This weekend:
- Let the Right One In. Nicely crafted film, but a bit of a let-down, considering bloodydisgusting called it the best horror film of the decade. In some ways, a lot like Twilight, except without the goofy shimmering and vampire baseball. Is this a coming of age story? I don't think so. A movie about bullying at school? In some ways. Tackling bullying, or exposing how to cope with bullying or curb its impact? Not at all.
It might be a lovely picture, but it's not great.
- Paranormal Activity. Clever, and deserving of applause for the road it travels. The budget, student film, with a cheap camera, and some legitimate scares. Also not incredibly terrifying, but there's some good stuff in here that makes it a fine Halloween flick to watch in bed.
- Frantic. Old DVD, with no subtitles available, made me miss 1/2 the dialogue. I like Harrison Ford, but the mumbling was frustrating. The lack of action, suspense, intrigue was even more frustrating. Who cares about the drug smuggler girl/friend. Not me. I haven't even cared about the missing wife. There's no suspense. For a Polanski film, that is heavily trying to be a Hitchcock action-mystery, this was disappointing.
- Winter's Bone. This was an incredibly great movie. Perhaps only Toy Story 3 was a better movie I watched from this year. First of all, it was like Grand Theft Auto video game, going on these "missions" with the girl, asking these relatives where her dad was. Going to these people and talking with them, meeting them, recalling old memories, provided a great narrative. Secondly, the scenery of rural southern Missouri, the scene with the folk-singing lady, the auction, the sawing off of the hands, were some great moments that really struck me. Thirdly, watching these characters interact was really interesting, and especially
. . . it's really just a puzzle that so mimicks the reality of people being not one-dimensional. Really great movie.