THE GIRL WHO KICKED A HORNETS NEST is technically the final segment in the high-octane trilogy based on the award-winning novels by Stieg Larsson. Watch as Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist lurch toward the satisfying conclusion of the incredibly complex and psychologically demented story that has captivated many nations. I say “technically” b/c I read this weekend that there is actually a fourth novel in this series that has not yet been published. Wow, right? It turns out that when Larsson died, at the far too young age of 50 in 2004, he left behind a messy estate, and a computer filled with at least three quarters or more of a manuscript for the next book in the series. In fact, it is generally thought that he was planning up to 10 books starring Salander! Wow, a veritable goldmine! So where is this fourth book? Well, that is the messy part. It is in possession of his girlfriend and life partner for many years, Eva Gabrielsso, who legally had no right to anything in his estate (and as a result has not profited from the book sales or movie-deals). In fact, his family, who Eva claims had little contact or relationship with him, has done all of the profiting, and you can bet they’d love to take a little look-see at that computer she’s got. Maybe they should hire Lisbeth to hack into it and find out what’s really there! You know Ms. Salander would be up to the job. Anyway, enjoy this movie, and get prepared, because the entire trilogy is already being filmed for the English-language remake treatment, with the first film (starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig) tentatively scheduled to be released in December of this very year! I tell you, it is a goldmine. By the way, Larsson died of a somewhat suspect heart attack. Could it have been murder? At this point, we don’t know. Also out this week is NOWHERE BOY, the fictobiopic about the early years of John Lennon. Focused on the conflict within his family – the free-spirit mother who couldn’t be bothered to raise him and the strict but loving Aunt who did the best she could – the story is mostly about the pain of youth, desperation, dislocation, separation, condemnation, revelation, in temptation, isolation, desolation. You just listen to the song MOTHER by John Lennon and you can pretty much understand the pain he felt. Just listen to the wails on those final refrains of “Mother don’t go. Daddy come home”. It kind of makes you really wonder…I mean, on the one hand, give that kid a hug and some love; on the other hand, the pain fomented into – the Beatles! Life is unfair, and that’s clearly not always bad.
That reminds me of a story a great friend told us this weekend. Their wealthy friends’ child was complaining about something not being fair and one of the parents had just had enough. You know what? He shouted. You’re beautiful – that’s not fair! And you have lots of clothes, that’s not fair either! And you have a pretty decent amount of money, how fair is that? You know what? He continued. You should get on your knees and pray that things don’t get fair, b/c your life is pretty amazing as it is.
Pretty powerful thought, right? I think so.
Other big titles this week, RED starring Bruce Willis and a million other huge names. This action comedy is about a bunch of dangerous retired ex-agents who reunite to shoot their guns a bunch together once more. SECRETARIAT: A woman a horse, a triple crown; Secretariat. (Try it backwards, it’s a palindrome! Also, if you like weird psychological foreign films, you should watch DOGTOOTH, which looks like an all-time tweaker to me. In other news, Ryan Reynolds is BURIED in Iraq. Gerard Depardieu stars in Claude Chabrol’s final film INSPECTOR BELLAMY. And a bunch of powerful documentaries have been released on DVD and offered at Four Star Video – scroll down for details.
Alrighty, that’s all folks, hope to see you at the stores.
Love and Kisses,
Ken
p.s. Are you a fan of Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema? You should be! Here is the latest news from this awesome local festival, including some off season screenings and a call for entries for the 2011 festival! Read more here.
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............//NEW RELEASES//............
BURIED.
Suspense/Thriller/Mystery.
Ryan Reynolds.
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes.
* Paul Conroy (Reynolds), a contractor working in Iraq, wakes up to find himself in a coffin seemingly buried in the ground with nothing but a zippo and a blackberry to keep himself company. He vaguely remembers being attacked, but is confused as to the rest of it. The phone works, and soon he is contacting family and government to help him escape before the sand leaking into his coffin completes the job of burying him alive.
DOGTOOTH.
Comedy/Drama/Horror/Foreign (Greek).
Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos.
* Whoa, this super freaky psychological flick is about a family living in isolation who are being demented by their completely unscrewed parents who are teaching them an alternative vocabulary as well as tremendously handicapping their development. The only visitor they have is a woman who is brought in to have sex with the oldest child, the teenage son, to “relieve him of his sexual urges”. When she gets involved with the teenage daughters, the dam collapses, and the family rebels against the insanity. This film got nominated for an Academy Award this morning!
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST.****BD****
Action/Mystery.
Noomi Rapace/Michel Nyqvist/Lena Endre.
Directed by Daniel Alfredson.
* More like, The girl who stomped the hornets’ nest…Most people now know about Lisbeth Salander, the uber-damaged, asocial, computer-hacking, purveyor of her own special brand of justice. She has been brutalized and done her own brutalizing through two previous films, as the mystery of her past has slowly unraveled. This is the brilliant, terrifying and vicious conclusion to the trilogy adapted from the novels written by Stieg Larrson.
INSPECTOR BELLAMY.
Crime/Horror.
Gerard Depardieu.
Directed by Claude Chabrol.
* Chabrol’s last feature film was this 2009 mystery about Parisian Inspector Paul Bellamy, a tired Chief, who is trying to enjoy his vacation only to have it spoiled by his useless brother-in-law and a mysterious investigation. Perhaps not Chabrols best film, still, it is his last, and also his only time working with French cinema giant, Gerard Depardieu.
LIKE DANDELION DUST.
Drama.
Mira Sorvino/Barry Pepper.
Directed by Jon Gunn.
* A heartfelt tale of a child torn between his adopted family and his biological family. Won 16 festival awards around the country.
NOWHERE BOY.****BD****
Drama/Fictobiopic.
Aaron Johnson/Kristin Scott Thomas/Anne-Marie Duff.
Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood.
* This John Lennon fictobiopic chronicles his early years, being brought up in a strict household by his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas). When his mother re-enters his life, she stirs up a lot of emotion (as most parents who abandon their children do) and John turns to music to help him process his feeling. And thank god for that, right?
OPEN SEASON 3.****BD****
Comedy/Animation/Family.
Crispin Glover/Fred Stoller.
Directed by Cody Cameron .
* Somehow, Boog now works for a Russian traveling circus, and his friends must find a way to bring him home.
RED.****BD****
Action/Comedy.
Bruce Willis/Morgan Freeman/Mary-Louise Parker/Hellen Mirren/John Malkovich/John C. Reilly/Richard Dreyfuss/Ernest Borgnine.
Directed by Robert Schwentke.
* This farcical comedy is mostly about retired senior citizens, but if that’s all they were, the film would be called RSC. You see, there actually designation is Retired Extremely Dangerous, senior citizens. Thus, RED. Frank Moses (Willis) is thoroughly bored with retirement, and when danger threatens to return him to work, he heeds the call joyfully. In fact, he calls on the whole old gang to join him in a little gunplay, something these geezers seem to greatly relish.
REFLECTIONS.
Action/Suspense.
Timothy Hutton.
Directed by Bryan Goeres.
* Thriller about an agent tracking a serial killer into Spain.
SAW: THE FINAL CHAPTER.
Horror.
Tobin Bell.
Directed by David Hackl.
SECRETARIAT.****BD****
Drama/Sports.
Diane Lane/Scott Glenn.
Directed by Randall Wallace.
* Secretariat was a horse who (cuz horses are people, too) won the Triple Crown in 1973. This is the cinematic telling of his improbable story and of the woman who owned him.
............//DOCUMENTARY/............
CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER.
Documentary.
Directed by Alex Gibney.
* Spitzer himself sat for interviews with the director for this insider look at his rapid political rise and even faster descent. Somehow he has risen again as a television commentator. Celebrity is beautiful.
INSIDE THE MILKY WAY. ****BD****
Documentary/Nature/Science.
* I love me a milky way.
LAND OF CONFUSION.
Documentary/War.
* The director of this film was one of a group of people in the Pennsylvania National Guard making the transition from citizen to soldier in 2004. He documented this transition as they were sent to Iraq with the goal of finding WMD’s which history has told us were not actually there. This is a very up close exploration of the emotions and training this group went through.
SINS OF MY FATHER.
Documentary/Sociology.
Directed by Nicolas Entel.
* Sebastian Escobar is the son of the late Pablo Escobar, the former boss of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel who was directly responsible for hundreds of deaths and much pain and misery as well as untold millions of dollar gained in illegal drug trade. This film tells Escobar’s story through the words and eyes of his son and his widow. Also being told in this film is the story of a few of the more prominent men whose deaths were ordered by the Medellin cartel. In the film, two of the sons of these men are united with Sebastian Escobar as he tries to atone for his father’s terrible actions. This film won awards on the festival circuit and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year in the World Cinema – Documentary category.
WHICH WAY HOME.
Documentary.
Directed by Rebecca Cammisa.
* This well-formed and Oscar-nominated documentary follows unaccompanied minors (as in 9 and 10 year old children) as they try to cross the border into the United States. Some are looking for work, others are looking for their parents, still others are just looking to survive. The director received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to Mexico to make this film
............//TELEVISION/............
THE AGATHA CHRISTIE HOUR: SET 2.
Television/Mystery.
* Season two from the 1982 mystery series featuring some of Christie’s lesser known characters.
GLEE: SEASON TWO: VOLUME ONE.
Television/Musical.
* The first half of season two of the extremely popular show has arrived!
DOC MARTIN: SERIES ONE.
Television/Comedy/Drama.
* This is the first season of a British show that has been out for some time. If you guys are into it, we’ll keep buying it. It is about a socially-challenged doctor who has relocated from London to a general practice by the sea.
THE SHADOW OF THE TOWER.
Mini-Series/Drama/History/BBC.
* James Maxwell (not the local Bernal realtor) plays King Henry the Seventh in this 1972 saga chronicling the founding of the Tudor dynasty.
SKINS: VOLUME FOUR.
Television/Drama.
* Season four of the British series about a bunch of teenagers living fast without much supervision.
............//NEW ON BLU/............
THE COLOR PURPLE.
* Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey starred in this Steven Spielberg adaptation of a brilliant Alice Walker book.
............//FAMILY/KIDS/............
LEAPFROG: NUMBERS AHOY.
SHAUN THE SHEEP: SPRING SHENA-A-ANAGINS.
****
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