant and seems not to chase love and Michael, who unlike Eva Green's character chases disposable love and comes off as cold and quite ignorant. These two will meet and - although due to the practicality of their relationship and the short time of their affair it is difficult to talk about real love - they will create a bond, that in the face of the end, will be something that matters the most to them.

Scene of the Week: Bridget Jones's Diary

directed by Sharon Maguire

New Year's Resolutions

The scene: "Resolution #1: Uggg - will obviously lose 20 lbs. #2: Always put last night's panties in the laundry basket. Equally important: will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts. Will especially stop fantasizing about a particular person who embodies all these things."

Screaming Sunday: 28 Days Later...

Sati's movie rating - 82/100
Plot: A group of animal rights activists break into a lab and release monkeys from their cages to rescue them, despite warnings from a scientist that the monkeys are contagious. As a result of the animal rights activists' actions, a virus that the monkeys contained rapidly across Great Britain and infects numerous people, then, quite possibly infects the rest of the World. Jim (Cilian Murphy), who fell into a coma following a bicycle accident shortly before the virus was released, emerges from his coma and finds that London is deserted. He realizes that he is not alone, as within the city there are those that have been infected and those that have not. Jim manages to find more survivors and they head out to Manchester, where a group of British military personnel offer protection of any survivors from the infected. However, Jim and his colleagues have no idea what they're in for - the soldiers have plans of their own.
The heroes: Group of few people including confused Cillian Murphy.
The antagonists: The infected.
What makes it so great? Very modern and raw approach to zombie horror. It's like better "The Walking Dead".
Best scene: The chilling prologue.