OSCAR NIGHT 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

in

Even though it has no award nominations, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was on the original list of 25 must-see movies before Oscar night 2011 and an instant view on Netflix, so I watched it. And liked it. A lot. So much so, that now I want to read the book, although my good friend John says the first 100 pages are boring, and I can skip them because it's mainly setup that is covered in the movie. Deal. Lisbeth holding a cameraBut for now, let's stay focused on the movie. The story starts with Mikael, a prominent exposè reporter, being set up for a crime he didn't commit, so I'm immediately thinking A Team. Which totally plays into the next scene where he gets hired by an incredibility rich capitalist who wants him to look into a cold 40-year-old murder case (If you have a problem - if no one else can help - and if you can find him - maybe you can hire: Mikael).

That's where the real adventure begins - I can see John's perspective if it takes several chapters to get to this point. The girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth, is also an investigator, only not an elite-news-magazine-reporter kind of snoop like Mikael, but more like a WikiLeaks hacker-who-knows-all-your-passwords kind of snoop.  The two join forces to find the decades-old killer and make a intriguing odd couple, mainly because of Mikael's generous unconditional awe for Lisbeth.

Fast-paced, smart, and a depraved, TGWTDT hooked me. I must read the books and see the other movies. The only unsolved mystery at this point is why Hollywood feels compelled to make a movie about a movie that was about a book. Well, that's not really a mystery, it's the money. Re-shoot it in English, add Daniel Craig, and say, "Weee, weeee, we-make" all the way to the bank. For me, Girl ranks fairly high bumping Inception down a notch.

RANKING of OSCAR 2011 MUST-SEES (so far):

  1. True Grit
  2. Winter's Bone
  3. The Town
  4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  5. Inception
  6. Toy Story 3
  7. How to Train Your Dragon
  8. The Kids Are All Right
  9. Animal Kingdom
  10. Alice in Wonderland

What did you think of the movie? Have you read the books? What do you think about Hollywood remaking the movie?