Cold Nights in Sweden Heat Up as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Comes to DVD

What I find about foreign films is that the directors tend to take their time in developing the characters and unfolding the story.  

The thing about watching foreign films is that you need to stick with them long enough to allow the story and the characters to work their slow magic on you. When this happens, you are captivated until the end. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is no exception. This Swedish film comes with an English soundtrack and subtitles. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a murder mystery that starts slow, allowing the viewer to get accustom to the climate, the story and characters. Within the first 20 minutes or so, the action, the heat, and drama pick up captivating the audience into this "Whodunit." The film stars Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist as an investigative team intent on solving a 40-year-old murder mystery. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is not rated but does contain violence, mature language, and sexual content.
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James Bond Meets the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Year:  2009

Staring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber 

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Producer(s): Søren Stærmose

Writer: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg, Stieg Larsson (Novel)

Rating: R

Running Time: 152 minutes

Release Date: 2/27/2009

Source Code - Not just for programmers anymore.

When I saw Duncan Jones' "Moon," I was impressed with the story, the acting, and the direction.  I could say the same about his next film "Source Code" with Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga, and Michelle Monaghan.  Farmiga you may know was in "Up In The Air" with Golden Globe award winner George Clooney.  She just signed on to work with  "Insidious" director James Wan on his new film  "Conjuring".  If you look up the definition of the term 'Source Code' in the dictionary, you will find something that goes like this: "A text listing of commands to be compiled or assembled into an executable computer program." I spent many years in the computer programming industry so when I heard that Duncan Jones was calling his new film "Source Code" I was immediately puzzled. Read More

Movie Data

Genre:  Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2011 

Staring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga,Jeffrey Wright

Director: Duncan Jones

Producer(s): Mark Gordon, Philippe Rousselet, Jordan Wynn

Writer: Ben Ripley

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 93 minutes

Release Date: 4/1/2011

Shangri-La found!

I am always interested in idyllic places like Eden, Xanadu, Utopia, Heaven, and any place that makes me feel like I am home. In the case of Frank Capra's adaptation of Jame Hilton's classic story, the place is Shangri-La.  The place where death is a stranger and old age only happens to those of extremely advanced age.  It's a magical place and the way Hilton wrote it and Capra filmed it, you do want to believe that it just over the mountains waiting to be rediscovered. I watch a lot of films in a year, both old and very recent films. It is always a pleasure to screen, ponder, and review a film like Lost Horizon. Released in 1937 and staring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt, Lost Horizon deals with the age old story of paradise found, and then lost.  Read More...

Movie Data

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

Year:  1937

Staring: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Sam Jaffe, Thomas Mitchell, Margo, Isabel Jewell, H.B. Warner

Director: Frank Capra

Producer(s): Frank Capra

Writer: Robert Riskin, James Hilton

Rating: PG

Running Time: 132 minutes

Release Date:9/1/1937

James Bond Meets the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

So far, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has made almost $95 million dollars domestically, and  $165,684,283 in worldwide revenues. 

When I first saw  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  back in 2010 when the DVD was first released, I was captivated and transported to the cold dreary world of Lisbeth Salander - a computer hacker/researcher and into the world of journalist Mikael Blomkvist. 
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Hot Swedish Actress Noomi Rapace is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Year:  2011

Staring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Robin Wright 

Director: David Fincher

Producer(s): Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin, Søren Stærmose, Ole Søndberg

Writer: Steven Zaillian, Stieg Larsson (Novel)

Rating: R

Running Time: 158 minutes

Release Date: 12/20/2011

Underworld: Awakening: Review of the Latest Chapter in the Underworld Franchise

"Never back a mother protecting her child into a corner!"

T he first two "Underworld" films created a world that horror audiences could fall easily in love with. A beautiful vampire heroine, a dark legend, a history and mythology that falls in line with folklore and our cultural memory of what scares the hell out of us. "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" gave us a backstory that shed light on our main characters Selene, and Michael. The story was both romantic and horrifying at the same time. A lot of emotion flowed between the characters Lucien and Sonja. We see how they related to the relationship between Michael and Selene and how Viktor played his evil role. 

In "Underworld: Awakening" there is none of that. Instead, creator and writer Len Wiseman who serves as writer and producer, allows directors Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein speed through the exposition with fast cuts of previous films trying to catch us up on where we are at the beginning of this new chapter. As usual, as in the other "Underworld" films, we find Selene, in her slick black, skin-tight leather suit perched on a ledge. Gone are terms like curse and all sense of folklore, but instead terms like epidemic, virus, cleansing (as in ethnic cleansing), and genocide. We are in a modern world where both Lycans and Vampire are no longer at war with each other, but with humans. 

Kate Beckinsale ("Pearl Harbor", "Van Helsing") is back as Selene and like Alice in the "Resident Evil" franchise, she too has been in a coma while a species purge has been taking place. Like a pandemic, mankind has battled this non-human viral strains not with crosses, wooden stakes and silver bullets, but with science. Held in cryogenic suspension for twelve years after her capture while she and Michael tried to escape the pogrom, she awakens in the laboratory of a largest biomedical corporation; Antigen. Stephen Rea ("V for Vendetta") Dr. Jacob Lane runs antigen. Antigen is run like the Halliburton of the Bio-medical industry, with uniformed guards who walk around with plenty of firepower. Selene escapes the facility in a hail of an endless supply of bullets. Her modified Beretta 92FS Inox has a magic magazine that never seems to empty. I noticed she didn't even reload as she has in other films. The photography has the signature blue tint gives the audience the familiar cold, wet feeling of previous films. 

No other characters from the previous films grace the screen in this offering; instead, Wiseman gives us a few new characters. Apparently, not only have the humans been wiping out the non-human species, (I am surprised that they didn't try to lock them up in zoos or ghettos as in times past) but that Selene gave birth during her coma to a girl by the name of Eve. Played by Olivia Hussy's ("Romeo and Juliet" - 1968) daughter, India Eisley, Eve is a seemingly innocent and pretty girl who turns out to be, like her father, a hybrid. Another newcomer to the mix is David (Theo James), another surviving vampire, who shelters the reunited mother and daughter team while they are on the run from both the humans, and as we find out, the lycans. Michael Ealy ("Miracle at St. Anna," "Seven Pounds") plays Detective Sebastian. For some reason Wiseman thinks we needed the "human" element. I am not sure as to why he thinks this. Is this is a set up for another sequel? I actually pictured Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Serenity," "Salt," "2012") as a more suitable actor for this role as Ealy doesn't have the presence that Ejiofor has. 

This is a fast-paced, high action, bloody gore-fest of a film. "Underworld" fans will not be let down, however, the newcomer may walk away shaking their heads in bewilderment. The film boils down to a mother vampire, protecting her child. Never go up against a mother (of any species) who is backed up against the wall and will fight to the death for her offspring whether she may be Lycans, vampire, or human. Not understanding the rules or the how deep the backstory, and emotions go between the Lycans and Vampires. In a scene where a giant werewolf attacks the coven where Selene and Eve are hiding out, the uninitiated viewer doesn't have a clue that werewolves are big but not that big. 

Another issue I have with "Underworld: Awakening" is the flatness of the characters. I mentioned Det. Sebastian's character/performance, but I also have an issue with Quint (Kris Holden-Ried), Dr. Lane's (Rea) son. He too, like his father, is after Eve for her hybrid genes. His character seems robotic that, if it weren't for the special effects I wouldn't have noticed him. I don't know if it is the lack of dialog or that there is just so much action that the film rushes before your eyes you don't really feel like you saw a story, but a series of flash-cut gunfights, explosions, and close quarter combat scenes instead. 

I guarantee that fans of the franchise will love this film as it furthers the storyline and promulgates the franchise and the Lycans and vampire mythos. If you are new to the franchise, I recommend going down to your local video store, Netflix, or even Redbox, grab the first three films, and watch those first.

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror

Year:  2012

Staring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley, Charles Dance, Kris Holden-Ried

Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein 

Producer(s): Len Wiseman, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg

Writer: John Hlavin, J. Michael Straczynski, Allison Burnett, Len Wiseman, John Hlavin

Rating: R

Running Time: 88 minutes

Release Date: 1/20/2012

Published originally by Robert Barbere on Associated Content on 1/21/2012

I Saw the Devil Review

Revenge is for Movies (Contains spoilers)

V iolence, revenge, redemption, all three of these words came to mind when I screened "I Saw the Devil". Jee-woon Kim's diabolical thriller out does M. Night Shyamalan's "The Devil" easily, hands down. Are there devils in this film? I guarantee you that there are, and these are real. Choi Min-sik plays the evil Kyung-Chul, a serial killer that would give the BAU Team of "Criminal Minds" a run for their money. Byung-hun Lee plays the secret agent whose pregnant fiancée is brutally murdered in the first ten minutes of the film, and he seeks revenge. Unlike the Bronson or the Eastwood films of the 70's, I Saw the Devil is wicked, suspenseful, vicious, and most of all moral. For almost two hours of watching this story unfold in the most unusual and engaging way, subtitled in English, and violent to the core. Not rated, but take my word for it, this film is rated at least R.

The film starts out typically enough; it is a cold South Korean winter night. A young women, stuck in the mud and snow, waiting for a tow truck, is talking to her fiancée on the phone. A school bus approaches, a lone occupant, is within. The woman rolls down her window just a crack, and the guy, hooded, tells her that he can change her tire and get her out. Her fiancée, on the other end of the phone, singing love songs to her, cautions her to wait for the truck. Kim Soo-hyeon, Joo-yeon's soon to be husband, is well dressed in a nondescript suit, visible behind his ear is a wire leading to an ear-bud, in his left ear. He is either working for an equivalent to the US secret service, FBI, or CIA. Joo-yeon tells the helpful gentleman that she will wait. However, not taking her refusal, he breaks the window, and savagely beats the woman, in the head, shoulders, or anywhere he can. The rage that Choi Min-sik portrays makes Hannibal Lecter seem like your everyday Julia Childs. Beaten, naked, and bloody, the killer takes the young woman back to his lair and chains her up. At this point, the audience is hoping for a rape scene, or more beating. What happens instead would make the Marquis de Sade proud (I can't believe I just wrote that). Joo-yeon, pleading for her life, with what little life she has left, tells Kyung-Chul that she is pregnant. It doesn't matter; Kyung-Chul dismembers her. First are the hands, then the legs, and finally the head. The next scene displays how differently cultures handle homicides, in the United States we are used to seeing police barricading off a police scene from the press. Here, Jee-woon Kim shows us pure pandemonium; a crowd has gathered along the shore of a wash, running under a freeway bridge. The girl's father, Jang (Jeon Kuk-hwan), is there in what soon becomes a heart wrenching scene, as one of the searchers finds his daughter's head. Also, there in the distance is Soo-hyun, stands, and vows vengeance. Although vengeance is one of the main themes, Jee-woon Kim and writer Hoon-jung Park never forget their Confucius; "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." This theme lies just beneath the surface at all times, and Soo-hyun is almost constantly reminded of this fact throughout the film. 

Joo-yeon's father, a Detective on the police force for over 30 years, gives his almost future son in-law the case files. Taking off from being a secret agent for two weeks, Soo-hyun goes after the obvious suspects, ones that have already been investigated for similar crimes in the past. Like the psychotic Dark Knight - Batman, Soo-hyun takes out the first two suspects brutally and without prejudice. While checking out the third suspect, Soo-hyun stumbles upon Kyung-Chul's locked cabinet full of trophies. Purses, shoes, clothing of the women that Kyung-Chul has killed over the years, all found. In another room, Soo-hyun discovers the torture chamber where the woman he loved, died. In a drainage hole, Soo-hyun finds Joo-yeon's engagement ring. Canvasing the farm area behind the house, he comes across Kyung-Chul in the process of committing another rape and torture of a young schoolgirl. Before the girl is truly harmed, Soo-hyun and Kyung-Chul fight it out; in an action sequence that I can honestly say was as good as, if not better than a Jason Bourne battle. No documentary, shaky camera, no over acting that is typical of Asian films of the past, Soo-hyun triumphs over Kyung-Chul.

Like an R rated version of Shakespeare, the story doesn't end here. Instead of ending Kyung-Chul pathetic and evil life, Soo-hyun instead shoves a GPS tracker down the creature's throat, and breaks the man's wrist. Leaving evil alive, rather than ending the story here, director Jee-woon Kim wants us to question the morality of his protagonist, Soo-hyun. Giving his prey some money to live on with, Kyung-Chul hitches a ride on a taxi cab that for some reason is traveling the back roads outside of Seoul. The cab stops for him as he walks along the road in the dark. The driver is uncannily happy, and Kyung-Chul is prepared to take the unsuspecting cabbie. However, the cab driver reveals that there is another passenger in the cab, who, like the driver looks somewhat unnerving and suspicious. Kyung-Chul attacks both the driver and his passenger, with a knife hidden in his boot. Stabbing, anywhere and everywhere he can on both of the victims, careening out of control, the car smashing into a rail, and crashing into a ditch. Looking for supplies Kyung-Chul checks the trunk to discover that the two passengers are, in fact, killers themselves. Killers upon killers walk onto the stage in this film -- Jee-woon Kim has plenty of them, ready for your inspection. Another assault on a young nurse in a small-town doctor's office, and once again, Soo-hyun arrives, beats the killer, and saves the day. Like a blood hound, the tracking device keeping Soo-hyun on target, the punishment that he inflicts on Kyung-Chul turns more gruesome and less human. 

Once again, after catching his prey, the hunter returns the prey to hunt another day. Like a cat playing with a mouse, we question who the real devil in this movie is. Which character is truly evil; the killer or the hunter? 

Sinking deeper into depravity, Kyung-Chul seeks out some former comrades from his militant old days, and we discover that his big burley friend and his pretty lady friend are cannibals. The story progresses and with each capture and release Kyung-Chul takes a bigger beating and is released again into the world. The police are closing in on both Kyung-Chul and Soo-hyun and time is running out for the both of them. Kyung-Chul does not stop, each time he murders or beats someone to a bloody pulp, he does so with apathy, and utilizing anger as a motivation, you could see in the man's eyes that like a killer white shark that his soul is dead, and his moral compass is utterly broken. No remorse, no pity for his victims, he laughs and mocks them as they lay on the ground bleeding. Once the hunted and now the hunted Kyung-Chul reverses positions and takes control of the Soo-hyun's mind and soul, driving him even deeper into immorality and perdition.

The story of murder, revenge, duty, and justice is well thought out and not afraid to show the audience the truth of this kind of absolute evil. Like Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers of the 80's horror genre, I Saw the Devil embraces all of them in the character of Kyung-Chul. Credit must go to actor Min-sik Choi. His portrayal of a psychotic serial killer is dead on. His facial expressions portray a man whose only reason to live, is to kill. Portraying a man, beaten, battered, stabbed, broken, and humiliated, Min-sik Choi is creepier than Anthony Hopkins, discussing fava beans, a man's liver, and a fine Chianti. Byung-hun Lee's Soo-hyun character on the other hand goes through the film with almost expressionless grim determination. Only near the end when the stakes have risen beyond his control does he finally show emotion. Part of those emotions is for the horrors that he has committed in the name of justice. Other emotions that Byung-hun Lee portrays are because he realizes that he is losing his sanity and for the loss of his soul. Both actors play their parts with a sense of subtlety and sincerity that is both believable and scary. Unlike horror films made here in the West, the violence in not gratuitous, it is necessary to show the sheer lack of humanity that evil incarnate has for his random victims. I Saw the Devil also teaches us that not everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, these random acts of violence are, in fact, just that, random acts of violence. No rhyme, no reason, just death for those in Kyung-Chul's way. In making a rash promise to his dead beloved, Soo-hyun at that moment sells his soul to the Devil. In doing so he takes on many of the qualities of which he is sworn to fight and despise. The greatest evil in the world is to become what you hate, and Soo-hyun's soul now belongs to Kyung-Chul. 

Released on March 4, 2011, I Saw the Devil played in only selected cities throughout the world. Despite the violence and the subject matter, I liked I Saw the Devil as a film that reminds us that evil is not a supernatural entity, nor is it necessary that evil is portrayed in the traditional imagery of the cloven hoofed, horned, pan-like creature. Evil resides in all of us to a degree, and sometimes individuals like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Kyung-Chul are, in fact, Evil Incarnate.

"I Saw the Devil" came out to South Korean audiences on August 12, 2010. US audiences didn't see the film until the Sundance film festival in January of 2011. The US distributor, Magnet Releasing, allowed US viewers to see the film in selected theaters around the country.


Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller

Year:  2010

Staring:  Min-sik Choi, Byung-hun Lee, In-seo Kim 

Director: Kim Jee-woon

Producer(s): Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner

Writer: Hoon-jung Park 

Rating: R

Running Time: 98 minutes

Release Date: 8/12/2010

Originally published on Associated Content on  Apr 11, 2011 by Robert Barbere