This is a cute little Swedish film that came out early last year (even though the official release date was 2013). I heard about this because it appeared on several best of the year lists though I’m not sure why. That’s not to say I didn’t like it, just that I kept expecting something more interesting or surprising to happen to justify the buzz.

It’s a fine independent film that follows the story of three 13-year old girls who decide to form a punk band. The ending is quite clever in how it shows them really symbolizing the spirit of “punk” music but there are a lot of pretty mundane conversations and scenes that you have to wade through to reach that ending.

Having not had much exposure to the Swedish language, I realized it is not pleasant to listen to for long periods of time.

Recommended for anyone who’s a fan of Sweden, can appreciate a slower-paced character drama with lots of talking, and who appreciates the “messages” of punk music.

I missed this when it played in theaters this past year but finally had a chance to sit down and watch. I wasn’t blown away but it’s not bad.

On the positive side: Luke Evans is a good leading man, believable and does some interesting things with the part. The cinematography by John Schwartzman (who also was DP on Seabiscuit and Saving Mr. Banks) is really gorgeous in many scenes. There’s a cool “vampire vision” thing they did here I really liked as well.

Special credit has to go to Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) as the Master Vampire. He steals every scene he’s in. Best scenes of the film involve him. Great make-up work as well.

The production values are high. Where things went a bit wrong for me was in the story department. While the script isn’t terrible, it has a lot of plot holes and character motivation issues that threw me out of the movie. I kept asking basic questions about why characters were acting a certain way that seemed in opposite to how they’d been established and what their actual motivations were.

Also, although the production values were high, there were several nearly all-CG scenes that felt more like a video game cut scene rendering. In the end, I kept thinking to myself, even Game of Thrones (which is just a TV show) has better characters and storylines than this film.

It’s a passable “set up” for Universal’s planned monster movie franchise. I wouldn’t mind visiting this world again, as long as more time is spent on a better plot and stronger characters.

The word on the street is that this is Christopher Nolan’s favorite movie of all time (or at the very least, in his top 5). I remember seeing parts of this but I’d never watched it all the way through. I’m glad to report that it’s great, and at least for me, one of the best of the classic Bond films. The ending is especially powerful.

I’m sad that George Lazenby didn’t play Bond a few more times because his Bond is perfect. He has excellent comedic timing (this film is a lot more playful and filled with puns than previous Bond entries) and a charisma that rivals Sean Connery.

You can definitely see where the ending sequence of Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010) came from. Talk about an homage. Fun to watch just for all the references you will see in Nolan’s films.

Telly Savalas is well-cast as the evil Blofeld with his bald head and fluffy white cat. Diana Rigg is the “Bond girl” here and has a more substantial and ultimately tragic part than I’d seen in most Bond films. A well thought-out female character. Recommended for any James Bond fans.

This is a well-made, compelling film that is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Every frame is beautiful. There are touching moments here that give you insight into what Hawkings’ life was like. The screenplay is great as well. Eddie Redmayne is tremendous here in a transforming role as Hawking.

All of that being said, I wasn’t blown away by it. For me, a movie like Selma that came out about the same time was much better. I think the problem here is that the movie plays like most biographical movies, a “greatest hits” of a person’s life. It’s interesting and well done but Selma’s approach, just a moment in time (like Lincoln a few years ago) gave me a much greater sense of the person. I felt like I’ve seen this type of movie so many times before and though really well done, it felt strangely obvious and familiar.

I don’t think it should have been nominated for Best Picture (did deserve nominations for Best Actor and Best Cinematography though). Regardless, it’s still recommended.

Holy cow this is a dark film. Another one I had on my “post-apocalyptic” watch list for a long time. I’m shocked that this was directed by the same guy (Stanley Kramer) that made my all-time favorite comedy “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”. The plot begins with nuclear war having engulfed most of the world. Only a small group of people in Australia are left alive. The rest of the world has all died of radiation fallout. The people in Australia know they only have about a month to live before the radiation reaches them and they too will all die. And that’s where the movie begins.

What you get then is some tremendous acting from the likes of Gregory Peck, Anthony Perkins, and Ava Gardner as we watch these characters deal with their incredibly bleak situation, discuss suicide, the meaning of life, lose love and find love, and come to terms with their inevitable demise. Recommended to anyone who wants to see a depressing and thought-provoking drama.

I’m a huge fan of director Michael Mann. He made The Insider (1999) which is still in my list of top 10 favorite movies of all time. I’ve liked all his movies to one degree or another and there’s things to like about Blackhat as well. But in the end, it’s just not up to the quality I’ve come to expect from Mann.

The action is shot in really interesting ways but never achieves the intensity of something like the bank robbery scene in Heat. The digital photography looks better here than in the past (camera technology is definitely improving) but never approaches the gorgeous colors & grain of something like The Insider.

I’ve still yet to see Hemsworth in a role that really showed me he is an A-list actor. He’s got a great physique and he’s certainly not bad as an actor, but he’s never been able to completely draw me into one of his characters. Unfortunately, Blackhat didn’t give him much to work with here and what he did have, didn’t come across any better than what I’ve seen from him in the past.

There were too many absurd moments that pulled me out of the story. Endless helicopter shots from every angle, shootings in the middle of crowds where the crowd doesn’t notice, stilted dialogue that doesn’t quite work. In the end, I think the biggest problem here is that the story is just not worth telling. It’s not exciting or interesting enough (at least in the way it was put together) to justify Mann’s talents.

Also, if I was going to make a movie about a computer hacker, I would have him doing a lot more hacking and less gun / knife play.

Big positive here though is that they get a lot of the technology right in the film which is a pleasant change of pace for Hollywood computer movies.

Not terrible and I didn’t hate it by any means. Just average and that was disappointing. Recommended for Michael Mann completists.

Reportedly, this movie’s entire budget was just $50,000 and it’s one of the best independent science fiction films I’ve seen in a long time. It just goes to show how far a great concept can take you in spite of the budget.

I don’t want to say too much about this film because it’s so much better if you don’t know what the overall concept is but it has serious Twilight Zone vibes going on (just like The One I Love did). Even some of the acting feels like the frantic scenes from some of Rod Serling’s best written episodes. Basically, the plot revolves around an astroid that is passing over a dinner party one night and strange things start happening. It really mines the concept for all it’s worth with some good thought-provoking twists. Granted, some of the plot might not hold up to deep scrutiny but it’s a lot of fun and much better than I expected.