Posts Marked Carey Mulligan

  • Have they found The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?

    June 30th, 2010

    On Women’s Wednesday I talk about women in media.

    David Fincher is helming the remake of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, possibly starring Brad Pitt. There have been many speculations as to who the leading lady will be, including Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Kristen Stewart (Twilight).  But rumor has it that Fincher found his ass-kicking private investigator Lisbeth Salander in South African rap group Die Antwoord.

    According to New York magazine:

    Sources tell Vulture that Fincher has been raving that the breakout South African rap group‘s bleached-blonde, mullet-sporting Yo-Landi Vi$er is exactly who he wants his Salander to look and act like.

    I only recently started the first of the Millenium Series, so I haven’t got a grasp on the leading lady yet. What do you think? Is this Lisbeth Salander?

    June 30th,2010 Blogging, Women's Wednesdays | Sections: , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments

  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review by Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays

    April 1st, 2010

    It’s Thursday, which means it’s…

    Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays

    Mr. Hayes is not only the ALMT publicist and lead editor,
    but also contributes film journalism and reviews to     Critic’s Notebook and Cinemattraction.

    Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) dir. Niels Arden Oplev

    Release Date: March 19, 2010 (limited)
    Studio: Music Box Films
    Director: Niels Arden Oplev
    Screenwriter: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg
    Starring: Michael Nyqvis, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Andersson, Ingvar Hirdwall, Marika Lagercrantz, Björn Granath, Ewa Fröling
    Genre: Crime, Thriller
    MPAA Rating: Not Available
    Official Website: MusicBoxFilms.com

    An epic-length murder mystery that takes in sexual abuse, serial killing, Nazism and incest does not sound like a barrel of laughs, and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is indeed no picnic. Based on the famous bestseller by Stieg Larsson, it’s a locked-room detective story worthy of Agatha Christie, transplanted to the chilly Swedish countryside and goosed into life by one singular and incendiary character.

    The plot kicks off when disgraced journalist Mikael (Michael Nyqvist, looking so world-weary his clothes seem to have crumpled from the inside) is hired to look into a 40-year-old puzzle, the disappearance of young Harriet Vanger (Ewa Fršling) from an isolated island. Her uncle is convinced it was murder, and that the killer is someone in the family. Mikael uncovers endless skeletons in the Vanger closet, so things turn nasty pretty quick.

    But he’s not the singular character. Gifted computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) becomes involved, first at a distance, then as Mikael’s sort-of partner. Lisbeth is tattooed, pierced, sullen, slightly sociopathic, exhibiting Asperger’s and keeping the lid on some screwed-up secrets of her own. Putting her at the center of an old-fashioned mystery story is the film’s biggest and best jolt.

    It certainly puts Ms. Rapace front and center. Disappearing into the character and closing the shutters, she seems to be built entirely of sharp angles and no curves at all, and filmed so that her eyes are perfectly black. Once or twice, she moves as if her joints are installed wrongly – an outward sign of Lisbeth’s wonky wiring -and catches the hacker’s waspish defense mechanisms perfectly.

    The book’s Swedish title is “Men Who Hate Women,” and Mr. Larsson put his cards squarely on the table. Wickedness and misogyny lurk absolutely everywhere. Two scenes in particular more than earn the film its rating: first when Lisbeth is brutally abused by her guardian and then her graphic revenge – and both burn with the author’s helpless fury at human behavior. His fury is almost too much for the film, and director Niels Arden Oplev struggles to find an ending or control the final melodrama while there’s still anger left to be vented.

    But better a thriller with a temper than one that’s asleep. Two sequels with this cast are done already and an American remake looks inevitable, but it’ll struggle to match the cool efficiency or striking tone of the original. Try to meet Lisbeth before she turns into Carey Mulligan or similar.

    This review is also posted over at Critic’s Notebook.

    April 1st,2010 Blogging, Film Reviews by Tim Hayes, Theatrical Thursdays, Video | Sections: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments

  • “10 Things I Learnt Watching the 2010 Oscars While Medicated” by Tim Hayes

    March 11th, 2010

    It’s Thursday, which means it’s…

    Tim Hayes on Theatrical Thursdays

    Mr. Hayes is not only the ALMT publicist and lead editor,
    but also contributes film journalism and reviews to     Critic’s Notebook and Cinemattraction.

    Ten things I learnt watching the 2010 Oscars while medicated:

    1. Whatever you think of the E! red carpet coverage, thank your god of choice if you avoided the annual spectacle on foreign television, where the presenters are never sure who all these people are but wonder if they might be able to swing a green card in return for a quickie.

    2. In the year that the channels for getting independent films in front of audiences collapsed almost completely, independent films gathered up just about all the prizes they were up for.

    3. Carey Mulligan made a novice’s mistake by wearing a strapless Prada number covered with little keys and scissors, and looked like an employee at Wonderland’s hardware store. At this rate she’ll be the one wearing a swan next year. In contrast, Hilary Swank is an experienced old hand, and knows that the approved response to the failure of a worthy film like “Amelia” is to go on live TV with her breasts presented for public inspection.
    They passed.

    4. Mauro Fiore winning the cinematography Oscar for “Avatar” is a watershed for sure, since it’s the first winning film to be shot entirely digitally and the visuals in the film are stunning. But as the digital revolution rolls on, the idea that one individual controls the look of a film gets harder to take at face value. “Inglourious Basterds” was not perfect, but Robert Richardson gave the film a vibrant, colorful identity that never felt like it was the work of a committee or born in a server room.

    5. Neil Patrick Harris was funny. It happened in ’97 and involved telepathic contact with a ferret. Since then, not so much.

    6. Sandra Bullock gets a bad rap, but she meets the definition of a movie star: a) her name is enough to get people out of their houses, and b) she makes it look easy. The first of those has only arrived lately, but the second has been obvious ever since she cast a withering look at Sylvester Stallone’s knitting in “Demolition Man” back in 1993. Plus she produced “Gun Shy”, an all-time underrated black comedy which revolves around Liam Neeson’s irritable bowel syndrome.

    7. “Precious” and Mo’Nique deserved to win recognition because the film touched a nerve and got people talking, and because of its fiercely independent mindset. The weird friction going on as the E! machine attempts to process the people who made the film was amusing at first, then uncomfortable, and now just needs to stop. It’s becoming hard to tell who’s patronising who.

    8. Hell will consist of people interpreting Hans Zimmer’s film music through the medium of dance.

    9. “The Hurt Locker” is likely to be the lowest earning and least seen Best Picture winner Oscar has ever produced. So tentative was the film’s release pattern that it was nominated in the Independent Spirit Awards a year ago, rather than the ones held last week. But who cares. Kathryn Bigelow is a great film maker, spiritual heir to Howard Hawks, greatly gifted in several other arts as well as film making, and inadvertently brought about my introduction to ALM Talkies. May she never be tempted to make tire commercials again.

    10. The two winners of the Best Documentary Short got into an argument onstage. The 87-year old mother of one of them tried to trip the other one with her cane on their way to the stage. I want all three of those nutters to host next year.

    (The video is below, in case you missed it.)

    Here are Tim Hayes Oscar-nominated reviews:

    The Hurt Locker: Nominated for 9 Oscars, won 6
    Avatar: Nominated for 8 Oscars, won 3
    Precious: Nominated for 6 Oscars, won 2
    Nine: Nominated for 4 Oscars
    Invictus: Nominated for 2 Oscars
    The Lovely Bones: Nominated for 1 Oscar

    March 11th,2010 Uncategorized | Sections: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments