Lisbeth Salander

So probably everyone has heard of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's a series of three books with probably the greatest female anti-hero of all time: Lisbeth Salander. Of course, sitting here I cannot think of too many female anti-heroes. But anyway.

I read the three books in about six days. I guess you could say I couldn't put them down. Lisbeth is about 100 pounds or so, short and freakishly skinny, very tattooed and pierced. She has been abused one way or another most of her life, but she is not a victim. Please believe me - she is not a victim.

The books are by a Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. Larsson delivered the three books to his publisher and then went and died. If you read the books, you will be just as mad about this as I am.

So the first movie came out. I wanted it to be good. I had high expectations, which is a no-no. I do a lot better if I have low expectations. But guess what? It was fantastic. Lisbeth was perfect; all the characters were, the editing was tight, the screenplay was genius. I can hardly wait until the next movie. I just wish there were more books.

Be sure to watch the Swedish movie before the American remake comes out. You know we won't get it right.

As In Heaven (2004)

This is a lovely Swedish film about a lost person helping a small town move past its inhibitions and become more than a group of neighbors. The lead character, an internationally famous conductor, is a cypher - a blank slate against whom the rest of the town mirrors its angst, love, desire, repression and ambition. He is a lost soul who has returned to his childhood home to find himself. As the rest of the town feels everything, he is trying to feel something, anything. On Blockbuster.com and Netflix, they compare this to Mr. Holland's Opus. I disagree. Did you ever see Accidental Tourist? It reminds me of that caliber of movie.

Shall We Kiss

Well, I watched a lovely little movie about consequences. It's French, but it is nevertheless light and smiley despite the heavy underlying subject.

Shall We Kiss (2007) starts with a beautiful man meeting a beautiful woman on the the streets of a French town. He helps her out, they have dinner, they are very interested in each other. They are gorgeous and it seems logical that they will end up in the sack.

But the woman doesn't want to kiss him. She says she has a personal reason for this, and starts to tell him a tale. In the tale, we meet a second couple, and that couple should not kiss, but they do. We learn about the consequences of that kiss, while occasionally hopping back to the non-kissing couple.

This is a serious topic. Usually this would be very melodramatic, with sobbing and bodice ripping sex. But this is a French movie, not American. Although these people take cheating and sex in stride, they have a serious desire to do the right thing. It's very humorous, yet sad at the same time.

Also, almost everything in the movie is beige and white - incredibly sterile. It looks like it was shot on a limited set, like an after school special. Yet this works. These people are so polite and proper, the bare set helps with the tone. Also, there are some funny pieces of decoration: as a couple slides down a wall in passion, the viewer sees bio-hazard signs and a skull and cross bones on the wall. It's quite simple and effective.

Russell Crowe versus Robert Redford

I know Robert Redford is supposed to be so handsome and all, but I think he's nothing compared to Paul Newman. Paul Newman is more stunning, he has those eyes, and those eyes have a spark in them. You know that look? Picture him in Cool Hand Luke. That's the look I mean. Robert Redford looks a like a vapid catalog model.

And to top it off, Robert Redford cannot act - at least as far as I can tell. Maybe someone out there knows a movie where he really struts his acting chops, but I haven't seen it.

Someone had recommended Three Days of the Condor. It's a CIA or spy movie or whatever. It doesn't hold up well AT ALL. Faye Dunaway is in it, and she's cool, but RR is bad acting in 70's clothes. If you want a nice story about a spy coming in from the cold, stick with the first Bourne movie. That one is good (before the hand held camera crap of the next in the series).

I also went to see the new Robin Hood with Cate B and Russell C. It's good in a lot of ways: the leads are really cool, the sets are filthy and disgusting and make me glad to be alive now. The supporting cast is great (but what is William Hurt doing there? He is not used well in this film.) The problems? It's too long, for one thing. Where was the editor for this? The opening battle scene alone wastes 15 minutes. The villain is annoying and over the top (Mark Strong as Godfrey). Mr. Strong has recently been the villain in Young Victoria and Sherlock Holmes, and he plays the same note each time. I'm bored. I still liked this movie, though, and it blows that the it did poorly at the box office. It's set up for a sequel, and it doesn't look like there will be one.

Le Hussard Sur le Toit (Horseman on the Roof)

If you like romance dramas, specifically costume dramas with intense young protagonists, you really need to watch Horseman on the Roof. It's one of my favorites. Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez are so beautiful it's a little distracting, but in a good way. Olivier Martinez is never this good again. As a proper, chivalrous gentleman hussard, he may be the most romantic figure ever out of France. Juliette Binoche is so young here, and a heart breaker.

The time is France during the 1832 cholera outbreak. Dead bodies are piling up, the military is evacuating towns and then quarantining people in the woods. It's a perfect time to fall in love, right?

The costumes and sets and cinematography are tops.

More Than A Game

If you like basketball at all - you need to watch More Than A Game. It tells the story of a group of four boys that start playing basketball together in 5th grade. They become best friends and family. They are joined by a fifth best friend and other teammates, very important coaches, and they log thousands of miles of flight time. But the most important thing to these guys is their friendship.

LeBron is the star, but it's not just about him. Can you imagine playing with a group of guys for eight years straight? Every weekend when they were little they would sleep over at someone's house. They were inseparable. And they were virtually unbeatable at their game.

Regarding the movie itself: it's not the best documentary out there, but it is solid, relying on a great story rather than editing or a tricky timeline or suspense. It is told as a linear tale, with each of the main five highlighted at various intervals. The interviews are not universally candid, but they are all interesting at a minimum, some fascinating. I was particularly taken by the father / son versus coach / player story.

Bottom line - I really wish I could watch these guys play another game together. I bet they do when they're all home for the holidays. I bet they can't stop themselves.

M by Fritz Lang

This is a classic for a reason. M (1934) was Fritz Lang's first talking picture, and a fantastic crime drama. It is definitely the oldest serial killer film I have seen, and I loved the CSI work circa 1931. It is very early noir - probably one of the films that helped create noir, and it holds up incredibly well. Peter Lorre (very young - a very early role for him) is the villain: a serial child murderer. The suspense is fantastic. Also, the moral issues are fun. The killer is hunted by the criminal underworld because the increased police raids he has generated are really cramping their style. They want him gone and things back to normal. Is this vigilante justice and mob mentality, or is it reasonable? You decide.