THE REVIEW CORNER

Starring:  Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, and Michael Douglas Directed by: Steven Soderbergh Screenplay by: Lem Dobbs     It seems like if Steven Soderberg forgot to cast anybody in Contagion from a few months back, they got their chances to shine now in Haywire .     Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), a black ops soldier, wants payback after being betrayed by the people who trained and employ her.  In order to trap her, a mission must go wrong and a trap needs to be set up for her to fall into.  The mission goes wrong and the trap is set up, but she escapes, sending everyone on a manhunt for her.  Mixed in with about a million tiny details, this is one thrilling story.     While it may be exciting and entertaining, not everything is explained very well.  For example, why do they want to trap Mallory in the first place?  What got her into this whole mess?  This is not explained.  There ...

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, and Richard E. Grant Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd Screenplay by: Abi Morgan      Has Meryl Streep ever played a bad role?  Has she ever had a poor performance in a movie?  Certainly, not that I can remember.      This is the story of Margaret Thatcher (extraordinarily well played by Meryl Streep), Britain's first female Prime Minister, and Britain's longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century (from 1979-1990).  The film does not exactly focus on the highlights of her reign as Prime Minister, rather on the incredible challenges she faced in order to obtain such power.      While the film may not portray Margaret Thatcher in the best of light, she is done justice by Streep's performance as her.  Streep delivers a nearly flawless performance, one most certainly worthy of an Oscar nod, and her recent Golden Globe win for this role.  While she is truly incredible in this f...

     So folks, it's that time of year again, when all of the prestigious awards go out to all those famous people in all those famous movies and made them noteworthy.  This time around, it's the Golden Globes.  I am fortunate to have seen many of the movies nominated for awards.  And, since I'm a film guy and don't watch a whole lot of television, I'm going to focus mainly on the films that were nominated.       Best Original Score       The Artist is a silent film, making the background music a whole lot more important than in a film with sound.  The score is similar to that of other silent films from the past.  The score helps us understand better what is going on in the scene.  It helps convey the actors' emotions in the scene, but it doesn't really connect us with the actors.  I truly enjoy hearing the score that Ludovic Bource composed for the film and I am delighted that he won the award for Best ...

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, and Ben Foster Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur Screenplay by: Aaron Guzikowski and   Arnaldur Indriðason     Is this really the way Hollywood wants to start 2012?     Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is an elite smuggler, recently out of the smuggling business.  When his brother-in-law screws up a run and has to dump the package he's smuggling into the U.S., a price still has to be paid to the drug lord who hired him.  He's vowed to kill the entire family if he doesn't get his payment, so now it's up to Farraday to come out of retirement and sneak in some counterfeit money so he can pay up.     So, this sounds like a pretty cool story, a little cliche, but still awesome.  While the originality factor may be at absolute zero, it could make for a decent film.  So, why is it bad?     This is the same story we've seen in so many movies so many times.  For me, it was ...

Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy Directed by: Tomas Alfredson Screenplay by: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan Based on the novel by John le Carré      I like spy movies.  Spy movies are good.  But Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy takes spy movies to a whole new level.      It's the height of the Cold War, and there's a rumor going around the Circus, Britain's secret intelligence agency (similar to the CIA) that there's a mole, working for the Russians, who's among the top operatives at the Circus.  So now, it's up to George Smiley (Gary Oldman), one of the Circus's finest and most experienced agents to find out who the double agent is and take down one of his own, after one of his fellow agents fails to find out who it is during a failed mission to Hungary to find out who it is.      The story is extremely convoluted and filled with hundreds of details that don't really seem all that important, but ...

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, and Christopher Plummer Directed by: David Fincher Screenplay by: Steven Zaillian Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson     Is it just me or does it seem like everyone has read this book?  I must be one of the few who haven't read it.  However, this film is still quite entertaining.     Swedish journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) has just gotten into some major legal issues because of an article he wrote in which his facts were not backed up with evidence.  His reputation has been ruined.     Fortunately for Blomkvist, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), an extraordinarily wealthy man, has a rather interesting mystery for Blomkvist to solve.  Vanger's daughter has been missing for forty years and needs someone to find out what happened to her.  Blomkvist must now be a detective for Vanger and the with the help of a young computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), get to know Va...

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, and John Goodman Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius Screenplay by: Michel Hazanavicius     Is the silent film making a comeback?  In an era in which every movie made involves dialogue, how would a silent film (in black and white) be able to compete?  It's entirely possible, just ask the creators of The Artist,  the only new silent film released in recent memory.     Hollywood 1927; the silent film era is beginning to come to a close with the invention of the "talkie", the film with sound and dialogue.  Legendary silent film actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is on his way out of the spotlight with the coming age of films with sound.  It seems that it is time for new faces, ones in which the public can hear as well as see.     It's a perfect situation for a beautiful young dancer, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), trying to get involved in this new industry known as Hollywood when she a...