The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (Men who Hate Women))

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Plot: This is a complicated cold-case, murder mystery set in Sweden that starts with a girls disappearance forty years ago, and ends with a series of grisly murders of women. The title character is Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Repace), who is a thin, goth hacker that has a violent history. Mikael Bloomkwist (Micheal Nyqvist) is a washed-up reported paid to investigate the cold-case, and who eventually teams up with Salander.

Review: The best part is the Lisbeth character who is compelling and mysterious. They keep teasing us with more details from her complicated past. She is well played by Noomi Repace, who portrays Lisbeth along the lines of the novel. The script fits in most of the complicated story, and I liked how they got the essential scenes into the movie without making the movie too long or too hard to understand.

There are some violent scenes, but they are essential to the edgy-ness of the movie.

This is a satisfying movie that I enjoyed watching. I think I liked it better since I had read the book.

Cast: Noomi Reace, Micheal Nyqvist

Directed by: Niels Arden Oplev; based on the novel by Stieg Larssen

Rating: 3.5 flasks; It was fun to watch, but not higher because it was subtitled, and because the plot was a bit complicated. It  has a theme of violence against women, but was not a message film.


More: I am going to read the sequel.

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Even more: Lisbeth Rocks!
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Public Enemies

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Plot: John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is a bank robber in the 1930's, and FBI agent Melvin Pervis's (Christian Bale) G-Men try to hunt him down. John meets girlfriend Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), and their lovestory becomes a weakness which Pervis exploits.

Review: Johnny Depp's John Dillinger is a dynamic and lively character whose populist appeal of stealing from the banks and not the bank's customers made him popular among the masses in Chicago. There are some knowing parallels between robbing banks in the 1930's and the financial crisis today --the same anti-plutocrat populism.

The art direction and photography is excellent and captures the mood. There is excellent non-verbal, story-telling, especially during the arrest sequence in the middle of the movie. The soundtrack is strong too.

One of the best movies of the year. Oscar quality work for Johnny Depp. I originally rated this higher, but the next morning I realized that the character development was not that strong, and that only Johnny Depp's performance was outstanding.

Cast and crew: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cottillard, Directed by Michael Mann

Rating: 3 flasks

More: At right is a picture of the real John Dillinger, who looks much older than his 31 years. The real Dillinger did embrace the criminal lifestyle during prison time early in his life, and learned bankrobbing from older convicts he met there.

[SPOILERS] There was an FBI siege of a Wisconsin hunting lodge, and he was finally killed after being turned over by a Romanian madam who had immigation issues, ... and a red dress.

His real wife was Beryl Hovious, not Billie Frechette.