Jan. 8, 2012 at 12:43pm with 4 notes
my week in moviesthe girl with the dragon tattoothe girl who played with firethe girl who kicked the hornet's nesttroubadourspicnic at hanging rockeating raoula separationpina
My Week in Movies #1

I watched 401 (!) movies in 2011. This year, I’m keeping a weekly log of everything I watch.

001) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher, 2011)
Sun, Jan 1 / Regal Citiplace 11, Baton Rouge, LA
003) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
Mon, Jan 2 / Netflix Watch Instantly
004) The Girl Who Played With Fire (Daniel Alfredson, 2009)
Tues, Jan 3 / Netflix Watch Instantly
005) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Daniel Alfredson, 2009)
Tues, Jan 3 / Netflix Watch Instantly

I’ve never read Stieg Larsson and I’m mixed on David Fincher (think Zodiac is great and The Social Network deserved the Oscar, meh about everything else), but my mom just finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and really wanted to see it. It’s actually a pretty good crime thriller, even if its gender politics seem a little wonky and there are a few too many dumb coincidences (esp the scene with Blomqvist’s daughter). But based on what Mom said it changed from the book, it sounds like Fincher improved on the original. The Swedish version is a half-step below, and really, only Dragon Tattoo has an involving mystery at its core. The rest are probably skippable if you aren’t into the books.

002) Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter (Morgan Neville, 2011)
Mon, Jan 2 / PBS, American Masters

I wouldn’t normally count a TV doc, but this one played Sundance and had a theatrical run last spring. It uses Carole King and James Taylor’s joint 2010 show at the Troubadour club as a launching point to revisit the singer-songwriter scene of early ‘70s LA. Troubadours skims over some pretty major figures (there’s more on Cheech and Chong than on Tom Waits or Kris Kristofferson – and Kris is even an interviewee!) but it’s a solid primer of the scene and pretty good baby boomer comfort food. Which, not being a baby boomer, means I have the same conflicted reaction I always have when dealing with this sort of stuff (see also: No Hard Chords). I have a nostalgic attachment to a lot of this music, I even like some of it, and Carole King is The Greatest. But if I never again have to watch David Crosby smirking about how it was an era when music was real – we changed the world, man! – it’ll be too soon.  Xgau makes a welcome appearance to bemoan all the naval-gazing mellowness and remind everyone that this scene launched the Eagles, for god’s sake, but he’s drowned out by all those peaceful hippies crowing that James Taylor could totally take that fatso Lester Bangs in a fight, if Bangs ever had been brave enough to show his face, and if James weren’t such a nice guy. (And who even remembers Lester Bangs, right?)

006) Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)
Wed, Jan 4 / FLIX On Demand

I don’t rewatch movies too often - there are too many I haven’t seen! - but Mom decided she’d like to see it. She fell asleep within 15 minutes. If you’ve seen it, you understand. But it’s still really good!

007) Eating Raoul (Paul Barthel, 1982)
Wed, Jan 4 / FLIX On Demand

One of the all-time cult classics I’d never gotten around to seeing. Surprised a bit by how broad the comedy was - I expected something a bit darker, given the subject matter and its reputation - but Mary Woronov and Paul Barthel as the leads give it a bit more depth than “heh heh, look at these squares.”

008) A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
Fri, Jan 6 / Film Forum, NYC
009) Pina 3D (Wim Wenders, 2011)
Sat, Jan 7 / IFC Center, NYC

That’s the trouble with releasing films in the last week’n’change of the year: both these films would’ve made my top 10 of 2011, but I didn’t get a chance to see them ‘til now. A Separation is one of those movies where you’re simultaneously in agony over the unstoppable chain of events and bowled over by how well put-together it is. Some of the bizarre legal wrangling reminded me a bit of Kafka’s The Trial, except that’s how things really are in Iran. Pina is gorgeous and moving and, along with Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the best argument for 3D I’ve seen. And I didn’t even think I liked modern dance! Incidentally, both were submitted to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category. I’ve also seen submissions Le Havre (Finland) and Miss Bala (Mexico) but would give the edge to A Separation. Given it’s more accessible than recent nominees like Dogtooth or The White Ribbon, it might nab it, too.

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