There’s some trailer that really can’t be described and the trailer for the Icelandic drama Lamb is one of them. I’ll just say that Noomi Rapace is the only girl with the dragon tattoo who matters. Now, check out the trailer for Lamb.
I’m a little bit worried about the fate of the cat that appears in this trailer but I’ll still definitely be watching this film.
Noomi Rapace, the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (and the only who really matters), stars in this upcoming film about a woman living in 1950s suburbia who abducts a man who she believes is a fugitive war criminal.
The Secrets We Keep is scheduled to get a limited release in September, followed by VOD release in October. (Oh, you want exact dates? Okay — September 16th and October 16th.) I have no idea whether the film is going to live up to its potential. Watching the trailer, I kind of feel like it could go either way. But Noomi Rapace is a fantastic performer who deserves to be better known and I hope this movie will be a good vehicle for her talents.
Here’s the trailer:
“The song sounds a lot different than the title. The theme is that Mick is talking to a girl saying, ‘All I hear from you is doom and gloom – let’s go party, let’s go dance.’ It’s an uptempo tune.”
— Organist Chuck Leavell on Doom and Gloom
“At first I said, Hey Mick, ‘Doom and Gloom’ is a kind of weird title for a 50-year celebration, you know? But you know what the Stones are like, it’s always against the grain. But he came up with it and it’s a great track and a really quite ‘funny’ song, actually – there are some great lyrics.”
— Keith Richards on Doom and Gloom
Also according to Keith, Doom and Gloom was one of the quickest recordings that the Rolling Stones ever did. It only took three takes to lay down the track. Richards credits that to the chemistry that the Stones have when they’re playing together. As Keith puts it, the only problem when it comes to recording a new Rolling Stones song is finding a time when everyone can actually get together.
As for the video, it was filmed in a warehouse in Paris and it was directed by Jonas Akerlund, a prolific video director who is best-known for his work with Madonna. The video stars Noomi Rapace, the Swedish actress who starred in the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy and who later appeared in Prometheus.
One thing about the Stones: they don’t quit. The band has existed for nearly six decades and they’re still making music that demands to be played loud.
Enjoy!
I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. The trailer looks intense and it’s got an amazing cast. Not only do we have Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy reunited for the first time since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy but you’ve also got the original (and still the best, regardless of what the Fincherites say) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace!
Earlier this year, I was one of my many people to be surprised by the fact that James Gandolfini did not receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for his performance in Enough Said. After all, Gandolfini was a talented and popular actor who died far too early and his performance in Enough Said showed that he was capable of playing a lot more than just Tony Soprano or other gangster types in films like Killing Them Softly.
Judging from this recently released trailer, The Drop will features Gandolfini in the type of role that he was best known for. Along with Gandolfini, The Drop features Tom Hardy and the only girl with the dragon tattoo who matters, Noomi Rapace. Perhaps best of all, it was written by Dennis Lehane, whose books have inspired superior crime films like Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone.
It’s funny how our expectations going into a film shape our perceptions of it while we’re watching it and, ultimately, our final opinions about it after we’ve seen it. Case in point : yesterday on this very blog I was talking about Snow White And The Huntsman, a movie I frankly expected nothing from, and about how, even though it delivered nothing but a substance-free series of pretty pretty pictures to look at, I wasn’t too pissed off about spending my hard-earned money to see because I wasn’t even sure it would deliver that much (or that little). Today, on the other hand, I’m going to be discussing a flick that I flat-out expected to suck, and that pretty much delivered on those expectations — yet left me feeling pretty well ripped off even though it, too was gorgeous to look at and even though, again, I figured it would be at least as bad as it was, if not worse.
I’m talking, of course, about Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s completely unnecessary Alien prequel. The reasons I went into this with essentially no optimism whatsoever are numerous — Scott hasn’t made a good film since Blade Runner, the script was co-authored by some guy named Jon Spaihts and one of the chief culprits behind the unwatchable, thoroughly confused mess that was TV’s Lost, Damen Lindelof (who’s apparently irked huge segments of the online film geek community with a recent series of over-the-top-in-the-self-serving-department comments), and frankly because any film that set out to “explain” and “demystify” the H.R. Giger-designed evil aliens form the original film series sounded like something with the power to not only be completely pointless (some power), but to actively detract from the impact the first film had by filling in a bunch of blanks that are best left — well, blank.
Of course, there were reasons for optimism, as well — a first-rate cast, sure-fire scrumptious CGI effects, and a promised “return to the Alien series’ roots” after some rather unfortunate side-steps and detours all sounded pretty cool, but I still went into this one prepared for the worst.
I didn’t get that. Instead I got a confused, cliched, every-bit-as-unnecessary-as-I’d-expected mess of a film that, in its defense, at least really does look amazing. Which was enough for me to give Snow White And The Huntsman a pass, admittedly — but hyprocrite that I am I just can’t be as forgiving when it comes to Prometheus. Why not? Because at the end of the day I don’t really give a shit either way about the Snow White legend, but I do care about the Alien franchise. A lot. Scott’s first film rates right up there with John Carpenter’s The Thing on my list of all-time great sci-fi horrors, and I even enjoyed most of the various sequels to one degree or another. So it’s fair to say that, even though I didn’t figure it would be, I still wanted this flick to be good.
So where to begin with the reasons why it wasn’t? Well, how about we start with that stellar cast I mentioned a minute ago. It’s completely wasted. Apart from the film’s “Ripley-lite” protagonist, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace, who turns in a heck of a good performance), none of the characters are developed at all. the very talented Idris Elba is stuck in a one-dimensional role as the titular ship’s captain and can’t even seem to decide what accent he should settle on when he’s speaking. Charlize Theron plays an ice princess — again. Michael Fassbender, at the top of pretty much every current Hollywood “hot” list, turns in a dry, uninvolved turn as the ship’s android that won’t be causing Ian Holm to lose any sleep (although, in Fassbender’s defense, the fact that Spaihts and Lindelof reveal that he’s robotic from the outset doesn’t help matters any). Guy Pearce, as old man Weyland, the expedition’s financier, might as well be replaced with a computer-generated stand-in. There’s even a completely pointless two-second cameo from Patrick Wilson inserted for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom. So much talent with oh so little to actually, you know, do.
Then there’s the script. Dear God, what a disaster. Shoehorning a bunch of unnecessary Chariots Of The Gods-style crap into the Alien “mythos” is about the worst direction these truly Lost writers could have chosen to go. Instead of illuminating anything (not , again, that much “illumination” was really needed — the original story stood on its own just fine), it just muddies the waters. There’s some laughably atrocious dialogue that wouldn’t sound out of place in an Ed Wood film (like when the ship’s geologist, in the midst of a massive freak-out, declares ” I like rocks, right? I really like rocks!”). And the main thrust of the action is essentially a direct carbon copy of the “story arc” from the first film (you know, for instance, who the only survivor is going to be from the outset). It’s like Spaihts and Lindelof can’t decide between trying to do something completely out of left field (albeit thoroughly confusing) or just settling on the same old blueprint so in the end, they go for both — and end up doing each competing narrative impulse a massive disservice.
I keep coming back to the amazing visual prowess Scott’s CGI gurus display here consistently from start to finish, and I suppose it’s worth mentioning one more time just to balance the scales here a bit, but what’s that old saying about lipstick on a pig? Prometheus cakes on the makeup, but underneath, its true face is still that of the victim of a particularly nasty car wreck. And like an accident victim, it’s so disfigured and tragic that you’re almost tempted to feel sorry for it — until you learn that said victim was driving drunk at 150 mph and the person in the other car (I guess that would be the audience in this case — bear with me as I stretch this metaphor way beyond the breaking point) didn’t make it out alive.
It takes an almost Herculean effort to not be as bad as I was fearing Prometheus would be yet still somehow leave me feeling even more cheated and let down than I would have felt had it actually been even worse (if that makes any sense at all) —yet that’s exactly what Scott, Spaihts, and Lindelof have managed to do here. File that under “go figure” and then, to return the already-worn-out accident metaphor, move along, folks — nothing to see here.
We get what could be the definitive trailer for Ridley Scott’s prequel to his Alien film.
This latest trailer is the international launch trailer and runs just a shade under 3 minutes. We definitely get a sense of what the film is about but not so much that it spoils the film’s entire story. Some have been anticipating this film since it was first announced and with each release of production stills and teasers the hype just continues to build. Then there are those who hate this film without even seeing it because they see it as either a cash grab or an attempt by a filmmaker to break a string of sub-par films.
I stand pretty much between these two camps. While I’ve always enjoyed Ridley Scott’s work even those he whiffs badly on I’m also hesitant to fully embrace this prequel as a can’t-miss without having seen it. So much about the Alien franchise has been ruined by badly made sequels and mash-ups that it’s going to take something momentous to have me put unquestioned faith back into the franchise.
Maybe Scott returning to something he’s familiar with and having had learned more about filmmaking since the first film means he’ll bring something new to the franchise and help bring it back from the brink of mediocrity. Here’s to hoping that is the case. One thing I’m sure of is that he’s got an all-star cast to work with.
Prometheus is set for a June 8, 2012 release date.
AMC Theatres were cool enough to have Prometheus Director Sir Ridley Scott and Co-Writer Damon Lindelof on hand to discuss some of the ideas behind their film, which opens in June. It looks like the new trailer that comes with it gives away a little more to the overall story, which has easily pushed this into my first pick for that “must see” movie this year. Some of the questions were pretty interesting, some dealing with the possible religious aspects of the story (in terms of the “Big Questions” that are asked), while others asked about connections to the Original Alien. One of the things that Scott pointed out was that he’d been there and done that with the first movie, so he didn’t want this one to be the same as that. One question and answer leaves me with my ears ringing and a cheese like grin stuck on my face:
Attendant: (Paraphrased) “In the original Alien, you had the monster come out of the man’s chest, and the actors didn’t know about it. Should we expect any surprises like that with this film?”
Sir Ridley Scott: “Oooooh yes!” (emphatically nods).
Thanks go out to AMC for making the trailer available on Youtube. Cool stuff. The actual Livestream of the Ridley Scott / Damon Lindelof interview can be found on the Livestream site, which is still repeating the interview that aired earlier this evening.
Originally, I wasn’t even going to write up a review of David Fincher’s rehash of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo because, quite frankly, if you follow me on twitter or if you’ve read any of the GWTDT-related articles that I’ve written on the site, then you already knew that I was going to hate this film. I knew I was going to hate it. So, I figured — what’s the point of me repeating what you already know about how I feel?
So, don’t call this a review because I’m certainly not going to. This is just how I, as an individual viewer with my own oft-stated prejudices, reacted towards Fincher’s remake. Take it for what it’s worth.
I knew that I would hate this film because I so loved the Swedish original and, unlike the people who write for sites like AwardsDaily.com, I am willing to be open and honest about my prejudices. AwardsDaily.com is one of the many sites that decided that the remake would be one of the best films of the year solely because it was being directed by David Fincher and, in their eyes, Fincher can do no wrong. These are the folks who declared that Rooney Mara was going to give the performance of the year before even seeing the film. Why? Once again, the key is Fincher.
See, that’s the dirty little secret about most film reviewers and cinematic bloggers. For the most part, they don’t so much critically review a film as they just jump on the bandwagon. Right now, the bandwagon says that you must love Fincher and, by God, that means you’re going to love Fincher even if the last truly challenging film he made was Zodiac. To his credit, in interviews, David Fincher comes across as being a lot more level-headed and honest than those who are currently insisting that you must love every movie that he directs simply because he directed it.
Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not an attack on David Fincher. David Fincher is a talented director and his films are always watchable. He’s a director who deserves to be seen and his version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is certainly watchable but, at the same time, is it one of the best films of the year as so many of the Fincherites out there are currently declaring?
Not hardly.
If anything, this is David Fincher on auto-pilot. This is Fincher being dark because that’s what Fincher does and not because of any sort of sincere artistic impulse on his part. This is a well-directed film but it’s a dreadfully insincere one. If you want to a sincerely dark film, see Zodiac. If you want to see a film specifically designed to appeal to an audience that wants to brag about how brave they are for going to the movies, go see Fincher’s remake of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The big question, of course, is who is the better Lisbeth — Rooney Mara or Noomi Rapace. Ever since Fincher was first announced as the director of this film, there has been a steady conspiracy to 1) shove Rooney Mara down our collective throats and 2) make us forget that it was Noomi Rapace that made the original film special and that she was truly the only reason to see the two sequels. At times, the conspiracy was almost ludicrously obvious. For instance, as soon as Mara was cast in the role, the editors of AwardsDaily.com suddenly decided that Mara was a lock to get a best supporting actress nomination for The Social Network. Because, the bandwagon logic went, she had to be the greatest actress of her generation or else why would Fincher pick her?
Well, you know what? Rooney Mara does fine playing a girl who happens to have a dragon tattoo but she’s not Lisbeth Salander. She is a male fantasy, a tough girl who needs a man to come through for her. Rapace’s Lisbeth was a true outsider. Mara is a little girl lost and all of you Fincherites out there can watch her and fantasize about rescuing her. Rapace’s Libseth was almost defiantly asexual. Mara looks at the camera and silently asks the male viewer to guess what she looks like without all those piercings. The difference between the two Lisbeths is that Rapace truly doesn’t need a man but Mara is secretly begging to be rescued. One of the strongest and most independent female characters in film history has been reinterpreted as a male fantasy. They should have just called this film The Girl With Rooney Mara’s Face.
I suppose that makes the film easier for patriarchal American audiences to swallow. Perhaps that explains why the audience I was with found it so hilarious when Mara got raped. Nobody laughed when Rapace got raped but then again, that’s because the rape in the original film was a true violation where the rape in Fincher’s version is just further fuel for male fantasies.
As for the rest of the cast — well, can we just be honest and admit that Daniel Craig isn’t that interesting of an actor? His version of Mikael is certainly a lot more aggressive than the character is portrayed in either the books or the original movie. Then again, Daniel Craig’s a big star. Daniel Craig is James Bond. You can’t just expect Daniel Craig to play passive. Daniel Craig’s the man, after all. As for Stellan Skarsgard and Christopher Plummer — they’re both great actors but how many times they are going to keep playing the exact same freaking characters?
Ultimately, the only real reason for Fincher’s film to exist is so American audiences can watch the story of Libseth Salander without having to read subtitles.
Enjoy it, America!
As I said before, this isn’t a proper review of the film because I’m prejudiced and you know what — if you didn’t enjoy the original Swedish films, you might love Fincher’s remake and more power to you. You are free to sincerely disagree with me and I will not hold that against you as long as you’re not a condescending toadsucker about it.
This week leading up to the Christmas weekend has surely been quite a busy one for film fans everywhere. Earlier in the week we got to see the new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises (and to a lesser extent the trailer for Wrath of the Titans). That was soon followed a day later by the first teaser trailer for Peter Jackson’s upcoming return to the world of Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Now we reach the triumvirate of awesome film trailers for the week with the release of the first official trailer for Ridley Scott’s return to the film franchise which made him a household name and helped redefined sci-fi (especially of the horror variety) films.
The trailer for Prometheus looks beautiful especially when viewed on 720p/1080p HD. It still doesn’t explain just exactly what the plot of the film is, but it does show some interesting imagery which harkens back to the original Alien from 1979. We even get to see a glimpse of the pilot chair where the “space jockey” sits and the very ship itself found by Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo from the first film. Even the trailer pays major homage to the original film by slowly revealing the film’s title one section at a time.
Scott has been saying that Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien and that it’s a film that could stand on it’s own without people needing to see the films in the franchise. So far, we haven’t glimpsed any of the typical xenomorphswhich defines the franchise. Time to see if they make an appearance when the film finally comes out on June 8. 2012.
Through the Shattered Lens 