REVIEW: "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" -Bookworms & Emo chicks rejoice!

The many elated readers of the best-selling trilogy " GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" should be stoked to see this faithful cinematic version, directed by David "Fight Club" Fincher, finally released in theaters.

The story centers around a freshly sued Swedish magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) who is commissioned to find the missing grand niece of retired CEO Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer)

Mikael recruits the covert geek squad services of freelance surveillance agent and researcher Lisbeth Salander (a brave performance by Rooney Mara) who is having some problems of her own. She is a ward of the state and her monitary allowance is given to her by a new guardian who sexually abuses her.

Mikael and Lisbeth end up having a sexual relationship and begin to suspect that they have stumbled onto the trail of a serial killer.

Violent and graphic for vanilla audiences waiting for a Jennifer Aniston cameo, this adult drama is all grown up and, apparently, follows the books pretty faithfully (Sorry. I wait for the movie like everyone else).

Fincher brings us another visually handsome film that sounds great, once again showcasing "Social Network" vets cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth and music directors Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross.

Ms. Mara's portrayal of the "girl" is a fascinating study of inner struggle, able as she is vulnerable and hell bent on revenge. She brodens the scope of the classic cinematic heroine into a new contemporary style of brainy/bisexual/emo/warrior chic with a touch of punk. It seems as though she has successfully embraced the internal workings of an iconic literary character and channeled it into a riveting display for the camera.

The film moves as does a book (has a pacing, kinda long) and may not be the action shoot-em-up as suggested by the film's trailer. Yet it is well worth the admission $ for fans of the book and those who enjoy a more intense and well-developed film.


Golden Globe Nominations:

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
ROONEY MARA

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS

The presentation of “The 69^th Annual Golden Globe^® Awards” is on Sunday, January 15, 2012

G.I. JOE: Retaliation- Exclusive Premiere Trailer

THE ARTIST: Cast, score shine in new silent movie

It may be hard to imagine a full length, black and white silent movie as being an amazing and refreshing breath of fresh air in the current climate of Holiday popcorn fare.

But this awesome new silent "classic" film is not only a visual homage to the silent screen era, but a creative recognition of the artistic process and it's perilous pitfalls.

The story takes place in Hollywood, 1927.

Red-hot silent movie star George Valentin

(Jean Dujardin) enjoys his success until the arrival of talking pictures threaten to end his career.

George has an accidental photo op with a cute young flapper named Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo).

After he helps her get work on the set as an extra, she gets a big break in the "talkies", captures the nation's heart and catapults to stardom.

The story's villain is George's pride (yes, it has it's own music) that rears it's ugly head, causing George to downward spiral into a dark world of self doubt and bottles of booze.

But he is fortunate to have at his side his trusty limo driver (James Cromwell) and faithful co-star/pet dog (2011 Palm Dog award winner UGGIE) to help him regain his muse and return to the silver screen.

An amazing original score by Ludovic Bource weaves a sonic tapestry of Ragtime, Classical and Jazz into an audible narrative that advances the story at a comfortable pace. This serves as an impressive canvass by which to paint the extraordinary black and white cinematography.

Harnessing inspiration for performance and maintaining a "real world" sense of identity are two of the seldom seen burdens of the artist and, as the film warns, may be rough terrain to navigate for artists unprepared for drastic life changes.

TICKET WORTH: Full price. $12.50
RENT THIS MOVIE?: Yes without a doubt.
BUY THE DVD?: Yes. A soon as it's released.

J/A

First we get "The Amazing Spider-Man", Then BATMAN in July 2011.

ON SET PHOTOS: "Total Recall" remake-now shooting in Toronto

Posted by Derek Flack / July 27, 2011

29 Comments

Although the new monster-budget remake of 1990's Total Recall has been filming in Toronto for almost two months, thus far the action has been mostly confined to the sound stage at Pinewood Studios on Commissioners Street in the Port Lands. Earlier this week, however, the production got a whole lot more public. With stars Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel in tow, film crews descended on Lake Shore Avenue East to shoot one of what will likely be a number of chase scenes in the $200 million movie, the most expensive to be shot in Toronto to date.

I'm not one to gawk at celebrities, but I've always been fascinated by behind-the-scenes shots of film productions, particularly those which promise to feature gratuitous special effects. While I have little difficulty suspending disbelief in the theatre, it remains intriguing to see what the filmmakers and editors have to work with, even if it's invariably less exciting than the final product.

The stretch of Lake Shore where the filming took place is back open today, but one suspects this isn't the last time that the Total Recall cast and crew make an appearance outside the studio. Check out the photos below, and if you have shots of the production, send them to the blogTO Flickr pool. Lead shot by syfractal.

syfractal

Photo by dtstuff9

dtstuff9

dtstuff9

dtstuff9

Photo by Max Quijano

DARK KNIGHT RISES: First Peek...Anne Hathaway as CATWOMAN

The Spielberg Curriculium: 206 movies u must see in order to work with him.

How Many of The Movies On This Arbitrary List of 206 Have You Seen?

Reposted from www.filmschoolrejects.com
Features By Cole Abaius on August 1, 2011 | Comments (5)

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As do many things on the internet, this completely official-looking Google Document titled “Spielberg’s Curriculum” is working its way around twitter and RSS feeds like a beautiful virus.

It originated in some dark corner of the planet, but it was first written about by screenwriter Scott Myers over at Go Into the Story. It was sent to him by guest writer for the site/guy hustling hard to work in the business, Nate Winslow (who is sadly not Carl Winslow’s son). It was apparently sent to Nate by “someone” over twitter.

The point? It’s not exactly verified that this is the list that Spielberg uses to cut the wheat from the chaff (considering that he also famously shows people movies while working on movies with them).

But, all of that curriculum nonsense is just a hook for what turns out to be a phenomenal list of movies from 12 Angry Men to The Young Lions (alphabetically, not chronologically).

Check out that last link and see how many you’ve seen (my number was a paltry 121), and you can always brush up on older films by reading Old Ass Movies where we’ve covered a handful of the films on this thing.