What I am listening to:
I have stumbled across something that I have been trying on Spotify and the internet but I think I am going to take the plunge and buy it (we bought a lot of crappy music before we could test run on the internet, didn't we?).
The Civil Wars. Curtis was listening to them the other day and I have grown a bit fond. I DO NOT normally like country music. However, I consider these guys Alternative Country which I enjoy. Check out their website here: http://thecivilwars.com/ You can also listen to some of their tunes/videos. Haunting lyrics combined with their amazing voice blend make for some great tracks. I hope they do well. Give them a quick listen - and I recommend an entire album - Barton Hallow. Just an FYI - you can download from their website a FREE Live version.
From the one track at a time page - I have been listening to Good Feeling by Flo Rida. Normally, he is not one of my favorite hip/hop performers. But there is something about this song that I can't describe. Maybe it is the message of the video? http://youtu.be/3OnnDqH6Wj8. Maybe I should stop trying to analyzing it and say "BEEFCAKE" but I liked the song before I heard the video. That was just a bonus -- tee hee!
What I am reading:
The only thing I can put here is SCHOOL! So nothing exciting - textbooks, etc and probably will be the next few years. MEH!
What I am watching:
Over New Year's Weekend, I went to see Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Now I am a HUGE fan of the books: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire, and Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I am also a HUMONGOUS fan of the Swedish movies. I have seen them all and would recommend that you see these (you can Netflix stream them) BEFORE you see the Americanized version. I don't normally purposefully watch a movie over and over again. I have done that with these movies.
I went to this movie expecting to hate it. That is rare for me. Because if I think I am going to HATE it, then I don't go. (Think "My Sister's Keeper" - still very angry about that one and still haven't seen it) But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go. Also, as you read this realize that I am taking a film class this year and so far (it is early) it has taught me to analyze different parts of a movie even more than I did before. So bear with me.....
The opening sequence gets it going right away. It is pretty amazing. You can find it here. http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/at-the-movies/a359715/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-opening-titles-watch-in-full.html So from this point, it starts with a slap to the face and keeps going for 2 1/2 hours. Yep....I said 2 1/2 hours. Now I am normally a 1 1/2 hour movie watching girl - I blame my tiny walnut sized bladder. I even plan out my liquid intake if I know that I am going to a movie. But this one kept me glued to my seat. I didn't even notice that it was that long or my full bladder until the end of the movie. Music - Trent Reznor (from Nine Inch Nails fame) will be nominated for an Oscar again for his work on this movie. The music is really, really good. I haven't downloaded a movie soundtrack since "Hairspray". I think I will this one. He is a musical genius. He and David Fincher make a pretty good team.
Actors - I am separating out actors and characters from this movie because it is important to make my point about America versus Sweden in these movies. Daniel Craig -- while he is a fine chunk of acting specimen (did I say FINE? YUMMO), he was too pretty for the character of Mikael. He is supposed to be this hardened, older journalist. While Daniel Craig is older than Rooney Mara, it didn't work. Except for the shirtless scenes......STOP IT RHONDA! Rooney Mara -- very beautiful actress - did a good job portraying Lisbeth Salander BUT.....I wasn't convinced. I will get to more of that under "character" later. Christopher Plummer - perfect! Robin Wright - not perfect but convincing. GoranVisnjic - love him as an actor - I will talk about his character in a minute. Joely Richardson - convincing. MY FAVORITE in this movie was Stellan Skarsgard. He acted his part so very convincingly - KUDOS to Mr. Skarsgard.
Director - BEFORE I talk about the characters, let's discuss the Director - David Fincher. An amazing film director (Social Network, Seven - one of my favs, Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, Fight Club). A long list of films and an Oscar for Social Network on his resume. His interpretation of this movie is interesting to me. We get that Sweden is a cloudy, snowy, dark place. He just pushes that a little farther. It isn't Batman dark, but it is pretty gloomy. I think it helps to convey the anxiety that many of the characters feel about their lives. I predict that he will also be nominate for this movie.
Characters - Daniel Craig as Mikael -- this character was again TOO pretty for me. The books describe Mikael as a worn out, tired looking, journalist that was just kicked due to a court ruling. He is depressed and beat down due to "big business" getting the best of him. BUT.....I think his character works if you are a casual movie go-er that has not read the books.
Goran Visnjic as security host Armansky. This character is so crucial in the next two books.....I DID NOT LIKE the way he was portrayed. Armansky is one of Lisbeth's champions. He portrayed him as another person that is accusatory and not supportive of her. PISH POSH! YUCK!
Rooney Mara -- Okay -- trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. She has big shoes to fill. Noomi Rapace in my eyes will ALWAYS be Lisbeth (she played her in the Swedish movies). While Rooney was brooding and appropriately "creepy" (again if you are not a diehard fan of the books/movies, you will think she did a great job) I think it fell short. Half way thru the movie I had an "AH HA" moment. Why didn't I like Rooney? What was it? There are very sexual (abuse and otherwise) themes in this movie. Lisbeth was not attractive/sexy enough in the American version. It sounds weird, but I am convinced that is it (in my little brain). Noomi was flippin' HOT in the Swedish version. Even through it all -- See movie two and three -- she was able to convey sex and that wasn't happening in this version.
MY FAVORITE CHARACTER BY FAR - and this is weird for me to say cause **SPOILER ALERT** he is the creepiest. Is Martin played by Skarsgard. WOW! His monologue in the ending scenes is the best bit of acting that I have seen in a while. There is an amazing story of his life that is splayed across that screen when he is torturing and preparing to kill one of the main characters. KUDOS Mr. Skarsgard and you should be nominated as well.
So in the end, I didn't like the movie as much as the Swedish version, however, American audiences that have NEVER read the books or seen the Swedish movies will LOVE this movie. It has action, sex, tattoos, etc. Speaking of tattoos -- even THAT was better in the Swedish movie. :)
I agree. Daniel Craig didn't do it for me either. I can't say I loved the Mikael in the Swedish version, but he was more along the lines of the book. I LOVED Noomi Rapace!! She should have played the American version too. I will say one thing I noticed, at the end when Lisbeth gets all gussied up, Noomi looked amazing and I barely recognized her (which is the point), but Rooney just looked like Lisbeth in a blond wig. I thought the American version did a lot if things right, for instance I could see the lay out of the island much better. I thought the houses were closer to the book’s description. I loved American Martin as well. Overall, I missed Sweden. The look and feel of real Sweden locations was missing in the American version, the subway for instance, and I misses Noomi and that awesome dragon tattoo. I also thought they should have gone back to the original Swedish title, Men Who Hate Women.
ReplyDeletePS. YOU ROCK!