Feanor
02-12-2012, 08:46 AM
I've seem more than my usual number of flicks in the last month and thought I'd post some very brief reviews.
The Ides of March ~ Dir. Clooney / writer: Clooney / star: Clooney, et al. Quite disappointing given I like political shenanigan movies. No really sympathetic characters -- the Hoffman character came closest; wooden acting by Clooney. 3/5*
Hugo ~ Scorsese / Logan / Butterfield. Pretty good family entertainment; nice tribute to an early film maker. 4/5*
J. Edgar ~ Eastwood / Black / DiCaprio. Disappointing; it failed to effectively focus on either the man's achievements or his misdeeds. 3.5/5*
Let the Right One In ~ Alfredson / Lindqvist / Kåre Hedebrant+Lina Leandersson. I'm no aficionado of vampire flicks, but I liked this one. 4/5*
The Descendants ~ Payne / Payne / Clooney. This one shows off Clooney as the pretty good actor his is, a lot better than Ides, above. A quite descent movie about a variety of family problems. 4/5*
Remains of the Day (1993) ~ Ivory / Ishiguro+Jhabvala / Hopkins. A somewhat under rated film that shows what a great actor Anthony Hopkins really is. 4.5/5*
The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo ~ Fincher / Lasson+Zaillian / Craig+Mara. An OK but somewhat over-rated flick with a bizzare heroine and an all too predictable "nice guy" villain. 3.5/5*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ~ Alfredson (again) / Le Carré+O'Connor+Straughan / Oldman. A quite reasonably good rendition of the famous Le Carré novel. Guinness'esque but good portray of George Smiley by Gary Oldman. 4/5*
Watching to the last film prompted me to rewatch the late '70s version and its sequel ...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) ~ Irvin / Le Carré+Hopcraft / Guinness. A stunning mini-series and my favourite of all time. Brilliant acting by Alec Guinness and a telling portrayal of British upper class bureaucrats. 5/5* This is a must see. (http://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Alec-Guinness/dp/B005DXCO94/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1329068595&sr=1-3)
Smiley's People (1982) ~ as above. A very worth sequel to the '79 Tinker Tailor. 5/5*
The Ides of March ~ Dir. Clooney / writer: Clooney / star: Clooney, et al. Quite disappointing given I like political shenanigan movies. No really sympathetic characters -- the Hoffman character came closest; wooden acting by Clooney. 3/5*
Hugo ~ Scorsese / Logan / Butterfield. Pretty good family entertainment; nice tribute to an early film maker. 4/5*
J. Edgar ~ Eastwood / Black / DiCaprio. Disappointing; it failed to effectively focus on either the man's achievements or his misdeeds. 3.5/5*
Let the Right One In ~ Alfredson / Lindqvist / Kåre Hedebrant+Lina Leandersson. I'm no aficionado of vampire flicks, but I liked this one. 4/5*
The Descendants ~ Payne / Payne / Clooney. This one shows off Clooney as the pretty good actor his is, a lot better than Ides, above. A quite descent movie about a variety of family problems. 4/5*
Remains of the Day (1993) ~ Ivory / Ishiguro+Jhabvala / Hopkins. A somewhat under rated film that shows what a great actor Anthony Hopkins really is. 4.5/5*
The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo ~ Fincher / Lasson+Zaillian / Craig+Mara. An OK but somewhat over-rated flick with a bizzare heroine and an all too predictable "nice guy" villain. 3.5/5*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ~ Alfredson (again) / Le Carré+O'Connor+Straughan / Oldman. A quite reasonably good rendition of the famous Le Carré novel. Guinness'esque but good portray of George Smiley by Gary Oldman. 4/5*
Watching to the last film prompted me to rewatch the late '70s version and its sequel ...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) ~ Irvin / Le Carré+Hopcraft / Guinness. A stunning mini-series and my favourite of all time. Brilliant acting by Alec Guinness and a telling portrayal of British upper class bureaucrats. 5/5* This is a must see. (http://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Alec-Guinness/dp/B005DXCO94/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1329068595&sr=1-3)
Smiley's People (1982) ~ as above. A very worth sequel to the '79 Tinker Tailor. 5/5*