Change Your Image
rowdyossuary
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try again(listed in no particular order)
*note this is a work in progress
Reviews
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
American vs Swedish, two very different movies for different audiences
I can't help but wonder if my opinion would be different if I had seen this version before having had watched the Swedish one. Perhaps I would have liked this version more than I do.
Tonally and stylistically, these are two different movies. Undeniably, the sound design, set design, and general "style" is much nicer in Fincher's version. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a watchable film. I can see why most people prefer this version. Some things that irked me are some very obvious mpaa issues the film maker had in censoring.
However, a compelling unraveling slow-burn mystery, this is not. Watch the Swedish version to feel more like you're following along with the characters and how they all develop over time. Fincher's version feels much more fast pace, things just happen without much buildup. I suppose that quality makes it feel more spontaneous.
I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are two very different movies.
- - - Which One Should You Watch? - - - - -
Watch the American version for a faster paced and digestible film with lots of eye candy and extremely good sound design.
Watch the Swedish version if you love to unravel what feels like an actual mystery and growing to love the characters slowly over time as you discover along side them.
Rats (2016)
Rats is a horror movie disguised as a documentary
The cinematography is great. Lots of interesting footage, always something to be watching. But don't be mislead into thinking you're actually going to learn something about rats besides fear mongering we've all heard before. Seriously, they lay on the "mood" HARD. Constant droning and thumping horror movie music playing throughout, stock rat noises playing whenever there's one on screen, flashing still images of a rat's open mouth and "attacking" you. That sort of thing.
I love rats, but that's not why I dislike this movie. I'm not illusioned to the reality of them and I was really looking forward to viewing this documentary. I was hoping for a movie going through the history of rats and the relationships we've had with them as humans, the history of disease, as pets, their biology. I guess overall, I was hoping for something with substance and would leave me with new and interesting information on these largely misunderstood animals. Instead you get a movie that is exactly the opposite of that: encouraging fears and assumptions.
I'm not saying don't be careful of wild rats, but adding a horror score and "shock stills" is completely unnecessary and juvenile. Imagine doing this about say, a documentary about great white sharks or wolves. This helps nothing and only encourages us to be afraid.
I wouldn't mind a rat horror flick, but don't dress it up as substance.