The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Rooney Mara, the actress who earmed a Golden Globe nomination playing Lisbeth Salander in the 2011 English-language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is actually not the first to play this role in film recently, but she totally nails it. I had the pleasure of seeing Noomi Rapace first in the 2009 subtitled version of the film out of Denmark. Noomi does a great job, but Rooney Mara's 2011 Oscar nominated version is in a league all its own. The film, like her performance, is truly breathtaking, and the story is told in a bold, clever way.

From the awesome, intense opening montage fueled by Trent Reznor's piercing music, you get the feeling your in for something special, and you certainly are. Excellent casting and performances across the board, including a well played Greman "bad-guy by Stellan Skarsgard, and a surprise by Daniel Craig of 007 fame, who shines as a subtle, somewhat volnurable and human man. I thought he was going to be the weak link in the film, but he is great and adds depth to the story.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars, with believability maybe the only flaw.. its fun, satisfying, and bad ass!! Better see it and get ready for the sequels.. $$

Pirates of the Carribean 4 - On Stranger Tides Missing Anything?

Am I missing something here? This is one extremely popular series of films. The acting and special effects are great, so good at points I remember thinking it may never get much better.. (will get back to that in a moment).

Let's start with Johnny Depp, who many say is custom made for this recurring role as a bumbling, yet sharp witted and at times amazingly agile Pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow, who in this fourth installment is in search, along with many others, of The Fountain of Youth.

During this search Jack encounters many exciting challenges such as Mermaids, numerous double crossing "friends", a possessed ship, and ultamately Black Beard himself. We even have Penelopy Cruz replacing Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Jack's love interest slash foe in the series.

So the stage is set, the cast and crew not only extensive but super talented..and in 3D... so.... wait for it... The Film Still Falls Flat!

Why? Story. How can the story suck with all this? Well, not sure, but the film does lack something fundamental. It is certainly Jerry Bruckheimerish.. but hey even he made a lot of us cry at the end of Armageddon, right?

No, there is something about this movie that misses the mark. Maybe it is how everyone keeps showing up everywhere everyone else is with such ease. Maybe it is the lack of slapstick action that the other films had more. All I know is, for all of the perfection in this films inner workings, the end result surprisingly seems mediocre.

There are some highlights though, such as the mermaids, that carry the film through. Geoffrey Rush steals the show as Barbossa, who by the end of the film I was rooting for the most. Keith Richards makes a showing and has one of the best lines in the film when he asks if it looks like his face has found the fountain of youth.

All in all, the movie is fun, if anything just for the effects and charachters. I just wanted to like it more...