Christmas Movie Roundup

As always, I'm kicking off the new year feeling as stuffed as a Christmas goose (do people still have goose for Christmas?) - not from eating (well, that too) but from excessive moviegoing, topped off with a frantic end-of-year binge on Oscar hopefuls. And as usual, I'm already ridiculously backlogged on reviews as a result of having seen what feels like half of the total movies I saw all year in just the last three months. But what can I say - it's tradition. Happy new year!


TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

directed by Tomas Alfredson
starring Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, others, all fantastic
based on the novel by John Le Carré

GRADE: B+/A- (may bump this up to A- if it jells well; it's only been a couple of days)


THE ARTIST

written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius
starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller

GRADE: B+


THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

directed by David Fincher
starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgaard, Robin Wright Penn
based on the novel by Stieg Larsson

GRADE: B+


THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN

directed by Steven Spielberg
starring (sort of) Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
loosely based on several of Hergé's Tintin serials

GRADE: B

Reviews to come, some time, but probably not before I make my best of 2011 list