Bläeckfisk is the Swedish translation for the word octopus. I am not Swedish, but I do own a lot of furniture from Sweden and I like octopuses while admiring their multi-tasking ability. I would like to travel to Sweden at some point, plus I think it is a pretty cool looking word. Anyhow, speaking of words, I guess you could say that is why we are here. Words are the foundation for way we try to wrap our thoughts around everything in the galaxy. The tendrils that lead to emotions and curiosity. I am not here to solve the mysteries of the universe, just to discuss words in general. Specifically words written by other people and have been printed off and slapped between two slices of thin card stock. Many of these sandwiches go on to bigger and better things, some bigger and better than others. So, I guess we will be talking about those as well. If you share an interest in words or enjoi seeing what they can look like in action....välkommen! (Swedish for welcome.)

Monday, January 9, 2012

F12: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy-Directed by Tomas Alfredson

"Got a rabbit to pull out of your hat, Percy?"

Do not waste your time with this film. Or the book that it is based on, by John le Carré. There I said it. And man does it feel good. I wanted to blast my disappointment during the film yesterday, but then remember how my pet peeve is people who are rude in movie houses. Seriously though kids, skip this one. This movie about all things espionage and is the complete opposite of why we love spy thrillers. There are no martinis. No kooky gadgets that explode or release smoke.  Fem Fatales that seduce the our secret agent man, only to hit him with a poison dart after a steamy shower scene? Nada. No high stakes poker games, no bowties and no ultra fast car chase scenes. This movie was not sexy, nor was it exciting. It was drab and dull and filled to the brim with confusion. You keep waiting for everything to click into place, and or for things to pick up, but they never do. Even the score was a struggle to digest. I was expecting a vintage spy film cast in the mold of Munich or The Debt, but instead got slapped with an old hybrid of High Street Blues and Matlock.

The premise is this: there is a mole. And that mole that has penetrated British Intelligence and is siphoning off intel to the Russians. Former agent, Mr. Smiley (Gary Oldman) is brought back into the fold to try to uncover the perp. Simple enough plot line. Armed with a star studded cast (Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong) this movie should work. Sadly enough, it just doesn't. I should have known better, as I put down the book after 75 pages due to many of the same reasons listed above. The only noteworthy aspect of this project is the brain trust that put together the trailer for this film, hoodwinking my wife and I into believing that this movie would be worth our time and 20 bucks. In short, it was not.


2 comments:

  1. Brett! I love your opening line, especially when I tell you that we went to see it on Sunday and left mid-movie. I simply couldn't follow it. Oh and when we walked out I said to Terry, "You owe me a chick flick."

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  2. It was pretty bad! Sorry I didn't get my review out sooner......could have saved you guys some money!

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