Movie Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

As promised, here is the movie review of the second Swedish movie installment of the Stieg Larsson series.

All of the same actors return to play their respective parts in the sequel to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Noomi Rapace once again delivers a perfect Lisbeth Salander who kicks ass and researches like no other! The film pretty much follows the book storyline, although much more simplified in order to fit it into a two hour movie.  There are some graphic scenes and a couple very naked sexual parts of the film.

In my opinion, it would be necessary to read the book before watching this movie because there are just too many details that couldn't be included.  One might be a bit confused at the general point of the story, like the research that Dag and Mia were conducting on the side, or the joint investigation by Bublanski's team, Armansky's team, and Millenium.  Many characters with a smaller role weren't actually identified, and you would only know who they are from the book. 

Overall, the sequel was just as good as the first.  The ending is pretty amazing. That's all I'm going to say. Go rent it! I'd probably give it a 7 out of 10. I can't wait to read the final book and finish the series, but I'm on a hiatus know in order to focus on school work... boo.

Stephanie, WWT

Movie Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

After I finished the book I seriously couldn't wait to watch the movie so I headed over to my campus video store and lo and behold, they had a copy of the Swedish version!!

I just finished watching it and I thought it was great. Obviously a 2 and a half hour movie can't capture 600 pages of material, but I thought the movie definitely did the story justice. Noomi Rapace was exactly how I pictured Lisbeth to be and I loved her in the role.  Actually, most of the characters were spot on in my opinion. 

SPOILERS!!

Some parts were left out that I thought could have been incorporated for more drama. The relationship between Cecilia and Blomkvist was left out and his relationship with Berger wasn't really mentioned, but you could tell there was something there. Also, the part where the two find the dead cat and its severed head on Lisbeth's motorcycle wasn't in there. I thought for sure they'd go for an intense/scary scene with that one. They forgot Susanne's Bridge Cafe too! lol.

But all in all, I thought the film did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the story.  Some things were definitely changed around a bit, but it didn't detract from the original storyline. Loved it!!

Definitely watch it after reading the book so the Vanger's are all fresh in your mind haha.

Here's the Swedish trailer!

I'm excited for the U.S. version to come out this December so I can compare the two!:)

Stephanie, WWT

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

The event of the summer! The end of an era! It's what we've all been anticipating since the start of it all, 10 years ago! The last Harry Potter film in the epic series is finally here! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

I went to see the film the night of it's official release date, July 15th. I didn't have enough die-hard friends willing to see the midnight showing with me, and I also couldn't get tickets, but that didn't stop my excitement! I had already read all seven books by JK Rowling and I was looking forward to this film most of all. I decided to write a review today because I went to see the movie again for the second time yesterday! It's the last one, I mean, you have to see it twice right?

Anyway, the first time I went I saw it in the Real-D 3D and honestly, to compare with the normal movie format, I didn't think the 3D effects stood out. If anything, it just made the movie kind of blurry. I prefer the regular ones, but that's just me.

As far as the storyline, if everyone is familiar with the Harry Potter series then you know that the Deathly Hallows book was split into two movies and Part 1 left us with Voldemort breaking into Dumbledore's tomb to steal his wand: the Elder Wand. The most powerful wand of all! So, now for part 2. Let's just say, there were things I really liked about the movie and things I really missed.

I'll admit, I cried at about 30 minutes into the film, (when my favorite character dies) and didn't really stop for another 30 minutes. I actually needed kleenex in the theater, both times! Actually the second time was worse.. so obviously the directors did a great job with trying to convey various emotions in the film. However there were a few deaths that didn't really get enough screen time and I'm sure anyone who saw the movie will know who I'm talking about here. :(

Overall, I think Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) did spectacular jobs in portraying their characters, all of whom are very complex and riddled with emotional pasts and presents.  I did think that the film could have been longer which might have given some extra time to better explain details that only a reader of the books might understand.  Some of the scenes, I thought were very brutal and violent, but the filmmakers did add some humourous parts to try to balance out the dark themes. Although this film wasn't as playful and magical as the other movies that seemed to follow Harry throughout a year at Hogwarts, it was a fitting ending to a series that has captivated people of all ages for over 10 years.

Harry Potter is one of those things that I think will last beyond this generation. It is something that has strong messages for all ages and emphasizes friendship, love, bravery, and ethics that are conveyed beautifully through the entire series. When I read the first book I was the same age as the characters and over the years, I too have grown up with Harry and his friends. Although it seems sort of silly, I feel like it has been a big influence on my life. My parents and I would always watch the Harry Potter films together, and I remember reading the books to my father, begrudgingly that is, since he would fall asleep most of the time and I would have to reread chapters.  Even now, I meet people who are die-hard Potter fans and instantly have something to talk about.

Despite the movies being over, Harry Potter will always have a special place in my heart, and I know that the books will always be there for me to return to and lose myself in the stories of Harry and his adventures at Hogwarts.

Stephanie, WWT

Limitless Movie Review

Due to my undying love for Bradley Cooper I felt the urgent need to write a review on his latest movie, Limitless.  I had been looking forward to this movie ever since I had seen the trailer, showing my favorite actor in the leading role.  Although at first the plot seems a little fantastic, as the movie continues you realize that the aesthetic scenes and settings, along with great acting and thrilling situations really make this film come together. I loved it!

The plot of the movie surrounds Eddie Morra, an unsuccessful writer who hears of a new drug called NZT from his ex-brother-in-law, a drug dealer.  Due to desperation and boredom, Eddie takes the drug and experiences a whole new world view, due to his ability to utilize all of his brain power at the same time. All of a sudden, he becomes successful, intelligent, popular, and rich, without putting in the effort or time that it would take any normal person to do. Immediate success and gratification without having to work for it, isn't that what we all want?

He immediately becomes obsessed with the pill and gets his hands on a stash as quickly as possible. As he begins to turn his life around, he finds that it is getting harder to keep his new enhancement a secret and realizes that he is potentially in lots of danger.  He begins experiencing harmful and life threatening side effects that make him reconsider the benefits of this wonder-drug. The movie has many plot twists and exciting, thrilling scenes that keep it fast-paced. Along the way we see Robert De Niro as well as Abbie Cornish in small, supporting roles to Bradley Cooper, who remains the star of the show. I thought he did an amazing job acting, playing the role flawlessly. I mean come on, those blue eyes alone make the film worth watching ;)

Anyway, if you want to see a fun, thrilling, intelligent movie that will make you think afterwards, go see Limitless! As a side note, the movie was shot in Philadelphia, but made to look like New York so anyone from Philly will recognize some of the streets and scenes. Too bad I wasn't there during filming!

If you've seen the movie already, what did you think? If you could take a pill to make you more intelligent, competent, attractive, and overall just a more successful person would you do it, despite knowing it has drastic side-effects and addictive properties?

Check out this fake commercial promo for the movie!

Movie Site and Trailer here.

Don't do drugs!...Unless they make you limitless! ;)

-Stephanie, WWT

Movie Review - The Green Hornet

Originally I hadn't planned on seeing this movie, but a friend invited me and I desperately needed to get out of my room after two snow days in a row. I was actually pleasantly suprised and had a great night.


Now, I am a huge fan of superhero action movies, but I was going to pass on this one. I would never picture Seth Rogan playing the role of a fit, action hero, but he pulled it off really well.  His character, Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet included some of the normal Seth Rogan attitude and humor, but was not obnoxious at all and gave the movie real character. As Britt simultaneously takes charge (somewhat) of his deceased father's newspaper company while fighting crime posing as a villain he learns some secrets behind his father's life.

A week or two before the movie premiered I was fortunate enough to catch some of the old Green Hornet shows on SyFy.  Yes, they're old by today's standards, but they were great in my opinion.  The movie version is updated and modern, and seemed like more of a comedy to me. I think it did the tv series justice.

And who can forget Kato, the amazing, genius, coffee making, kick-ass sidekick/partner? Every aspect of the movie including the magnificent Black Beauty, the evil villain Chudnovsky, played by Christoph Waltz, the cool, suave costumes, and action sequences make this a really enjoyable movie to see. Now I wouldn't nominate it for best picture, but it made my movie night worth it. Go see this movie if you want laughs, humor, and an all-around good time!

Stephanie, WWT

Life In a Day

Many of us have heard of the Life in a Day production directed by Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald, but most importantly, by thousands of ordinary people out there that sent in film about their life in a single day. The instructions were to film anything that meant something to you throughout your day on July 24th, 2010.

The YouTube phenomenon has now been organized into a full length feature film that is premiering tonight at the Sundance Festival and on YouTube at 8pm EST. The film lasts for about 90 minutes and was cut down from over 4500 hours of footage from 80,000 different clips.

Sadly, my clips did not make it in, but it was still an interesting experience to participate in. I am interested to see how thousands of other people around the world went about their days like I did.  So if you're interested in watching too, tune in to YouTube tonight at 8pm and watch how the world experienced a single day.
Click here to go to the website and watch.

Enjoy life,

-Stephanie, WWT