San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
The Girl wiht the Dragon Tattoo
Once again, Lisbeth and disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (played here by Daniel Craig) are trying to solve a 20year-old murder, which leads them to a serial killer who’s been preying on young women across Sweden for decades. It’s a complex, convoluted story, well adapted by Steve Zaillian, but one that didn’t interest me as much as Fincher’s other serial-killer movies, Zodiac or Se7en.
Mara is great as Lisbeth, a pierced and tattooed outsider who wears her scars everywhere, inside and out, but I found myself fading out whenever she wasn’t on the screen. Although Lisbeth’s story becomes intertwined with Mikael’s, I was always far more interested in her than in the movie’s whodunit. Perhaps that’s because I’d seen the Swedish version; perhaps it’s because it seemed far more obvious in this version. Or maybe it’s because serial killers, less frequent in rural Sweden, are omnipresent in the American cultural oeuvre, easy to find during prime time on any cop and/or lawyer show, any night of the week.
Fans of the book who haven’t seen the Swedish version will likely find Fincher’s edition well-written, well-crafted and well-acted. But is it necessary? That’s a mystery that will likely remain unsolved.
Openings are Friday, Dec. 23, unless otherwise noted.
A Dangerous Method: Michael Fassbender is Jung, Viggo Mortensen is Freud and Keira Knightley is a disturbed young Russian with eyes on the former. Somehow, even under David Cronenberg’s direction, it isn’t very interesting.
The Adventures of Tin-Tin: Most Americans are unfamiliar with Tin-Tin, the series of Belgian graphic novels about a boy reporter and his heroic dog Snowy. Spielberg’s kid-friendly adaptation has some amazing motion capture, but it doesn’t truly capture the series. Opens Wednesday, Dec. 21.
The Artist: This silent film about a silent-film star (Jean Dujardin) whose world begins to collapse as the talkies take over is a fully realized vision and a legitimate Best Picture contender.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey: You have kids? Then you know Elmo. This documentary, however, is about Kevin Clash, the man behind the furry red monster.
The Darkest Hour: Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby are in Moscow when the aliens attack. Opens Sunday, Dec. 25.
Don 2: Bollywood thriller about an Indian crime lord who sets his sights on the European underworld.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: Believe it or not, No. 4 is the best of the bunch, probably because it’s the first live-action film from director Brad Bird, the guy behind The Incredibles. Opens Wednesday, Dec. 21.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Gary Oldman is great as George Smiley, the semi-retired British spy brought back in to unmask a traitor during the Cold War, but the entire exercise is probably too slow for American audiences.
War Horse: Spielberg’s other big holiday film is about a horse that’s taken from the boy who raised him, serves as an officer’s mount in WWI and ends up seeing action from opposite trenches. Opens Sunday, Dec. 25.
We Bought a Zoo: Native son Cameron Crowe gets seriously PG. Matt Damon stars as a single dad who moves his two kids to an aging zoo conveniently run by Scarlett Johansson. Also starring some very cute animals and kids.
One Time Only
Santa with Muscles: Hulk Hogan and Ed Begley Jr. star in this ridiculous take on A Christmas Carol, which is part of the Public Library’s ongoing Schlockfest. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, at the Central Library, Downtown. Free.
Christmas Vacation: If you were Chevy Chase and the rest of the Griswold clan, would you even bother going on vacation? Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma. Free.
White Christmas Sing-a-Long: The title pretty much says it all, right? Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp.
Rebecca: A month of Hitchcock films continues with this 1940 classic starring Joan Fontaine as a young woman who marries a wealthy widower (Laurence Olivier), only to confront his former wife’s presence throughout their mansion. Screens at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23, at the Central Library, Downtown. Free.
The Black Candle: This IMAX movie follows an old-school steam train through the Canadian Rockies at 2 and 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 26 and 27, at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
The Black Candle: Maya Angelou narrates MK Asante’s film, which examines the African-American experience through a lens focused on Kwanzaa. Screens at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 26, at World Beat Cultural Center in Balboa Park.
Sunset Boulevard: Without knocking The Artist (see Page 24), this is still the best film about a silent-movie star put out to pasture by the talkies. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27, at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp.
Angel Face: Robert Mitchum is an ambulance driver who gets mixed up with the scheming Jean Simmons. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, at the Central Library, Downtown. Free.
Viewer’s Choice: It’s like naming your band Free Beer. Whatever it is will start at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma. Free.
Now Playing
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: The sequel is certainly entertaining, as Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) take on the detective’s legendary enemy, Professor Moriarty. But there’s really no mystery to solve.
I Won’t Last a Day Without You: The Filipino film series at Horton Plaza continues with this romantic comedy.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: Squeaky clean.
Young Adult: Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody reteams with director Jason Reitman for this story about a former homecoming queen (Charlize Theron) who returns to her small hometown in Minnesota after a divorce and a mental breakdown of sorts, intending to steal her high-school beau (Patrick Wilson) away from his wife and family.
Machine Gun Preacher: Gerard Butler plays Sam Childers, a real-life former drug dealer who, after finding religion, led armed incursions into dangerous parts of Sudan to rescue conscripted child soldiers. The movie, which played San Diego previously, re-opens at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp.
New Year’s Eve: Famous people like Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Robert De Niro and Ashton Kutcher get drunk and make out at midnight.
Shame: Michael Fassbender bares body and soul as a sex addict in Steve McQueen’s NC-17 drama. It’s graphic, emotionally and sexually, but it’s also well-made.
The Sitter: Jonah Hill is the college kid suckered into taking care of children who live next door to him.
The Women on the 6th Floor: A pair of Spanish maids make mischief in the house of a conservative couple in Paris in the 1960s. Ends Dec. 22 at the Ken Cinema.
Alaska: Sarah Palin does not appear in this IMAX film, which runs Fridays through December at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
Mystery of the Nile: It ain’t just a river in Egypt. It’s also an IMAX film running Fridays through December at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
Arthur Christmas: A 3-D animated flick about Santa’s youngest son, who uses Santa’s high-tech operation to complete a crucial mission on Christmas night.
Hugo: Hell hath apparently frozen over—Martin Scorsese has made a 3-D PG family film.
The Muppets: Jason Segal reboots the franchise. It’s time to play the music and light the lights one more time.
My Week with Marilyn: Eddie Redmayne is Colin Clark, an assistant to Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), who has to manage his boss’ relationship with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during a production of The Prince and the Showgirl.
The Descendants: Alexander Payne’s first film since Sideways is more straightforward than his previous work, but just as rewarding. George Clooney’s terrific as Matt King, a father trying to reconnect with his daughters after his wife’s injured in an accident.
Santa vs. The Snowman: Family-oriented steel-cage match plays the IMAX theater at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1: You know how Bella and Edward spent the last three movies not getting it on? Well, now they do.
Immortals: Zeus chooses Thesus (played by Henry Cavill, the next Superman) to take on Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) in a film by Tarsem Singh, who made The Cell.
J. Edgar: Leonardo DiCaprio is the longtime head of the FBI in Clint Eastwood’s biopic. DiCaprio’s pretty good, but the film treats Hoover with kid gloves.
Jack and Jill: As if one Adam Sandler weren’t enough, here he plays a nice guy and the nice guy’s annoying twin sister.
Like Crazy: Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones are a couple drawn to each other for years, even though her visa situation keeps her in England, while he lives in L.A. Ends Dec. 22 at La Jolla Village and Hillcrest cinemas.
Margin Call: Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and a slew of high-profile talents play the 1-percenters on the eve of the financial meltdown. Ends Dec. 22 at La Jolla Village Cinemas.
The Skin I Live In: Antonio Banderas stars in Pedro Almodovar’s drama as a plastic surgeon desperate to create a synthetic skin for his wife, who was badly burned years ago. Thing is, he needs a human subject, and he’d rather try it out on someone else before he tries it out on her. Ends Dec. 22 at Hillcrest Cinemas.
The Way: Emilio Estevez directed his dad, Martin Sheen, in this film about a father who heads to Europe to try to recover the body of his estranged son.
The Ides of March: George Clooney, who’s always worn his politics on his sleeve, directs and stars in his latest film, about the death of idealism in a young political consultant played by Ryan Gosling. It’s well-made, but not as important as it thinks it is.
Under the Sea: Go underwater and see some of the planet’s most gorgeous ecosystems, before it’s too late, since we’re gradually destroying pretty much everything. Screening at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.
Moneyball: Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s who shook up baseball by reinventing the way players are valued. Sounds like dry stuff, but the last time someone adapted a Michael Lewis sports-business book for the big screen was The Blind Side, which earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar.
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen’s most charming film in years stars Owen Wilson as a Jazz Age-infatuated screenwriter and aspiring novelist who ends up hanging with the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
Boto be Wild 3-D: Despite sounding like yet another animated animal movie, this is an IMAX film about baby elephants and orangutans and the people who love them. Oh, and it’s narrated by Morgan Freeman. Collective sigh for the baby monkeys, please.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The camp classic continues its ongoing run, Fridays at midnight at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas.
