December | 2011 | Another Plot Device

Movie of the Day – Tokyo Godfathers

December 22, 2011 Leave a comment

While most of my holiday posts have been about the absurdity of Christmas, either from terrorists or being held hostage, I am not a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas movies. I do have a soft spot for the holiday and I hope that today’s post proves that. Christmas is about coming together, basking in the essence of life and joy and all the while being a family, whether with strangers or loved ones. Tokyo Godfathers is one of more heartwarming tales of family and the unexpected gifts and ties that happen in our lives. While not truly a Christmas movie, it holds true to the themes of the holiday and offers a compelling story that has far more weight than the typical, formulaic Christmas movies that are out there.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with adopting, animation, anime, christmas, drama, holiday, japan, movies, review

Movie Review – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

December 22, 2011 7 Comments

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical when it came to the announcement of the remake of a 2009 Swedish film that is also based on the Swedish book of the same name published back in 2005. I mean given Hollywood’s new found (well, more prevalent) penchant for remaking everything under the sun, I wasn’t a fan initially of this remake, even with the clinical and precision skills that Director David Fincher brings to his films. In some ways, it feels like we are going to see an adaptation of an adaptation from an adapted novel. This is Inception like filmmaking, meaning I am waiting for this movie to get remade in the next two years. Aside from my disdain for remakes, I am intrigued by what the gifted David Fincher is capable of producing, what with keeping the icy setting of Sweden in sights, pulling Rooney Mara for the titular role of Lisbeth Salander, and having the partnership of Trent and Atticus composing the score of the movie, already has me on edge. The question that needs to be answered is; can Fincher find a way to not only remain faithful to the source material, but also make this version something unique and set itself apart from it’s Swedish counterpart?

Image Via

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Filed under Reviews Tagged with daniel craig, david fincher, girl with the dragon tattoo, goth, lisbeth salander, movies, review, rooney mara, suspense, sweden, swedish fim, trent reznor

Movie of the Day – Christmas Vacation

December 21, 2011 2 Comments

I am currently spending my Christmas Vacation from work by spending time writing and watching movies. Also I do go out to eat and enjoy a social life as well, but for the sake of propelling this opening, I am currently awaiting for my trip back home for Christmas. While our Christmas’ aren’t anywhere near chaotic as the Griswold family Christmas, this movie is a sure enough staple in our viewing rotation that I can practically just spout off one liners and conversation stretches like no other. Christmas Vacation is more than just a comedy, a very funny one at that, but a story about the elusive idea of the perfect family Christmas.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with chevy chase, christmas, comedy, holidays, movies, national lampoon, present, review, vacation

Movie of the Day – Die Hard 2: Die Harder

December 20, 2011 Leave a comment

John McClane’s back and this time the terrorists decide to fuck with the Christmas holiday once again in the stupidest naming convention ever, Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Ugh, really? Die Harder? What the hell does that even mean in the context of death? You know what, screw it. I don’t even since I am getting a second helping of some of that McClane goodness and yippie kai yay’s to sate even the most rabid of action fans. Apparently in the Die Hard realm, every major terrorist crime happens during the Christmas holidays.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with action, bruce willis, chirstmas, die hard, holiday, john mcclane, movies, reviews

Movie of the Day – The Ref

December 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Nothing really brings people closer together over the holidays than some armed robbery and hostage situations. Also domestic disputes are another catalyst for inconvenience during the holiday season, but those happen to everyone. I am the sort of person the revels in the general absurdness of the holiday season, seeking out the imperfect side of the holiday. It’s more because I am tired of the squeaky clean, pure as the undriven snow that permeates a lot of Christmas movies, so when a movie as unconventional as The Ref centers around Christmas Eve and a hostage situation, I tend to take notice.

It’s a dark comedy of a film, but then again, Christmas isn’t always happiness and egg nog.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with comedy, dennis leary, drama, kevin spacey, movies, reviews

Movie of the Day – Lethal Weapon

December 18, 2011 2 Comments

In the season of giving, one must give thanks to the movies from the past that influence our cinema today. On this day, we reflect on the buddy cop genre of films with the movie that pretty much made the genre a main staple and often overused device for movies. Lethal Weapon is pretty much the be all, end all of the buddy cop genre. There couldn’t have been a more odd ball pairing of two differing personalities in one movie that had all the 80s flair for violence and action rolled into one. Gibson, Glover, and director Richard Donner have given the movie going public a gift that we will come to cherish (the Lethal Weapon series) and loathe (Cop Out and to a lesser extent, Rush Hour).

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Filed under Movies Tagged with action, christmas, gary busey, holidays, lethal weapon, mel gibson, movie, reviews

Movie of the Day – The Odessa File

December 17, 2011 Leave a comment

So not really a Christmas movie that everyone watches during December. The only Christmas thing about this movie is that it takes place during the holidays and Perry Como sings “Christmas Dream” as the films theme song. But really, can you think of a better Christmas gift to the world than having Jon Voight break up a secret society of former Nazi’s from building missiles that are meant to strike Israel? I think not.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with christmas, drama, holidays, jon voight, movies, reviews, thriller

Movie of the Day – Rocky IV

December 16, 2011 Leave a comment

There is exactly 10 days until Christmas and I am going to spend these 10 days talking/posting about Christmas movies. Now I am sure you have already read my Top Ten Christmas Movies list, I mean you are avid readers of my blog so that is a dumb question. If you haven’t read it, here is the link: Top Ten Christmas Movies

So now that you have read my list, you know what to expect from my upcoming posts. It won’t be all about those movies, but you can bet on Die Hard being in that list. So why not start the list off with the movie that brought democracy to Russia and ended the fucking Cold War, preferably in a montage sequence with some kick ass synth music from the 80s.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with boxing, christmas, ivan drago, jesus, movies, review, rocky, russia, sports, Sylvester Stallone

Movie of the Day – Why We Fight

December 15, 2011 Leave a comment

I found that this is an appropriate documentary to bring to light now that today marks the end of Iraq operations. While this was an extremely long time coming, this more f a time to reflect on the instances and meaning of going to war. In some ways, it honestly feels like this is a never ending war, even with the withdraw happening. So a rather poignant documentary to watch today, one that explores the question of why we fight.

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Filed under Movies Tagged with conflic, documentary, imperialism, movies, politics, review, war, world

Movie of the Day – Enemy at the Gates

December 14, 2011 1 Comment

Like any red blooded American, war movies are a main staple in your movie watching experiences. Sure the grand opus of war is often bloody and a spectacle to behold, but for me, it’s when a movie chooses to focus on the tense hunt of tracking down the enemy and taking them out. I enjoy war movies, but often times it is chaotic and hard to focus on a singular person. What appealed to me about this movie is that the focus is on a sniper battle. The often unseen trigger man on the battle field that sees who they kill, rather than a soldier just spraying bullets down the battlefield. Enemy at the Gates is a very tightly paced movie (except for that stupid love story, which I will get to) and more of a character study about two men who are locked in combat with one another. It is more about the brains rather than the brawn in this particular combat.

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