The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

davidrs · « **Reply #40 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 04:04 pm »

Quote from: ajzepp on 27 Nov 2010, 11:04 am

To me, it's a sin to watch a dubbed version. ....

CAse in point: My favorite film of all time is Life is Beautiful. ....

If not for subtitled films, I would have missed out on two of my favorite films of the last few years..."The Lives of Others" and "Let the Right One In".

There is a whole world of foreign/subtitled films out there for our enjoyment, and I know that I could never get through all the "good movies" in the world in only one lifetime lol.

Concur with and highly second AJZEPP's recommendations.

I rarely purchase dvds or bluray but I picked up 'The Lives of Others.' Just Beautiful in so many ways.

Let the Right One In is another gem. Different, and perhaps not to everyones tastes, but a standout in many many ways. Am certainly curious about the remake.

And then there is "Life is Beautiful." Goosebumps just going back to my memories of that film. Did you see him accepting at the Academy Awards?

Thanks for bringing these movies up. It has been so very cool re-engaging with the memories. May have to dust off the 'Lives of Others' and slip it into the Oppo this evening.

Great story Jim (jsalk), thank you for sharing it. Nothing like a first hand account.

How about 'Wings of Desire' especially the Criterion Collection version in BluRay? Heck, any version you can get your hands on, just watch it.

Drab, it offers another post WWII / Cold War portrayal of Berlin, yet is unnervingly universal and timeless. In my opinion, a must add to your list, especially if 'Lives of Others' resonates with you.

- David

ajzepp · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 06:47 am »

David: I absolutely do remember Roberto at the Academy Awards...he is a NUT! LOL I love that guy, though...he was great in one of my other all-time favorite films, and my favorite Jim Jarmusch film, "Down by Law". If you've never seen that one, and you like Roberto, you may want to give it a look one night

Jim: Thanks for sharing that account of your trip to East Germany...that must have been a very surreal experience, especially having such vivid ideas from earlier in your life about what it must be like. Being of German heritage myself, that would have been something I would have found very interesting, too. The world is an interesting place!

davidrs · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 04:42 pm »

Quote from: ajzepp on 29 Nov 2010, 06:47 am

David: I absolutely do remember Roberto at the Academy Awards...he is a NUT! LOL I love that guy, though...he was great in one of my other all-time favorite films, and my favorite Jim Jarmusch film, "Down by Law". If you've never seen that one, and you like Roberto, you may want to give it a look one night

Ajzepp,

Have added it to my que. Nice bonus being able to check out Ellen Barkin circa 1986. The music of Lurie and the voice of Waits make it a major double bonus.

Need to check out his 'Stranger than Paradise' also.

Thanks for the recommendations.

- David.

ajzepp · « **Reply #43 on:** 30 Nov 2010, 01:24 am »

Anytime....Jarmusch is a weird dude, but he keeps it interesting!

Bill O'Connell · « **Reply #44 on:** 13 Dec 2010, 03:06 am »

Just finished the 3rd book in the Millenium Series . After reading the The Girl with the dragon tattoo I couldn't wait till see the movie, so much was left out of the characters, then read the The Girl who played with fire, enjoyed that read more then 1st and just put down the Hornet's Nest (abbreviated) which was the continuing saga of Lizbeth, just excellent, can't wait to see the third film.

Heard since the authors death that there was a 5th book written (out of sequence) but is in the hands of his wife and folks are disputing who has legal rights .

Folsom · « **Reply #45 on:** 26 Dec 2010, 06:58 pm »

I enjoyed all three films. Swedes know how to make a book adaptation actually worth watching! Sure it has some flaw but a 100 boring pages of flaw left out, not an issue for me.

As far as subtitles go I much prefer them as dubs always make a movie sound like it has a cast of special needs - particularly Asian movies. ANY DAY I would prefer a movie with subtitles that is good over a bad U.S. remake or bad Hollywood movie.

To me it seems like little effort to read subtitles for a good movie is totally worth it. I mean it is nice when something is in english too but it sure seems lazy to be offended by subtitles. It is too easy to sit on your butt and have everything handed to you, and it is marketed that way these days.

JoshK · « **Reply #46 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 12:03 am »

I just watched The Girl Who Played with Fire. I really enjoyed it and Dragon Tatoo. I really didn't know the third one was out already. What is it called?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #47 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 12:05 am »

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343097/

Folsom · « **Reply #48 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 12:08 am »

Out yet? Well all of them have been released in the EU. It is an import or download at the moment.

Don_S · « **Reply #49 on:** 27 Dec 2010, 04:44 pm »

I saw the DVD of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" less than two weeks after reading the book. I enjoyed the book a lot more. If I had not read the book first I do not think I would have been able to follow the movie. The movie did not adequately develop the characters and relationships and it seemed like the movie condensed about 1/4 of the book into the last 10 (or fewer) minutes.

BobM · « **Reply #50 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 02:48 pm »

Saw the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and liked it enough to get the book. The book was far better than the movie IMO, but then I was just "remembering" the movie as I read the book and they followed each other quite closely.

Then I read the second book - "...Played with Fire" which was also awesome. Saw the second movie and thought they left out a lot. I wasn't so impressed by it as the first one.

Now I need to get the 3rd book "...Hornets Nest" but I really have no interest to see the film version anymore.

BTW - my family, who haven't read any of the books did not like any of the movies at all.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #51 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 02:54 pm »

Watched the final part on netflix via streaming last weekend. Great movie!

Now i need to read the books ... My wife read all three, and didn't feel like watching the movie. She caught bits and pieces of the second part, and dismissed it saying that lots of details were omitted. I should check it out myself.

Don_S · « **Reply #52 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 04:46 pm »

First I read all three books and then watched the videos of the first two. I agree that a lot was left out of the videos. The books are too long to condense into two hours.

That said, I thought the video of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was very hard to follow and I did not enjoy it at all. My opinion of "The Girl Who Played With Fire" was the opposite. I thought it was coherent and I enjoyed it a lot.

Jon L · « **Reply #53 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 04:55 pm »

Quote from: BobM on 31 Jan 2011, 02:48 pm

Saw the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and liked it enough to get the book. The book was far better than the movie IMO, but then I was just "remembering" the movie as I read the book and they followed each other quite closely.

Then I read the second book - "...Played with Fire" which was also awesome. Saw the second movie and thought they left out a lot. I wasn't so impressed by it as the first one.

Now I need to get the 3rd book "...Hornets Nest" but I really have no interest to see the film version anymore.

BTW - my family, who haven't read any of the books did not like any of the movies at all.

Didn't read the book but just like you, my enthusiasm decreased as the series went on. I liked the first movie, not as a masterpiece or anything but a break from the typical Hollywood fare. I was getting bored by the second one, and the third one was very hard to finish.

Don_S · « **Reply #54 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 05:18 pm »

The cover of the third video is scary. Americans are used to attractive and approachable (physically and emotionally) heroines. I wonder how much that affects our opinion of the "Girl" movies. Noomi Rapace is no Julia Roberts. Heck, she makes Angelina Jolie look like the Singing Nun.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #55 on:** 2 Feb 2011, 03:32 am »

Noomi Rapace speaks...

thunderbrick · « **Reply #56 on:** 2 Feb 2011, 04:23 am »

Quote from: jsalk on 28 Nov 2010, 02:44 pm

ajzepp -

In 1989, I had a chance to visit East Germany. It was a Sunday and the Berlin border was closed to all Westerners except our group of about 50. We had a luncheon reservation at a hotel built exclusively to serve the needs of Western visitors and dignitaries.

Standing at the wall, we wondered if it would come down during our lifetimes. Little did we know, about 10,000 East Germans escaped to Austria over the Hungarian border that very day. That day marked the start of an exodus that spelled the end of the East German government. About thirty days later, the wall was gone.

"The Lives of Others" will take you back to that place in time.

- Jim

Jim, in the early 80's I worked in Germany and had a buddy in Berlin, so we spent a LOT of time in East Berlin. I think I visited the same museum and restaurant you did. You describe it perfectly. I spent most of my time visiting WWII sites in East Berlin, including the ruins of a KristalNacht Synagogue and the huge mass graves of Soviet war dead. Chilling.
One night we were wandering around West Berlin at the Kaiser Denkmal, the bombed-out cathedral, which was fenced off for street construction, when a guy came out of nowhere and said "would you like to see the inside?" We thought he was nuts, but he took us through a hole in the fence to show us amazing mosaics that remain in the ceiling showing scenes from very old German and Prussian history. When we got back outside he said he was a child during the Berlin Airlift and remembered what Allied aid did for Berliners, and he wanted to thank us. Then he disappeared. Fascinating city.
To this day I am fascinated with films and books about war-time German history and the stories told by my friends who lived through so much.

anthony a. · « **Reply #57 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 03:19 pm »

that is amazing. i try to visit germany every summer for atleast a few days because i have a special spot in my heart for it.

i too have always had a fascination with the ww2 era history. i have watched almost every ww2 movie (foreign and domestic) as well as most of the documentaries. but i have to say, that i love foreign films with subtiitles. i've watched all 3 of these and find the first one the best, but all are good.

Kinger · « **Reply #58 on:** 28 Feb 2011, 02:16 pm »

Old thread, but I finally had the opportunity to watch Girl with the Dragon Tattoo streamed via Netflix last night. Certainly a good movie and I didn't mind the subtitles, but as others have mentioned it was certainly a bit hard to put how the characters knew each other and why they were interacting the way they were at first. Maybe I should have read the book instead. It's always been my experience that reading the book trumps the video version as the author generally has much more leeway in character development as they don't have to deal with the typical 2 hour screenplay limit. Have the next two movies in my streaming que so we'll see how those go.

Kinger · « **Reply #59 on:** 7 Mar 2011, 11:41 pm »

After seeing all three films now, I think I can say that I enjoyed the third one the most.