Currently browsing the "Arty Chick" category.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Posted by Arty Chick on December 17, 2011
They’re baaack! Holmes and Watson (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) pick up slightly after we last saw them in the first Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Watson is about to be married, and Holmes is still not entirely happy about it. And meanwhile, bombs are going off all over Europe, and while everyone else is blaming it on anarchists, Sherlock knows that it has something to do with his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). He just has to put the pieces together, and he is willing to play Moriarty’s extreme body-count cat and mouse game if necessary, even if it means ruining Watson’s honeymoon.
The Skin I Live In
Posted by Arty Chick on December 11, 2011
I have to admit two things up front. I am not usually a fan of Pedro Almodóvar, and the descriptions of The Skin I Live In did not lead me to believe I would change my opinion. “A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.” Ugh! But since the awards season is upon us, and it is showing up on a lot of lists, I decided to give it a look. And surprise!
Melancholia
Posted by Arty Chick on December 3, 2011
Danish director Lars von Trier is not known for happy movies (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark) and with Melancholia he keeps true to form. The title clues you in to the mood of the film centered on two sisters Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), which is told in two chapters. The first is Justine’s story – the saga of her wedding reception at her sister’s mansion, in which she has a slow and painful meltdown, revealing herself to be a deeply disturbed, depressed woman, incapable of being in any relationship, much less married. The second part belongs to Claire. It concerns her growing terror that a planet called Melancholia that has been hiding behind the sun is soon going to crash into the earth.
The Artist
Posted by Arty Chick on November 25, 2011
I have my favorite movie of the year now, and I expect that The Artist will be at the top of a lot of other reviewers’ lists, too. I’ve been told I gush about it. And I do not gush often. Considering that it is in black & white and is a silent film, you might wonder why.
Hugo
Posted by Arty Chick on November 24, 2011
Martin Scorsese’s new child friendly adaptation of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” called simply Hugo is the second film I’ve seen this month that is a paean to the world of silent film. Unlike The Artist, however, this one is neither silent nor is it in black and white. It is full, glorious color and even available in 3D. (I opted for the 2D version.) It is the story of an orphaned boy (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the secret chambers of a Paris train station keeping all the clocks running on time, while hiding from the over-zealous station master (Sacha Baron Cohen) who has it in for unaccompanied children.
The Lie
Posted by Arty Chick on November 22, 2011
Sometimes you just need to see a movie that is not all flashy and star-filled. There is a strange joy in watching actors you’ve never seen before since you bring no expectations to their performances. The Lie is one of those little indie treats. It is based on a short story by T. Coraghessan Boyle about a 30-something guy who wakes up to his going nowhere life and concocts a lie to get out of work, which then spirals out of control.
Margin Call
Posted by Arty Chick on November 11, 2011
If you’re just dying to see how Wall Street crashed and burned in 2008 from the insider view, then Margin Call is the movie for you. Set inside a firm that is a fictional stand-in for any number of real investment banks, the film takes place over the span of one day in which the entire house of cards threatens to fall apart, taking every person in the company down.
The Rum Diary
Posted by Arty Chick on October 29, 2011
Johnny Depp has a special connection with Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. First he played him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and now he’s brought Thompson’s “long-lost” novel The Rum Diary to the screen, playing the fictional Paul Kemp, a failed novelist looking for some inspiration in Puerto Rico. Kemp is basically the proto-Gonzo Thompson.
The Conspirator
Posted by Arty Chick on October 24, 2011
Seems I am destined to watch period movies centered on wronged women. My second of the weekend is Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, which tells the true story of Mary Surratt who was accused of helping plot Lincoln’s assassination. Robin Wright (formerly Penn) plays Surratt, the only woman charged in the conspiracy along with 6 men and the first woman executed by the US government. James McAvoy plays Frederick Aiken the young lawyer who reluctantly took her case.
