The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is an acceptable final chapter in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy and best as the showcase for Noomi Rapace’s final performance as Lisbeth Salander.  If you’ve seen the first two movies, you should complete the trilogy by seeing this film.

Yet director Daniel Alfredson (who also directed the  second film, The Girl Who Played With Fire) lets the film plod to its climax.  Considering that Alfredson had a great page turner of a story and a singular performance from Rapace, it’s kind of amazing that he let his two movies drag.

This wasn’t a problem with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, directed by Niels Arden Opley.  That movie popped off the screen.  After Dragon Tattoo, I was worried that the Hollywood remakes would dumb down the story and soften Lisbeth.  But now, I’m really looking forward to the American versions directed by David Fincher, and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.  It’s easy to see how Fincher will improve the pacing of the second and third films in particular.

As with the first two films, Hornet’s Nest centers on Rapace’s Lisbeth, a tiny fury of a Goth hacker, damaged and driven.   Lisbeth is always mad AND always gets even.

FINALLY! New Movies to See This Week

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Vincent Cassell in Mesrine: Killer Instinct

 

The good autumn movies have started to roll out, and it’s time to go back to the theaters.  This week I’m recommending Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Animal Kingdom, The American and The Tillman Story.  I’ll be seeing Soul Kitchen soon and will have a recommendation on that, too.  And Inception, Toy Story 3, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Get Low and The Kids Are All Right are all still playing in theaters.   For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include Rebel Without a Cause, The Graduate and Touch of Evil, all coming up on TCM.

Movies to See Right Now (very late August Edition)

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The Kids Are All Right

Now we’re really down to the August dregs in theaters. Here’s your chance to see some better movies from earlier in the year.

Inception, Toy Story 3, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Get Low and The Kids Are All Right are all good and still playing in theaters.   For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can also catch up a good movie with my DVD of the week, Sweetgrass, or last week’s Fish Tank.  For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include A Face in the Crowd, Anatomy of a Murder, The Stunt Man and The Outlaw Josey Wales, all coming up on TCM.

Movies to See Right Now (late August edition)

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The Girl Who Played with Fire

As my friend Keith always advises me, movie distributors send out their weakest material in August.  Make lemonade out of the lemons by catching up on the better movies from earlier in the year.

Inception and Toy Story 3 are two of the year’s best. If you want a thriller, go with The Girl Who Played With Fire.  Robert Duvall gives another masterful performance in Get Low.  For an indie dramedy, try The Kids Are All Right.   For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the week is a British coming of age drama from earlier this year, Fish Tank.  For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun

Movies on TV include Cool Hand Luke, A Place in the Sun, A Face in the Crowd, Anatomy of a Murder, and The Stunt Man, all coming up on TCM.

Hollywood's Lisbeth Salander

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Rooney Mara

Well, here’s a surprise.  In David Fincher’s upcoming film versions of the Stieg Larsson novels, Lisbeth Salander will be played by…Rooney Mara.   25-year-old Rooney Mara, sister of Kate, will play in Fincher’s The Social Network this October, so he must know something.  She also has a few credits in TV guest slots, plus a Nightmare on Elm Street movie.  She was also in Youth in Revolt, a nice little movie that I saw in January, but I have no memory of Rooney in it.

The entire success of the film trilogy depends on the portrayal of Lisbeth Salander. Is Rooney Mara a good choice?  Right now, I’ll withhold judgement.  It’s important to realize that Noomi Rapace, the actress who has so convincingly played Lisbeth in the Swedish versions, is not naturally a psycho hard ass – she undertook lots of preparation for the role, including six months of kick boxing AND a special diet AND the body piercings to harden herself for the role.

Noomi Rapace not playing Lisbeth Salander
Noomi and son

New Movies to See This Week

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Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek in Get Low

Inception and Toy Story 3 are two of the year’s best. If you want a thriller, go with The Girl Who Played With Fire.  Robert Duvall gives another masterful performance in Get Low.  For an indie dramedy, try The Kids Are All Right.   For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the week is the great 1995 documentary, Crumb.  For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include The Set-Up, Leave Her to Heaven and The Fallen Sparrow, all coming up on TCM.

Updated Movies to See Right Now

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Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception

I recommend the summer’s one high quality blockbuster, Inception.  If you have followed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will want to continue the trilogy with The Girl Who Played With Fire.  The indie dramedy The Kids Are All Right is enjoyable, too.  One of the year’s best, Toy Story 3,  is still playing.  For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVD of the week is one of 2010’s best:  A Prophet (Un Prophete).   For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven

Movies on TV include The Set-Up and Leave Her to Heaven, coming up on TCM.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

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Lisbeth Salander locked and loaded

 

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden):  This is a highly entertaining follow-up to my personal favorite film of the year so far, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Again, the story revolves around Lisbeth Salander, the tiny woman with a lethal mix of damage and drive, played by the Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.  Rapace’s Lisbeth is a tiny fury of a Goth hacker.  At only 88 pounds, so she will lose a fistfight with a man; but she prevails with her smarts, resourcefulness and machine-like  relentlessness.  Lisbeth is always mad AND always gets even.  As I have written before, Lisbeth Salander is the best new crime drama character since Helen Mirren’s Inspector Jane Tennyson.

In The Girl Who Plays With Fire, Lisbeth is framed for a triple murder.  She must find The Real Killer while on the run, aided by a mostly independent investigation by her ally, journalist Mikael Blomkvist.  Their parallel investigations lead to a villain much closer to Lisbeth than one could imagine.  Plays with Fire has the structure of a detective procedural, but has the tone of a thriller.

Although I liked them both, I did prefer The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo to Plays With Fire.  The Wife and two friends who had all read the books, strongly preferred Played with Fire to Dragon Tattoo.  I don’t know whether this is a gender thing or whether people who know the story react to the movies differently.  I generally enjoy major plot twists more when I don’t see them coming, and I have certainly found some big surprises in both Dragon Tattoo and Plays With Fire.

Plays With Fire is the second part of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, to be followed in October by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

ALL NEW (mostly) Movies To See

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Joseph Gordon Levitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception

 

I recommend the summer’s one high quality blockbuster, Inception.  If you have followed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will want to continue the trilogy with The Girl Who Played With Fire.  The indie dramedy The Kids Are All Right is enjoyable, too.  One of the year’s best, Toy Story 3,  is still playing, but the equally great Winter’s Bone has become difficult to find. For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

My DVDs of the week are the gnarly Step into Liquid and the way awesome Riding Giants.   For the trailers and other DVD choices, see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV include The Searchers and Bad Day at Black Rock, coming up on TCM.   Before Sunrise is still playing on IFC.

Hollywood's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

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Hollywood's Mikael Blomkvist

 

There’s some good news about the upcoming Hollywood versions of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy.  First, David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) will direct, and Fincher’s track record suggests that he is the perfect guy to pull this off.

Second, Hollywood is planning to make all three films (instead of just the first or compressing them into one movie).

Third, Entertainment Weekly reports that Daniel Craig will play Mikael Blomkvist.  If you’ve seen the gritty British crime drama Layer Cake, you know that Craig can play the smart and understated Blomkvist.

Still, the success of the project depends on who will play Lisbeth Salander – and we still don’t know.  My first choice is the Danish actress Noomi Rapace who has originated the role, and she speaks English well; but on the extra features of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo DVD, Rapace says that, after living with Lisbeth for 18 months of prep and filming, she is done with the character. Carey Mulligan has been quoted that it won’t be her, either. So we watch and wait.