REVIEW: "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

Still from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Although I never thought much of Niels Arden Oplev's original Adaptation of Stieg Larsson's international Bestseller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I am a huge Fan of David Fincher's interpretation of it.

This first installment in the Trilogy-to-come centers around an unlikely Duo brought together by a family Mystery haunting wealthy Swedes The Vangers for well-over 40 years. Shamed Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is called upon by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to solve the mystery behind the presumed murder of his beloved Niece Harriet. After reaching a roadblock in his investigation, he is connected with volatile 23 year-old Computer Hacker-for-hire Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Coincidentally, she also is the same Hacker who was enlisted to investigate Mikael amidst his own controversy.

As Mikael and Lisbeth continue their fact-finding, they begin unraveling some deep, dark secrets about the Vanger Family never before brought to light and we realize that danger is ever-imminent as they are being watched by someone closer to home than originally believed.

ROONEY MARA ON "LIVE! WITH KELLY"

Still from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rooney Mara is pretty much on the verge is something huge with David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The 26 year-old New Yorker appeared a bit green on the interviewing, telling Kelly Ripa on Live! With Kelly five important things you need to know about the Girl who plays Lisbeth Salander:

• Mara had five piercings done at once in preparation for her role, some which she says are "under her shirt" and "cannot be mentioned on Daytime Television"; her nose was not pierced.  As more filming is forthcoming for additional installments of the Stieg Larsson Trilogy, she has decided to keep her piercings in.
• In real life, Mara has no tattoos
• To develop an authentic Swedish accent, she worked with a Coach two hours a day before Filming began

"THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" EMBARGO CONTROVERSY

Still from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

He went ahead and done that! After much controversy this weekend over his Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The New Yorker's David Denby went ahead and violated Sony Pictures' request to adhere to a Media Embargo for the Film until Tuesday, December 13, 2011.

What is an Embargo you ask? Essentially it is an agreement on the Movie Reviewer's part  (I hate the word "ban") to not post their Comments on the Film before a set date by the Studio. As often is the case, the Reviewer gets to see the Film up to months before it actually gets  a release. This ensures that the Studio has full control over its Marketing and Publicity, allowing all Reviews to surface when interest in the Film is optimal - around its actual Release Date. Also it keeps things fair for Publications as one won't beat the other to the punch with an unfair disadvantage of posting the Review earlier, even though several publications like Variety, for example consistently get the Exclusives first often.

NEW TRAILER FOR "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

Official Poster for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Christmas can't come soon enough. A new 3:48 minute Trailer has surfaced for David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and does this ever look good... and rather faithful to the original Swedish Film.  I'm v. excited at Rooney Mara's Oscar prospects in a wide-open race still at this point for Best Actress. 

See the Trailer in full below:

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures)

NEW CHARACTER PHOTOS FROM "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

  The Principal Cast of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

These striking new Character Photos have been released for Sony Pictures’ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, due December 21, 2011. Complete with Bios for each Character, the Movie’s Official Website has been given a fresh new Makeover.  Seen above (Top to Bottom/Left to Right) are: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer and Robin Wright. 

Check out all the Photos here.  

This is going to make Rooney Mara a huge star.  Brace yourselves.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

NEW NSFW VERSION OF "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" POSTER

They're going all the way with the edge factor!  A new Poster for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been unleashed and you won't believe your eyes.  Did Rooney Mara really pierce her nipples for the role of Lisbeth Salander?  I'm speechless.  I haven't even seen a proper Clip of the Movie and I'm already convinced we have a Best Actress caliber performance for the Oscars next year. She's totally owning it.

And if she weren't commanding enough, did you even bother to notice Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist? Me neither.

Sony Pictures releases The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo this Christmas and here's a link to the NSFW version of the Poster. 

"THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" TRAILER LEAKED

Rooney Mara

Although I honestly didn't think much of the original Film Adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this U.S. Adaptation from Director David Fincher looks astounding!  Edgy, vicious, scary and dangerous, this is going to make Rooney Mara a Mega-Star - the next Natalie Portman. It is being marketed as "The Feel-Bad Movie of the Year".

See this leaked Trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, out this Christmas from Sony Pictures:

2011 ACADEMY AWARDS RECAP

Natalie Portman at the 83rd Academy Awards

The 83rd Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre this evening, were marred most perhaps by predictability. As Award after Award was handed-out this evening, it became more and more apparent that there were not going to be any real surprises in the most anticipated categories.   

Colin Firth as Actor in a Leading Role, yes - saw it a mile away.  Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, giving The Fighter an Oscar double in the Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role categories respectively - yes.  Aaron Sorkin for Adapted Screenplay with The Social Network - uh-huh.  Inception in the technical categories: Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Editing, Sound Mixing - yup.

The biggest surprise in my opinion was The King's Speech Director Tom Hooper nabbing the Award for Directing over The Social Network's David Fincher, a telling sign that the former would go on to win the coveted Best Picture Award.  Another telling sign was that Colin Firth's now-famous Speech in that Film was played over a Montage of all the Best Picture Nominees prior to the Award being announced.  The Weinstein Brothers sure know how to win an Oscar, that much I'll say.

RENEE ZELLWEGER & COLIN FIRTH REUNITE AT "THE KING'S SPEECH" AUDI PARTY

Renée Zellweger & Colin Firth

She hasn't looked this good in years!  Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth did a Bridget Jones's Diary reunion of their own reunion at Château Marmont last night as Audi hosted a part for Oscar Contender The King's Speech. 

The Party was full of talent including the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Michelle Williams, Busy Phillips, Cory Monteith, Gerard Butler and Orlando Bloom.

The Party comes one day after the annual Oscars Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where Nominees showed-up in full force except for a noticably absent Director David Fincher for The Social Network.



NATALIE PORTMAN WINS AT CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

Natalie Portman at the 2010 Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Natalie Portman is winning so many Awards already for Black Swan that I've decided to coin a new term: Congratalie which has been created to save effort in congratulating Natalie Portman on her Award wins.  Portman won Best Actress last night at the 16th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards in Los Angeles and I doubt anybody would dispute her deserving this.  Garbed in a lovely Gianfranco Ferre number which helped flatter that Baby Bump, the Actress was all smiles as she was presented the Award by Kevin Spacey.

Other winners last night include Colin Firth for Best Actor, Hailee Steinfeld for Best Young Actor, a pair of wins for The Fighter in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale) and Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo).  The Social Network was a big winner last night also winning top honours for Best Movie, Best Director (David Fincher) and also Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin).  No surprises here.  Don't forget to tune into tomorrow night's Golden Globe Awards, which air 8 PM EST on NBC.

Kevin Winters, my favourite Paparazzi took some amazing shots last night and you can see all 270+ Photos at Zimbio here.  For more highlights from the night visit the VH1 website.

(Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

ROONEY MARA & DAVID FINCHER IN FEBRUARY'S "W" MAGAZINE

Rooney Mara in W Magazine

Early favourite for Best Director at February’s Oscars, David Fincher sits down with W Magazine’s Lynn Hirschberg and chats about his celebrated career in next month's Issue. Looking back at some of his more important Films, Fincher feels that The Social Network stands as a “Movie” in his books, not a “Film”. 2007’s Zodiac however was a real “Film” according to the Director in that "it was about murders that changed America. After the Zodiac killings in California, the Summer of Love was over. Suddenly, there was no more weed or pussy. People were hog-tied and died. No one died during the creation of Facebook. By my estimation, the person who made out the worst in the creation of Facebook still made more than 30 million dollars. And no one was killed.”.  He might have a point there.

Although Fincher doesn’t get photographed, we do get a sneak peek at The Social Network Star Rooney Mara’s dark transformation as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which re-teams the Actress with Fincher.  The Film is now in Post-Production. 

STARS ARRIVE AT "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" DVD LAUNCH

Jesse Eisenberg and Aaron Sorkin

In-stores on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, David Fincher's The Social Network held a DVD Launch Party in Beverly Hills yesterday. Most of the principal cast members including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Brenda Song, Armie Hammer and Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin showed-up to promote the Movie which will be available in Standard Two-Disc and Blu-Ray editions.

Seen above being.... social are Sorkin and Eisenberg, both up for Oscars consideration for their respective categories.

Zimbio has lots of great Photos from the event here.

(Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"THE SOCIAL NETWORK" SET FOR JANUARY 11, 2011 RELEASE

The Social Network DVD

Mark your calendars!  Timed perfectly for the Oscars voting period, David Fincher's The Social Network will see a DVD release here in North America on January 11, 2011 via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  The current frontrunner in the race for Best Picture follows a strategy similar to that of Paul Haggis' Crash, which was released theatrically ahead of Awards season and timed also with a DVD release right around the crucial voting period.  The Film went on to win Best Picture in 2006 over favoured Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee).

The Social Network's release mid-January would be beneficial in numerous ways in that all the buzz it is getting right now will be great of Sales and Rentals of the Film.  At the same time, the frequent advertising and mentioning of its release would aid in its cause for staying visible in the 6,000+ Academy Voters' collective consciousness.

Crafty/sneaky or whatever you like to call it - I'm so up for owning this one on DVD.  Can't wait to watch the abundance of Featurettes on the Two-Disc edition of the DVD, including a full-length Documentary about the making of the The Social Network, its Scoring and Commentary with Fincher & Cast.

"THE SOCIAL NETWORK" WINS BIG AT TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCATION AWARDS

Still from The Social Network

No surprises here. The Toronto Film Critics Association announced their year’s best this morning and again David Fincher’s The Social Network cleaned-up. The movie based on the rise of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, won Picture of the Year in addition to awards for Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), Best Director (Fincher), Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg) and in a bit of a shocker, Best Supporting Actor (Armie Hammer).  His co-stars Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield actually have been getting a bit more buzz so this comes as a bit of an upset.

Best Actress went to Jennifer Lawrence for her breakthrough performance in Winter’s Bone.  She also was awarded the same honour by the Los Angeles Film Critics this weekend. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld who before this weekend was known more for her appearance on a K-Mart ad and some Teen Flicks, was Best Supporting Actress for her turn in The Coen Brothers’ True Grit – another breakthrough performance.

Runner-up for Picture of the Year was Cannes’ Palme D’or Winner Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives and also Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

Read more here about Toronto’s Winners.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS SOCIETY WINNERS ANNOUNCED - "THE SOCIAL NETWORK" CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

Still from The Social Network

One of the more important precursors to the Oscars is the New York Film Critics’ Circle Awards just held earlier today. In what’s looking more and more like a shoe-in for Best Picture next February is David Fincher’s The Social Network, which won top honour of Best Film; Fincher also nabbed Best Director.  But get this though - The Social Network this weekend was also awarded Best Film unilaterally by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assocation, the Boston Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Online. 

Surprisingly, Best Actress was handed to Annette Bening for The Kids are All Right over Natalie Portman in Black Swan, while Best Actor honours went according to plan with Colin Firth, winning in that category for The King’s Speech.  Black Swan won for Best Cinematography possibly due to a local bias seeing that much of the Film was shot in Brooklyn.

Melissa Leo, just in Toronto this past weekend, won Best Supporting Actress for The Fighter, yet another trophy in her cabinet after just receiving an award for that same performance, from the Boston Society of Film Critics too. Mark Ruffalo won for Best Supporting Actor in The Kids are All Right and it would be amazing to see him rewarded with an Oscar nomination next year for the first time.

Click here to read about more of the Winners.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

DANIEL CRAIG AND ROONEY MARA IN STOCKHOLM FILMING "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

Daniel Craig filming in Stockholm

Oh yeah. As many of us know, David Fincher's U.S. adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is filming already in Stockholm, Sweden and our favourite hunk Daniel Craig is starring in the film.  For those of you who have seen the original Swedish version of the film, you'll know disappointingly that the character Craig plays, disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, is clothed for most of the film. Bummer.

All eyes right now however on the movie's female lead Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, who steps up to the physically demanding role in three instalments. Mara got lots of exposure this weekend in Fincher's The Social Network which not only debuted at number one at the Box Office, but continues to perform strongly, slaughtering the competition even based on Monday and Tuesday's numbers. Mara's big sister Kate appears briefly in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours which recount's mountain climber Aron Ralston's hours stuck in a cave under a boulder.

To see more candids of Craig in Sweden, click here.

(Photo credit: Fredrik Sandberg/Scanpix)

THE SOCIAL NETWORK REVIEW

Although I was a bit devastated that David Fincher's (Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) The Social Network didn't do the rounds at TIFF this year, it was just as rewarding attending an advanced screening of it and I can say that it very much lives up to the hype surrounding it.  

The story criss-crosses different stages of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's hands-on and meticulous involvement in the crafting of the world's favourite social networking website up to his  documented legal battles over the legitimacy of his title as its Founder. Turning Facebook into the $25 billion empire that it is today did not come without its share of Drama.  The limits of true friendship and loyalty are put to the most rigorous test when fortune divides best friends Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).  Zuckerberg's integrity also is challenged further with  wealthy twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) fighting for an entitlement to the fortune in having commissioned him to assist in the creation of a project which wound up spiraling and veering off into the opus of Facebook as we know it.