The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher brings one of the best selling novels of the past decade to the silver screen and it is a resounding success. This movie is a remake of a Swedish movie made in 2009 and that is pretty quick for a remake to be made. But when David Fincher wants to helm a movie, you give him what he wants. The casting of Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara were excellent decisions, and Mara really shines in this movie playing the iconic character of Lisbeth Salander. Craig also does a fantastic job but that is really expected of him whereas Mara's best role to date has been a supporting role in The Social Network. This movie proves that Craig can play roles other than James Bond and the Rooney Mara can actually act and carry a movie on her performance.

I really do not feel like posting a plot summary because I feel writing it out would confuse readers. This is a very complicated story that really needs to be seen or for the original experience pick up the book and read the novel. What I will say is that this is one of the best "murder Mystery" movies that I have seen in a long time and Mara's performance alone makes this movie worth watching. Fincher does also bring a certain degree of brutality to the movie, when there is violence on screen he really makes sure that you know it. Whether it be a rape scene, a revenge rape scene, or someone getting blasted by a 9 iron, Fincher makes sure that you see or feel every action that is going on.

The funny thing to me when watching this movie is that you get the sense that Fincher took elements from two of his best movies (Seven and Zodiac) and combined them to make this movie. It has the brutality of Seven and the procedural nature of Zodiac. The end product isn't as great as the other two films but it is right below them. Not bad when compared to two of the finest movies I have ever seen. The soundtrack to the movies is also incredible. Trent Reznor is a musical genius and the score that he put together for this movie is every bit as good as the score he put together for The Social Network. His score also holds up very well against those of the movies Hanna (The Chemical Brothers) and Drive (Various Artists) which I considered to have the best scores of the year.

The problem with a movie of this high quality is that I try and nitpick where it went wrong in certain areas but I really can't come up with anything. Just be advised when seeing this movie that it is almost three hours long and contains a pretty graphic rape scene. So if graphic sexual scenes make you uncomfortable then you may want to skip this one. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was one of the best movies that I have seen in theaters this year but when stacked up against all of the other movies that I have seen this year, it is not even in my top 10 movies of the year. This movie does deserve a 9/10, one of the best movies I saw all year just not one of the most original and entertaining.

Our Idiot Brother

This is going to be a quick review, not really up to writing a really long piece tonight. Our Idiot Brother is a comedy/drama that is full of heart and that is where the movie really succeeds. Paul Rudd is likable in almost every movie that he is in and this movie is no exception. His character, Ned, has such an optimistic outlook on life that is infectious. Ned gets thrown into jail for selling pot to an on duty police officer, on the pretense that the cop was having a really bad week and needed some weed. This is where his journey begins and we see him as he lives his life and adjust to being around his family after he gets out of jail. His outlook on life gets him into trouble because he trusts people to do the right thing where in many situations they will do the opposite. He tries imparting this to all of the other characters in the film but it takes time for them to realize that he is not stupid but he just has a different way of living his life than everyone else. His three sisters, played by Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer write him off as a big kid who will never grow up. They fail to realize that he is just really trusting and loves everyone unconditionally. His wisdom is lost on them due to the fact that they are wrapped up in their own lives and situations which they manage to mess up due to their selfishness.

This is a movie that will mostly be overlooked in favor of other comedies such as The Hangover Part II. This is a movie that has a lot of heart and really deserves a shot because the lead performance by Paul Rudd is really charming. This movie is a breather from the gross out comedies that have come out over the last few years and shows how a great lead character in a comedy can carry a comedy. This movie gets a 7.5/10, not the best I saw all year but it was still a very solid comedy.

Cowboys & Aliens

There are many words that could properly describe this movie but the best of the bunch would have to be, disappointing. This is one of those movies that the premise alone gets you excited for the movie. The trailers were intriguing but mostly underwhelming, the only thing that really salvaged my hopes initially was the fact that Daniel Craig was involved in the movie and I can't really remember a time where he did not give a good performance. Having Olivia Wilde in the movie also did not hurt considering she is maybe the hottest woman on the face of the Earth. Harrison Ford really hams it up in the movie and really adds nothing to the movie at all. Sam Rock well tries his best but his character is underwritten and the other characters in the movie are mostly filler and set up to die in the movie.This movie ended up being a huge financial disappointment but is a decent movie overall that takes itself way too seriously.

The movie's plot concerns itself with Jake(Daniel Craig), who has amnesia and remembers nothing of his past. Jake also has a strange device attached to his wrist that is alien in nature. He wanders into the local town and his wounds are treated by the local preacher. Jake also comes into conflict with the family the controls most of the town's activities that is led by Woodrow Dolarhyde(Harrison Ford). Ella(Olivia Wilde) is the mysterious woman in town who has an instant connection with Jake. The first night of him being in town, aliens begin abducting the townspeople and the device activates on Jake's wrist revealing itself to be a weapon. This leads to an adventure to discover his past and also save all of those that were abducted by the aliens.

Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde provide two good performances while the rest of the cast mostly phones it in for most of the movie. Everything else in the movie is really mediocre, the story is really not that engaging at all because it takes itself way too seriously for such an over the top concept. Harrison Ford gives one of his worst performances, basically this was just a paycheck for him and you can really tell. The direction in the movie is all over the place because at times it wants to be a pure western and then at other times it wants to be a science fiction action movie. There is never a happy median between the two and you can tell that no one knew what type of movie they were actually trying to make. Sub-par special effects do not really help the movie at all with the aliens looking fake in every scene that they are in, there were not practical effects used to make the aliens and that really took away from the impact of seeing the creatures for the first time.

This was one of the most disappointing movies of 2011 and if you were pumped by watching the trailers then this movie will definitely let you down. That is a real shame because this movie really did have a lot of potential. With a little more humor and some better casting decisions this would have been one of the most surprising movies of the summer. This movie gets a 5/10 and that is really only because of the excellent performances from Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde.

The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Trilogy is the most consistently high quality film series in the history of movies. The series gets better with each passing movie, learning where the previous one faltered then fixing that problem while upping the quality of the rest of the movie. This is also the movie that brought Matt Damon to the masses in many ways because this is his most well known starring role and also his best, outside of The Adjustment Bureau. Along with Doug Liman's direction, the two make an exceptional spy thriller that blossomed into on of the best trilogies in film history and created one of the most memorable characters in recent memory.

The Bourne Identity tells the story of Jason Bourne, who is found floating in the sea off of the coast of France by a fishing vessel. He has been shot in the back twice and is nursed back to health by the medic in the ship, who finds a laser pointer containing bank information in Bourne's leg. On top of currently recovering from gunshot wounds, he also cannot remember who he is which sets up most of the film's narrative. Bourne goes to the bank to check the bank account and find a large sum of money, passports, and a gun. He begins to question why he would have all of these items and goes to an American embassy to see if he can get some answers. At the embassy, security forces try and detain him but he quickly dispatches his pursuers and is this then leads to a series of events throughout the movie that only reveal a fraction of the truth that he was in search for.

This movie seemed to inspire a new wave of spy thrillers along with a lot of copycat movies as well. For every Hanna that wowed audiences there was a Green Zone that killed audiences' spirits. The combination of a great story, superior action, and memorable characters allowed the Bourne franchise to succeed and there are very few movies in that genre that are able to do that, so it is a true accomplishment. Salt and Hanna are the only two other movies that I have seen in recent times that stack up against The Bourne Trilogy in almost every way. The idea that the main character is discovering themselves while the movie progresses is a fantastic idea because the viewer is there each step of the way to see each character grow and this allows the viewer to actually care about what the character is going through. This is one of the main reasons I loved the movie Hanna so much. I felt like I was there each step of the way through the characters adventure, and the same goes for the Bourne series. We as the viewer are uncovering the mystery at the same time as Jason Bourne and that creates a bond with the character. That along with awesome action/fight scenes is what keeps us watching though.

This is one of the best spy thrillers that you will ever see. Matt Damon gives one of the best performances of his career and helped to create on of the most memorable movie characters in recent memory. The Bourne Identity led the way for the rest of the Bourne Trilogy and while it may not be the best of the series, it is much better than 95% of the thrillers that have come out in the last 20 years. Watch this movie and you will get a mix of great performances, excellent story, and epic fight scenes. This is a 8.5/10 only because I have seen the rest of the trilogy and know that the other two movies are superior films.

Warrior

Warrior is 2011's answer to The Fighter, they are very similar in tone and story but Warrior is the more engaging of the two movies. The combined performances of Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, and Nick Nolte carry this movie from beginning to end. This movie was marketed as a pure MMA movie but that is really only a small portion of what the movie is truly about. This is one of the first movies that allows US audiences to get a good look a the acting talents of Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, and it showcases their acting talent and also their ability to each carry the dramatic weight of the movie. This is a fantastic movie that displays how strong the bonds are between family members and also how everyone deserves a second chance.

If you watch the trailer you will get an overall idea of what the movie is about. What the trailer does not show you is how each of the brothers reacts differently to their situation and how they are not that much different from one another. Brendan(Edgerton) has been able to adapt to the horrors of his past and work through the trauma that came along with those events. Tommy(Hardy) on the other hand is unable to let go of the anger that has built up within him stemming from similar experiences that Brendan went through. Tommy was trained by his father to be a world class wrestler but his father was a drunk and constantly abused the family. Paddy(Nolte) is trying to reconnect with his sons in any way that he possibly can. He starts to train Tommy for an upcoming MMA tournament and sees Brendan from afar when he sees him fighting in the same tournament. Tommy and his father have the most hostile of relationships because Tommy no longer even considers Paddy his father due to him leaving him and his mother. Over the course of the film, we see as Tommy begins to understand his father and finally forgives him after an argument leads Paddy to drink again for the first time in 3 years. Each of the men find their own way of forgiving each other and that really shows how unconditional love does exist.

This is a very good movie, it just ran into a buzz saw in terms of movies that I have seen recently. The quality of this movie diminished a little due to the awesome movies that I have seen recently such as Midnight in Paris, Another Earth, Hanna, and Drive. This movie is just not as complete as those movies ion my honest opinion. Hardy and Nolte give exceptional performances with Nolte really stealing the show. His character had the longest road to travel to redemption and he has a great journey over the course of the movie. This movie deserves a 8/10 and really is worth a viewing.

Alien

I challenge you to find a better horror movie than this. This was about the 6th time that I have seen this movie and everything that happens in the movie is still terrifying even after multiple viewings. This is the movie that cemented Ridley Scott's legacy in the genres of both horror and science fiction. The movie also has an All-Star cast consisting of Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, and Veronica Cartwright. This movie is single handedly responsible for creating the movie genre of science fiction/horror and is still its finest example. This is in the top 10 of my favorite movies of all time and there are not a lot of movies that will be worthy of replacing it.

Alien tells the story of a commercial towing crew transporting a refinery back to Earth. During their trip they are awakened from their hyper sleep and are told to investigate a beacon. A massive spaceship is found that is housing thousands of leathery eggs and one of the crew members, Kane, is attacked. An alien life form attaches itself to his face and the crew debates what to do with him. Dallas, the Captain, and Ripley, the second-in-command, have differing opinions of what to do. Ripley wants to quarantine the subject in hyper sleep whereas Dallas wants to remove the creature from Kane's face. Before either can act, the life form separates itself from Kane and dies. Kane is then seen to be acting normal for several hours but then during a meal an Alien bursts from his chest starting a chain reaction that leads to a majority of the movie's events. What follows is a brutal "game" of cat and mouse between the crew and the Alien.

This is one of the first movies to actually feature a realistic female heroine in a horror movie. She does not need to be helped or protected by her male coworkers. Ripley has become the prototype which all other female heroines are measured and none are really as good as the original. She has her moments where she is close to breaking down but then sucks it up and keeps her head in the game. She makes difficult choices and the story would have played out much differently had the Captain listened to her in the first place. She is a very levelheaded character in that she is trying to follow her protocols to the best of her ability and then when they breakdown and the situation becomes more dire then she is able to adapt to the situation and tries her best to make the right decisions. She seems to be one of the few characters in the movie with any common sense, along with Parker. The Captain seems to throw caution to the wind at a point and gets himself isolated in a duct with the Alien. Others freeze at the sight of the Alien and are unable or too afraid to act. Parker's death is no fault of his own but due to the non-action of another character who is paralyzed by fear. Ripley is a very realistic and well rounded character and there are small things that signify this throughout the course of the film. Such things as her finding her cat and trying to protect it from danger to the fact that as second-in-command she has to work harder for respect from the crew. Another thing that struck me was how they filmmakers handled her reactions when she comes face to face with the Alien in the escape pod. You can see this panic on her face but at the same time you can see her analyzing the situation, trying to come up with the best way to get out of danger. She is one of the best character in cinematic history, male or female. She is a personal favorite of mine and is the main character in two of my favorite movies of all time.

I could go on and on about this movie but I generally try and keep these reviews to a decent length. This along with Aliens and Blade Runner comprise three of my top ten movies of all time and are the top three science fiction movies of all time in my honest opinion. I have not seen another movie that can match the tension and terror that this movie is able to bring to the screen. This is also one of the movies that has ever given me a nightmare, so you know it is an effective horror movie. This movie deserves to be seen by everyone of the appropriate age and is a true cinematic classic. A perfect 10/10.

P.S.- This movie also has one of the greatest posters of all time.

The Hurt Locker

"The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug.". This is one of the best quotes that can describe what is going through the minds of the three main characters in the movie and how each is affected differently over the course of the movie. This is one of the most poignant movies in recent history and one of the most important movies of my generation. Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie give standout performances but Renner is definitely the star of the show. He gives one of my personal performances of all time and he was jobbed the year he was nominated for Best Actor. This is one of the finest movies about the war in Iraq, the only other movie dealing with the same type of subject is Restrepo. This one of the first movies dealing with our war in the Middle East without using grand over the top set pieces and tried to tell an actual story.

The Hurt Locker tells the story of an EOD unit in Iraq in the early stages of the American occupation of the country. The unit consists of Sergeant James(Renner), Sergeant Sanborn(Mackie), and Specialist Eldridge. James is the ordinance disposal specialist and Sandborn and Eldridge support him on their mission. James becomes their team leader after their previous team leader was killed in the line of duty. James is very good at his job but is unhinged in almost every way, taking chances with both his life and the lives of his teammates. Sandborn is the voice of reason and tries his best to keep James in line at every turn and Eldridge is the "rookie" of the group and is more impressionable with his allegiances changing through the course of the movie. Over the course of the movie, we see the team as they evolve and how each escalating situation takes a toll on them both mentally and physically.

Sanborn is the most interesting of the characters in my opinion. You can see that he truly believes in what he is doing and that he is helping people on a daily basis. He understands why they are there and his main goal is to keep his team safe then he worries about everything else. When his team is put in danger he will throw himself in the line of fire for his teammates, but has no tolerance for anyone putting his team in needless danger which his team leader does on several instances. There is a rage that you can see is boiling beneath the surface with him and you see him snap at times during the movie because the situation he is in is overwhelming him and he needs to let his frustration out. He recognizes that he needs more in his life and feels like he will be an afterthought if he is killed. By the end of the movie he comes to the realization that he wants to start a family and get out of this violent and dangerous setting that he is in. On the other side there is Sergeant James, who loves his job and feels at complete ease during the most tense of situations. James is in love with his job and comes to realize that he is not suited for normal life and can barely function around his family on a day by day basis. You do begin to see cracks in his macho exterior when he thinks that a kid he becomes friends with in Iraq has been killed. He freaks out and goes after the people that he thinks is responsible but then finds out that the kid is not dead. He is fully invested in the war and feels like this is the only place that he belongs. Whereas Sanborn breaks away from the addiction of war, James fully embraces it and continues to feed his addiction.

This is one of the best movies of my generation and really shows how war effects all types of soldiers in different ways. Renner and Mackie dominate this movie and give some of the best performances that I have ever seen. I will be a fan of Renner and Mackie for their entire careers due to this movie. This is a must see for anyone of my generation or anyone who has been affected in any way by the ongoing Middle East conflict. The Hurt Locker is a personal favorite of mine, it may not be the most uplifting movies I have ever seen but it has one of the most engaging stories that I have ever seen. A 10/10 for this movie. If this movie does not effect you in some way then you have no soul and may want to stick to your shit movies.