Scream 4 (2011)

Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox

Overall Rating: 64.8

After an 11 year layoff, Wes Craven returns to the universe of the Ghostface killer with "Scream 4".  While staying true to the 90's slasher flicks made famous by the franchise, "Scream 4" manages to throw some a few curveballs to seeming cliched horror scenes to not only parody itself, but also to keep the audience guessing.

The 4th installment picks up with the famous survivor of the first three films, Sidney Prescott (Campbell), returning to Woodsboro for the anniversary of the first murders and to promote her new book.  To absolutely nobody's surprise, as soon as Sidney arrives in town, people start dying.  This time, the latest incarnation of Ghostface seems to want to torture Sidney by killing everyone around her, rather than go directly after the heroine. 

Included in those being targeted is Sidney's cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts) and the newest class of all-good-looking, no-minorities-in-sight class of Woodsboro High.  Back once more are "Scream" staples Sheriff Dewey (Arquette) and wife/reporter/writer Gale (Cox) to try to use the pattern of the first killings to hunt the newest killer.  Only this time around, the stereotypical murder patterns that the Scream franchise became famous for mocking are all backfiring on the investigators, as Ghostface always seems to be one step ahead.

While "4" does manage to turn the founding principals of the first 3 installments on their heads, it still ends up a bit cheesy overall.  One of the big problems is the fact that the body count seems to be much higher this time around than in previous films.  The original was truly revolutionary because it wasn't "how is this person going to die", but "will this person die?"  In "4", the focus seems to be more on the killings than the characters, and that causes the overall tone of the movie to shift from the slasher movie roots to the cheap jumpy thrills.  While the overall theme of the film is focused on upgrading the slasher genre into the new millennium, we still get the same cliched kills and each victim can be seen coming well in advance.

While it's somewhat of a nice change of pace from the super-serious horror films of today, I can't help but feel that the brightly lit colors of Woodsboro could have changed their tones ever so slightly.  While it's been over a decade since we last saw Sidney Prescott run from knife-wielding maniacs, "Scream 4" still feels like it was made in the late 90's.  In some ways, it's a nice retro feel, but in others, it just feels played out and unnecessary.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 6
Dialogue: 5
Acting: 4
Direction: 6
Audio/Visual: 6

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer

Overall Rating: 97.6

As is always the case, David Fincher proves himself as the go-to director when it comes to telling a dark, psychological thriller with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".  From start to finish, "Dragon Tattoo" leaves you on the edge of your seat, captivated by the immense story and dark direction. 

Rooney Mara explodes off the screen as the troubled freelance hacker, Lisbeth Salander.  After casting her as the love interest in "The Social Network", Fincher says he fell in love with Rooney and easily saw her playing this intense, universally loved character.  He was right.  As Lisbeth, Mara shows the widest range of emotions, from fear and pain to all out ballsy confidence.  She makes you feel bad for her, fear her, and attracted to her all at the same time, a feat that very few but Mara could pull off.

The story follows a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) who is hired by a man (Plummer) to help solve a 40 year murder mystery involving his family.  Along the way, Blomkvist brings on the young Salander to assist in his research and attempts to uncover the murderer's identity.

Based on the universally acclaimed Stieg Larsson novel out of Sweden, Fincher and company do a good job of keeping true to the source material, while still maintaining a uniqueness all their own.  They even include plenty of references to the original Swedish version of the film from 2009, including using the same location and house for shooting.

The sound design is essential to helping keep the suspense building.  Teaming up again with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Fincher uses the sound to not only startle you, but to unnerve you.  Certain scenes alone are tough to sit through, but with Reznor's industrial music in the background, it's enough to make you wish you could turn it off.  But you can't, and you shouldn't.

Visually, the snowy Swedish landscape again takes you to a place of non-comfort.  With the snow so pure, it's easy to get lost in the wintry wonderland, but instead are trapped in a murder mystery where anyone and everyone is a suspect.  Throw in an opening credits sequence that rivals any Bond opening, mixing industrial imagery and Karen O's cover of "Immigrant Song", and it's one of the more impressive visual films in recent memory.

Fincher's ability to alter your mood through a couple hours of film has always been apparent.  With "Dragon Tattoo", he completes his best work since 2007's "Zodiac".  It's a powerful performance by Mara that shouldn't be missed.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 10
Dialogue: 9
Acting: 9
Direction: 9
Audio/Visual: 10

Contagion (2011)

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne

Overall Rating: 87.4

"Contagion" shows Steven Soderbergh at his best.  Very few directors can take a wide ensemble of A-list actors and have them each play their small roles to create a film that plays bigger than said actors.  Soderbergh has always been more interested in telling stories than showcasing celebrity. 

The story of "Contagion" follows the spread of an unknown and deadly virus, and the health officials racing to try and contain and vaccinate it.  After his wife returns from Hong Kong and dies suddenly, Mitch Emhoff (Damon) looks for answers while trying to protect his daughter.  The spread of the illness forces members of the CDC (Fishburne, Winslet) and WHO (Marion Cotillard) to race for a cure, while a blogger (Jude Law) tries to capitalize off the breakout in every way possible as the voice of the people.

Of all the actors, Damon shines as the overly protective father who has already lost his wife and stepson to the illness, and now must protect his teenage daughter.  While the world is crumbling down around him, Emhoff's primary concern is sheltering his daughter from not only the illness, but from the chaos that society has become.

Soderbergh is known for taking risks with his films, and with "Contagion" he harkens back to the days of "Traffic" with the style and quick editing.  The pulsating soundtrack during the quick montages bring the audience to the edge of their seat. 

With an incredible ensemble cast and intense plot, "Contagion" shows what can happen when actors come together for a great director: a great film.  Just be sure not to watch while under the weather, or you may have nightmares.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 7
Dialogue: 8
Acting: 10
Direction: 9
Audio/Visual: 7

Goon (2011)

Directed by: Michael Dowse

Starring: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill

Overall Rating: 89.0

"Goon" achieves something quite extraordinary for this day in age: it's a funny, realistic sports movie that is actually good.

Doug Glatt (Scott) is a bouncer who makes waves with his knockout power punch, enough so that he earns a tryout with a local hockey team as an enforcer.  As the enforcer, Glatt's role is to protect his teammates by brute force.  Through his intense fights, Glatt becomes infamous and earns his way to the farm team of an NHL team.

The beauty of "Goon" is the modest comedy that comes out.  Scott delivers his lines with a sweet charm of a dumb-witted Northeasterner.  When offered weed, he simply responds "Oh, gosh, no but thank you so much for asking.  Just beer and soup for me."  As he meets a sweet girl in a bar (Pill), the charmer comes out with the same dumb-witted mentality.  It's a constant humor that lasts throughout the entire film.

 Most times with a movie involving sports, the sports aspect of the movie gets overlooked.  In the case of "Goon", the hockey action actually comes across as realistic.  Not so much that if you didn't know anything about hockey that you wouldn't be able to follow along, but hockey fans will be able to notice a number of small details that enhance the realism.

Considering the small sample size, it may not seem like much to say "Goon" is the best hockey movie since "Slapshot", but it is.  Not only that, but as a standalone movie, it's got plenty of memorable quotes to be considered a great comedy.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 9
Dialogue: 9
Acting: 7
Direction: 7
Audio/Visual:  7

The Rite (2011)

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga

Overall Rating: 57.3

"The Rite" is the newest attempt at frightening the audience with the devil inside, demonic possession horror motif.  This film attempts to take a similar approach as previous exorcisim movies, in that you have the young priest, struggling to find his faith who gets taken under the wing of a senior priest with experience beyond his years.

As a horror/thriller movie, director Mikael Hafstrom takes his sweet time building any suspense until the movie is ~80% completed.  What we're left with in the meantime is a lack of any real character development, aside from learning the young priest may or may not believe in God, and had a troubled relationship with his mortician father (played by Rutger Hauer).  All the while, Father Lucas (Hopkins) spends his time trying to convince his now protege that the devil does indeed exist, and exorcisms are more common than he imagines.

The problem with "The Rite" is that we're left not learning enough about Father Lucas to care what ultimately happens to him in the end.  The journey of the young Michael (O'Donoghue) is fairly drawn out, but the climax of the movie feels forced and uninspired.  Yet another exorcism movie that fails to deliver any real substance.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 4
Dialogue: 5
Acting: 6
Direction: 5
Audio/Visual: 6

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

Directed by: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks


Overall Rating: 63.4

"Our Idiot Brother" is the tale of a dimwitted man named Ned (Rudd) in New York and his 3 sisters (Deschanel, Banks, and Emily Mortimer) struggling after he is released from prison for selling weed to a uniformed cop.  While Ned's intentions are pure, the unintended consequences of his actions over the course of the film end up causing chaos for his sisters.

Rudd plays the hippie Ned actually pretty well.  Not being a big Paul Rudd fan, he was able to at least convince me he was acting, rather than playing the same goofball he so often does.  The husband and wife characters of Emily Mortimer and Steve Coogan have the best comedic performances in my opinion as the uptight parents of Ned's nephew.  Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones play a lesbian couple and pretty much play the same characters you would expect them to play, and Elizabeth Banks plays the driven professional sister.

While trying to be a comedy, the movie just isn't that funny.  There are a few moments that might make you chuckle, but for the most part it's a stereotypical goofball comedy about a hippie's "peace and love" mentality encroaching on the lives of his more "uptight" siblings.  Nothing to write home about.

Individual Ratings
Enjoyment Factor: 5
Dialogue: 6
Acting: 6
Direction: 6
Audio/Visual: 5