Leonardo DiCaprio and his production outfit Appian Way have been sitting on the rights to the novel The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America for quite a while, with intents to eventually get it made with DiCaprio himself starring as the main character Dr. H.H. Holmes. Holmes was a serial killer from the late 1800s, a twisted freak who built a murderous funhouse of a hotel that contained a gas chamber, a crematorium, and a dissection table… amongst other things, which led to him capturing and murdering anywhere between thirty to a couple hundred people during the Chicago World’s Fair.

There’s movement on the project now, as DiCaprio and his people have sold the rights to Warner Bros. and are going to team up with the studio to produce. The first step to actually making a movie is to get a script, so to that end Warners has hired Graham Moore to do an adaptation. You might recognize Moore’s name, because he recently made some waves when his script The Imitation Game was named at the top of the 2011 Black List. And in addition to being a hot screenwriter, he’s also a native Chicagoan, which makes him kind of perfect for this project.

When talking to Deadline Goose Island, Moore said that he has been, “obsessed with Devil in the White City for a decade. My high school was 50 yard away from where the Chicago World’s Fair was held, and I played soccer on a field near where Holmes murdered about 200 people. It was a truly horrible crime, but it’s a very Chicago story. Though I moved to LA, I think of myself as fundamentally Midwestern, and in a weird way, this is a dark and twisted tribute to my hometown.”

Seeing as Holmes was a complete psychopath who tortured and murdered a bunch of people, he’s kind of a strange choice for the protagonist of a film. How do you ask an audience to keep watching this guy operate without becoming disgusted and tuning out? Moore talked about his strategy by saying, “Holmes was a most likable guy who inwardly was a tremendous monster. I’m drawn to stories where the role of villain and hero get murky and I thought it would be different to tell the Holmes story from his perspective, and put a little humanity into him. … In my head, the most unsettling part of Holmes isn’t what he did, but in what ways we notice bits of him that exist inside us and don’t make us feel very good.” I think we all know what this means: Graham Moore is a potential murderer. Once this guy goes crazy and starts offing people, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly collection of things you’ll want to read, even if they didn’t originate on this website. We know, we know, all the good stuff can only come from Film School Rejects. But every once in a while (at least 8 times per day), other websites strike gold. And we’re here to celebrate their modest victories.

We begin tonight with an image from Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, one of a number released today by Magnolia Pictures. It features Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim as… well, I have no idea what’s going on in this picture. But apparently people find this funny. Having watched numerous episodes of their show, I’m not convinced that they’ve ever been funny. But who am I to argue with the masses? Oh right, I do argue with the masses. Seriously, guys, this stuff isn’t funny. At all.

According to the always reliable British tabloids, the producers of the James Bond franchise would like to have Daniel Craig play Bond five more times, surpassing the Roger Moore held record of 7 times a Bond. He’s certainly a favorite among modern fans, but Craig is also an actor interested in diverse work. So playing Bond until the mid-2020s might not be something he’ll want to do. Then again, his Bond movies are serious money makers, so you never know.

Twitch is reporting that Clive Owen and Mia Wasikowska have been offered leading roles in Oldboy, the remake from director Spike Lee. Owen would play the villain, while Wasikowska would play the female lead. Who would have a twisted interest in Josh Brolin’s hero. If that doesn’t turn your stomach a bit, you haven’t seen the original.

Eva Green will play a villainess in 300: Battle of Artemisia, the Frank Miller created, Noam Murro-directed follow-up prequelquel to Zack Snyder’s 300. She will play ruthless, gold-covered goddess who convinces Xerxes to amass his army and lead them into battle, a series of events that lead to those of 300. She will undoubtedly have gold-painted lady abs, as well. And that’s okay.

Showtime is getting into the Australian family crime business, with Shameless showrunner John Wells picking up a script for a show based on the David Michod film Animal Kingdom. Now there’s a fine idea for a show, on a network that can make it happen in a brutal way. Cheers to good ideas.

Earlier today, we received an email from a gentleman named Matt Herrmann, who has created a blog we’ve since deemed to be one hell of a great idea. He’s created a site dedicated to his own original movie ideas. He even goes as far as creating a poster and full synopsis for each pitch. Some of them are interesting, others mediocre, but a few are actually quite good. The only danger, of course, is that all the good ones will probably be stolen quickly by Hollywood, those sneaky bastards. Still, our own Kate Erbland cited Is That You? as a movie she’d see, if it got made. Personally, I’d like to see this Farm Girls movie:

Over at Pajiba, Dustin Rowles has unearthed an oldie but goodie, a list of ten movies you’d never, ever want to watch with your parents. Yes, A Serbian Film is one of them.

Roger Ebert has assembled a behind the scenes look at Tom Cruise’s ridiculous stunts in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. It’s seriously one of the most intense sequences put on screen all year. And wait until you see what he actually did to make it happen. That Tom Cruise might be crazytown, but he’s a mother-effing movie star.

Shawn Levy sits down and has a smart chat with Gary Oldman, the man who is picking up quite a bit of well-deserved recognition for his performance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

LA Times critic Kenneth Turan explores the best of 2011 in movies, citing the likes of The Artist and Hugo, two Oscar frontrunners, as well as a few films you may not have heard of yet.

Alyssa Rosenberg at ThinkProgress has an excellent essay about the fantasies of men and women, and what Charlize Theron’s Young Adult character has in common with Michael Fassbender’s Shame character. Note: it is not copious amounts of sex with beautiful people. She’s just got Patton Oswalt, after all.

It’s hard not to agree with every word Movies.com editor Erik Davis has written in his essay, Why Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the Film to Beat This December. It is one hell of a ride and the rest of December is rather weak.

We close tonight with Taxi Driver, as sweded by Michel Gondry. This one needs no further explanation.

Anybody who has either read Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Series or seen the original film adaptations directed by Niels Arden Oplev and Daniel Alfredson knows that David Fincher’s upcoming film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is going to have two potential sequels after its release. The question is, will he pass the torch to another director to make the English language versions of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and The Girl Who Played With Fire like Oplev did, or will he take them on himself?

Ace Showbiz reports that Fincher spoke on this very issue during a recent press release, and though he doesn’t sound all that thrilled with having to make Dragon Tattoo sequels, he’s probably going to do it anyway. He plans on making them the same way you pull off a bandage though, in one quick motion so that he can be done with it.

Fincher said, “The second two books are very much one story and it doesn’t seem prudent to me to go to Sweden for a year. Come back for a year. Put out the second one. Go to Sweden for a year. Come back for a year.” That sounds very reasonable to me, it probably would be much easier on everybody involved to take care of both movies in one extended shoot. But is that the only reason he plans on doing it this way? His additional comments seem to indicate that nobody involved is all that interested in making these movies in the first place.

Not only does Fincher opine that, “I don’t think Rooney [Mara] wants to be doing this four years from now,” he also talks about his own desire for sequels by saying, “Do I want to see a sequel for this? I would be happy for everyone involved as that would mean a lot of people went to see it and enjoy it. Do I need to see a sequel? No, there’s a little bit of an emotional cliffhanger at the end, but the story is complete.” Wow, way to get me excited for the next couple movies. You’ll make it because it will earn everybody a bunch of money, but you don’t really care either way? How about just not doing them at all and moving onto something you actually are interested in then?

The director even admits that he hasn’t read the second two books in the series, “I haven’t given the second and third books near enough scrutiny to be able to comment on [them],” but adds that, “I’ve seen Steven [Zaillian]‘s script for the second one and it’s really good.” I haven’t read the books either, but I have seen the original movie adaptations of the story, and I have to say that I would be perfectly happy if Fincher just made the first film and then passed the second two off to someone else so I can completely ignore them. This is a series of stories that went downhill for me pretty fast. What do you think? Are you looking forward to all three Fincher directed Lisbeth Salander movies, or are you impatient to see him do something else?

Why Watch? Can you create animation in real-time? It’s a fascinating question and a challenge that clearly comes from a unique mind. Instead of hand-drawing every cel or stop-motioning objects you move a centimeter at a time, Katy Beveridge decided that she could create animation using the natural, real-time flip book effect of something you probably have on your porch right now.

The result here shows the method’s limitations, but it also manages to produce an oddly mesmerizing effect.

What does it cost? Just 2 minutes of your time.

Check out The Bicycle Animation for yourself:

THE BICYCLE ANIMATION (2011)

Trust us. You have time for more short films.

Let’s get this out of the way now: I’m a Cameron Crowe fan. The director has his critics. Most of his divisiveness comes down to the tone of his films, which some find wrongfully cheesy. I, on the other hand, find Crowe’s humanism endearing, never silly or phony. Somehow, when everyone else has drunk the cynical Kool Aid and acts too cool for school towards anything with a big heart, the director remains optimistic about life and (ugh) people.

Crowe, who aims high to plant a big smile on your face, does so here more than competently. The surface-level concept of We Bought a Zoo is fairly ridiculous-sounding: Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) buys and decides to rebuild a broken-down zoo. I’m not sure how We Bought a Zoo differs from Dave Blank’s true life story, and while watching the film and even while writing about it at this very moment, I don’t care. The most important part of Crowe’s adaptation is that, every emotion felt genuine. The “getting the zoo back in shape!” serves as a metaphor for Mee attempting to rebuild his once happy family – heavy shit, right?

Alright, not a tremendously subtle idea, but this is a film that’s got its heart on its sleeve, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The basic human story and apparent drama all almost serves as back to basics film for Crowe. His past two efforts, the tremendous Vanilla Sky and the messy Elizabethtown, was the director at his most ambitious and splitting. The Orlando Bloom-starring film has its moments and says some genuine things about coming to terms with failure and loss, but, by the end, it felt like a four act structure trying to do too much. With Zoo, Crowe sticks to basic storytelling beats.

Even with the simplicity of it all, there’s some poignancy found. The biggest theme of Benjamin’s journey is expressed perfectly with the line, “All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come of it,” and that type of honest humanism represents the overall appeal of Crowe. There’s something so relatable about going off on an impulse, no matter how stupid it may seem, and the results being grander than one would expect. Whether it’s Lloyd Dobler  holding a boombox above his head playing, of all people, Peter Gabriel, or when Jerry Maguire classically posed the question, “Who’s coming with me?” these silly acts end up affecting their lives. They may not strike the characters or even the audience as game-changing acts, but they are.

It’s hard not to eat that stuff up, especially if one’s not in an unrelentingly cynical mood going into the theater, which, for the first time in a while, I was not. There’s plenty of recommendable films to see this Christmas - The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and more – and We Bought a Zoo sits comfortably in that list of films. I cannot wait to see this with my family come the holidays, so we can all walk out feeling high on life for five minutes before we hurry back to lunging at each other’s throats.

The Upside: A well earned feel-great movie; Matt Damon is his usual reliable Damon-self; has believable kid actors; lovely score from Jónsi; Scarlett Johansson proves, when dealing with sound material, she can deliver the goods; while the supporting cast are footnotes, they all have a moment or two for themselves, especially Thomas Haden Church.

The Downside: An unneeded “will the weather stop the zoo from opening?” panic bit; a slight pacing issue from the previously mentioned downside issue; John Michael Higgins and Carla Gallo are tonally out of place.

On The Side: I was hoping to see Damon kill a zebra, and then wear its skin as a token of victory. Unfortunately, that scene never came.

Is there a chance that current Hollywood it boy Ryan Gosling could be working with super weird Argentine director Gaspar Noé (Irréversible, Enter the Void) on his next project? If you listen to author Bret Easton Ellis (“American Psycho”), there is. Here’s the story so far: Ellis has been working on a screenplay for a while, it’s called The Golden Suicides, and it’s about the true story of artist couple Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan, who killed themselves back in 2007, allegedly after harassment from the Church of Scientology.

Originally Gus Van Sant was meeting to come on and direct Ellis’s screenplay, but that fell apart for one reason or another, so eventually the job went to Noé. Now that there is a director in the bag, it’s time to find a leading actor, and Ellis seems to have his sights on Gosling.

Recently he’s been taking to his Twitter account to tease followers about the fact that Gosling is close to signing on to the project. Last week he was saying things like, “Ryan Gosling is going to have to wait this year out and then win the Oscar for playing Jeremy Blake in The Golden Suicides,” and this week he’s been tweeting details of a meeting he, Gosling, and Noé had at the Chateau Marmont. In addition to talking about how good Gosling looks eating an apple, Ellis also stated, “Ryan came to meet Gaspar Noé who is directing The Golden Suicides. The 25 year-old broke up with me when I said we couldn’t stay for dinner.”

If Gosling’s already jam-packed schedule would allow him to sign on for this project and work with Noé, it would be a pairing of an actor who is making maybe the most interesting performance choices in Hollywood today with a director whose choices start at interesting and then go somewhere you could never anticipate. I don’t know about you, but it sounds like a match made in heaven to me. I guess we’ll all just have to keep following Ellis’s Twitter account to see how this thing plays out.

If you’ve yet to read about Blake and Duncan, check out the article that started it all, Nancy Jo Sales’s piece at Vanity Fair. [The Playlist]

Gavin Hood’s upcoming adaptation of the legendary Orson Scott Card (is it too new to be legendary? It’s at least flirting with legendary) sci-fi novel Ender’s Game just signed a new name to its cast, one who’s already pretty legendary in the sci-fi world himself: Han Solo. Harrison Ford joins a cast that already has Hugo’s Asa Butterfield starring in the lead role of military recruit and Earth’s last hope Ender Wiggin, and youthful Oscar nominees like Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin playing supporting roles; so it’s starting to look like Hood’s sci-fi epic pitting man against bugger is going to have quite the ensemble when it finally gets put in front of cameras. I know that everyone was a little upset when the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was hired to direct such a beloved novel, but I don’t think there’s any way we can complain about this cast.

Ford is set to play the role of Colonel Hyrum Graff, the man responsible for training the recruits at the military school Ender attends. He’s a manipulative man who’s plan is to control Ender’s development from small boy into the perfect military commander through secretive and mysterious means. In this world, the human race is at the brink of extermination due to war with a race of alien beings, and it has been decreed that Ender is the only recruit with the potential to bring them back from defeat with his brilliance. I think Ford will be suitably grizzled to portray the man who gets him there.

Breslin is a relatively new name to the cast as well, as far as I can tell. She’s set to play Ender’s sister Valentine, who starts off looking like she’s going to play a small and insignificant part in the story, but who comes back later in the film to be not only a significant figure in Ender’s life (especially in the sequel, if it gets made, but it might be too weird to make into a movie), but a significant influencer of our future society. There’s an older brother in Ender’s family who needs to be cast as well, and they’ll need to find a kid who’s good at playing a sadistic jerk; so even more casting announcements about this one should be forthcoming. [Variety]

Tomas Alfredson hasn’t made your typical spy thriller. Not only is that due to the lack of explosions, a fast pace, shootouts, or any other convention the genre tends to call for, but because Alfredson hasn’t really made a “thriller.” Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, in actuality, is a dark ensemble love story about lonely spies. The best character who represents everything the film says is Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong). At first, Jim, a towering field operative, is played with a quiet intensity. He’s calculating and observant like the rest of his spy brethren, but once stripped down of his serious spy mode and once revealed at his most vulnerable, Jim’s an emotionally and psychologically tortured guy.

The world of espionage is a vicious place, so says the film. At one point, for great reasons I won’t spoil, Jim ends up going from pivotal spy missions to teaching school children in an instant. For one, how emasculating and damaging that must be. The character goes from a life of importance and violence, and then goes off to teach children. The system chewed him up and spat him out like he was nothing.

All these brief glimpses of the ensemble’s vulnerability come fast and, if one doesn’t give them much thought, they’ll think these characters have no personality or defining traits. What they’re feeling and thinking is put out there for the audience, but not in a hand-holding fashion. Alfredson has the film say a lot without actually saying much. The director allows for these characters to be read in profound ways, but never allows for blatant and pandering exposition about what they are all feeling, thinking, or their past. If a character broke down emotionally or started to pour their heart out, it would be false.

A great example of character building that comes to mind – and a piece of fantastic foreshadowing – is seeing the contrast of Jim Prideaux and George Smiley (Gary Oldman) both go about handling a caged creature. Jim brutally kills an owl which enters his classroom, both showing he’s still got violence in him and how he would deal with a caged and frightened animal. Smiley, instead, slowly studies and acts patiently towards a trapped fly, and when the right moment strikes, he kindly releases it. The way they deal with their trapped creatures is telling about their personalities, but also how they would go about dealing with the mole.

Showing and not telling exposition, such as that contrast between Jim and George, is the only suitable way of communicating what type of people these characters are. They’re repressed individuals. They’re spies, trained to trust no one. Why would one of them stop all the sudden and lay out their problems showing their weaknesses, both to another character and the audience? They keep everything to themselves, which is a part of what’s eating away at all of them. The main conflict isn’t “Who’s the mole?” it’s the state these characters are in and will continue to live in.

The quiet transformation George Smiley, the lead of the film, goes through is a powerful one. When first introduced to Smiley, he’s being forced to retire, his wife has left him, and he’s reduced to sitting at home watching television every day or swimming in a pond like every other old man in London. He’s an unsuspecting and frail-looking ghost, but Gary Oldman always provides a sense of skillful and tactful power. He’s constantly building information. Smiley is not only looking to catch the mole and to protect his country, but also to prove something to himself.

I haven’t seen the miniseries from 1979 or read the classic novel, but it’s obvious much was condensed to fit the two running time Alfredson wound up with – apparently a lot was cut out. Even with the condensing, the structure and pace is near-perfect. The film is a slow-burner, but every scene is building up who these characters are and, yes, who the mole is. Little hints are scattered throughout, some of which take a few viewings to find, and it makes the film all the more satisfying.

The Upside: Thematically and structurally rich; tight and precise storytelling; Alfredson creates a dark and isolating atmosphere; doesn’t spoon-feed you information like you’re a moron; Gary Oldman gives one of his best performances to date, which says a lot; the ensemble, like Oldman, says everything they need to say with their eyes and glances.

The Downside: If you love this film, prepare to spend hours trying to explain what happens in the film to others.

On The Side: Saying “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” slowly and with an important sounding British accent is a lot of fun.

Remember those trailers for Stephen Daldry‘s adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that we all cringed at? Well, how could you forget – they stick with you in a very off-putting way. Disappointingly, most of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close replicates that experience. Daldry’s a fine filmmaker, and with a script from Eric Roth – a writer who’s delivered his fair share of modern classics – one should expect more from their collaboration.

What their combination delivered is a mostly stilted, heavy-handed, and, quite often, wrongly manipulative experience. I won’t dismiss the film as being “blatant Oscar bait,” seeing as it’s well-intentioned and earnest. Unfortunately, those intentions, in execution, feel false and empty. A real heart isn’t here to grab onto; only an artificial and cold one.

The film constantly says how Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) affects all these people he meets, but it never shows it. There are little glimpses of the child interacting with people on his quest, and whatever his effect may be holds no weight. The only emotional beat that somehow works is between Horn and Jeffrey Wright, despite the scene leaving one with the thought of, “Well, how’s this going to impact Wright’s character?” Sure, he’s seeing the beauty of a child desperately trying to find an answer, but in the grand scheme of things, the effect will probably be as powerful as a nice Christmas card: makes you smile and maybe makes your day, but a few days later, you’re no different.

Worst of all, Horn never comes off as comfortable in the role. It’s one of those kid performances that, instead, comes off like a child being told to hit certain beats, making sure he gets the lines right. But it’s Daldry and Roth’s fault, not his. Oskar’s arc is never as moving as it should be, thanks in part to how Roth adapted the character. For the first half of the film, it’s difficult to engage with Oskar, and not because he has Asperger’s syndrome. There’s something very unlikable about a kid who makes fun of a doorman – a doorman played by John Goodman, nonetheless – and who tells his mom, played by a wasted Sandra Bullock, “I wish it was you,” referring to the death of his father – in 9/11. Kids are capable of saying mean things – and there’s an intention to convey that – but a line such as that pushes you further away from Oskar, making one care less about his journey.

I’m fine with Eric Roth’s more sentimental works, Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button among them, but this is the great scribe at his schmaltziest. When audience members cried, and even when I choked up for a minor second, particularly when Oskar loses his father, it’s wrongful manipulation. Brilliant idea in casting Tom Hanks as the father, since, you know, it’s Tom Hanks. Who isn’t going to tear up at the idea of losing Tom Hanks? He exudes kindness. The tears don’t come from Oskar losing his dad; it’s from one thinking about the idea of losing their own dad, and how dire the world would be without Tom Hanks. It’s cheap drama, all in an in-your-face-fashion, especially with the help of the fantastic Alexandre Desplat‘s sadly unsubtle score.

A few hours after watching Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I spent time comparing the film to Margaret. Both, in many ways – and this one more overtly – are post-9/11 films. They deal with coping from a trauma, trying to move on, and looking for purpose or reason in the wake of a horrible incident. Underneath the messy structure of Kenneth Lonergan‘s film there are moving observations on life, being a teen, and dealing with guilt. Underneath the calculated structure of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close lie obvious and stilted observations, making for a hollow experience.

The Upside: Most of the supporting players bring flickers of life to the film; Daldry’s technically competent; one scene with Jeffrey Wright, perhaps the only, is mildly earned.

The Downside: Oskar is fairy unlikeable for the first half of the film, hindering the sympathy or empathy factor; far from subtle; plenty of bad, manipulative drama; not even close to matching Daldry, Roth, and the cast’s talent; a much better film could have been made with this story; worst of all, it’s dull and lifeless.

On The Side: I didn’t have to try hard not to make a silly “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” pun.

When I first saw the Hollywood Reporter piece on Melissa Rosenberg surpassing Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland) as the highest-grossing female screenwriter, it took me a while to wrap my mind around it. After all, it’s the kind of statistic that only a baseball fan could love. It doesn’t take into account the thousands of other people and factors that go into making a film a world-wide financial smash, giving credit solely to the writer (and only if that writer has official credit on the movie).

On the other hand, it’s the kind of fact that feels significant. That tells us a bit about the world we live in. Maybe in a way that upsets us.

At its barest, it reveals that the female movie writer responsible for banking the most money did it mostly through the Twilight series – Step Up is the only non-Twilight property she’s credited for outside of her lengthy television resume. It also means she did it mostly through means of a book adaptation. After Breaking Dawn Part 1 topped $647m, her total landed at just over $2.56b.

She’s also far and away behind her male counterparts where Steve Kloves held onto his Harry Potter writing gig long enough to create $6.8b (with The Deathly Hallows Part 2 earning another $1.3b to achieve that figure this year). However, this whole situation raises a question of whether we should really be measuring success this way – especially with so many caveats. Is there any doubt that Twilight would have made about the same amount no matter who wrote the scripts? Is it fair to single out a singular entity in the creative process and give them tacit credit for the entirety of the gross?

And on that note, does co-written work not fall into THR’s consideration? What about writing partners? Phillipa Boyens has made at least $3.4b with her work as a writer for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and for King Kong. Why isn’t she top dog here?

Again, this is the kind of trivia that rivals knowing which Left Fielder holds the record for Most Amount of Throws to Home Plate in Light Rain on a Sunday During the Second Game of a Double Header. It’s frivolous.

Or, it’s just another way that Twilight dominates, and maybe it does have something to say about the kinds of movies that women writers can make large amounts of money with. Clearly, my mind is still not wrapped around it. Maybe it doesn’t deserve more thought.

There has been a lot of talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin. It’s divisively made its way through the festival circuit, even being kind enough to grace Fantastic Fest 2011 with its presence. After an Oscar qualifying run, it was all set to bow on January 27th in limited markets, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscilloscope is delivering it two weeks early.

The film from Lynne Ramsay starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly will now hit New York on January 13th (up against a re-re-release of Beauty and the Beast 3D, The Iron Lady and foreign remake Contraband starring Mark Wahlberg) and Los Angeles January 20th (up against a dozen other movies).

Oscilloscope head David Fenkel touts the critical strength of the movie and large reception during its qualifying run as the reason to get it in front of eyeballs sooner, but there’s also a shrewd move here to make the film capture the spotlight just before Oscar voting is completed. If it can expand the stir it’s already caused beyond the festival and critical circles, the move to change the release date might just pay off in statuettes.

Midnight in Paris is still out there making money and finding new audiences, so it’s less than surprising that Sony Pictures Classics has already picked up Woody Allen‘s follow-up film, Nero Fiddled, which was produced last year. According to Cinema Blend, the movie is described by Allen as a broad comedy with several overlapping stories.

It stars Jesse “Woody Allen” Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Greta Gerwig, Penelope Cruz, Roberto Benigni and Judy Davis. Woody Allen is also playing a role, but he lamented earlier in the year about not being able to play the romantic lead anymore. Which is ridiculous. Who wouldn’t want to see a hunky 76-year-old man embroil himself in the heart and loins of a gorgeous counterpart? Exactly. As long as it takes place in Rome, it’ll be romantic.

I’m pretty sure that’s even where we get the word.

So if you were at all worried that you’d go a year without hearing from the workhorse of filmmaking, fear not! More Allen is on the way. Just try not to loudly pontificate about the meaning of his work while waiting in line at the cinema.

Like all Harry Potter alumnae, audiences have questioned what David Yates will make his first film coming out of Hogwart’s. His name has been attached (no matter how loosely) to The Stand, to the Al Capone biopic Cicero, to an adaptation of the Vertigo comic Fables, to a movie about Alan Turing, to a war picture called St. Nazaire, and to the divisive new Doctor Who movie from BBC.

Now, according to Variety, there’s a new project to add to the list. Yates is reportedly on board to direct Your Voice in My Head- an adaptation of the Emma Forrest memoir of the same name which chronicles her experience with bipolar disorder and the death of the psychiatrist who was helping her cope.

Here’s the money quote from the Guardian review of the book:

“Indeed, there’s a fairytale element to this tale of a bright and attractive 22-year-old from a loving, if eccentric, family who, on contract to the Guardian and with a first novel about to come out, moves to Manhattan to write. Many would envy her, so it’s perhaps not surprising that for some time she keeps her real life (and self) secret. Lonely, bulimic and increasingly self-destructive, she binges, purges and cuts herself with razors, while embarking on a series of casual and abusive sexual relationships.

Finally, having reached the point where “sex didn’t register unless it hurt”, she finds herself in a hospital emergency ward and from there manages to get herself to Dr R, a likeably down-to-earth psychiatrist. Ultimately, with his help, she turns herself around. But that’s not until she’s made a serious suicide attempt, come home and done a spell in the Priory, and spent several more years in damaging relationships, all of it made more disorientating by the fact that Dr R dies suddenly of lung cancer without any of his patients knowing he was ill.

Certainly a departure from the world of wizards and wands. However, that “fairytale element” is echoed by Yates’s comment to Variety that “it’s a small film, hard hitting and with elements of magic realism. Compared to Potter it would cost tuppency ha’penny, and for that reason it would be incredibly liberating to make.”

Does anyone have tuppence ha’penny this guy can have? Variety also claims that Ruby Films, the company producing, is going to Warners for financing, and if they get the money, this film could start filming as early as Summer of next year. Forrest herself is writing the screenplay.

Edgar Wright, the man who brought us the brilliant musical zombie death set to Queen in Shaun of the Dead, has confirmed that he’s written a script that’s “kind of like a musical.” According to The Moveable Fest‘s recap of Wright’s curation of films at the New Beverly called The Wright Stuff, the director explained his choice of showing the 1964 Jacques Demy musical romance The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (featuring French superstar Catherine Deneuve) thusly:

“I’ve written a script which is kind of like a musical. Slightly a departure for me in some ways, but when I’ve told people about the movie and the idea, most of them have said, ‘You’ve got to see Umbrellas of Cherbourg,’ So here we are.”

At this point, fans will probably eat up anything from the talent who seems potentially, endlessly flexible. The final film in the Cornetto Trilogy would be a welcome sight to see, but why not a musical-ish movie from a filmmaker who clearly has an ear for song and the way it works within the confines of the screen?

It’s unclear why everyone that hears his idea instantly tosses out the Cherbourg suggestion, but if it’s any clue as to what Wright’s movie might be like, it would be a colorful dramatic comedy with its fair share of sung scenes. Just for fun, here’s the love theme from the movie. Take a look and see if you can see Wright making something like it:

Vibrant and full of life. Soaring, operatic. There are no details on what Wright’s plot would be, but Cherbourg deals with a young pregnant woman who has to decide whether to wait for her love to return or to marry a well-to-do man who can take care of her and her oven-stuffed bun.

Of course, just because he’s written a script doesn’t mean it’s even close to being in development. However, wouldn’t it be great if it were?

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first book (and film) in Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Millenium Trilogy. The books have sold 65 million copies worldwide, and the three Swedish films have done blockbuster business throughout Europe and excessively well during limited runs here in the States. This much we know.

The mohawked elephant in the room though is David Fincher‘s American remake/adaptation that hits theaters this week.

Was it necessary to remake something already popular on such a global scale? Can Fincher improve upon Niels Arden Oplev’s original film? Can Rooney Mara do an equal or better job with the role that made Noomi Rapace an international star?

No. Yes. And hell yes.

Mikael Blomqvist (Daniel Craig) is a magazine editor who’s just lost his credibility and his life savings thanks to an accusatory cover story of his that couldn’t hold up against a charge of libel. Lisbeth Salander (Mara) is an anti-social, abused, bisexual computer genius whose status as ward of the state leaves her open to further victimization. Two people couldn’t be more different if they tried, but when the patriarch (Christopher Plummer) of a wealthy industrial family goes looking for answers to the apparent murder of his niece decades ago these two strangers come together in more ways than one.

The film moves evenly between two story lines that intertwine like urgent lovers with increasing frequency until they merge permanently. Blomqvist settles in on a remote and wintery island owned by the Vanger family where he immerses himself in the case and the family’s past and present. Salander’s job as a researcher who gets results through highly unconventional methods (ie hacking) helps draw her in after Blomqvist discovers the information she included in his own background check and hooks her with a simple offer.

“I want you to help me catch a killer of women.”

The theme of women as victims at the hands of men is central here as it is throughout Larsson’s novels. (The Swedish title of the first book actually translates to Men Who Hate Women.) But while the brutality of it all was at times overpowering in the novels and original films Fincher and screenwriter Steven Zaillian resist rubbing our faces in the abuse. There is a fairly harsh rape scene, but the majority of the offenses are glimpsed in photos or on computer screens in such a way as to let our brains fill in the gaps that our eyes are missing.

It’s just as well as Fincher and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth offer up far more engaging visuals throughout the film starting with an opening credits sequence that channels a direct line into Salander’s tortured mind. The remainder of the film is somewhat more conventional whether we’re seeing a snowy drive up a tree-lined road or a fairly explicit sex scene, and Fincher finds the beauty in it all. His two leads add to the attractive scenery as well. Craig’s face is unavoidably filled with pulpy sadness, but here he turns it to believably frumpy use, while Mara’s large eyes draw the focus away from her facial piercings and bleached eyebrows to offer glimpses of the fragile girl inside this hard-shelled woman.

The entire cast does good work here, but special praise must go to Mara. This is a brave performance on par with Kathy Bates’ hot tub scene from About Schmidt but spread across an entire film. Salander is laid bare more than once here, not always physically and not always willingly, and Mara sells it all. The rage, the sadness, the curiosity, the shyness, the sexual appeal, the heart ache. Mara embraces and reveals it all and in the process makes the role her own.

There’s no doubt that Fincher is a master of style and technique, but he’s rarely been one to embrace the emotional side of things. He’s come close before, but it’s at the end of his latest that he manages to find the most singular human moment in all of his films. It’s fitting that his most damaged character be the one to deliver the most emotionally resonant scene in his filmography.

Unfortunately that ending comes with a much bigger set of problems as it arrives well after the central mystery, such as it is, has been resolved in suitable fashion. A separate story strand is allowed to run its course for upwards of twenty-five minutes, and while aspects of it are appealing it drains viewers of the adrenaline felt mere minutes before. The time spent on this collection of scenes allows viewers to reflect on the main story’s denouement and explanation, and many will begin to question the gaps in logic and predictability that their reflections unearth.

Fincher continues his attraction to lonely figures here as both Lisbeth, and to a lesser degree Mikael, have become somewhat isolated in life. From Alien 3 onward, Fincher has made films about people who’ve either chosen a solitary existence or been forced into one by circumstance. Ripley loses everyone she fought so valiantly for, Det. Somerset chooses solitude for the sake of the job and Det. Mills has it chosen for him, Nicholas Van Orten has everything and no one, Benjamin Button is a uniquely alone due to his condition, Mark Zuckerberg drives others awa…Salander is the most extreme example of Fincher’s predilection for the outcast as her incredibly harsh life has led to extreme anti-social behaviors. She’s damaged goods to be sure, but like a Weeble Wobble with a pierced labia, you can knock her but she won’t stay down.

If nothing else, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the best possible adaptation of Larsson’s novel that anyone could expect. Fincher captures the feminine oppression, fighting spirit and overall iciness, both literal and emotional, and he delivers a mostly compelling thriller along the way thanks in large part his pure skill and Mara’s hypnotic portrayal of Larsson’s iconic character. But the novel’s weak main mystery is replicated for the film (and actually worsened through recognizable casting), and when combined with an ending that never ends the result is a good film that fails to achieve the greatness it aspires towards. Still, “lesser Fincher” is a contradiction of terms, and in his hands even an unsurprising remake demands to be seen and savored.

The Upside: Rooney Mara is mesmerizing; this is the best possible adaptation of the source material; shot with assured style; score is wonderfully suited to the dark but driving atmosphere; ending features Fincher’s truest human moment; opening credits; best use of an Enya song ever.

The Downside: Central mystery is fairly rote; additional twenty-five minutes after the climactic ending are a drag; familiarity due to success of books and previous movies; slight change to ending forgoes logic.

On the Side: David Fincher stated recently that if the film does well and the two sequels are greenlit he would prefer to shoot them simultaneously.

Why Watch? It’s the story about a snowman with no arms on an adventure to find some. It echoes Rankin & Bass, and it’s pleasantly low-budget the way the first South Park Christmas videos were. Plus, it’s delightful and only a little bit creepy. Enjoy the ending! Happy holidays!

What does it cost? Just 8 minutes of your time.

Trust us. You have time for more short films.

Last week we delved into the top layer of sexy films out this past year, suggesting that 2011 might have been one of the bolder years when it came to honest portrayals of sex in cinema. In 2011 we saw characters dealing with sexual violence, sexual addiction, and sexual curiosity, all in the most brutal and thoughtful ways possible. It’s years like this that we are reminded film is art that not only speaks to our souls, but also to our real life experiences while captivating us in intense and engaging 90+ minute periods.

But as you’d expect for all the good we saw this year, there was also awkward, ridiculous, uncomfortable, and even maddening sexual depictions. We could spend the next four paragraphs discussing the “sharting” scene in Hall Pass or attack the universally despised wet dream that is Sucker Punch (despite how much I enjoy the latter film), however the really disgusting cinematic sexual moments this year actually said something about a film’s characters while making the audience squirm with disgust.

While there are a few films I have yet to see before next Sunday ushers in the beginning of a new year, I have seen enough this year to offer up a varied selection of some of the worst sex moments in 2011.

Teenage Masturbation

There are a few things that still gross out film goers: dead horses, injured babies, watching people eat (unless that person is Brad Pitt. Hey-oh!).  But nothing seems to make an audience shift in their seats quite like watching a character masturbate on screen. For the longest time self-pleasure had been a trope in comedies, but it would occasionally rear its head in the drama scene as well.

This month’s We Need to Talk About Kevin features a particularly unnerving moment where mother Eva (Tilda Swinton) walks in on her teenage son Kevin (Ezra Miller) while he’s bashing one out. Rather than stop his actions upon his mother’s interruption, Kevin aims a disturbing smile over his shoulder directly at his mother and rubs himself faster. He’s almost daring her to look away, finding more sexual delight knowing he’s being watched by a captive audience. Eva stays there for a beat, unable to move both from shock and intrigue, but eventually she realizes what she’s watching and slams the door between Kevin and herself. But, it’s too late for the cinematic voyeurs. We’ve seen enough to recognize Kevin will finish himself off knowing his mother will never be able to erase that memory from her mind.

Might as Well be Masturbation

Speaking of rubbing one out, this summer’s Cameron Diaz, Jason Segal, and Justin Timberlake raunchfest Bad Teacher features a sex scene so awful it almost feels dirty laughing at it. Diaz’s gold-digging middle school teacher Elizabeth is so determined to win over trust fund baby substitute teacher Scott (Timberlake), that she manipulates him into bed with her during an over-night class field trip. She nuzzles into him, cooing sweet nothings into his ear while he weighs the moral implications of cheating on his girlfriend for this troublemaker.

Well, not surprisingly, he doesn’t weigh the options that long and before either of them knows it Scott is dry humping Elizabeth doggystyle until he ejaculates in his pants, as if he only needed a little chaffing to make it feel complete. Now, I will be the first to say some of the moves Timberlake uses on Diaz are pretty sexy, however watching this man-child unable to fully commit to cheating (see, it’s okay because he didn’t come inside her, naturally) just leaves you feeling completely grossed out.  That and the sperm stain on his jeans is so prominent you must wonder how Scott feels no embarrassment at all.

Pity (Fuck) the Fool

Masturbation and close-enough-to-masturbation-that-it’s-essentially-masturbation were not the only sexual activities that stirred stomachs this year. With a brutally honest film like Young Adult, it makes complete sense that a sex scene between a selfish woman unable to let go of her high school days and the handicapped friend she reconnected with when her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t confess his undying love for her would be so true-to-life awkward that it breaks hearts. Knowing that Mavis (Charlize Theron) will never care for Matt (Patton Oswalt), even after she unloaded all her insecurities while he revealed that sex was nearly impossible for him, makes the post-sex morning even more tragic. Just as she does earlier in the film with a man she didn’t like, Mavis unravels herself from Matt’s arms and slinks away before he can wake. The sex was between two pathetic dreamers, but unfortunately for Matt he’ll probably think back on it way more than Mavis ever will.

Even Jon Hamm Can’t Make it Sexy

Just like Young Adult proves beautiful people can be pretty ugly on the inside, June’s Bridesmaids proves that idolizing your sex partner keeps you from being able to see his flaws. In the film’s opening scene Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm go at each other like sex crazed teens; slamming their bodies against one another and moaning out their feelings. Well, it turns out Wiig’s Annie is moaning out in displeasure while Hamm jackhammers in and out of her. The expressions passing across Hamm’s face are a hilarious mixture of absent determination and utter ignorance regarding the woman laying under him.

In a rare (and difficult to type) moment of cinematic sadness, it turns out even the delicious Jon Hamm can’t, in fact, make this heart breaking sex scene sexy. Quite the contrary, his easy slip into asshole, selfish love-maker actually makes one pray the moment will soon end so we can eventually see Officer Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) wake Annie up with kisses and coffee.

Intimacy is Too…Intimate?

While there are many, many films not mentioned here, I cannot in right mind end this piece without another nod to Shame. This film features relatable moments to each of the above, from having Brandon’s (Michael Fassbender) sister Cissy (Carey Muligan) walk in on him masturbating to many sex scenes so devoid of feelings and attachment one is left wondering if Brandon can feel anything at all. But the most memorable and uncomfortable moment for Brandon comes during his attempted love scene with Marianne (Nicole Beharie), a woman he wants so desperately to sleep with but who keeps pushing those pesky feelings on him.

The camera stays with the couple so long it becomes almost too painful to watch as Brandon wrestles with his own inner demons and his lack of sexual ability once he starts trying to care for her. This scene is terrible not in its execution but in the emotions it elicits. Both feel hurt, confused, and alone despite each other’s company. And in the end they both can’t even look at each other because that would make the moment too real. And it would make the lack of intimacy too intimate.

Take some Tums and read more Reel Sex

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr pulls out his screening schedule, which looks like a gambling addict’s racing form. He bounces from huge, mainstream releases to minor indie award contenders. Facing motion-capture CGI, tattooed bisexual investigators, cross-dressing waiters, silent film actors, and a lead star who is literally hung like a horse, Kevin tries to make sense of the seemingly countless releases this holiday week. Exhaustion from this process makes it impossible to buy a zoo or face the 3D end of the world, but his movie stocking is full, nonetheless.

Want to hear what Kevin has to say on the Fat Guys at the Movies podcast? Click here to listen as Kevin is joined by Mel Valentin from eFilmCritic and SFStation.com to talk about the multitude of movies.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Studio: Paramount

Rated: PG for adventure action violence, some drunkeness and brief smoking

Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

What it’s about: This adaptation of the classic Belgian comic book sees a young reporter named Tintin stumble across a clue to a lost treasure in a model ship. Along with his trusty dog Snowy, Tintin helps a drunken sea captain find a link to his past to solve the mystery.

What makes the grade: Growing up in the 70s and 80s, Steven Spielberg’s adventure films were just as influential on me as the Star Wars saga was. A movie like The Adventures of Tintin is a throwback to classic Spielberg, featuring a sweeping story that crosses oceans and deserts. Offering a feeling of a young Indiana Jones, this movie tapped into the joy I felt as a child watching Spielberg’s films.

This is also a first step for the director into motion capture, full CGI animation and 3D. For the most part, the imagery of the film is solid, crawling out of that uncanny valley that Robert Zemeckis was always stuck in. Watching master directors like Spielberg (and Scorsese a month ago with Hugo) tackle the 3D world is great as well, giving some hope for the stagnating process.

It’s not a terribly complex story, and the characters are rather simple (since they are based on comics from the 20s, after all), but The Adventures of Tintin is easy family fun.

What fails: Although the film doesn’t last too long and doesn’t quite overstay its welcome, it’s keystone action sequence falls near the end rather than at the end. I know Spielberg was saddled with the original story from the Tintin comics, but the finale of the film seems just a bit anticlimactic.

Who is gonna like this movie: Kids and family, and anyone who enjoys classic Spielberg adventures.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Studio:20the Century Fox

Rated: R for brutal violent content including rape and torture, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, and language

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright and Stellan Skarsgård

Directed by: David Fincher

What it’s about: Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is embroiled in a scandal at his paper, so he takes a freelance assignment to investigate a murder mystery from half a century ago. Looking into the rich and smarmy family of a girl who went missing in the 60s, Blomkvist utilizes the help of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), who is an expert hacker with a sordid and dangerous past.

What makes the grade: I never read the original Swedish book, but like any good film buff, I did check out the 2009 Swedish-language film. From what I can tell, the story and presentation is pretty much the same, though there are some clear liberties taken at times. But director David Fincher kicks his game up a notch from what I considered his lesser recent films of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network.

Like Fincher’s Zodiac and Se7en, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is expertly made on all levels. It’s got gorgeous cinematography and excellent production design. The acting is fantastic, with Rooney Mara giving a daring and worthy take on the title character.

Edgy and raw, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a gripping, unflinching adaptation that hits the audience hard and rarely lets up on the suspense.

What fails: While this didn’t bother me, I suppose some folks will be deterred by the two-and-a-half hour running time. The mystery gets wrapped up long before the final credits, and the dénouement (which I understand is taken more directly from the book than its Swedish counterpart) runs a bit long. I enjoyed it, though, because it delves into a darker place with the characters, delivering on the advertising promise for a real feel-bad movie this Christmas season.

Who is gonna like this movie: Fincher fans and people who like dark mysteries.

WAR HORSE
Studio: DreamWorks

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence

Starring: Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup and Tom Hiddleston

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

What it’s about: On the eve of World War I in England, a young boy working on a farm gets a horse for work, and he bonds with the animal. However, when war breaks out, the horse is taken to serve Great Britain. Over the next several years, we follow the horse against the backdrop of World War I.

What makes the grade: Just as The Adventures of Tintin is very typical of Steven Spielberg’s adventure films, War Horse is very typical of Spielberg’s sweeping dramatic epics. If you’re not into this sort of thing, you’ll get fiercely annoyed at all the buttons it pushes during its two-and-a-half hour running time.

However, if you’re game for that sort of thing, War Horse is a fantastic film. Don’t be fooled by the soft trailers. While they’re not inaccurate to the flavor of the film, they don’t give the depth of emotion and scope that the movie has.

The cinematography is downright gorgeous, and the epic feel of the film is inspiring and heartwarming, which is quite a feat for what amounts to a standard war picture. It’s a crowd-pleaser and a button pusher, and it’s no big surprise that it’s gobbling up nominations. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb to say while it may not be the best movie of 2011, it’s the one to beat for the Best Picture Oscar come February.

What fails: When I saw the trailers and the running time, I though this film would be a bore, but it was surprisingly well paced. However, if you’re not into the Spielberg button-pushers, you’ll end up hating the film by the end credits. In a strange way, War Horse may be one of the most divisive films for movie fans in 2011 simply because (like DreamWorks’ other award contender The Help), it is quite shameless in emotionally manipulating the audience.

Who is gonna like this movie: Anyone who likes the sweeping war epic.

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Studio: Warner Bros.

Rated: PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images, and language

Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman and Max von Sydow

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

What it’s about: A unique child tries to make sense of the death of his father, who was in the World Trade Center when it collapsed. When he discovers a key in his father’s closet, he begins a search through New York City for what he hopes is a message for him.

What makes the grade: Like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I’ve not read the original book for this movie, but I hear it’s a well-written book that would be almost impossible to adapt. Knowing that as I watched the film, I was a bit more forgiving. I definitely got where the film was going and what it was trying to accomplish, and in this sense, it does present the grief, emotion and confusion that the entire country felt on 9/11.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is as much a button pusher as any of the other films releasing this week. It relies (wildly unrealistically, I might add) on the joy of the human spirit and the general beauty of life. The pacing of the film works surprisingly well for how disjointed it is as a story. If you get wrapped up in the emotional empathy with on-screen characters, it’ll really work for you.

What fails: My biggest hurdle to get over with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is its tired and cliched use of a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. This has become a crutch of writers to approach a story from a different angle, and we see it all over the place now, especially in television series (see shows like Parenthood, Flash Forward, Community, Alphas and even a bit part in Grey’s Anatomy). Get a new plot device, writers, ‘cause it’s getting old.

With that said, the film has some flow problems and gets too literal at times with the child’s narration, telling the audience what they should be thinking rather than letting them draw their own conclusions.

Finally, as emotionally manipulative as the film is, the coincidences presented in the picture were too much for me, leaving me rolling my eyes rather than dabbing them with tissues.

Who is gonna like this movie: People who get wrapped up in the raw emotion of a film.

ALBERT NOBBS
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Rated: R for some sexuality, brief nudity and language

Starring: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Brendan Gleeson

Directed by: Rodrigo García

What it’s about: Glenn Close plays a woman who has been masquerading as a man for thirty years in order to remain employed in Ireland at the end of the 19th century. She slowly comes to a realization that she is not fully happy and hopes to change things.

What makes the grade: There were aspects of this film that I really did enjoy. It was different enough to transcend the standard BBC-style drama, giving it an Upstairs, Downstairs, Wuuuuuut? feel to it. It’s well acted in an underplayed way, and Close does manage to pull some empathy from the audience.

The first half is stronger, as we discover Nobbs’ true identity and his motivations are discovered. It also shows a sad look at employment in turn-of-the-century Ireland, which strangely mirrors some struggles people go through today.

What fails: While Close’s acting is solid, the make-up and presentation of Albert Nobbs strangely puts her in the uncanny valley even though there’s no computer-generated characters. At least Close pulls off mannish far better than her co-star Janet McTeer, who looks more like an uncomfortably-dressed woman than the older female characters in the movie.

The second half of the film meanders a bit, story-wise. It attempts some interesting things, but the payoff is understated and flat, making it a better starter than finisher.

Who is gonna like this movie: Anyone looking for that award season acting spotlight.

THE ARTIST
Studio: The Weinstein Company

Rated: PG-13 for a disturbing image and a crude gesture

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and John Goodman

Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius

What it’s about: The era of silent Hollywood is celebrated in this film about a movie star threatened by the onset of the “talkies.” When a young ingenue that he discovers becomes a new movie star for the sound era, he struggles to find a place in the new Hollywood.

What makes the grade: By now, everyone’s heard of this darling silent French film shot in black-and-white. It’s a wildly unlikely entry into award season, but it’s definitely worthy of the accolades it’s getting.

The Artist isn’t trying to break down barriers or send a deep message. It’s ultimately a charming, loveable film that is fun to watch. Using crisp cinematography that emulates early Hollywood pictures, The Artist manages to look and feel very much like a movie made during this time.

Like Hugo, this film gives a very narcissistic industry a chance to fawn over itself, which is the best thing it’s got going for it as we move deeper into award season.

What fails: The movie goes off the rails a bit in the third act, and it stoops to some silliness, though this can be forgivable considering the era it is exploring. The film also runs a tad long, especially since the movies of this time tended to run about 70 minutes, which shows the film’s modern hand a bit too much.

Who is gonna like this movie: Fans of silent cinema.

Horror-comedies are a mixed bag. Often they’re not scary or violent enough to satisfy your horror boner, nor are they funny enough to tickle your funny bone(r). When they work well, you get an Evil Dead II or a Dead and Breakfast. When they fail you get…I don’t know, who remembers shitty horror-comedies?

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil follows two lovable, well meaning rednecks through a series of misunderstandings that result in a group of vacationing college kids being convinced the duo are out to murder them. Like any educated group, the kids decide the best thing to do is to take the war to the hillbillies and try to kill them and rescue their “kidnapped” friend. Things go comically and fatally awry to great effect.

Kills

Things don’t go so well for the non-hillbillies and a full dozen kids find themselves on the wrong end of pointy objects.

Ills

Death’s preferred method this go round is impalement, as people find themselves skewered on tree limbs and spears. Other unlucky folks meet up with a woodchipper, nails to the brain, bullets to the face, a weed whacker to the  face, and a few people meet up with flames in the worst way possible.

Lust

We briefly see a big pair of boobies from a far off distance and those same boobs are later covered in a bloody goop. We also briefly see a very hot woman in her underwear, but it’s easy to keep your boner contained during this flick.

Learning

You can’t judge a hillbilly by his overalls.

Review

I had heard a lot about Tucker & Dale vs Evil coming into it and the film had a ton of positive built up from festival screenings even before it acquired a distributor. I’m pretty happy to report that the film is immensely enjoyable. It has a good bit of gore and a ton of laughs.

The real success of the movie is in casting the leads: Tyler Labine (Reaper) as Dale and Alan Tudyk (Firefly) as Tucker with Katrina Bowden (Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive 2011) as Allison. The hillbillies play perfectly off of each other and Labine steals the show as the affable Dale, who assures us over and over again that he’s plenty stupid, but has a brain that can recall just about anything he’s ever learned.

The Blu-ray comes stacked with extra features, including a mode called “Tucker & Dale Are Evil” which is the film told through the POV of the college kids that illustrates how they came to believe Tucker and Dale actually were out to kill them, which is pretty cool. It includes alternate takes of the footage, takes that aren’t as good as what’s actually in the film, so you’re best of watching this for giggles later.

As it stands, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is an excellent straight to DVD release that you should pick-up if you like some laughs with your blood. If I had an issue with the film, it would be the occasional misuse of CGI that looks pretty bad. Otherwise, there are a lot of great practical gore gags in the film. Oh, also, next time lets get some more boobies on screen.

I have been an advocate of “Trent Reznor, Composer” after being blown away by the score he created for The Social Network last year (along with Atticus Ross) and was excited when I heard they were teaming back up again with director David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. When the first teaser trailer for the film dropped, set to their pulse-pounding version of “Immigrant Song” (featuring Karen O), I was clamoring to hear more of the “turned up to eleven” sound that seemed like it would permeate throughout the “feel bad movie of Christmas.” Unfortunately, this in-your-face attitude seemed to live in this song alone and did not extend to the rest of the score.

After releasing a six-track sampler (which you can download here), I realized this score was going to be much more subdued than their previous collaboration, but I was still intrigued and hopeful of what was to come. After hearing the music in the context of the film during a screening this past week, I couldn’t shake the surprising feeling I had when walking away from it – disappointed.

I wrestled with this impression because I had been so excited for this score and started to wonder if my expectations had been too great going into it. Within the film, the music was sometimes barely noticeable and when it did start to turn up the volume, it seemed to confuse the tone of certain scenes, sending me to the edge of my seat only to have that anxiety never reach any real climax. This feeling of frustration rather than excitement left me confused rather than engaged (which, in hindsight, could have been Reznor and Ross’ intent for a film about confusion and misinterpretations). Where the score for The Social Network seemed to give us a peak into the character’s withheld emotions, the score for Dragon Tattoo seemed to muddle the emotions shown on screen.

After reading various interviews with Reznor (such as the one fellow FSRer Jack Giroux did for The Film Stage), I knew that rather than working with a more finalized version of the film (as they did with The Social Network), Reznor and Ross composed the score for Dragon Tattoo as the film was being put together. This ended up leaving the duo with hours of unused music, which they then put together into a three-disc opus making up the film’s accompanying soundtrack. But it left me wondering – will this be three discs of near ambient noise punctuated with electronic pulses and stings or will it feature brilliant pieces of music that unfortunately hit the cutting room floor while the film was being edited?

Dragon Tattoo started off promisingly enough with the version of “Immigrant Song” that got me excited in the teaser trailer, and hearing it in all its glory through Dolby surround speakers was intoxicating (and probably the reason why I’ll be losing my hearing in the next few years since I always want music louder and louder). Granted, the opening credits were a bit disjointed from the rest of the film, I took it almost as a music video prelude and was captivated by the images (seemingly covered in tar) that were slightly off-putting, while still working as a mesmerizing accompaniment to the music.

Even when things begin to pick up a bit on tracks such as “Oraculum,” I continued to feel my ears wanting more as they waited for fuller bass or more electronic guitars to flesh out the songs. I am a huge fan of electronic scoring and it made me wonder if I actually prefer when it is rooted in classic orchestration (like the more piano heavy Social Network score) rather than a score like this which was more about sounds and tones rather than full instrumentation.

In a story where we do not quite know what is going on and do not have all the pieces to the puzzle, it is an interesting and different approach to creating the musical backbone which certainly works, but never seemed to resonate with me. “Please Take Your Hand Away” and “Under The Midnight Sun” bring in some more dissonant piano elements (similar to that of Renzor and Ross’ past collaboration), but here the piano felt stripped down and vacant, much like the remote island Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) finds himself on and thus working to support and reinforce the story (and location) seen on screen.

The covers Reznor and Ross tackle seemed to be the strongest efforts from “Immigrant Song” to Bryan Ferry’s “Is Your Love Strong Enough?” (featuring Reznor’s wife Mariqueen Maandig). While the score certainly worked within the film and did help to create the confusing and disjointed world Mikael and Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) find themselves in, it never fulfilled the expectations I had for it. Even in the moments when I was fully engaged in the film, I found myself wishing there was something more when it came to the music. Much like Henrick Vanger (Christopher Plummer), I felt like there should be something more there sonically and wish I could hire my own Mikael to find it.

This soundtrack will be released on Tuesday, December 27th through The Null Corporation.

Disc 1


1. “Immigrant Song”
2. “She Reminds Me Of You”
3. “People Lie All The Time”
4. “Pinned And Mounted”
5. “Perihelion”
6. “What If We Could?”
7. “With The Flies”
8. “Hidden In Snow”
9. “A Thousand Details”
10. “One Particular Moment”
11. “I Can’t Take It Anymore”
12. “How Brittle The Bones”
13. “Please Take Your Hand Away”

Disc 2

1. “Cut Into Pieces”

2. “The Splinter”

3. “An Itch”

4. “Hypomania”

5. “Under The Midnight Sun”

6. “Aphelion”

7. “You’re Here”

8. “The Same As The Others”

9. “A Pause For Reflection”

10. “While Waiting”

11. “The Seconds Drag”

12. “Later Into The Night”

13. “Parallel Timeline With Alternate Outcome”

Disc 3

1. “Another Way Of Caring”

2. “A Viable Construct”

3. “Revealed In The Thaw”

4. “Millennia”

5. “We Could Wait Forever”

6. “Oraculum”

7. “Great Bird Of Prey”

8. “The Heretics”

9. “A Pair Of Doves”

10. “Infiltrator”

11. “The Sound Of Forgetting”

12. “Of Secrets”

13. “Is Your Love Strong Enough?”

Was there a soundtrack or score you had high hopes for that did not live up to your expectations? What did you think of Reznor and Ross’ score for Dragon Tattoo? Is anyone going to spring for the $300 deluxe soundtrack option?