Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review

I watch a lot of movies.  I mean A LOT OF MOVIES. I am a cinema junkie.  I can link Charlie Chaplin to Kate Winslet in the Kevin Bacon game in 8 moves.* I know trivia about actors and probably can guess who is going to win awards at the most movie award shows even if I haven’t seen the majority of the movies.   So I wanted to start a blog to track the movies I see in a year but will probably throw in books, TV, general rants, and restaurant reviews.  The rants may or may not be about these items. I generally will watch any movie even if it is crap and there are just some movies that I will watch if they are playing on TV, no matter what else is on my to do list for the day.  But that will be a future blog post.  For now I’d like to start with the first review of the year. Without further ado is movie #1.

Title: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

When: January 9, 2012 Monday

Where: South Side Works on $5 night

Mood: It was my birthday so I was excited for a night out to celebrate.  It was crowded but not bad seats. 

Previews: Missed because late.  Perplexed by shortness of previews, credits rolling 6 minutes after start time.  Never would happen at Waterfront AMC. You could eat a 5 course meal before those movies actually start.

Snack: Pittsburgh Popcorn Wisconsin Cheddar

With whom: Mr.  Smith

I admit I didn’t read the book.  It is a bestseller, I am a librarian, it was our book club selection, etc., etc. BRING ON THE GUILT TRIP.  But I really enjoyed this movie and only was confused by a few things since I didn’t read the book.

One of the main characters, Lisbeth, is kickass.  She goes through a terrible ordeal and while the question of her sanity may remain for some I think she is unique and intriguing.  I enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery and although the names and dates were confusing I was satisfied with the plot and character development.

However, being a teacher of learning skills and things like note taking, I stifled laughter at the scene in which Mikael, the journalist investigating a woman missing for 40 years, was reading the files and highlighting.  I know it was a plot device for the audience to read what he was reading but he ended up highlighting the WHOLE PAGE which is a big note taking no-no.  There is always at least one unnecessary scene in a movie. Mr. Smith and I think this may have been it.

The movie is hardcore and not without violence. I was considering reaching into my bag for my smuggled popcorn when one of the rape scenes came on.  Of course as a woman I was appalled and sickened by this scene.  However, I became distracted by observing who around me continued to eat.  Mr. Smith and I later discussed the appropriate amount of time to wait until you continue to eat your popcorn after a violent or disturbing scene or movie death.  I think the average is about 10 minutes after the scene is over assuming the next scene is not as brutal. But I slept through Statistics class so this is very unscientific.

I look forward to the sequel and, while Lisbeth is not without faults, I will be cheering for her again.

RANDOM FACT(S): Rooney Mara who plays Lisbeth was totally transformed into this character and has a Pittsburgh connection. She is related to the Steeler owning Rooney family.  Her sister is also an actress and recently appeared in one of my new favorite shows, American Horror Story.

*Oh, and if you are curious, here is the answer to the Chaplin to Winslet maze:

Charlie Chaplin was in the Kid with Carl Miller who was in No Ransom with Philip Holmes who was in General Spanky with George 'Spanky' McFarland who was in the Aurora Encounter with Jack Elam who was in Bonanza: Under Attack the TV movie with Ben Johnson who was in Angels in the Outfield with Danny Glover who is in The Color Purple with Laurence Fishburne  who is in Contagion with Kate Winslet.

One last sidebar – Jack Elam and Danny Glover were both characters on Lonesome Dove.  However, Jack was on the TV series and Danny was in the made for tv mini-series.

So friends, what did you think of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie and/or book?  What movies have you seen so far this year?

Overall: 4 ½ out of 5 bags of popcorn