Source Code

April 9.

Source Code is Groundhog Day meets Inception meets Avatar ... kind of.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a disoriented soldier who gets to take over the body of a man who is on a train outside of Chicago that is about to blow up. He has eight minutes until the bomb explodes and everyone on board dies. Eight minutes. Over and over again until he can figure out where the bomb is and who planted it. He’s not supposed to be trying to save the people, only learn about the bomber to stop a future attack. This isn’t, as they say, time travel.

There’s a lot of to figure out in the movie – like where is Jake once he’s off the train and in his own body, who are the people who are instructing him in his mission, who’s the bomber, etc., etc.

Source Code is well made and acted and pulled me in from the start. There’s a question I have about Jake and then end, but I don’t want to ruin it for you. So let me know when you’ve seen it and we discuss the ending.

Rating: Like

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

February 14.

The whole world is raving about the book and movie trilogy that starts with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I guess I just missed something.

The story wasn't even about the girl. When the movie flashed to her life it was just one disturbing image after another, but I never really got why I was supposed to care. And her tattoo, was there even a tattoo?

The secondary story, which was the real story, was interesting, but not much more than a good episode of CSI Stockholm.

So although the Swedish movie held my interest I refuse to see part two and don't really think I'll run out to see the American version.

Rating: Ehh

The Ghost Writer

March 6.

I definitely felt weird about going to see "The Ghost Writer," which was edited in 2009 by the writer-director of the film, Roman Polanski, while he was in a Swiss prison waiting to hear if he would be brought back to the U.S. to stand trial for raping a 13 year old in 1977. Should I have boycotted, I still don't know. But, since I'm just sharing my thoughts on movies I have to say, I loved this political thriller about the ghost writer of the former British Prime Minister.

It's set in Martha's Vineyard during the winter (although it was shot in Germany). The cold, deserted beach town is a creepy backdrop for the story, which starts with the first ghost writer washing up on the small island's shore. Prime Minister Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan, is in hiding trying to finish the book and Ewan McGregor is hired as the new ghost. There are a lot of twists and turns and, you'll see as you read my blog that I never see the end coming.

Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces)

January 16.

I haven't seen a lot of Spanish cinema, but the movies I've seen all look like they were made in 1992. The colors, character's styles, sets are all faded. This doesn't mean it can't still be a good movie, but the other thing I've noticed is although the story is interesting the movie would fit in nicely on Lifetime.

"Los Abrazos Rotos," starting Penelope Cruz and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, follows these trends. The story is of a blind director, played by Lluís Homar, who is taken care of by his friend and her son. Cruz is part of his past and only appears in flashbacks. The story is interesting, just like some movies of the week are interesting, but I don't think it's a "love poem to cinema" as one reviewer called it.

I feel like the drama was a bit misplaced, too. I know Americans and Europeans think differently about some things, but when Homar's friend, played by Blanca Portillo, tells her son that Homar is actually his father he laughs and then they cut to the next scene. I just didn't really get this movie I guess.