The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review

Wow!! Been a while since I have updated the blog and so thought, what better way than with a review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Now for those of you who have not read the books and are going to see the movie, maybe lay off this review as I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Okay, now we are ready to go….

So I have read all three books in the Stieg Larsson trilogy and loved them. While the first one took a little bit of time to get into, it did not disappoint as it introduced us to one of the most interesting characters to come along in a long while….Lisbeth Salander. The second book was addicting as Stieg brought us further into Lisbeth’s life and giving us a whole lot of back story. The third book wrapped everything up for the most part, although there are stories out there that Mr. Larsson had written more books for the series, but due to his unfortunate passing, we might never get to see what actually took place.

And of course when a trilogy is complete and when it is hugely popular, movies are made and the three books were made into films a few years ago with an entirely Swedish cast (as that is where the books take place). Fast forward to now and David Fincher (Seven, The Social Network, Fight Club) is at controls of the “Hollywood” versions of the stories. Now I did go see all three Swedish films and liked them all very much, they were very well done. Subtitles for sure for those of you out there who stay away from those types of movies, but highly entertaining and they did an amazing job of bringing Lisbeth to life on the big screen. For those of us who read the books, we all had a pretty good vision of how we thought Lisbeth would look and act and to finally see her on screen was pretty dramatic. Noomi Rapace was the actress who played Lisbeth and she did an awesome job in what had to be one of the hardest parts to pull off in recent movie history.

But I am here to talk about the new version of the movie and I saw it late last night on opening night. I am a big fan of David Fincher and so was intrigued as to how he would pull the story together and how he would give us his glimpse of the world Stieg Larsson created. And I will admit, after having slept on it for the night, while I enjoyed the movie a whole bunch, I think I am going to have to go with the Swedish version as being a little bit better. Now to be fair, I think pretty much everyone who has seen both movies is going to eventually compare the two ladies playing Lisbeth, as she is pretty much the focal point. That being the case, I am going to say that I think that whole aspect of the movies is a wash. While I loved Rapace’s portrayal of Lisbeth, I was equally pleased with how well Rooney Mara did in this huge role. Most people don’t know who Mara is, she has a very short filmography, and many were shocked when she won the role. Most moviegoers know her as the girl who dumped Mark Zuckerberg at the beginning of The Social Network and that is about all anyone has seen her in. And I think there were a lot of skeptics out there who were not sure she could deliver in what was one of the most sought after roles of the last decade. I am on the bandwagon though! She did an amazing job and she was great in what is an extremely demanding role. For those who know the story and know about Lisbeth, playing her would not be an easy task as there is a whole lot that happens in the story that would command just some amazing acting. Rooney Mara pulls it off and I think it is one of the better performances I have seen in a long time. You really can sense what is going on within her through her eyes and her expressions…and that is not an easy thing to do. She looks the part as she had all the earrings and tattoos and I found myself always gravitating toward her when she was on screen, even when she was in the presence of the more accomplished actors that are also in the movie. Lisbeth is a loner and you certainly got that feeling in the way she was portrayed by Mara and it cannot be understated how tough it must have been to film some of the scenes. She does an awesome job though and I am definitely a fan of Mara and look forward to how she moves the Lisbeth character forward.

Taking it all back to the story and my overall feel for everything, I did like the movie, but the ending seemed just a bit rushed. Good performances by Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard and Daniel Craig, but none of them really stood out. I am a big Daniel Craig fan and actually think he does a whole lot better job playing Bond than he does Blomkvist. And for those who are fans of the AMC show “The Killing,” you will be happy to know that Holmgren is in this movie as a part of Millennium and so surely he will be around for the other two films.

I did like this movie, don’t get me wrong. There is a very climactic scene that takes place toward the end of the book and when it happened in the movie, there was about twenty minutes left. From there they seemed to close up and finish the rest of the movie extremely fast. There was a lot that took place in the last twenty minutes (from the book standpoint) and it seemed that they could have developed that aspect of the story just a little better. If I had not read the book, I know I might have been just a little confused. Either way, go see this movie. It is highly entertaining, it has a great soundtrack (Trent Reznor again) and if anything, become a fan of Rooney Mara, she does not disappoint.

Thanks for reading, sure I will be back again soon…

New job, edo style....

I just recently started what is perhaps the coolest job in the world. I have been lucky enough to become part of the sales team at edo Interactive. I am back into the advertising sales world and back working downtown. Really I could not be happier as I am loving everything about this new job and company. To give you a little bit of background.......edo is a consumer marketing platform designed to drives sales at the retail level. On one end we partner with banks to access their debit and credit cardholders and their transaction data. On the other end, we partner with retailers to help them get through the final mile and get consumers to spend at their locations. The nitty gritty, the process works like this.....we use the bank transaction data information and their platform of cardholders to create unique and targeted deals and incentives for consumers to help retailers drive sales at the store level. Consider us the targeted, easy, efficient coupon of the future. Probably the most unique thing about this whole process is that consumers do not need a paper coupon when checking out at the various retailers. Everything is preloaded onto their credit card and so all they have to do is shop, swipe and save. Pretty cool, huh?

We are headquartered in Nashville, TN and were started four years ago by some really smart, driven entrepreneurs who had this amazing idea. We work with all national brands and retailers and with our sales team here in Chicago, we are just starting to get things rolling. I know edo is going to be taking off here real soon. Get ready to read about us in the news! The next google? The next Groupon? The first edo. Enough said....

HippyTree

Thought I would tell you all a little bit about a friend of mine from college's clothing line. My buddy Andrew Sarnecki, who I met my freshman year at Notre Dame, started his company HippyTree a few years after we graduated. Andrew was a graphic design major at ND and after finishing school, moved back to Los Angeles where he grew up. He worked for a little bit as a designer at Body Glove until he decided to go off on his own. Awesome clothes and amazing designs are a part of this unique, eco-conscious company and while it is tough to find the HippyTree line here in Chicago, you can for sure order some cool stuff online. For those of you who know me well and have seen that green tree on the back bumper of my car, now you know what it stands for! If you want to be fashionable and walk around Chi-city in some clothes that probably no one around here is wearing, check out Andrew's clothing line and help support a good friend of mine. HippyTree!!

Movies, Movies, Movies.....

Okay so I have been seeing a lot of movies as I have been on quite a roll here lately. Quick rundown of what I have seen, what I liked and what you can absolutely pass. And really the only movie that you can certainly pass is "HANNA." Whoa, what a clunker that one was. And I am pretty disappointed in Mr. Ebert and his review on that flick as he gave it 3.5 stars. Really? Just could not get into it and it was pretty slow moving in general. Could have been sort of a Bourne Identity movie but really it was nothing of the sort.

Moving on to the good stuff....."WIN WIN" is an awesome movie and so definitely check that one out when you get a chance. Good performances by Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan. Cool "family saves a loner" plot line and the movie was actually a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Another one that I saw in the theatres was "Source Code" with Jake Gyllenhaal. Very good movie and while it was very Groundhog Dayish in how it kept on going through the same moment over and over, it had some unique twists and the ending was a little bit of something I was not expecting. Lastly, on Neftlix I watched "Tell No One" which is a French film and for those of you who hate subtitles, pass on this one. Great movie and one of those murder mystery thrillers which keeps you guessing till the end. It is a few years old and so not new, but worth checking out for sure. And let me know if you think the main character in the film looks like a young Dustin Hoffman. As the mighty Omar from The Wire would say......"Indeed."

You Want to Adjust WHAT?

All right, so early on Saturday afternoon I got my movie fix in and went and saw The Adjustment Bureau. Now one of my pet peeves about going to see movies is that I hate being late and I hate missing the previews. And I DESPISE missing the start of the movie. I got in my car just a little late and with the Davis Theatre on Lincoln being in a pretty crowded area, I had a tough time finding a parking spot. I finally got into the theatre, bought my ticket and my Diet Coke and by the time I walked in, the movie had started. Needless to say, I was a little miffed at myself. Not to mention, there was some stuff going on at the beginning of the movie that I am sure was important and so I might have missed a few things. As I said, no one to blame but myself!! Okay, now to the movie. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in this one and I guess you would consider it a romantic thriller. A romriller? The whole premise of the movie is unique with the idea being that there is a group of people with hats on (the Adjustment Bureau) who make sure the world is going according to plan. And in this case, this bureau will do just about anything to make sure Matt and Emily don't fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together. Needless to say, this does not make Matt happy and he is going to do whatever he can to change that. Very good movie and while I liked it a lot, it could have been just a little better. I think there were some things they left out or that they could have elaborated on to make the flick just that much of a better film. But I am nitpicking for sure. Definitely go see this movie....

Have YOU ever been to Cedar Rapids?

I met up with my brother J.P. today and we caught the flick "Cedar Rapids." Dang good movie and pretty funny with some awesome laugh-out-loud parts. John C. Reilly is hysterical and Ed Helms (Andy from The Office) is perfect as the insurance rep who has never even left his small Wisconsin town. Basically this is the story of "small town guy heading to the big city and learning a few things while he is away." In this instance, Ceder Rapids will have to do as the "big city." Everything revolves around the insurance convention that Tim Lippie heads to for the weekend and the trouble/experiences/mischief he takes part in. He learns that while his thoughts and intentions are always in the right place, that that is not necessarily how the real world works. But in the end, Tim is going to teach the world (and his new insurance friends) a thing or two about the right way (all sigh, awwwwww). Lastly, before the main attraction started, there was a preview for a movie called "WIN WIN" and it looks to be an outstanding film. I will be seeing that one soon as it comes out in the near future.

Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse = Snowtastic

February 1st, 2011.....Will it be remembered as one of the storms of the decade? Or one of the most over hyped storms of all time? Guess we will find out here soon enough. If the coverage/trepidation surrounding the snow coming today is any indication, we will certainly have a lot to talk about here in the next few days. My office closed early this afternoon so everyone could get home safely and the office is already closed for tomorrow. Right now, it definitely is coming down here in the city and the roads look pretty bad. I am thinking the predictions on this one could be right. Is it going to rival 1967??? Get back to you in a few days....