Rihanna has released the photo for her new perfume and she looks as stunning as ever. the incredibly talented actress Rooney Mara has bagged a contract with Calvin Klein, and also looks stunning in the advert. Which do you prefer?
Tag Archives: Rooney Mara
Get Lisbeth Salander Style
The catwalk may be a sea of pastel colours and grown up, Mad-Men-style clothes, but, really, who wants to conform? Certainly not Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The piercings, the tattoos, the incredibly cool hair do; she certainly strikes out on her own. She wears a lot of black, vests, hoodies, black trousers. She has a touch of goth but she is very striking. If you are feeling daring in time for summer, get her look.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is out on Blu-ray and DVD on 23rd April courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the gripping, hard-edged thriller based on the first of Stieg Larsson’s suspenseful and spell-binding “Millennium” trilogy – arrives on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital Download on April 23. This highly anticipated motion picture from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings together an all-star ensemble cast led by Daniel Craig (James Bond franchise), Rooney Mara (The Social Network), Golden Globe® nominee Robin Wright (1994, Best Actress, Forrest Gump), Stellan Skarsgård (Thor), Golden Globe® winner Christopher Plummer (2012, Best Performance by an Actor In A SupportingRole, Beginners) and Joely Richardson (TV’s “Nip/Tuck”).
Earning $200 million in box office worldwide, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has received five Academy Award® nominations including Actress in a Leading Role (Rooney Mara), Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. The film adaptation was directed by David Fincher with screenplay by Academy Award® winner Steven Zaillian (2002, Writing (Original), Gangs of New York) who executive produced along with Mikael Wallen and Anni Faurbye Fernandez (both Headhunters). Original music is by Academy Award® winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (2011, Best Original Score, The Social Network).The two-disc Blu-ray™ includes nearly four hours of special features.
Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) accepts an invitation to surreptitiously investigate a forty year old unsolved murder on behalf of the victim’s uncle, Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger (Plummer). Meanwhile, tattooed hacker Lisbeth Salander (Mara), hired to investigate Blomkvist, discovers the truth behind the conspiracy that led to his fall from grace. Thrown together by fate, the unlikely duo uncovers a secret history of murder and sexual abuse festering beneath the veneer of Sweden’s industrial past, all the while drawing close to a quiet evil waiting to engulf them both.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) {Film Review}
*WARNING – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!*
“The Feel Bad Movie Of Christmas” One of many taglines given during this holiday season, though not a very festive movie at all! David Fincher makes a return to investigative thrillers and making a controversial decision by remaking Steig Larsson’s original best selling book on which a Swedish TV/ Movie was made only two years earlier. Many were already skeptical and assuming it would be set in the United States and the featured sexualised violence would be softened. More talented cast and crew were brought aboard the project encouraging the public to take it more seriously.
The story is of the journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), who has been disgraced after filing a report on his opponent Wennerström. He gets called in to investigate a missing person report for Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), even though this person has been missing for forty years. Blomkvist eventually teams up with computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).
The film is phenomenally well made, all down to the casting, cinematography, writing and direction. David Fincher was born to make these kinds of films, this film all smells familiar from his previous work (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and even The Social Network). Jeff Cronenworth brings an icy cold presence to the Swedish landscapes but he also creates so arresting cinematography that takes your breath away at times. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross make another hit on their fantastic score, still containing conventional and electronic musical notes that we heard from their score for The Social Network but Dragon Tattoo‘s score delves deep into Lisbeth Salander’s psyche and probably the only thing that shows any sign of humanity within Lisbeth. The editing from both Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall is fast and fluid. The 158 minute running time may put some viewers off but the story goes by before you could even check the time on your watch. The difference between Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo and Niels Arden Oplev’s original is 2011 version is a more cinematic aroma to it (in terms of its direction and production value behind it).
Daniel Craig suits the character of Mikael Blomkvist. It is hard at times to look past Craig as 007 but he shows he can be just as clumsy as we all would be. His dress sense isn’t as elegant as Bond and sometimes has his glasses hanging underneath his chin while he is putting the clues together. Though the driving force of the Millennium trilogy (both from the novels and the films) is Lisbeth Salander, played previously by Noomi Rapace and now played by Rooney Mara. Mara worked with Fincher in a small role as Mark Zuckerberg’s fictional ex-girlfriend in The Social Network and it is not a surprise why Fincher chose her over the likes of Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley and even Kristen Stewart. She looks childlike, almost alien from the bleached eyebrows and jet black hair-style. We find it hard to imagine at first glance that such an intelligent loner can handle herself but when she does get her vengeance back (being raped by her guardian, Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen)), she rises up like a phoenix and we root for her. The difference in direction is the scene where Lisbeth tells Mikael her childhood isn’t done by flashbacks as the original did but keeps focused on Lisbeth telling the story. It is just as emotional and affective without any flashbacks and I prefer Fincher’s simple direction with Lisbeth’s back-story.
For those who have read the novel or 2009 original, it won’t come as a surprise to the reveal. Steven Zaillian (previous credits include Schindler’s List, American Gangster and co-wrote Moneyball along with Aaron Sorkin) adapts the novel very well but brings a few touches that stands apart from the original and doesn’t entirely fall onto the feeling of deja vu. The story itself, written by the late Stieg Larsson, isn’t a masterpiece and it is your basic ‘whodunit’ mystery thriller (though in the hands of Fincher, he creates something as exciting and fresh). Both Zaillian and Fincher both stated they wanted to make an adult thriller from the very start and this really isn’t something a PG-13 rated audience should watch. The as mentioned rape and torture scenes are really hard to watch and Fincher puts the subject matter up-front.
Overall; an intelligent dark thriller that is immensely entertaining and all credit goes to David Fincher and his incredibly talented crew. Rooney Mara makes a career making performance and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of this new Millennium trilogy.
5 out of 5!
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) trailer
I will talk about the trailer in a bit, but first some context for those who are diving straight in without knowing this particular film. As we all know, it is based on a Swedish novel (and first in the Millennium trilogy) by the late Stieg Larsson and has already been adapted as a TV-movie in 2009 (starring Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander). It received three BAFTA nominations (including Best Leading Actress – Noomi Rapace and Best Adapted Screenplay), though it left with one; Best Film not in the English Language.
It wouldn’t be long till Hollywood would decide to grab their hands on it and develop their own version. It cause some outcry and some saying that it should be left alone. I will admit, I was pretty adamant on the idea of a Hollywood version of the novel/TV-movie. Though the talent behind it started to make me have some sigh of hope; they recruited Steven Zaillian to adapt the novel (previous credits – Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York and American Gangster) and David Fincher was hired to direct the film (previous credits – Se7en, Fight Club and The Social Network) Who was going to play the leading players? Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as troubled yet talented journalist and Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as the socially awkward goth/punk hacker. This is a team that no one could ask anymore better from them! Fincher, especially, is in familiar ground; a dark mystery thriller that practically runs in his veins.
Now our questions were what was the film going to look like? Would the actors attempt to pull a Swedish/English dialect? Well the look is very slick and top notch, Rooney Mara really becomes Salander but actually more like a punk/goth than Rapace did (sorry fans of the original movies but I quite like this new Salander). It features the Oscar winning composers, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, music in the trailer (Reznor even created a cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin with Karen-O for the teaser trailer). Even the trailer runs at 3 minutes and 40 seconds (usually average running time for a theatrical trailer is 2 minutes 30 seconds) reveals only enough to not spoil anything for those who have not read the book or seen the previous films.
My reaction to the trailer? I cannot wait for it! It has moved from being number 2 to number 1 on my most anticipated list (http://frostmagazine.com/2011/03/top-most-anticipated-movies-of-2011/). Plus it’s directed by David Fincher! Do I need to explain why that’s a good thing? As you’ve seen from his credits, he has made a movie that everyone likes! What do you think? Are you excited for it as much as I am or do you think it should’ve been left alone from the very start?
Stefan Reviews; Nightmare on Elm Street.
From the Eighties to the early Noughties the horror genre has been dominated by two names; Jason Vorhees and probably the little more known….Freddy Kruger.
With nine films, a TV series and a smorgasbord of (sometimes parody) guest appearances in TV under his belt, Freddy has certainly made his quadruple bladed glove mark in the world of celluloid.
What started out as a very scary character played horrifically menacingly by Robert Englund, Kruger sadly became one of mischief and comedy rather than a to-scared-to-turn-the-lights-out-after-watching monster that he once was. This however was rumoured to all change when Freddy was taken on by Jackie Earl Haley.
Best known for his sinister portrayal of Rorschach in last years Watchmen, Haley was an eagerly awaited choice for the role by the majority of Kruger fans wanting to see the darker side of an already pretty pitch character.
The before the title opening scene gives a nice quick introduction to the main players in the film and ends in a way that seems to promise as much blood as you would expect from the old franchise and a lot more scares. Unfortunately it doesn’t deliver, there are a couple of gallons of blood and a few actual scary moments that make squeals and screams erupt from a jumping audience (I cant remember the last time a new horror film did that) but they are few and far between so fail to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, although this could not be said for the girl sitting behind me who I think must have lost most of her popcorn!
The mostly unknown in movies cast (mainly American TV an small film roles) are good at keeping out the horror shlock thus once again making this an altogether different route for Nightmare, but only Rooney Mara stands out from the rest (strange considering it also co-starred Clancy Brown). Her portrayal of troubled heroine Nancy Thompson is believable and pulls in the sympathy and could easily be carried over into sequels if they choose to remake the rest of the Nightmare stories (I’m hoping they don’t for fear they would go the same way as the 80’s/90’s lot and end up with a rapping Haley arsing about with a prop guitar). Joy turns to disappointment with Jackie Earle Haley, as promised, he is a lot more menacing and frightening than Englund ever was, but for some odd unexplainable reason during the finale fight he starts spouting rubbish one liner quips. Threatening with the promise of violence and abuse throughout the entire film, resorting to crappy puns very nearly ruins the re-imagining of the character.
A film that promised much and delivered a bit Nightmare on Elm Street has too few scares and fails to build suspense, and if you can ignore the image of Freddy wearing Rorschach’s mask (it seems Haley has adopted that voice to express malevolence and inspire fear) I suggest you wait for the DVD.
Nightmare on Elm Street is still playing at most cinemas and is rated 18.