Rooney Mara is absolutely terrific in this just about perfect remake. (Columbia Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

I think I should apologize in advance for this review, as it’s going to sound like praise, praise, and more praise towards what seems to be a perfect piece. I don’t really have any criticisms, at all, for this film. I went into the theater with somewhat high expectations because of who made it, but never did I think it could amount to something this extraordinary. Granted, I haven’t read the book that this is based on, nor have I seen the original Swedish version, but with that said – this one is a cinematic triumph in every way.

It shouldn’t be that surprising at all, looking back, that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was so incredible based on what director David Fincher has done leading up to it: Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, Benjamin Button, and The Social Network just to name a few. The guy, along with Christopher Nolan, is the cream of the crop of young directors working today. And like his previous work, this movie has an incredible pace to it, exhilarating dialogue, terrific editing, and is able to get the absolute best out of its actors.

While Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, and Stellan Skarsgard were all terrific in their own right, it was quasi-new comer Rooney Mara that stole the show. The only thing I don’t like about her is that she comes from football royalty – the Giants and Steelers – bleh. Her acting chops are top-notch though, and was entirely convincing, dark, sharp, and really was this character. And give the girl credit, because she showed everything to make it happen.

What this movie did so well was capture and entertain you from start to finish – there was no dull moment, or down time. It’s a thriller, an adventure, and a people story all wrapped into one hell of a finished product, that doesn’t seem like the two and half hour running time when it’s finished. Fincher creates a dark, twisted, but very believable world that you’re entrenched in, and come out amazed from viewing. As an added bonus, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross put together the perfect score to it as well. I guess it’s time I get my hands on the book.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: (out of 4)

10.  X-MEN: FIRST CLASS - review

9.  CEDAR RAPIDS  - review

8.  HARRY POTTER 7 PART II - review

7.  SOURCE CODE - review

6.  BRIDESMAIDS - review

5.  MONEYBALL - review

4.  CONTAGION - review

3.  THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – review coming 

2.  SUPER 8 - review

and my favorite movie of the year was…

1.  50/50 - review

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Biggest Disappointment: The Hangover 2

Biggest Surprise: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Bridesmaids

In a rare swing-and-a-miss, a comedy lead by Jonah Hill completely tanks. (20th Century Fox/aceshowbiz.com)

Woof, what a stinker. It’s not typical of me to completely trash any movie, regardless of who’s in it, what it’s about, or anything like that, but The Sitter has to rank up there (or, down there) with some of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. At the very least, when you look at what the director has done before, and the cast of seriously funny and talented people, it’s certainly up there with the most disappointing.

The flow of the movie was really choppy and sort of nonexistent. But that minor detail aside, one of my biggest problems or head-scratchers with this flick was the random interjections of serious tone. In a movie filled with (attempts of) fart jokes, drug jokes, sex jokes, and other childish humor (which is usually right up my alley), there were really awkward transitions into sentimental, or serious moments with the three kids and Jonah Hill. It’s almost as if they were shooting the movie, and said well…we should get a few tender moments in here, let’s re-shoot in real quick. It just felt forced, and way out-of-place.

Speaking of the jokes…I can’t believe how few and far between the successful ones were. Jonah Hill is pretty much always funny, and J.B. Smoove and Sam Rockwell can carry it on occasion too. And granted, there were some funny one-liners and individual pieces of dialogue here and there, but overall it really just fell flat on its face. It’s all just a shame, for such funny people, led by the men who brought us Pineapple Express, a great comedy, to produce such a disappointing effort.

THE SITTER: (out of 4)

Jason Segel lent a big hand in bringing the Muppets back to the silver screen for their newest, and still very fun, adventure. (Walt Disney Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

I remember the Muppets very vaguely from my childhood growing up, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t spent a seconds worth of thought on them in years. The memories have all but faded, as newer cartoons, programs, and other kids entertainment have come rushing into relevance. But this is just one of the many things that the Muppets themselves cleverly poke fun at in their newest movie since…well, a long time ago. There’s nothing earth shattering, or fall on the floor hilarious about this new adventure, but it’s a fun ride all the way through.

It must have slipped my mind one of the key components to the Muppets success throughout the years, of all the A-list (or close to A-list) celebrities having bit roles. From comedians like Zach Galifianakis and Sarah Silverman, to rock-star Dave Grohl, political analyst James Carville, and many more, this flick is loaded with star power. Unlike crappy looking movies made in the past few years just chock full of big time names that always completely fail, the Muppets features just a few minutes – if that – of each actor. There’s something nice seeing a kind of clean, kid-like humor from such a wide array of talent.

Now the stars are, of course, the Muppets themselves. There’s a lot of funny ones, and some of my personal favorites are some under appreciated characters for sure. Beaker, Swedish Chef, and Rowlf are in this writers one opinion, the best of the bunch. A lot of credit has to also go to Jason Segel. The comedic actor made a huge push to get this project off the ground and into production, and also threw his hat in the ring writing the screenplay. Everything points to a fun success.

THE MUPPETS: (out of 4)

50/50 is the most heart-wrenching and hilarious movie you'll ever see, and one of the top films of 2011. (Summit Entertainment/aceshowbiz.com)

Perfect. It was perfect. And that’s how you sum up 50/50 in a matter of a few words. From the stellar cast, to the excitement I had learning about this coming out a few months ago, to the articles written recently about the “controversy” of making comedy from a cancer story….all of that doesn’t mean much of anything now. They scored not just a hit, but a possible classic in this movie, and the fact that it’s based from a true story makes it that much better. The balancing act needed to make a sure-fire winner between comedy and heartfelt, realistic drama is a tight act for sure, but they seemed to walk it with ease.

A subject that everyone knows about but can’t really understand to a full level – cancer. The stages of shock, grief, anger, depression, acceptance…they may have affected family members and friends of ours, but to actually have cancer, now that is something not everyone knows about and grasp in any true sense. The fragility of human life, of our lives, is shown so brilliantly in this movie, as are all the stages along the way. There is no doubt that it tugs at you, perhaps because we all know people very close to us that have gone down this road before. Or perhaps because it just feels like real life hitting you right in the mouth. Either way, it’s an emotional knockout, with family dynamics, friend dynamics, and what it would mean thinking your life might end.

The drama is serious. It’s genuine and just heartbreaking to watch unfold. But the comedy, that a lot of the characters take a part in, is mixed in seamlessly. The bizarre transition from almost crying to laughing hysterically is something that certainly comes up more than once in this movie, but it all feels very, very natural. To that, I lend credit to the writers, but mostly to the cast. Everyone in this movie was terrific, but there are a few that carried huge loads of acting responsibility and nailed it. Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, and Anjelica Huston are amazing. But there is one star, one actor who should get at least a nomination in the Oscars and that’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Everything he did turned to gold. Everything he did was as if you were sitting in a room in real life, watching this unfold. It was, as I said to start the article, pure perfection.

50/50:  (out of 4)

Pitt is tremendous as Billy Beane in this funny, smart, and highly entertaining movie about a man who changed baseball.(Columbia Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

There are few sports books that I’ve ever read that were as interesting and fun to read as Moneyball was. From start to finish, you are engrossed in something you think you’ve known for a while (baseball), and are shown an angle completely different from what you could have ever expected to see. I also quickly became attached to the main characters and the interplay between them, especially the comedic aspects. Director Bennett Miller, screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin, and most of all the extraordinary cast led by Brad Pitt, all came together to turn a fantastic book into a fantastic movie. From start to finish, you’re going to want to pay attention to this one.

There is one quick note I have to get out of the way, and it differs slightly from the reviews I had read on this film before I went to see it. After seeing Moneyball, I’m not so sure that a person who isn’t at least somewhat familiar with baseball in general can come around to full comprehension of what’s going on and therefore would not fully appreciate it. That however, is my opinion, and if you’re on the fence, I would urge you to try it out. With that said…

A good sports movie is one of the hardest things to do right in Hollywood. For some reason, there have been more clunkers about sports, more cliche-ridden, color-by-numbers Disney type flicks about football, hockey, baseball, basketball, you name it. They consistently don’t cast well for another unknown reason, and it’s so damn predictable. Well if you had read Moneyball before seeing this, you knew what people who didn’t read it all found out about five minutes in – this isn’t like other sports movies. This is an outsider’s take on sports – literally. This movie challenges you to think about sports in a strict numbers sense, to treat it like a statistical breakdown that will evaluate what humans are right for each job. It’s an incredible story with a fantastic screenplay, and we’re also treated to a rusted-over, real feel of the Oakland Coliseum (not that hard – that place is apparently a dump).

But perhaps the best piece of this whole thing was Brad Pitt, playing Oakland G.M. Billy Beane. Just as I imagined from reading the book, Pitt was funny, sharp as tack, scheming, smart, and filled with spurts of anger. He absolutely nailed this part, and it also didn’t hurt that he had a great supporting cast around him. Jonah Hill – yes, the same one from Superbad, Knocked Up, and other comedies – has moments of comedy, but gives a solid go at only his second dramatic role.

I would be lying if I said this was the best sports movie I’ve ever seen – not the case. However, it is up there, pretty high up there. But comparisons aside, this turned out to be a rare combination: a great movie and a great book that don’t differ too damn much at all. That’s quite the find, and Moneyball is an original, fun, extremely interesting movie, with great editing and a great score too.

MONEYBALL: (out of 4)

'Contagion' is a well-acted, brilliantly put-together terrifying, and realistic feeling film, which grips you from start to finish. (Warner Bros Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

What’s the best kind of movie? That answer certainly depends on the mood, and the person. But if you think about it, the characters you empathize with (or hate) the most, the plots that capture you so completely, and the films that demand your 110 percent attention from start to finish all share a common characteristic: they’re realistic. They feel like it’s you or someone you know, or it’s something that could very well happen to you, if it hasn’t already. Contagion is a gigantic terror, told at an incredible pace. It’s flawless, brilliantly acted, directed, edited and has a tremendous score to boot. But the kicker is that that feeling of terror, in this world we live in, feels far, far too real and genuinely scary. Now that, is the best kind of movie.

One of the things I loved about this movie was the star-studded cast that felt like a cast of unknowns. When you look at all the A-list or almost top-notch names attached to this project – Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburn, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Elliott Gould, John Hawkes, etc – it feels like it would be too much, like acting overkill. We’ve seen that overkill happen far too often in romance comedies and other flicks in the past few years, as studios pack as many huge names into one title and hope for the best (and usually fail to some extent). Every actor in this movie however, felt and looked like the character they were playing. You didn’t see a Laurence Fishburn, you saw a head of the CDC. It was the same for each big name – they did so well, that you hardly noticed the names that were in it.

Contagion has almost no action, no explosions, and no crazy sci-fi effects. And yet, it held me attention the entire time – I was wide-eyed and on the edge of my seat. It’s nerve-racking, thought-provoking, and hits close to home. The job Steven Soderbergh did was a great one, and the sequence and editing of the whole thing was just awesome. Credit should also be given to the score of the film, as it did its job raising your blood level and keeping the intensity flowing.

It’s been a year of sort of underwhelming movies and I’m sincerely hoping all the Oscar hopes for 2012 that come out this fall and winter will turn that trend around. Contagion wasn’t just a breath of fresh air in some stale months of releases, but rather a fantastic movie on all fronts that would look great in any year. When you have such a realistic feel to something that’s acted and made with such excellence, it’s usually a home run. This, albeit scary, was a huge home run.

CONTAGION: (out of 4)

For a well casted movie with a short running time, there just weren't enough laughs throughout. (Columbia Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

As Hurricane Irene continues to inch closer to the Philadelphia region, I knew I had to go see a movie. It was either this or My Idiot Brother. I had actually wanted to see this one all year-long, from reading the plot to seeing the first trailer, it looked like a sure-fire hit with this cast and director. But it unfortunately never got to the level of being consistently funny at all, and while it did have laughs scattered throughout, my prediction of it being a comedy hit fell as hard as the rain outside (sorry, I had to).

After the wickedly hysterical feature-length debut in Zombieland a few years back, director Ruben Fleischer put himself on the comedy map and gained my interest in this flick. However, a director can only go as far as his cast will let him – and he assembled one hell of a solid lineup. Jesse Eisenberg, who has shown awesome range the past few years, Aziz Ansari who should be getting lots of new roles, the funny looking, sounding, and acting Nick Swardson, and the man…Danny McBride. Comedy gold, right? Eh, from time to time.

30 Minutes or Less was actually quite short, clocking in at under an hour and a half, but at times it felt stretched out a bit. It seemed longer than it should have, and that’s never a good sign for a mindless comedy. Ansari was hysterical a few times, as were McBride, Michael Pena, and Swardson. The cruder and more childish the humor, the better – in my opinion. And there just wasn’t quite enough good crude humor to go around. There were memorable moments – the 360 spin, the hostage in the bank, and the best scene perhaps…the Third Eye Blind conversation.

30 MINUTES OR LESS: (out of 4)

Tremendous effects coupled with a solid storyline made this origin story one of the better summer movies of 2011.(20th Century Fox/aceshowbiz.com)

There was an odd mix of feelings for me coming into this movie. On the one side, it’s a friggin Planet of the Apes movie – it’s most likely not going to be very good at all. Expectations…low. But on the other side, it was 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, there was even some various Oscar talk, and it suddenly seemed like the best summer blockbuster of the year. Expectations…high. When the credits rolled at the end, I was pretty pleased, as the result landed closer to the high expectation than the low expectation. It wasn’t great, but it was a really solid summer movie, with some things to think about morally, and spectacular effects.

I might as well touch on what just about everyone is talking about – Andy Serkis and the special effects of the film. In a word? Outstanding. There were a few parts where you could tell it’s green screen (being picky here), but for the majority of it, the look of it was so superior to the previous Apes films (not saying a lot) and a bunch of recent major releases, it was both refreshing and eye-opening. The emotions on the lead ape Ceaser, played by Serkis, looked so authentic that you felt emotions for him ten times more than any other character in the whole movie.

The actors were good, and despite my man-crush on Franco, I thought John Lithgow was really, really good. I have no idea how many times an actor has tried to portray someone with aggressive Alzheimer’s, but he was truly convincing. Speaking of memory disease…this film dealt with a number of moral questions from testing on animals, to the benefits of science, and beyond. It’s nice to see a movie with a budget of around $100 million not just spit out senseless action, but to embrace a logical and meaningful story first and foremost.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: (out of 4)

Chris Evans, just like this movie as a whole, was just pretty decent...and nothing more. (Paramount Pictures/aceshowbiz.com)

There’s nothing I want to like more than a movie about Amuuurica, and this installment from the Marvel Comics family had the reviews pouring in saying it was one of the best comic book films in quite a while. Well, unlike one of my personal patriotic favorites Team America, this was just decent..pretty fun, and really nothing more.

One of the biggest things to make or break an action film, regardless of ratio of dialogue to special effects, is the nature of the lead actor. Take a look at some of the best superhero movies in the past decade – Robert Downey, Jr. was awesome in Iron Man, Tobey Maguire was great in Spiderman, and Christian Bale continues to be outstanding in the Dark Knight series. I’m not going to trash Chris Evans, who donned the red, white, and blue to play Captain America, but he really didn’t bring anything great to the movie. The conversation was occasionally awkward, the humor fell pretty flat, and he was sort of…just there. You don’t want the leading man to ‘blend in’, but he sort of did just that.

The villain in this one was also a bit strange, but you can’t hate on Hugo Weaving too much, the man is just awesome. But to give the movie some credit where it’s deserved, the look and feel of it was all very, very cool. It wasn’t huge, too big, just flat-out overwhelming – it actually felt truly retro. Set in WWII days, there was just a neat look to it all, from the costumes to the guns to the girls outfits. It was different, which in this case, made it a whole lot better. And perhaps this movie being aesthetically pleasing helped out when the story was unfolding. It’s hard to say this any other way – the film sort of just rolled along, it’s almost like not much happened. It wasn’t boring, but this wasn’t exactly The Expendables.

However, a possible saving grace for the entire movie was the last five minutes. Not only was it sort of surprising, but it was just downright awesome. And be sure to stay after the credits – there’s a short tease for something that might just be a comic book movie classic.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER: (out of 4)