En ganske snill mann "A Somewhat Gentle Man" (2010)

Stellan Skarsgård shows his skills in this dramedy about second chances, redemption, and family. It takes a strong actor to dance this bad, and say yes to so many women. It takes a firm confidence to allow being filmed from behind with a bald spot as large as one's pony tail.

When Scandinavians tell a story they do it slowly. It's like making a good stew. Character development is critical and the audience is allowed to enjoy the moments, sights, sounds, and aromas, as if they were part of the story.

The supporting cast are also great and too numerous to mention here. Hopefully my Scandinavian readers will forgive that. Few characters are truly loathsome, but almost all are flawed enough to be real.

Watch this movie with someone who will enjoy the subtitles enough to not even notice them.

Boogie Woogie

The bad news is that this movie is full of self-serving, egotistical, London art snobs. They lie cheat and steal. The good news is that they appear to only prey on each other. They other good news is that there actually IS a story. You just have to wait for it.

The other good news is that there are some great names and wonderful performances. There is also a very disturbing scene involving a removed body part that has little or nothing to do with the story.

Gillian Anderson, Heather Graham, Amanda Seyfried, and Gemma Atkinson lead a strong stunning female ensemble. Danny and Jack Huston, Stellan Skarsgård, Simon McBurney, Alan Cumming, and the legendary Christopher Lee all give the male gender a bad bad name. Very bad name.

The story, as such, is about a fictional painting that everyone appears to want. The story ends with as many questions as it poses. What really happened to the painting? Where did the money go? And where did it come from? Oh, and why do some characters appear to have different names depending on the scene. I clearly didn't have the score card to keep track.

Watch this if you are really really really into art, hard-R for sexual content movies, and vague story lines.

Mamma Mia

If you loved the music of ABBA, or still do, you will most likely love this movie. If you are not familiar, you may not realize this music was written 20 years before the story was made up. For those of you who saw this on stage, but not the movie, you may like how the "sets" have changed. The story did not, nor did the songs.

Oh, and what a cast! Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried play mother and daughter. Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth plays fathers. Christine Baranski and Julie Walters play Momma's best friends.

The scenes are spectacular, even if so many of the beach scenes were shot here in Orange County. For you who like to fantasize about the Greek islands, this movie has lots to offer.

Watch this movie with someone who knows ALL the words.

Angels & Demons

Zealotry redefined. Ron Howard delivers another fun, exciting, nail-biter. Not exactly a sequel to DaVinci Code, but not totally unrelated either. Tom Hanks returns as Dr. Langdon, the professor who defies labeling.

Ayelet Zurer plays the female lead who stops short at becoming a love interest of the good doctor. Ewan McGregor plays the youngest of Vatican leadership. Stellan Skarsgård, one of the best-known Swedes in Hollywood (Bootstrap Bill) plays the head of the Vatican's Swiss Guard. Armin Mueller-Stahl plays a senior cardinal and the stage is set.

Who killed the Pope and hired an assassin, played well by Nikolaj Lie Kaas, to kill the favorites to replace him? Who are the Illuminati and where are they hiding?

With a little help from Galileo and a lady bio-physicist, Dr. Langdon comes to the rescue again, this time at the request of the Vatican.

This great international cast give the movie a very authentic feel. There are so many wonderful accents and looks and voices. The soundtrack adds big-time to the feel of the movie.

Watch this with someone who believes in both science and religion.