The Flick Files

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

theflickfiles — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:17:27 +0000

John: Revenge is Swede
Our one-two review style is particularly appropriate to TGWTDT, as I’m part of the approximately 50% of the world that hasn’t read the book, while Laureen is part of the other half. Viewing this movie with a newbie’s eyes, I thought it was great – but while I loved its icy settings and efficient Scandinavian pacing, some of the character development seemed to get steamrolled by the relentlessly advancing plot. (Apparently, according to my partner-in-film, reading the novel first fills in these gaps.)

However, if it comes down to choosing between more fully-realized characters or more Swedish ass-kicking, I’ll take the latter any day. It wasn’t as cool and atmospheric as the original Insomnia with Stellan Skarsgard, but at least he gets to be in the Hollywood remake.

Laureen: Adjective Clauses Aren’t All That
Book or film, TGWTDT boils down to the characters for me. What exactly would the world do without Lisbeth’s troubled past and eyelinered sass? Well, if it were my world, we’d all watch La Femme Nikita, drink a bottle of whiskey, and call it a night. That said, I love that an unkown Swedish author stormed the gates of the mystery/thriller genre; it’s just that TGWTDT wasn’t really my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, the movie takes everything great about these characters and waters it down so much you might need a pint of glögg to figure out why you should care about their fates (case in point: Mikael goes from pursuer of worldly justice and amateur gigolo in the book to moralistic monogamist on screen). But hey, if you haven’t read the book and are on the hunt for a sleek foreign thriller, this film won’t disappoint.

The Consensus: Totally watchable, but we’re still curious to see what Hollywood does with it.
Biggest Surprise: That we got through this review without making a single IKEA joke.
Favorite Character: Lisbeth Salander
Most Necessary Re-Do: Casting, with the exception of Lisbeth.
New Tagline: All parts needed for assembly not included (okay, make that one IKEA joke).

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: based on novel, hacker, sweden, thriller, violent

Demolition Man (1993)

theflickfiles — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:54:36 +0000

John: 1990s, We Hardly Knew Ye
It has recently become increasingly clear to me just how badly the 90s are aging. In Demolition Man, bright colors, plasticky sets, and tall, amorphous hair abound in a more-80s-than-80s pastiche, making the viewer yearn for the faintest hint of 30s classiness, 50s greaser rebellion, or 70s grit and grime. The ridiculous computer graphics look worse than the now-defunct touchscreen ordering pads once used by Arby’s (they did exist, I swear), and watching Wesley Snipes gallavant around San Angeles in his bright red and blue outfit made me think, involuntarily, of Super Mario. In the “movies to pass out to” genre, I give this one 3.5 stars out of 5.

Laureen: The Future Is Saved by Spandex
The first thing that struck me about Demolition Man was its uncanny resemblance to Brave New World — if you took the book and watered it down, added Disneyland-style future cars, and censored all mention of soma. Then, at some point in my post-movie, Pho Me Now-fueled dreams, I put it all together: Sandra Bullock co-stars as police officer Lenina Huxley, Aldous Huxley wrote BNW, and Lenina is one of its main characters. Oh, Demolition Man. Really.

Despite all that, Demolition Man has its moments: Wesley Snipes makes an attempt at thespianism while wearing waterproof overalls, Sandra Bullock finds a way to completely rock her spandex policewoman pants, and Stallone isn’t actually in the film for the first twenty minutes after the opening credits. Overall, the future isn’t all bad.

The Consensus: Well, you probably shouldn’t be sober. Some kind of greasy late-night delivery wouldn’t hurt either.
Biggest Surprise: The writers show a rare moment of prescience when they predict Schwarzenegger will end up in politics.
Favorite Character: The machine that tickets Stallone every time he drops an F-bomb.
Most Necessary Re-Do: The whole naked cryogenic freezing scene. Next time around, please please ban all butt cheek.
New Tagline: Stallone: Use or Freeze by Expiration Date

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: 1990s, action, dystopian, future, science fiction, spandex, sylvester stallone, wesley snipes

44 Inch Chest (2009)

theflickfiles — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:14:30 +0000

Laureen: Mama’s Got a Brand New Swear
I admit it, I have a huge weakness for modern British gangster movies — to the point where I’ll forgive Guy Ritchie for almost anything. The slick production, the well-dressed hoods, the creative swearing… I love every little bit of it. 44 Inch Chest (think furniture, not boobs) isn’t just a superb addition to the roster; it’s a veritable force of all things British underworld. Basically, it gathers up everything you’d expect from a gangster film, takes a giant step back, and forces you to intently ponder the men behind the madness. It’s like Snatch grew up, took smart pills, and wrote a novel (and trust me, I love me some Snatch). All that, and it’s got one of the best opening scenes (not to mention some of the most memorable swearing) I’ve ever seen in a move. Ever.

John: Fecking C*nts (and the Right Fecking C*nts Who Love Them)
One of my favorite characters of all time is Ben Kingsley’s Don Logan from Sexy Beast – a psychopathic, verbose, and spectacularly off-color thug who becomes, despite everything, a fascinating and almost sympathetic character. 44 Inch Chest, another British gangster turn from the same writers, is much more of a group effort than their prior film. The writers deal Don Logan’s various sociopathic traits to their ensemble cast like a deck of cards, and then set them loose on each other, resulting in some of the funniest foul-mouthery this side of Glengarry Glen Ross. Despite all the verbal fireworks, this movie maintains a strong undercurrent of dramatic restraint - and, to top it all off, it’s beautifully filmed.

The Consensus: Watch it now. Maybe twice.
Biggest Surprise: How cerebral each scene is, despite the explicit (and implicit) violence.
Favorite Character: Old Man Peanut
Most Necessary Re-Do: Our only complaint was that the jumps in time were initially confusing, sometimes to the point of distraction.
New Tagline: Ray Winstone Can and Will Kick Your Ass

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: 2000s, awesome, British, ensemble, gangster, psychological drama, ray winstone, swearing, violent

Dune (1984)

theflickfiles — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:01:59 +0000

John: Old Spice
As a fragile young moviegoer (Young Sherlock Holmes was pretty much my breaking point), I didn’t first see Dune until the late nineties, at which time it didn’t leave much of an impression. I had a much more favorable take on it this time around: the Harkonnen, who seemed one-dimensionally grody the first time through, are fairly comical in their bondage-ness, and the clan of blue-eyed sand people makes for a pretty cool third act. That said, the constant voice-overs are ludicrous, and some of the effects are surprisingly bad. Watching superimposed ships fly across the sky over and over again is kind of like looking at Yahoo from 1996 and knowing how much better it could be.

I don’t often say this about campy/cool older movies, but I think a remake is definitely in order. I nominate Peter Jackson to direct, with David Lynch as “creative consultant” — however they want to work that out among themselves.

Laureen: Lawrence of Arabia Meets Tremors
When you’ve got David Lynch, Sting in a codpiece, giant sand worms, and some truly out of this world hair styling all in one film, it’s either genius set in space or a painful couple of hours to kill. Thankfully, Dune manages to mostly stand the test of time and good taste, and the parts of it that fascinated me as a kid (the pain box, the assassin syringe, cat milking, fat men in flying suits) don’t disappoint even a fairly sober adult me. When it comes down to it, Dune is really two films in one: Hamlet in space (the first half), and an epic desert-swept quest story (the second half). I’m a little partial to part two, but mostly because everybody’s wind-tousled and wearing tight leather.

The Consensus: Totally watchable, though we sort of wish it wasn’t a Lynch film. That said, some of the Harkonnen fetish moments are truly Lynchian creepy.
Biggest Surprise: Sting can act! Who knew?
Favorite Character: Baron Harkonnen
Most Necessary Re-Do: Egads, the voice-overs are terrible.
New Tagline: Spice pirates don’t wear plaid.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: 1980s, david lynch, hair, kyle maclachlan, science fiction, space, spice pirates, sting