Comments for The Filmsmith

Comment on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fails to live up to feminist roots by medicineman727

medicineman727 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:00:06 +0000

HI, REMINGTON. …DALE HERE. WED., 11 JAN., 2012: 1953/ 7:53 Pm, PST
RE: YOUR REVIEW OF U.S. VERSION OF “THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.”
I MUCH PREFERRED THE ORIGINAL (AKA FIRST) “GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO”.(‘GDT1′)…. US VERSION FEELS LIKE… A GENERIC ATTEMPT TO “PHOTOCOPY” THE BRAND FROM THE ORIGINAL FILM.

REGARDING PRODUCT PLACEMENT: VERY WELL-SAID.

I NOTED THE NEAR-UBIQUITOUS “EPSON” PLUGS*. …

BESIDES “EPSON…EPSON…EPSON…” DID YOU NOTE ANY OTHER PLUGS*?

*PLUG(S)- COLLOQUIAL TERM FOR BRANDS’ IDENTIFICATIONS & ENDORSEMENTS.
NICE REVIEW.
DALE.
EOM.

Comment on Melancholia – A Stark Fantasy of Depression by Scott M

Scott M — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:26:31 +0000

Just watched this, and thought it was brilliant. Lars von Trier is certainly not a filmmaker for everyone (that may be an understatement), but his ability to almost literalize depression as a science fiction concept is nothing short of genius. Having known people who have suffered from depression, I can absolutely sympathize not only with Dunst’s character, but also characters like Alexander Skarsgard’s and Kiefer Sutherland’s. I have no doubt been the person on the outside looking in, trying to desperately to understand and help, but unable to do anything. At the same time, I can only think that the film expertly portrays what they must have been feeling, like the whole world is literally crashing down on them. That feeling of tension as the planet gets closer, heightened by the beginning of the film in which we are shown that it is definitely going to crash into Earth, that sense of dread and sadness we feel seems likened to how feelings of depression are described.

Von Trier doesn’t get enough credit, and due to a bad joke he made we may never get to hear his insight in a public setting ever again, which is a real shame, but perhaps that will only add to the enigma he has created through his own public actions as well as his films.

This is undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Comment on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fails to live up to feminist roots by kiki charles

kiki charles — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:01:11 +0000

Does everyone miss lisbeth salander as a post punk neo feminist heroine – who as Steig Larrson imagines her, never frames her choices from anyone’s point of view or influence. She acts on her experiences and knowledge. She lets Martin Vanger die – which is culturally unacceptable, but her character cannot imagine sharing a world with such a monster and she does not feel he is worth saving – Fincher’s film doesn’t have the complexity to capture this idea. It seems so many people miss the the keypoint of the book – which is how facist societies/religion with male white dominated power structures destroy so much, and very few people aka. Blumquist can see this and report on it. He is move by lisbeth because he can see her suffering and the fact that she is alive is her own personal triumph. David Fincher’s movie hollows out and guts lisbeth’s character – it was a pretty film with a hollow, and mysogynistic core.

Comment on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fails to live up to feminist roots by Scott M

Scott M — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:17:48 +0000

Saw it today, and thought Fincher did a lot to elevate a narrative from the book that isn’t all that interesting to begin with.

While I agree that Zaillian could’ve left the rape scenes out of his script, most fans of the book would probably argue they are key scenes and would be angry if they were left out, so I’d hardly blame Fincher/Zaillian for their inclusion, just as I won’t blame either of them for the general story arc of the film. In my opinion, they both did quite a bit to elevate what is essentially a by-the-numbers whodunit and give it some style so that it’s at least fun to watch most of the time.

I think there’s a 120 minute version of the same film that hums along quite nicely and would consider pretty great, but there’s about 20 minutes or so that could be shaved from the film’s odd 4th act, as well as just some general trimming along the way that would’ve been welcome. As it stands, I along with the rest of the audience was patiently waiting for the credits to roll for the last half hour, constantly thinking “how is this not over yet?” Which is a shame, because I really did like the final moments.

Basically, this film is a mixed bag for me. There were some parts I really liked, but ultimately the parts I didn’t like kept this from becoming anything special to me. I would’ve preferred that Zaillian and Fincher take more creative license with the material and craft a better, tighter story than what we see here. This is still leaps and bounds better than the Swedish movie though.

Comment on Cinema magic and spectacle stunning in Hugo by Jarod Warner

Jarod Warner — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:49:01 +0000

Saw it on Christmas day with my parents. Truly a love letter to cinema. Thanks, Marty!

Comment on “No Time for Sentiment” in Night of the Living Dead by Mercy for Monsters: Humanizing child killers and Nazis in M and Inglourious Basterds | The Filmsmith

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:57:01 +0000

[...] to child killers also reveals the repressed moral qualms concerning killing our problems. Ben Creech’s “No Time for Sentiment” is quite applicable to these images of the monstrous. When it comes to Nazis or child killers, we [...]

Comment on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fails to live up to feminist roots by Daniel Lotz

Daniel Lotz — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:39:34 +0000

I’m not sure it failed to do so any more than the Swedish Version. I think the two movies are very close, both change certain things from the book and those things are a bit different in each movie. I like both.

Comment on Let Me In: “A dirge for American goodness.” by Fright Night re-make’s cast gives it bite | The Filmsmith

Fright Night re-make’s cast gives it bite | The Filmsmith — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:53:32 +0000

[...] vamps since they have given rise to a resurgence of interesting American vampire films (Stake Land, Let Me In) and horror fans are for the better with this Fright Night [...]

Comment on Stake Land the great American vampire tale by Fright Night re-make’s cast gives it bite | The Filmsmith

Fright Night re-make’s cast gives it bite | The Filmsmith — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:53:30 +0000

[...] the sparkle vamps since they have given rise to a resurgence of interesting American vampire films (Stake Land, Let Me In) and horror fans are for the better with this Fright Night [...]

Comment on Let Me In: “A dirge for American goodness.” by Cast of Fright Night re-make gives it bite | The Filmsmith

Cast of Fright Night re-make gives it bite | The Filmsmith — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:52:20 +0000

[...] vamps since they have given rise to a resurgence of interesting American vampire films (Stake Land, Let Me In) and horror fans are for the better with this Fright Night [...]