Film Screening 12th March, 2011

Poster for Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear 

6:00 PM, 12th March, 2011
No Guests

  • G
  • 84 mins
  • 2010
  • Eric Brevig
  • Jeffrey Ventimilia, Joshua Sternin, Brad Copeland
  • Dan Aykroyd (voice), Justin Timberlake (voice), Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh

There's a smarter-than-the-average bear in the Jellystone National Park, who has a liking for Pic-a-nic baskets and an eagerness to snatch them, often in convoluted ways involving a fair bit of slapstick falling over and suchlike. Naturally, such unusual Bear behaviour is the perfect magnet for a documentary maker named Rachel (Faris). But her arrival coincides with the mayor's plan to sell the logging rights to Jellystone Park, leading Yogi and his usual nemesis, Ranger Smith (Cavanagh) to host a grand Jubilee to save the park. But, just like everyone who's ever adopted the profession of Property Developer in a movie, the mayor has more than one evil plan up his sleeve. It's going to take a whole lot of falling over, flailing about and general wackiness to save the park and keep Yogi with a regular supply of pic-a-nic baskets.

If you're in the mood for a Saturday-morning flashback without a lot of subtlety, and a gentle kind of environmental message, or you just want to see what Justin Timberlake would sound like if he was a whole lot more nasal, this might just be the movie for you. No, this is not a film that reinvents the animated art form, and it probably isn't going to be rivalling Pixar at the Oscars. But it's under 90 minutes out of your life, and unless you have something massively important to be getting to, this should pass a bit of time reasonably comfortably.

Simon Tolhurst

Poster for The Girl Who Played With Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden)

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) 

8:00 PM, 12th March, 2011

  • MA
  • 129 mins
  • 2009
  • Daniel Alfredson
  • Jonas Frykberg
  • Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Annika Hallin, Lena Endre

The Girl Who Played With Fire kicks off where it left off in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Salander (Rapace) is enjoying a holiday overseas using the money she stole to create Wasp Enterprises. Upon returning to Sweden Salander calls on some old friends and adversaries and discovers that her former guardian and tormenter Bjurman (Peter Andersson) is planning to remove the tattoo she gave him after he raped her. Feeling that a smackdown is in order she pays him a visit. In the process she leaves behind fingerprints, which is unfortunate because Bjurman is murdered and she is accused and forced to go into hiding.

While this is going on Blomkvist (Nyquist) begins work on investigating some sex-traffickers. In the process he discovers that Salander is in trouble and, believing she is innocent, sets out to clear her name. Naturally the crimes are connected and there are more twists and turns than a corkscrew in a blender. As long as you can keep up with the subtitles (or speak Swedish) this movie will have you on the edge of your seat from the minute it starts. Then you’ll be waiting with baited breath for the third and final movie to be released.

I think Larsson’s trilogy is the best thing to come out of Sweden since ABBA and if you are wondering what all the hype is about, that’s because you haven’t seen the films.

Dion Perry