The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Plummer
Director: David Fincher
Running Time: 160 minutes

Synopsis: (from the book cover)

A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.

It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.

It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo brings to life Steig Larsson's first book of his masterful Millennium  trilogy. As the movie opens, Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song (performed by Karen O) screams into the theater, setting the pace and tone for the film. It flashes in pieces and tidbits, exciting the viewer, drawing you in tighter, as it explodes across the big screen.

Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is a disgraced journalist caught in the trap of a scheming businessman/millionaire, Hans-Erik Wennerström (Ulf Friberg), literally robbed of his career. When Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) decides to hire someone to do what he has been unable to do and needs to finish before his demise, he looks to Mikael to accomplish the daunting task, to find the murderer of his niece, Harriet Vanger (Moa Garpendal).

She went missing 40 years prior after attending a children's festival. I say it is a daunting task because all the information is 40 years old, as are the pictures, recollections, police investigation. And Henrik is sure the murderer is a close family member.

Which leads us to the mysterious island of the Vanger family stronghold, Hedeby Island. It's where all (almost all) the Vangers live in relative peace, meaning they stay away from each other. Distrust runs rampant.

During World War II, the Vangers were known for the Nazi leanings, two of the three brother were Nazi sympathizers (Gottfried {Jürgen Klein} and Harald {Per Myrberg}), though Gottfried drowns himself in a drunken fall before Harriet's (his daughter) disappearance. Henrik is disdainful of his brothers, though with the disappearance of his niece, he has but little choice other than his nephew, Martin Vanger (Stellan Skarsgård) to operate the family business which interests are wide and varied.

Mikael's task seems insurmountable, and he asked for the use of an assistant/investigator which the family lawyer Dirch Frode (Steven Berkoff) readily provides, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) a twenty-three year old ward of the state, currently being abused by newly assigned legal guardian, Nils Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen).

She's a pierced, tattooed hacker/investigator known for her rough lifestyle and antisocial behavior, and admittedly, she has little reason to trust. Lisbeth is also a little lost, looking for an anchor, one she thinks she's found in Mikael. Together Mikael and Lisbeth piece together what might have happened, only to have reality slap them in the face, very much alive, in the here and now, and murdering still. Not everyone is who she or he appears to be, and the mystery grows.

One of the powerful lines in the movie, "I want you to help me catch the killer of women."

It will take all the skills of the rogue journalist and tattooed investigator to stay alive.

This is an amazing film that grips the viewer with the onslaught of images in the opening credits to the end of the wild ride of the movie. Twists and turns abound, danger lurks around every corner. I've read that the Sweden movie did better justice to the book, and I haven't seen the 2009 Swedish made film (but I want too). With all that said, Rooney Mara plays Lisbeth Salander, the socially different, outcast survivor to perfection and Daniel Craig (famed 007) plays Mikael Blomkvist with just the right amounts of human need, disillusionment, and vengeance. If you haven't seen this movie, it's high on my recommend list, one I'd like to see again, as well as the 2009 English captioned Swedish film of the same name, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It's a rock em, sock em, roller coaster ride. One of the best films I've seen (and I watch a lot of movies!).

Five out of Five Fairy Kisses (tempted to add 5 more!)

The Lincoln Lawyer ~ Movie Review

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Marissa Tomei, William Macy Jr., Ryan Phillipe, Josh Lucas
Director:  Brad Furman
Running Time:   118 minutes

The Lincoln Lawyer is the story of a criminal defense attorney, Mickey Haller [Matthew McConaughey], who has lost his driver's license (and though we're never told why.... he does like to drink...a lot). His driver, Earl, is kind of like his social secretary, people pull up and he pulls over. Mick likes to conduct most of his business right out of the backseat of his Lincoln Continental, his office on wheels, and very low overhead. Everything is going along swimmingly until Val (an electronics monitor) [John Leguizamo] sends some business Mick's way. A young wealthy playboy, Louis Roulet [Ryan Phillipe], has been accused of assault, attempted rape (and several other offenses) and he has asked that Mick take his case. His mother, Mary Windsor [Frances Fisher] is ultra-wealth, and can't have her son sitting in jail, where all the criminals are. This is when the story gets interesting, because a defense attorney doesn't get to defend very many innocent clients...

The pictures of the supposed prostitute who suffered Louis's hand are horrific. He can't even stand to look at them, his chin quivers as he relays his story to Mick, the innocent young man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And his story is almost plausible... almost. Then, incriminating evidence starts turning up... like his knife at the young lady's apartment. Mick can smell a set up, but at first, he's not sure who's being set up, him, his client, or the prosecutor [Josh Lucas]. He sets his investigator, Frank [William H. Macy, Jr.] on the job of ferreting out the truth.

In the meantime, Mick is partying it up with ex-wife, Maggie [Marissa Tomei], trying to find out what information is missing from his case. Then, the shit hits the fan. One day after Mick gets Louis out on bond, he starts seeing coincidences between this case and another, and he becomes suspicious all over again, Louis isn't being straight. And just when he thinks he's going to catch a break, someone murders Frank, and the most obvious killer is Louis.

As Mick begins to dig, Louis is stalking him and his family.  Is he a murderer is Armani? It only gets better from there.

If you haven't seen The Lincoln Lawyer, I highly recommend it. It's fast and funny, deadly serious, heart warming. I know everyone says that Matthew McConaughey only plays one part, the introspective exuberant over confident smart ass know it all. If this is the case, he does it so well, and I'd encourage him to do more, it is a treat. And as an extra bonus, he's easy on the eyes. This is a riveting movie, a power play, and until the very end, it was a whodunit with questions to be answered. There's also some interesting secondary characters, like the detectives [Michael Pare/Bryan Cranston] haunting his steps, the motorcycle gang and it's leader Eddie [Trace Adkins] who dogs his car and takes care of his problems as they crop up and he takes care of theirs, the young drug addict/prostitute, Reggie [Margarita Levieva] without her help, Louis can't be setup, and jail house snitch, Corliss [Shea Whigham] who sets the cops on Louis once again. I really wish William H. Macy Jr. had been in the story longer, only because I think he's an interesting character, never know what kind of part he's going to play or where it will go.

All in all, The Lincoln Lawyer was well worth from my sixteen dollars. I'm sure the dvd will join my collection.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

From the Cover:

Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn't recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.

Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense pro who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, to defend the clients at the bottom of the legal food chain. It's no wonder that he is despised by cops, prosecutors, and even some of his own clients.

From bikers to con artists to drunk drivers and drug dealers, they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. But when a Beverly Hills rich boy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Haller has his first high-paying client in years. It's a franchise case and he's sure it will be a slam dunk in the courtroom. For once, he may be defending a client who is actually innocent.

But an investigator is murdered for getting too close to the truth and Haller quickly discovers that his search for innocence has taken him face-to-face with a kind of evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, Haller must use all of his skills to manipulate a system in which he no longer believes.

All About Steve (or how to know if you're stalking you're would be boyfriend....)

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, and Thomas Haden Church

(only quibble with this poster, the umbrella is blue and white)

Okay, I know this movie came out September 4, 2009, but this is the first chance I've had to watch it, and can I say....  OMG....  this is probably the funniest movie I've seen since Steve Carrell and Tina Fey's Date Night.  I'm sorry I missed it in the theaters but at least, after watching All About Steve, I feel I've justified the expense of HBO for one more month.  LOL  (Not that True Blood isn't justification enough....)

All About Steve starts out with non-stop talking Mary (Sandra Bullock, and yes, with blonde hair) explaining her life to a group of children.  You see, Mary has an interesting job, she constructs the daily crossword puzzles for the Sacramento Herald, the paper's cruciverbalist.

Mary is smart, very verbose, laughs at her own jokes, and she's an all around nice girl who's closest friend is her pet hamster, Carol.  When her parents set her up on a blind date with another couple's son, Steve (Bradley Cooper), Mary is sure the date will be a bust.  I mean, really?  Mom and Dad?  Setting up a blind date?  For their adult daughter?  Then, she sees Steve, local cameraman for CCN news.... and her eyes go pop along with her mind and her knickers.  From the minute she sees Steve, she's sure she's found THE ONE for her.  She's uncharacteristically quiet on the walk to the car, but as she watches Steve talk, she feels his lips calling to hers, and... well, I guess you can guess the rest.  Lets just say... he wears her lip gloss... a lot of it...

Steve fakes a call from work to ditch the UBER HOT Mary.  But, he makes one fatal mistake...  he says he wishes Mary could come with him if not for her job with the Sacramento Herald.  That's all the incentive Mary needs.

(love Mary's red books she wears everywhere, she says it "makes her toes feel like ten friends on a camping trip"...  )

Her next crossword is entitled "All About Steve" which is impossible because no one even freaking knows Steve... she's only just met him!  Patrons are.... pissed.... upset because the puzzle makes no sense!  Which leads to Mary's dismissal from her job :(  but every dark cloud has a silver lining....

Mary has an epiphany..... Just maybe she was suppose to lose her job so she can follow Steve around the country in an attempt to be with him as he had requested on their first and only date that didn't get past the front (or I should say the back) seat of his car.

So, off Mary sets, job free, to locate Steve and when she finds him.....

Mary's like a puppy who finds a new home but maybe Steve isn't looking for a roommate?

So, one misadventure leads to another including Mary running along side Steve's news van, with Hughes (Thomas Haden Church) encouraging Mary to keep following Steve, and culminating in Mary falling down a gigantic sink hole that the CCN team is covering. 

With some quick thinking on Mary's part, she saves herself, a little deaf girl, AND the CCN reporter, Hughes, who inadvertently throws himself down the sinkhole to save Mary (and get his fifteen minutes of fame...).

Through all the running and chaos, Mary starts seeing herself as others do, and realizes people care about her, and for the first ever, new friendships develop.  Awwwww, (pass me a tissue please) and she realizes, she may not even need Steve.

If you haven't had a chance to see this entertaining little flick, I highly recommend renting it or picking up the DVD (or if you have HBO, keep watching, it'll show up or who knows, it may be On Demand again).

I laughed through the entire film, and Sandra Bullock's character, Mary Magalene Horowitz (it's her Jewish/Catholic heritage), makes the movie.  She wiggles, stomps her little red books in excitement, and jumps through hoop after hoop to find Steve who may be still hiding in the CCN News van for all we know... frightened of his would-be stalker/crazy almost girlfriend, Mary.

Date Night

Starring:  Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg
Director:  Shawn Levy
Rated:  PG 13
Running Time:  88 minutes

(Release Date:  April 9, 2010)

Date Night starts out as a New Jersey couple whose friends decide to divorce because instead of being exciting lovers, they've turned into comfortable roommates.  Phil and Claire Foster find themselves as a married couple who have lost they're passion, lost themselves, stuck in a rut of comfortable date nights with dinner consisting of salmon and potato skins at a local hang out.  Their lives have been become predictable, a quick dinner and even quicker sex, or sometimes, not at all, who has the energy?  All this changes when a friend tells them they've lost what little excitement was in their lives.  To prove their friend wrong, they decide to change things up, go to a swanky restaurant, Claw, dressed to kill.  But, upon arriving at Claw, they discover that reservations are needed at least a month in advance, because, damn the restaurant is just that popular.  While waiting at the bar, Phil and Claire hear a call for a party of two, the Triplehorns who are a no show.  Thinking quickly, Phil grabs their available table and they get tipsy and indulge in the restaurants finest cuisine.  As they're enjoying the end of their evening, they're accosted by two gentlemen who drag them to the alley demanding a jump drive they have stolen.  And from there the nightmare begins of being chased around New York City from the ritzier parts to the seedier parts and all the way back again.  It's one huge misadventure after another, with hilarity ensuing.

Phil and Claire call home to tell the babysitter to take the kids and leave from the urine infested phone.

Phil and Claire return to Claw to try to find the Triplehorns, fathom couple you never show up.

Claire's client, Grant Holbrooke, security analysis give the Fosters a few pointers on evading the dirty cops hot on their trail.

Phil and an innocent cab driver go for the ride of their lives.

Phil, sans the cab driver, sans the kindle, sans the jump drive, at the bottom of the East River.

Phil and Claire on the subway, trying to come up with a plan to save their hides and not get 'whacked off'.

If you want to watch a laugh until you almost wet your pants type of movie, Date Night is the movie to go see.  I laughed so hard, I couldn't cry anymore.  It was one mad dash with bad guys who were cops, cops who didn't know what the hell the Fosters were up to, and a dirty politician that was going to sweep NYC clean of crime, just as soon as he got his fill of it.

Night Watch (2004) US Release: 2006 ~Movie Review ~

Night Watch is a Russian film that I had to watch through subtitles. And that was the only drawn back, well worth the time it took to read a few subtitles. The film is campy, but no one said campy was bad. The actors were unknown Russian players that increased my interest. In this action packed independent foreign film that oozes with the dark urban fantasy that my body craves, and as the film starts, the battle between good and evil has been raging for centuries. Driving those who see the Light and Dark to near madness.

The battle between the Light and the Dark will continue until an epic battle is waged, one against the other. A cursed virgin will have to chose which side to throw their allegiance. Anton, one of the Light Others, a non-human/human doom to see and fight what humans cannot, the Dark Others, the vampires living off human blood and walks among these humans without their knowledge. He has been called upon to either break the curse or kill the cursed virgin, a woman who's cursed herself by wishing for her mother's death. Or so the Light Others think.

Legend has it that the cursed virgin will cause death with the simple touch of her hand, a woman legend says (doesn't it always say a woman?), will bring death of animals, children, the helpless. What the legend doesn't say is that the virgin may have been cursed from birth. Anton has caused the cursing of an unborn child, the child his young wife was carrying at the time of their marriage. The child of her lover, a child that is not his own. In seeking the help of a Dark Witch, Anton seals his fate, wishing for the return of his wife, but not the child. But, in cursing this unborn child, Anton has unknowingly cursed himself to be an Other as well as the child.

The balance of power between Light and Dark is currently held in place with the knowledge that the Great One is coming and will chose a side, Light or Dark, to help win the battle. Yegori, the unborn child of Anton's wife, is that child. But who will he chose, the Light that has saved him once before from the vampiric death, but also cursed his life and wished his death? Or the Dark, which allowed his birth to occur, but also would have allowed his life to be drained away in a crazed newborn's first vampiric feast? Keep in mind that the Dark never play fair.

(Anton and Olga - partners, each cursed in their own way. She is release from her trapped existed of the snowy owl to help Anton in his quest to save the boy.)

Decisions...decisions.... Excellent viewage on Love Stories With Bite. I loved it.

Here's a taste of the trailer, without the subtitles!

Star Trek (2009) ~ The Future Begins ~ The Next Gereration?

Running Time: 127 minutes
Genre: SciFi, Action/Adventure
Director: J.J. Abrams
Rating: PG13

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

As the movie opens, the USS Kelvin is in the fight of it's life. If it doesn't escape, all aboard will died. And unknown enemy is charging weapons, requesting the Kelvin's Captain to brought aboard...He knows it's an one-way trip, and leaves young George Kirk in charge. There can be no surrender, no escape...but the Kelvin can try to take as many of the enemy with them as they can...a course is laid in for impact with the enemy vessel.

As young George perishes with the Kelvin, a new line is being born, James Tiberius Kirk has arrived to reek his own form of havoc. Young James has problems staying under the radar of the local authorities and this doesn't change with age. He's rebellious without the influence of his parents. His mother has had trouble accepting George's death and she keeps herself busy off planet. But maybe joining Starfleet is what the doctor ordered.

James Kirk has many obstacles to overcome to become the man he needs to be, to live up to the memory of George. But he's smart, clever, and irresistible. During his time at the academy, he meets people that will become his friends for life, including Bones, Uhura, and Spock. At first, not all of them see eye to eye, most would like to kick his ass, but there's that irresistible factor.

He's supposed to be suspended for cheating the Kobayashi Maru; the test that is impossible to win. He takes it's three times, but the third times the charm...or is it? Just as he's put on suspension, the enemy that killed his father appears to be on it's way to Vulcan, part of the Federation.

Nero, a Romulan mining ship captain, is out to avenge the death of his family and planet; to do so, he'll kill anyone who gets in the way of his ultimate goal --- to make one S'chn T'gai, better known as Ambassador Spock of Starfleet command watch as his home planet of Vulcan is destroyed. It would seem he holds Spock Prime responsible for the destruction of his home planet, Romulus, which was accidentally destroyed by the using of a powerful explosive called Red Matter(some 25 years in the future), and Nero plans to use it on Vulcan, quickly to follow will be Earth, as the head of the Federation.

As the Enterprise heads in to intercept the as yet unknown enemy, Captain Pike discovers James Kirk has gotten himself above his vessel, and decides that right now, Starfleet needs all the help it can get, even if it means having a suspended student on board. When the enemy is encounter, it is again demanded that the captain brought aboard the enemy vessel to be tortured and killed. And Captain Pike leaves the young Kirk as second in command, behind Commander Spock.

I have to say this is the best freaking movie I've seen in a long time. I've tried not to give any spoilers that aren't already out on the internet. There is way more to the story and the ending is superb. It was amazingly well done, the special effects outstanding, the script gripping and compelling. This is not just a prequel to the series or the movies, it is re-adaptation of Gene Roddenberry's idea; a re-conceiving of what Star Trek could be. This movie changes the storyline of original show and all the movies to date that have followed and leaves the field wide open for this new storyline to continue. In the original series, James Kirk's father lives and influences his life. He grows up a farm in Iowa surrounded by his family. In this incarnation of Star Trek, James is a loner, in trouble with authorities, living with relatives who really don't want him. It's Captain Pike's suggestion for him to join Star Fleet and prove he can live up to his father's memory.


Original Captan James T. Kirk played by William Shatner.


James T. Kirk played by Chris Pane.

All the characters from the show are introduced into this movie. Captain Pike in the original show from the 60's, was so damaged in an accident with Delta radiation that his body was all but destroyed and he lives life from inside of a box on wheels. Captain Pike in this showing is a virile man able to hold young Kirk's interest and command his attention. He was the one of the first commanding officers of the Enterprise in both the movie and the show. In the series, he's Spock's commanding officer.


The original Captain Christopher Pike, surviving life in a box.


Captain Christopher Pike played by Bruce Greenwood.


On the bridge of the Enterprise with Cadet Kirk, Bones, and Sulu.

The origins of Kirk's friends are discovered in this movie as well. Bones and Uhura are at the academy with him, as well as Sulu and Chekov. Spock is young in Vulcan years, but has still attained the position of instructor at Starfleet Academy. He's the one who wanted Kirk suspended for cheating. They don't like to be in the same room together, let alone on the same ship. Spock is much more personable, showing his love for Uhura. Scotty comes into the picture as a stranded Starfleet officer assigned to a mining planet as punishment for arguing warp theory. But the Enterprise needs his brain if they are to defeat this enemy.


Spock and Uhura - a love story played by Zachary Quinto and Zoë Saldana.


Chekov played by Anton Yelchin, Kirk played by Chris Pane, Scotty played by Simon Pegg, Sulu played by John Cho, and Bones played by Carl Urban.


Nero played by Eric Bana - Can anyone see the incredible hulk here?


The Starship Enterprise, newly outfitted and ready for service.


This trailer shows the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) who plays reprises his role in this movie known as Spock Prime.




The characters that makes up this fantastic movie, Star Trek.

This is another trailer released for this kick-ass movie.



Here's a peek at the international movie poster.

Knowing Starring Nicolas Cage

Running Time: 130 minutes
From: Escape Artist and Summit Entertainment
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction

From the Movie Poster: What Happens When The Numbers Run Out?

As the movie opens it is 1959, the William Dawes Elementary School is finally finished with construction and to commemorate the occasion, they're burying a time capsule with drawings of the future kept safe inside. That is except for Lucinda Emery, she's burying numbers....

Flash to present day - 50 years later - Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury) is participating in retrieving a time capsule. Inside are pictures, except for one that ends up in Caleb's hands. His father, MIT Professor and astrophysicist John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) sees correlation between the numbers and catastrophes throughout history. Hurricanes, plane crashes, the Kennedy Assassination, floods, fires, 911, shootings, and the death of his wife one year earlier in a hotel fire. And there are three dates left on the paper. He soon discovers that a second group of numbers gives location in longitude and latitude. Who will he tell? What will he do? Caleb has started having visions and visitors who wanted to take him away, to protect him.


John tries to contact Lucinda, but she has died from a drug overdose due to medications prescribed for her presumed mental illness. Her daughter, Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), first rebuffs John only to seek him out later, saying her mother always told her the day she was going to die....it will happen in just two short days. And her daughter, Abby (Lara Richardson - also plays young Lucinda), has started to have visions and visitors who want to take her away, protect her. What is happening?

As John further works with the numbers, more information is discovered, in two days 33 people will die, maybe one of them Diana. It will be a mass catastrophe like the Earth as never seen. John is an astrophysicist who has been predicting solar flares, but the flare that is to occur is the biggest recorded in history, it was suppose to happen in space. But something has happened and now it is directed at Earth. John discovered with Diana's help that instead of 33, it is actually EE, Diana's mother's term for Everyone Else. It would seem the destruction of Earth is at hand and no one can prevent it. The visitor are only interested in the children who have had the visions, to rebuild on another planet, another tree of life.

Nicolas Cage happens to be one of my favorite actors since Valley Girls and Peggy Sue Got Married. The 1980's were a long time ago, but that's when I discovered him. I have seen nearly all of his movies, a few I wish I hadn't, but only a few. In Knowing, he is the one who figures out all the events that have happened and that are yet to come. He has fallen away from his pastor father since the death of his wife. He can't accept that there is a God that would take someone so important away from him. Later, after remembering his wife's wishes, he makes peace with his family as they wait together for the end to come.

Knowing is a scifi thriller that can be viewed as just that, a thriller. Others have said it should be viewed through a biblical eye, viewed as the hand of God and the rebirth of mankind. I'll let you choose. I knew none of this before agreeing to go see the movie. It was an excellent movie as long as you're a viewer who enjoys massively destructive movies. The special effects were amazingly well done. This movies brings CGI to a new level, in that the opening scene of the movie shows the Earth imploding in on itself, the viewer just doesn't realize what it is, that it is in fact the Earth, and doesn't know why.........yet.

Here's the trailer for Knowing.


And some fun from Valley Girl in 1983.


And to back 1986 for Peggy Sue Got Married.