Quick Movie Roundup

...And now for a fast and dirty review of some stuff I've seen lately.

In Time - Is this the best we can get for a Logan's Run remake? Time is literally money in the future, you get paid and pay for things with a digital clock on your arm. If you always have time on your arm you can live forever. And when you're out of time on your arm clock you die. Not great but oddly watchable, it beats you over the head with its "we are the 99%" sloganeering of the haves living thousands of years while the have nots die on the street daily. Fascinating for a sea of recognizable faces (Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, that guy from Big Bang Theory, I think Olivia Wilde among others) working this low budget sci fi flick like they were doing somebody a favor. Despite story and plot holes, In Time stays OK until a Bonnie and Clyde angle starts up half way through and the movie strains for being cool. Then the movie...fake cough...runs out of time...

Hanna - Myley Cyrus stars as a teenage girl who is a student by day and rock star by night. Oh, wait, it's not that movie. This is that European movie, the one that seems like a Luc Besson thing with a young girl coming of age master assassin theme. Hanna reminded me of something some guy said about making the recent Lara Croft videogame, that the protagonist was made into a young girl so the audience will feel protective of her. After seeing Hanna what can you say, the trick works. The title character reeks havoc all over the world killin spies but you want to see her keep going.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - I know it's a David Fincher movie but it seems like an understatement to say this movie is dark dark dark. Like a few other Fincher movies, lots of people are up to no good behind a facade of style and manners. Fun to watch Daniel Craig play against Bond type, as a journalist who is pretty confounded by espionage and hazardous situations. To use a Randy Jackson phrase the intense investigation into evil intentions of others is right in Fincher's wheel house. He doesn't disappoint in ramping up the tension or sticking all kinds of violence and mutilation in yo face. Don't have anything negative to say about the film itself since it doesn't pretend not to be about that, other than you gotta be in the mood for a serious trip to the dark side to see this movie.