THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Written by Steve Zaillian
Directed by David Fincher
Starring Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard


Armansky: I’m concerned you won’t like her. She’s different.
Frode: In what way?
Armansky: In every way.

I always say that film criticism is an inherently subjective practice and reviewing David Fincher’s remake of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is the perfect example to prove this. It has only been a year and a half since I first saw the original Swedish version of this film. It was known even then that Fincher’s version was in development and it was obvious that the only reason it was being made was to cater to a wider American audience. To be fair, the subject nature of the film is way too dark for it to ever really play that wide but, as the first film only raked in about $10 million in North American box office receipts, and given the popularity of the late Steig Larsson’s novel of the same name, there stands to be a great number of people interested in Fincher’s version. And so, while some will find the new version exhilarating, anyone who has seen Niels Arden Oplev’s original may feel a distinct lack of purpose.

I have not read any of the popular novels but as both film versions are more or less identical in plot execution, I can only assume that the structure of the novel is my first issue with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Without the shock value to cover it up, the introduction to Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) comes across as a character punishment and misguided distraction more so than anything else. While Mickael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) embarks on the film’s actual plot - deciphering a family murder mystery dating back 40 years - for the first hour or so of the film, Lisbeth is being presented separately as a dark, dangerous girl. Her gothic look is seen to all who encounter her as a sign of weakness that allows them to use and abuse her. Lisbeth can take care of herself just fine but she has been through a ton of horrifying experiences that have made her into this clearly disturbed creature. She is a fascinating character, and the fantastic Mara is incredibly devoted to the part, but the painful effort to portray her as “other” makes it feel as though Fincher also sees her the same way. It makes me wonder if Larsson ever liked her even.

Fincher’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is certainly stylish but it never rose to a level that justified its need to exist for me. In fact, the more polished look seemed at times less authentic in comparison with the more rough aesthetic of the original. That being said, the mystery at the root of the film is a good one and if you’re coming to the film blind, it will certainly shock you. I commend Fincher for making every effort possible, even shooting the film in Sweden and casting a number of Swedish actors in smaller roles, but in his attempt to honour the original, he finished by recreating instead of actually creating something all his own.

Black Sheep presents The 2011 Fall Film Preview

This past weekend, I stepped out of the house in shorts and a T-shirt and immediately walked right back in, when I realized how cold it actually was outside. It felt different; it felt like fall. While some people hate the fall, I love it! It’s all sweaters and soup and a welcome farewell to the mind numbing fare of the summer movie season. And with those changing autumn leaves comes the long awaited return of the prestige picture.

Speaking of anticipation, fans of the family drama, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, from writer/director, Kenneth Lonergan, will finally get to see his sophomore project, MARGARET this fall, some eight years after it was originally shot. Anna Paquin plays a 17-year-old girl (she was 21 at the time of filming) who witnesses an accident and begins believing she may have caused it somehow. She proceeds to slowly destroy everything in her life. In 2009, Fox Searchlight deemed the project, which also stars Matt Damon, unreleasable, but somehow, both parties have now found the path to understanding. A small mystery remains as to who had final cut.

What lies ahead isn’t entirely bleak though. Justin Timberlake continues his transition from pop star to leading man with the sci-fi thriller, IN TIME. Andrew Niccol, the writer of THE TRUMAN SHOW and the writer/director of GATTACA, returns with his first film since 2006. At this indeterminate time in our future, people are genetically designed to die at the age of 25. (I for one am glad to live in a world where I have so far had nine years past that.) People who reach this golden age are given one year to either find more time, be that legitimately or otherwise. Timberlake’s character comes into a century’s worth of time and not surprisingly, that makes him a guy a lot of people want to find. The wide-eyed Amanda Seyfried and Olivia Wilde are along for the trip.

The title, TINKER, TAILER, SOLDIER, SPY, rolls off the tongue with ease and might and, from the looks of the incredibly taut trailer, the film itself might unspool with a similar readiness. Tomas Alfredson, the Swedish director behind the 2008 international cult hit, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, marks his first English-language film with an adaptation of the John Le Carre bestselling spy novel of the same name. Gary Oldman stars as George Smiley, a character who has not been tackled since the late Alec Guiness played him in 1982. Smiley must put his retirement plans on hold in order to ascertain the identity of a mole within the deep folds on the British intelligence agency, MI6. And when that mole just might be Tom Hardy or Colin Firth, in his first post-Oscar role, you know Oldman has his work cut out for him.

Come November, it’s time for some very important things to be done. It’s time to put on makeup; it’s time to light the lights. Yes folks, it’s time to get things started with the first Muppets movie in over 20 years. Entitled simply, THE MUPPETS, this caper finds Kermit et al. banding together to save their old theatre from being destroyed by a greedy oil tycoon type. They have enlisted the likes of Amy Adams and Jason Segel to get the job done and there are plenty more cameos crammed into this welcome return to the big screen, from Neil Patrick Harris to Mila Kunis to Zach Galifianakis. Segel offers his aid in more ways than one as well. He essentially spearheaded this entire Muppets renaissance, even going so far as to co-write the screenplay.

One could argue that December is not really the fall still but while looking ahead, I see nothing wrong with looking even a little further past that at the same time. While there are many December releases to get excited about, there is one above them all that I am most drawn to. I’ve never read the THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO but I have seen all three of the Swedish films that were adapted from the Steig Larsson series. Ordinarily, I am not a fan of foreign language films being redone in English for mass market appeal but those films are not usually directed by the man behind THE SOCIAL NETWORK, David Fincher. And from the looks of the trailers, it seems to me that Fincher isn’t the least bit concerned about mass appeal. Rather, he seems intent on keeping it dark and authentic. Just in time for the holidays, no less ...

There are oodles of other movies coming, 100+ between now and the close of the year. A great deal of them will be covered in my upcoming TIFF coverage but here is a rundown of the rest for you: Director Steven Soderbergh kills off several Oscar nominees in CONTAGION; one of the most loved animated films of all time, THE LION KING, returns to theatres for a limited 3D run; Taylor Lautner tries really hard to be a big boy in the thriller, ABDUCTION; Daniel Craig plays creepy house with now wife, Rachel Weisz, in Jim Sheridan's DREAM HOUSE; Anna Faris recycles old boyfriends in WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?; Hugh Jackman takes on robot boxing in REAL STEAL; the world gets a FOOTLOOSE remake it never wanted; Johnny Depp goes back to the world of Hunter S. Thompson in THE RUM DIARY; Michelle Williams gets her Monroe on in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; Harold & Kumar return for a third trip in A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS; Clint Eastwood takes on Hoover in J. EDGAR, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and potential love interest, Armie Hammer; Martin Scorsese goes family and 3D with HUGO; oh, and I think there should be another TWILIGHT mess in there somewhere.

Stay tuned for Black Sheep's TIFF preview next weekend and the holiday movie preview will bow near the end of November. In the meantime, bon cinema!

The Best and Worst of 2010

The general consensus is 2010 was a terrible year for movies. And for most of the year it was. However, like the cavalry in an old western, a terrific run of movies at the end of the year came to the rescue and saved the day.

Before December though, I would substitute the word uninspired for terrible. This summer in particular was one clunker after another. I know we don’t go to the movies in the summer to see Academy Award material, but is it asking for at least craftsmanship and professionalism. So many movies were just so very average, as disposable as tissue, even lacking in basic entertainment value.

As of this writing, I have seen more than 70 2010 movies, either at the theater or later on DVD and cable TV. I didn’t get to see everything. I regret not seeing “The Town” and hope to make quick amends on that one. I mainly see traditional Hollywood fare, but thanks to the After Hours Film Society in Downers Grove, IL, I was able to see a fair number of art, independent and foreign films. Many of these were critically acclaimed, but a surprising number of them left me cold.

My area of west suburban Chicago is blessed with many second-run movie theaters so I didn’t pay first-run prices for a lot of these. But the movies were so undistinguished that I resented even spending $3 to see them and felt myself asking, usually about halfway through, why I wasn’t home watching something on TCM instead. I felt that way more this year than any other year I can remember, and I’ve been going to the movies on a regular basis for more than 40 years.

But all in all, there were 10 films which gave me much pleasure and several, I think, will be timeless classics. Heck, even Tony Scott delivered a good one with “Unstoppable.” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad year after all.

In descending order, my top 10 films of the year are:

10. The Secret In Their Eyes
Last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film was gripping from beginning to end. Benjamin and Irene first meet in 1974 during the investigation of a rape and murder when she is a judge’s assistant and he is a young investigator. In 2000 they meet again when Benjamin wants to re-open the original investigation. Irene is now a respected judge. The movie bounces back and forth to the 1974 investigation and the current one. I don’t want to say any more, but this is terrific entertainment with a concluding chase at a soccer game that Hitchcock would have applauded. Well deserving of its Oscar.

9. Get Low
Some of the year’s best acting was found in this wonderful film. Set in Tennessee in the 1930s, Robert Duvall plays an eccentric hermit who plans his own funeral, even deciding who will give his eulogy. He wants to see what people say about him, and to see that his money will be well spent. Wonderful period detail with a dryly funny Bill Murray as the town’s undertaker, and Sissy Spacek as Duvall’s old flame.


8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/The Girl Who Played With Fire

Like everyone else, I was mesmerized by the books and thought these adaptations from Sweden were excellent. I still need to see (and read) “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”, but if it’s even half as good as these, it will be a winner. Noomi Rapace may be not be physically perfect for the Lisbeth Salander role – she’s not petite enough – but she inhabits the role so thoroughly, it’s one of those instances where physical resemblance isn’t important.

7. True Grit
The Coen Bros. were smart to retain much of the pitch perfect dialogue from the book, which is one of the great American novels. Still it irks me a bit when some say how faithful this is to the book, much more than the first version, done in 1969 with John Wayne. While I think the Coen Bros. do a better job of successfully translating the film’s tone, the Wayne version actually features more of the book, and uses just as much of the dialogue as the current version does. The Coen Bros. version’s ending is truer to the book, but I prefer the sense of closure the earlier version gave us. Still a marvelous, marvelous film but if I had a gun pointed to my head, I would give the nod to the original.


6. The Social Network
Good movie, but for me a tad overrated. Beautifully shot and splendidly acted, it was a real pleasure to hear such rich dialogue on the screen delivered by such good actors. But, in the long run, it struck me as being about two groups of self absorbed millionaires fighting over even more millions. But there’s no denying the entertainment factor while watching it.

5. Easy A
One of the warmest, funniest, wisest and most human films of the year, this was a total delight from beginning to end. This story of Olive, a high school girl who gets an unearned reputation for being loose and the consequences that follow, was captivating viewing. Emma Stone became a star with this movie and I hope we’re graced with her talent for a long time to come. She has the talent, charisma and screen presence of the great actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Why this wasn’t a bigger hit I have no idea.


4. The Ghost Writer
The year’s best and smartest thriller, courtesy director Roman Polanski, with nary a gun shot or chase sequence in sight. Ewan McGregor is hired to ghost write the memoirs of former British prime minister Pierce Brosnan just as revelations about the prime minister’s approval of torture activities threaten to erupt in scandal. The setting is a lonely, windswept, autumnal beach on Martha’s Vineyard in a house where everyone harbors secrets. Some complained about the ending, but I thought it was chilling. I thought Brosnan was revelatory in “The Tailor of Panama” (2001), and he’s even better here. I love it when former 007s show what good actors they really are.

3. Toy Story 3
One of the best trilogies of all times gets a memorable and genuinely moving send off. I wish they could bottle what it’s in the air at Pixar Studios and distribute it throughout the rest of Hollywood.

2. The Fighter
Incredible acting fuel this true working class life story about boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his crack-addicted trainer Dickie (Christian Bale). Everyone here is at the top of their game. I loved the sisters in this. They’re more frightening than anything you’ll see in a horror movie.

1. The King’s Speech
What can I say, but as perfect and impeccable a movie as you’ll see all year, just tops in direction, acting and writing. There’s nothing so satisfying as a good story well told. I can’t imagine anyone of any age group not being captivated by this movie.

Honorable Mentions:

Black Swan: This almost made the top 10. I really dug Natalie Portman’s high wire performance in this. She plays a ballerina desperate to star in a new production of Swan Lake. She always looks like she’s terrified she’s going to be found out as a phony, even though she clearly isn’t. I do wish the dance sequences were filmed better, without the dancers being cut off at the waist. Too bad director Doesn’t Darren Aronofsky didn’t heed Fred Astaire’s advice. I think it requires multiple viewings to catch everything. For instance, is Barbara Hershey’s mother character real, or also one of Portman’s fantasies? A rather large, middle-aged woman next to us got up in disgust during the lesbian love making scene between Portman and Mila Kunis and it seemed to take forever for her to pass in front of the screen. Very annoying.

The Girl on the Train: French film based on a real case about a young Jewish woman who fakes an Anti-Semitic attack. Sad to watch, but engrossing from start to finish. Catherine Deneuve plays the girl’s mother, and she’s as wonderful to watch as ever.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I: A good build up to the big finale, but more than a bit sluggish in its pacing. What I’ve always liked about the books, and the movies, is how positively Dickensian the characters are who inhabit this world. For me, this one didn’t have enough of those Dickensian moments. And my main complaint about this entry is the same problem I had with the book – when are they going to get out of that damn forest? It had me pining for some awesome Slavko Vorkapich montages to show the passing of time.

The Karate Kid: I expected to dislike this, but wound up really enjoying this. The China locations help a great deal and Jackie Chan delivers his best performance to date.

The Kids Are All Right: Beautifully acted and written if a bit formulaic. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are wonderful as the lesbian parents of two teenagers who decide to look for their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffolo). When they find him, the family life is turned upside down in all kinds of unexpected ways.

Letters to Juliet: Vanessa Redgrave talks granddaughter Amanda Seyfried into driving through Italy to look for the lost love of her youth. I know this likely has not appeared on other Best of 2010 lists, but to me it was completely satisfying in a way so many current movies today aren’t. Emotions are honestly earned, the Italian location footage is to die for and the characters are very appealing and very human. Put a Max Steiner score and a Delmer Daves director’s credit on it and it could have been a most enjoyable evening at the movies in the 1960s, and believe me, that is not an insult. Plus, I’m in love with Amanda Seyfried so that helped a great deal.

Salt: It was nice to watch an action movie and be able to actually follow the action. That hasn’t happened with a new actioner in a long time.

Splice: The year’s best horror movie also gave us lots to think about. I’m very wary of genetic manipulation (I guess I’ve seen too many horror movies) and this one really delivered the creepy monster goods. It’s the type of movie where you want to yell at the characters not to do things they’re about to do. I’m sure Sarah Polley doesn’t want to be thought of as a scream queen, but since she appeared in two of the best horror movies of the last several years (this and the “Dawn of the Dead” remake in 2004) if she elects to do another one, I’ll be there opening weekend.


Worst Films of the Year

The A Team: Loud, obnoxious and stupid. When I think of the classic tradition of men with a mission movies like “The Guns of Navarone” (1961) or “Where Eagles Dare” (1968) and then see trash like this, it makes me want to weep. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Clash of the Titans: The poster boy for horrific 2010 movies, just excruciating on every level. As I wrote last year, “The new incarnation of “Clash of the Titans” is as glum, dreary and depressing an adventure movie as I’ve ever seen. It has no romance or poetry in its soul; what it does have is a series of combat scenes resembling a video game connected by the wispiest of narrative threads. I found it truly unbearable from beginning to end.” It had me pining for “Medusa Against the Son of Hercules” (1963), rubber monsters, bad dubbing and all.

Get Him to the Greek: As contrived and laugh-free a comedy as I’ve ever seen. I can’t stand Russell Brand, which may have been the problem. One of those awful Judd Apatow—produced yawn fests where the characters engage in all kinds of repulsive behavior for the first three quarters of the movie before getting all gooey and touch feely at the end. I saw this on a brutally hot summer afternoon because I don’t have air conditioning. It led me to think maybe I should invest in a window unit.

The Last Airbender: Another big budget fantasy epic that was duller than dull. It’s the type of movie I had forgotten I’d seen even as I was walking up the theater aisle as the credits rolled.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Everything about “Clash of the Titans” applies here, though I did enjoy the ostrich races. That’s not something you see every day.

Red: Something of a cheat, as I only saw the first hour before the power in the theater went off and we were given passes to a future movie. I never had the slightest desire to see the rest of it. One overkill scene is so typical of why I despise most current action movies. A stealth team of three or four special ops guys, all dressed in black and wearing masks, sneak into the house of ex-CIA man Bruce Willis to take him out. Being the hero, he disarms and kills them and walks onto his front porch where he’s greeted by seemingly the rapid fire of a dozen or so machine guns. Because nothing says a stealth operation like hundreds of rounds of ammunition being shot off in a suburban neighborhood. Stupid beyond all words.

Skyline: Good special effects highlight this alien invasion movie, but a more unappealing cast of characters I can’t imagine. Would it have the writers to at least attempt to make even one of the characters likeable? Just one?


Loved by Many, but Left Me with a Mere Shrug of the Shoulders

Alice in Wonderland; Animal Kingdom; How to Train Your Dragon; I Am Love; Inception; Mother; Winter’s Bone

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

Written by Jonas Frykberg

Directed by Daniel Alfredson

Starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist

If there is one girl out there who just keeps getting herself into more and more trouble, it is Lisbeth Salander. First she goes and gets a great big dragon tattoo on her back and then, despite many lessons to the contrary, she goes and plays with some fire. Now, I know Lisbeth didn’t have the best of upbringings – her father did try to bury her alive in the last installment after all – but she’s really gone and done it this time around. In the final chapter of the Swedish film interpretations of Steig Larsson’s international publishing phenomenon, this time Lisbeth is THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST.

While dragon tattoos and playing with fire are certainly intriguing notions, kicking a hornet’s nest is really just asking for it. That said, considering the severity of what the title implies, the close to this trilogy is certainly the tamest of the three films. The series started out as a theatrical release but transitioned to television with the second film and has been getting less biting as it has progressed, if you can consider people being lit on fire less biting, that is. The premise of the conclusion finds Lisbeth (played one last time by the fantastic Noomi Rapace) in a hospital to start, a jail to follow and a courtroom after that. Meanwhile, her guardian angel, Mikael Blomkvyst (Michael Nyqvist), is doing his darndest to prove Lisbeth’s innocence but, like the second film, their storylines rarely overlap. With Lisbeth subdued and Blomkvyst elsewhere, the action is left in the hands of a bunch of retired spies and politicians. It would appear as though Lisbeth picked a geriatric hornet’s nest to kick.

The conspiracy that Lisbeth threatens to undo is reasonably convoluted and as it was only introduced in the second film, there is a lot of ground to make up for here. Some of the build required to piece everything together often feels forced, awkward and at times, even unbelievable. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST plays out like it’s rushing through everything to get to the end. As a result, a series that started out with an intense ferocity exits in a fairly conventional fashion. The trouble is the focus on the hornet’s nest when the only thing we ever really cared about was the girl herself.