Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy is a spy “thriller” set in the 70s and follows a handful of officers and leaders within the Britain Intelligence agency as they try to uncover the truth behind rumors that there is a double agent within. I put the word thriller in quotation marks because I use that word loosely. It is certainly how the film is being marketed and probably an accurate word given the genre, but the pace of the move is slow as molasses and I think there has to be a certain speed at which a movie keeps up and maintain the thrills. My movie mate described it, “like watching a spy thriller on dial up,” which I think was perfectly fitting.
He also described it as “confusing, beautiful and boring,” if that tells you anything.
Overall it was a great ensemble performance of a mostly male cast. There were a lot of great actors in the film including Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch (who is going to be the villain in the new Star Trek) and Tom Hardy (yum, who is going to be in the new Batman). But at the end of the day I didn’t really ever feel very invested in this movie, was never really on the edge of my seat, and kind of knew what was going to happen in the end. There were a handful of gay-curious innuendos and/or undertones which were kind of interesting but in the end it just made the movie a little more confusing.
I think this movie could be saved for rental or a plane ride.
Milk – I’ve been such a bad gay on this one. But finally saw it and loved it. I have great respect for original screenplays and I hope this movie at least gets recognition through that win. Sean Penn probably deserves the win over Mickey Rourke although I don’t think he’ll get it. He was amazing, as was the rest of the cast. After walking out of the theatre this became my favorite movie of the four best picture nominees I had seen. A
The Reader – It took about 14 hours for Milk to be bumped down to #2. I loved loved loved The Reader. This was the movie I was waiting for all year. A movie with characters I felt for and affected by. I thought it was painfully believable and Kate Winslett was obviously amazing. She’ll win and she deserves it. Best movie of the year. A
Doubt: Oh Meryl Streep, how I love you. Philip Seymour Hoffman… I didn’t used to like you, but you’ve grown on me over the years and now I love you too. Great acting, no surprise. The movie? Pretty good. What did I find questionable.. yet again?… the ending. I wish it were stronger. Granted it was very important to the whole point of the movie and adapted from the play, I’m sure… but it left me a little less than satisfied. It could have ended about 30 seconds before it did, and I would have almost loved the movie. I just didn’t buy it. Go see it so you can understand what I’m saying here people. Other small things? I didn’t love Amy Adams and I thought a Viola Davis was good… for the whole 4 minutes she was in the movie…but Golden Globe nomination… really? Good movie. I love you Meryl. B+
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: I walked out of this movie thinking… “gosh that reminded me a lot of Forrest Gump…” Only later did I learn that the guy that adapted this screenplay also did Forrest Gump. This movie has all the elements of a great one… great actors with great acting, amazing make up and costumes, the fascinating technical stuff behind the whole reverse aging thing, great cinematography… and a pretty good story based on a great author (F. Scott Fitzgerald). Overall I think it all pretty much came together. It took me a while to figure out why I didnt *love* the movie and eventually I realized I think for me to really love a movie it has to be realistic. I think I’ve created a Million Dollar Baby standard based on this and I think this is also the reason I didn’t love Slumdog Millionaire. It’s a drama but it could never really happen… so it’s almost more a fantasty, right? (Think about how Forrest Gump was moving… but at the same time not realistic.)Anyway, I do highly recommend this movie, especially if you aren’t one of those people that grunts over 3 hour films. The highlight of the film was the Brad Pitt transformation from old to young. (If you don’t already know, he is born old and then ages backward.) It almost felt like a climactic point in the movie, at about hour 2, when the reverse aging put him at the perfectly beautiful version of Brad Pitt that we are all obsessed with today. Anyway… it’s a long ass movie so I could ramble on forever. But I won’t. Go see it and tell me what you think. B
Slumdog Millionaire – I liked it a lot. I loved learning more about India and Indian culture. I thought the cinematography was amazing and beautiful. I mostly liked the screenplay… although it was a little predictable (which I think was somewhat intentional). However, I saw it a little late in the game, much later than I wanted and I feel like it’s getting a little over hyped. And I don’t necessarily mean it’s getting hype it doesn’t deserve but it’s one of those things where you don’t like things as much as you should once it goes mainstream. (I know a lot of people like this with music… no matter how good the band is and now matter how much the person once liked the band, once the average person likes the band, the original fan will turn their back on the band.) I am doing this with Slumdog. Ooops, sorry. B 
Frost/Nixon - I knew nothing about the Frost interviews going into this movie, had never even heard of them in fact. Honestly, I didn’t even really know that much about Nixon. I’m always down for learning about history, so I liked this movie. Ron Howard is a brilliant director. The pace was perfect, acting was great… Frank Langella should be winning more awards in my opinion. Plus, I love Sam Rockwell. A-
The Wrestler - I don’t want to even allude to anything that would spoil the ending… and I don’t think this will but… this type of ending… is quickly becoming over done. That’s all I’m going to say. Over. done. I thought the movie was a little bit predictable at times. Overall I likes it but as times goes by I seem to like it more. Mickey Rourke was great… Marisa Tomei was a hot momma. Actually, I thought she was too hot for the role. Chemistry between her and The Ram was questionable. At the end of the day, I left this one a little unsatisfied. I didn’t love the screenplay, especially the daughter part… predicatable and unsatisfiying. B+
A Dangerous Method
The movie is based on truth, and focuses on the relationship between two of the most prolific pyschologists ever, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, and the crazy-but-turns-out-to-be-pretty-brilliant woman that comes between them. in not necessarily the way you think.
I loved this movie and the connection I felt to it in many ways. From the topics of sex to pyschotherapy, it had my interest from start to finish.
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Posted in Commentary, Movie
Tagged movies, my review, psychology