Nerdy MJ Reviews The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Swedish Version)

***WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Title: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Writer(s): Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg, Stieg Larsson

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Micheal Nyqvist, Lena Endre

This is a movie I've been looking forward to watching for quite some time ever since I read the first book in the Millennium trilogy. However, I'd like to give a word of warning to anyone who, like myself, is new to the world of the trilogy and is reading it for the first time: Do NOT watch this movie before you finish the series. Just don't. It is filled with spoilers and foreshadowing that could potentially ruin the series for you.
Anyway, with that aside, I would just like to say that this movie was amazing and it's kind of making me question whether or not I should even bother with the American version of the film. But don't worry, I will be watching it if only to compare the two. I do, however, have some complaints about this version, which is the original Swedish film.
As far as casting goes, it's my opinion that the only character they nailed 110% was that of Lisbeth Salander. Noomi Rapace did an amazing job and did nothing to dampen the fangirl crush I've been harboring on the character because, seriously, Salander is just so f*cking cool. As for the characters of Mikeal Blomkvist and Erika Berger, well, let's just say the choices could have been a lot better. Like a lot a lot.
Okay, okay, Micheal Nyqvist didn't do a bad job as Blomkvist. The acting certainly fit the character,and if I'm being honest here my only real complaint is that he did not at all fit the Blomkvist I was picturing inside my head.
The cast choice for Berger kind of makes me cringe, though. I mean, in the book she's described as this cultured, sexy, much talked about magazine editor that has an on-going polyamorous relationship with Blomkvist for more than twenty years. That's a long time, and I get that she's supposed to be middle-aged, but in the movie, I can't help but think that she looks....Like.....Well, the exact opposite of that!

See this -- this is her! This is Erika Berger! Obviously!

I mean, for real, I just can't look at this picture without wondering when the last time she picked up a comb was. I guess that's probably more the costumes department fault than hers, but Lena Endre would be the last choice I'd make for Berger if I had a chance to make this movie over again. Maybe I'll come to like her in later films or something, but I just...I just...I can't.
She is so not right for this role to me.
Another complaint I have about the movie is that the foreshadowing -- AKA spoilers -- seemed really unnecessary. I mean, I guess they help to give us a bit of insight into Salander's character, but anyone who has the read the books would not need that insight and the incident brought to light by this foreshadowing wasn't even mentioned in the first book. They just threw it in the first movie just because!
Or more than likely for lazy people who decided they didn't want to read the books first, but I don't feel like being nice to them -- I was in the middle of the second book when I watched this. They spoiled parts of it for me very badly. If I had known about these spoilers beforehand, I would have NEVER watched this while I was in the middle of the trilogy. I would have waited and watched the whole thing in one sitting.
Spoilers and one less than ideal casting choice aside, this was still an amazing movie. Oplev and the writers did a hell of a job with making sure it stayed close to the book's dark, controversial, and somewhat disturbing plot and stay close it did indeed.The production value of the film wasn't great, though. I remember thinking more than once that it looked like a bad made for TV film, but that doesn't take much away from the film and certainly is not something to hold against it. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie and can't wait to watch the second and third films. Which I will be doing as soon as I finish the trilogy.
In the end, I'm going to award the movie eight of ten stars because everything aside -- which isn't much -- Oplev did a damn good job with this movie and despite its flaws, I'm jumping up and down in my seat with excitement at the idea of watching the next movies. Would I recommend this movie to everyone?
To everyone, no. If you can't stand subtitles, well then quite frankly this movie is not for you and I feel bad for you because I learned the hard way that some of the greatest movies of all time never even make it to the States much less get translated or remade in English. And if you dislike extreme violence, then yeah, stay far, far away from this movie. Like as far away as you can possibly get because this movie just like the book is not for the faint of heart.
Everyone else, though, do not miss this movie. I don't care that it's a couple years old or you didn't like the books or whatever. Just watch the damn movie.

Why Are People Criticizing J.K. Rowling?

Last week an article was released about an interview J.K. Rowling did with Emma Watson. In the article, it was revealed that Rowling felt uncertain about the RonxHermione coupling she created in the books and felt that Ron and Hermione would likely need couples' consoling. Then she said she felt like Hermione was probably better suited for Harry. Ever since, Potter fans all over the internet have been completely flipping their shit.
I mean, seriously, I don't agree with the idea of Hermione marrying Harry, but I never agreed with the idea of her marrying Ron, either. Honestly, I always kind of saw her getting Neville since her and Harry were too close, she fought with Ron too much, and Neville seemed like the only secondary character mentioned that wasn't a total douchebag or a complete idiot. Although, admittedly, it seemed like Malfoy and Snape rounded out a bit....Sort of.
That aside, I know extremely well insane dedicated fangirls and fanboys can be, but I also know how loyal they can be, too. So I'm actually really shocked that so many people are judging Rowling because of her opinion about the characters she created over something as petty as a freaking fanpairing -- oh, I'm sorry -- shipping. I find it especially shocking that people accuse her of trying to "remain relevant" now that Harry Potter is over and done with.
Yeah, because she probably called the magazine up and asked them to do interview herself. *Insert sarcasm*. She is J.K. Freaking Rowling. She invented Harry Potter and kick-started the fantasy genre hype again. A Lord Of The Rings movie would have happened eventually -- hell, there's probably a less famous one floating around that only super fans know about -- but do you really think it's a coincidence that movie came out the same year as Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone?
It's called marketing, people.
So, again, while I don't agree with Rowling's opinion at all, I think it is incredibly ridiculous that people who claim to be fans of her work are reacting to this with such hostility. I'm startled to see how quickly and easily dedicated fans can change or forfeit their alliance to a writer as brilliant as Rowling over something as small as shipping or fanpairing or whatever. Apparently, though, the fact that she wrote the childhoods of an entire generation of people who for years and years loved work doesn't matter now that she suddenly has an opinion about her work. That makes me sad.
That makes me so sad. It makes me feel like the fandom has abandoned her to a degree, and that's horrible, especially considering it's over such a little thing. I still think Rowling is an amazing writer, though, and I respect her opinion on the whole pairing situation. I don't agree with her and I'm definitely not saying she was right, but I don't really care that her opinion differs from mine because she wrote the series. Let her think what she wants.
That's my opinion on my subject.

Nerdy MJ Reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol.1: Change Is Constant

***WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*** 

Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1: Change Is Constant

Author: Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz

Artist:  Kevin Eastman, Dan Dancun, Ronda Pattison, Robbie Robbins

Back in the 1980's, the original TMNT comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, published by Mirage Studios, were some of the most popular comics probably ever written or thought of, and they're popularity led to a pop-culture phenomenon known as "Turtle Mania". It led to the release of comic book spin-offs, a cartoon series, and a live-action movie. Turtle Mania continued into the early 90's after the release of a not so great sequel to the original live-action movie and, seemingly, died altogether after the release of the third live-action Turtles film.
The hype did begin to pick up again in the early 2000's when 4Kids began running a new cartoon series on their Saturday morning cartoon block based off a new series of comics by Kevin Eastman, but it was nothing, IMO, compared to the more recent TMNT hype that was jump-started by Nickelodeon when they announced they were going to air a new CGI-animated cartoon series. This took place in 2012 shortly after the Micheal Bay blow up, I believe, and then directly afterwards, a new TMNT comic book series was announced.
The graphic novel I purchased today collects issues 1-4 of that new comic book series with art and story by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Dan Duncan. It's full of references to the original comics, movies, and cartoon series, which includes the art style in the book, which is characteristically Eastman. Or, at least, pretty close to it. Now, the art itself isn't a huge turn-off, but the fact that they decided to give all of the Turtles red masks is simply because it makes really hard to identify which Turtle is which. Even with the pages printed in color, it's not always possible to tell them apart by their weapons until you're a few panels into the fight scenes.
That aside, I am definitely feeling the new take on the Turtles' origins, but it is a little a confusing and I'm hoping everything will be explained in the second volume, which I hope to purchase soon. What's confusing about it, you ask?
Well, in this incarnation, we find three of the Turtles living with Splinter, desperately searching the streets of NYC for their lost brother, Raphael. Cool. I like that. It would be totally unsurprising if someone -- *cough*Leo*cough* -- pissed off Raphael to the point where he would actually run away for a while. In fact, he has -- in the movies, the 2003 cartoon series, etc., etc. So like I said, it's really not surprising and it's a great plot twist to the typical TMNT origin story.
The problem is that, according to what I've read of their origin story so far, none of the Turtles nor Splinter have had any ninja or martial arts training whatsoever and yet, they know ninjutsu. Or Splinter does, anyway, and even Raph, who supposedly got amnesia while he was lost in NYC, knows how to handle himself in a fight. Though, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Raph in this book only knew, like, street fighting that he picked up from random gang members who attacked him just because he was....Well, him.
So while I'm loving the plot twists that I've read about so far, I'm really not loving how confusing the story is at this point or the lack of multicolored masks, which just makes things even more confusing. I am hopeful, though, that this will all get cleared up in the second volume, which I'm hoping to purchase soon. Probably sometime next month. However, because of these little faults in the art and story, I'm only going to give a six out of ten.
I would still definitely recommend picking it up and giving it a good read, though, because even though the story was a bit confusing, it still does a damn good job at pulling you in and keeping you hooked. Not to mention, the Turtles are a household name a for reason. I've met people who have never set foot inside a comic book store once in their lives and know who the Turtles are. It's an awesome story full of unforgettable characters and unbelievable action. So if even you're not a Turtles super fan or just plan don't like them, I would definitely say that you should pick up this graphic and read it through. If you didn't like 'em before, I'm betting you would now.
Again I'm giving this book a six out of ten, but I'm extremely hopeful that the next volume will do better.
Thanks for reading guys.

Nerdy MJ Reviews Jurassic Park

***WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Title: Jurassic Park

Author: Micheal Crichton

We've all seen the classic, Stephen Spielberg movie that taught every 90's baby that it would be beyond terrible if dinosaurs existed in modern times. But today I still meet people that have no idea that this iconic blockbuster ever existed in paperback form as a New York Times' bestseller. Meaning, they've never heard of the book and have no idea who Micheal Crichton is.
No offense to them, but I knew that Jurassic Park was a book when I was nine. I took it home from the library, opened it up, and then stopped reading less than three pages into when I realized I had no idea WTF Crichton was going on about. I didn't know what a prologue was and I still can't pronounce Procompsognathus. So, needless to say, I decided to put off reading this book until I was older.
Well, I just finished reading it.
The writing is awesome, although some of the comedic scenes came off a bit campy times, which was a turn off for me, personally. I loved the entire first half of the book, though, and I get the hype. Mostly.
For me, this book kind of started to go downhill after the T-rex attack and not just because I realized the one in the movie was about ten times cooler and more terrifying. It's not because I think Crichton is a bad writer, either. I don't. I think he was probably one of the last few amazing scifi writers.
It's because I hated his freaking characters. Mainly, Dr. Ian Malcolm, who had actually been my favorite character from the movie. As far as the book goes, though, I can't f*cking stand the guy. Let me explain why.
We're all familiar, I think, with the lecture Malcolm gives John Hammond in the JP movie along with paleontologists Grant and Ellie. About how the scientists working for Hammond are unethical and lack moral, and it's true. They were unethical and they did lack moral. Not to mention, they were probably the stupidest f*cking scientists I had ever heard of in my entire life. Who in their right mind could possibly think it would be a good idea to not only clone carnivorous dinosaurs, but to place them on island full of people -- or that, technically, would be full of people?! I mean, really those scientists were just polishing their own egos by doing that. I get that and I totally agree with what is said in the movie.
In the book, though, Malcolm just doesn't berate the scientists of Jurassic Park. No, no, no. He goes onto to berate and rant about scientists and science, in general. And it goes on and on for numerous chapters almost right up until the end of the book. In case you're wondering if that could possibly get old after a while, the answer is yes. Very much so, yes. For numerous reasons.
For example, isn't a mathematician a type of scientist -- isn't mathematics and chaos theory, which Malcolm practiced and studied, used in science?
Not only that, but listening to Malcolm drone on and on about the evils science made me wonder if the cultural impact this book had on society in the 1980's and 90's had anything to do with the way some people view science today -- you know, as evil and unethical? I'll just let you guys think about that for a minute then.
Anyway, Malcolm is not the only character that was ruined for me in this book, I can assure you. There are several other things that made me not like it nearly as much as I thought I would have. I won't go into the biggest one, though, because would give away a ginormous spoiler and I'm pretty sure you guys would not appreciate that.
My rating for this book is going to be a six out of ten. The writing is awesome and the story is great, but scientific inaccuracies -- yes, because I care about those, even though I decided not to bore you with the details of an actual velociraptor -- and the cast of characters killed it for me, I'm sorry to say.
Would I recommend it to other people, though? Yes, definitely, especially if you're big into scifi like I am. Can't promise that you'll enjoy it, but yes, I would definitely recommend it.
That being said, I'm still hopeful that Crichton will have redeemed himself with The Lost World, which I will be reading in the future, despite this less than enjoyable reading experience.

Micheal Bay's 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Re-Make: Turtles REVEALED?!

***WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the remake/reboot/re-imagining/whatever Micheal Bay is doing of the 1990 original movie. Or if you weren't familiar with them before last year -- or was it the year before? -- when Bay dared to mention the words "turtles", "not mutants", and "aliens" in the same sentence, then I'm gonna assume you are now thanks to the unholy hell unleashed upon Bay by hundreds of thousands of TMNT fans via the internet. Myself, included ^_^
After Bay later responded to the fans and announced the Turtles would be of alien origins and would indeed be very, very mutated there really hasn't been much news for the movie. Except that Megan Fox is playing April O'Neil, the Shredder is now a white guy, and the Foot Clan is looking more akin to the Japanese yakuza than an army of killer, ninja thieves, but most people like pretend that this just isn't happening.
Although, honestly, the Foot thing is almost forgivable because the yakuza is Japanese, at least, and almost makes sense because they're, like, the largest organized crime unit in the world right now.
Anyway, last week a picture of a quite horrendous-looking TMNT Michelangelo children's costume surfaced on the web as a piece of supposed concept art for the new movie. The image horrified millions of  TMNT fans and left countless others scratching their heads in confusion. How else does one react when you find out the Turtles are gonna look like this? 

Let's be honest, it looks pretty bad. And what's with the bling and stuff? I mean, where would Mikey get this stuff -- Ron Jon's? He lives in a sewer, for crying out loud!
The next day, however, fans were appeased when a new image surfaced. This time the Turtles were depicted using figurines: 

Then even more images were released, so we get a look at the other Turtles.

I'll admit, they look pretty good as far as the whole "realistic Turtles" thing goes. They look very much mutated and turtle-ish. But I'm still having a hard time looking past Donnie's gadget-pack and all the other additional stuff that I guess was just thrown on to the give Turtles more personality. I mean, I know people throw away some pretty cool stuff, but if they've never, ever set foot above ground, then how are they getting this stuff? I know a lot of people like to hate on New Yorkers, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be dumb enough to throw high-tech computer gear into the sewer.
That aside, no amount of awesome graphics can make a movie good as far as the story goes, which has been proven again and again by countless Bay haters. If the rest of the movie sucks, then having badass Turtles is sort of a moot point and money down the drain, unfortunately. Whether or not the rest of the movie lives up to the awesomeness of these Turtle figurines, we will just have to wait and see.
Til then, I'm just gonna kick back and enjoy the awesome new TMNT cartoon series that's been airing Nickelodeon and hope for the best. 

Nerdy MJ Reviews The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

***WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Title: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Directed By: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Sam Claflin

This movie is the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson.
It is set, obviously, after the first movie and deals with the trials Katniss and Peeta face now that the games are over. Be that dealing with the fact that it is now painfully obvious that Katniss has little to no actual romantic feelings for Peeta or trying to keep the President from brutally murdering their families (who elected that guy?), it was all rather interesting to watch.
The first Hunger Games movie exceeded my expectations by actually being good and featuring brutal violence not because it looked cool or because the directors and producers thought people would like it, but because it was realistic. The tone of that movie was dark, bleak, and overall, horrifying. I mean, what kind of people would allow this sort of tragedy -- what was Europe doing about all this or Asia? Did they even exist anymore, and if so, why weren't they trying to stop this atrocity known as The Hunger Games from taking place?
The tone in this movie was more sickly sweet and upbeat simply because Katniss had already won the Games once before. Sure, she was now suffering through a mild case of PTSD (not a laughing matter, I know) and an incredibly awkward, somewhat forced love triangle because of it, but she had survived. A good portion of this movie revolved around Katniss awkwardly posing as Peeta's girlfriend who had saved his life in the last Games, while always thinking of Gale in the back of her mind (mostly). Not only that but I could literally feel how arrogant Katniss had become since the last Games, even in the face of the Quarter Quell. I suppose it was a good thing that that arrogance only permeated the atmosphere of the movie during the Quarter Quell, but still, I had thought she was a smarter character than that and smart characters do not, IMO, get wrapped up in their own arrogance.
Setting the romantic drama aside, I have to say that the story was definitely more interesting this time around. There were a lot of unexpected twists that I did not see coming because I didn't read the books (tried to, but couldn't -- sorry, Hunger Games fans). The obstacles and enemies the characters faced in this movie were a lot more interesting than last time around, though some of the obstacles were a lot less realistic, but, hey, they get points for trying. I think my favorite battle scene would be the one involving the mandrills. Always knew I was right to be afraid of those things. So I would also that the writing was pretty decent for this movie.
The special effects in this movie were amazing. There is no point in trying to deny that the movie makers did an excellent job with that, and the costumes and make were quite good as well. They were less costumey, and over the top this time around, and more high fashion, but in a way that I could see the clothes the characters wore actually existing in real life. Which they probably do. I imagine Katniss's white dress or a dress similar to it will be selling out everywhere as summer approaches.
I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of character development in this movie. At least not from Katniss or any of the main characters. I actually felt like Effie and Haymitch went through more character developement than anyone else in the movie.
Overall, though, I'm going to have to give this movie a six out of ten simply because I did not enjoy this movie as much as the last one for a number of reasons: The forced love triangle, the fact that this movie was less about rebelling against a tyrannical government and more about just surviving. I also did not enjoy the fact that the violence in this movie was toned down a lot and that the movie less realistic, less believable for me because there is simply going to be violence in a situation like the Hunger Games or the Quarter Quell, and it will be brutal. And the directors and producers, I feel like, they tried to ignore that fact and it did not work well for this movie.
The last thing I did not enjoy about this movie was that Katniss felt, to me, a lot more arrogant than she had been in the last movie and this isn't me attacking a strong, independent, confident heroine. I'm actually a humanitarian and I have no problem with strong heroines. I just feel like one must be confident in order to be arrogant and sometimes those things are one and the same. I feel like that was the situation for Katniss during the Quarter Quell, for whatever reason. Probably just because she's young and stupid, but it is my interpretation of her personality during that time of the movie and I, personally, did not enjoy it.
I did, however, enjoy seeing Effie and Haymitch grow as characters, and learning more about Katniss's sister, Primrose. I also enjoyed the costumes and the special effects more, but above all I did actually love the story because of all the plot twists and such. It was really, really enjoyable.

Nerdy MJ Reviews: Thor: The Dark World

***WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Title: Thor: The Dark World

Directed By: Alan Taylor

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, and Natalie Portman

The plot for this movie is relatively simple. It revolves around the return of the Dark Elves and their leader Malekith, who decide to exact their revenge on the Asgardians by seizing the Aether now that The Nine Realms are about to converge. The problem with that plan?
Well, the Aether requires a host body and after stumbling upon it accidentally, Jane Foster (Portman) became the new host. After discovering this, a somewhat depressed Thor, who seems to have been doing a lot of soul searching since his return to Asgard, retrieves Foster from Earth and brings her to Asgard in an attempt to save her. So, naturally, Malekith turns up on Thor's doorstep with a whole army of Dark Elves and a fleet of spaceships that look strangely similar to Star Wars TIE Fighters.
In an attempt to save both Jane and Asgard, Thor turns to Loki for help and heads to The Dark World where he tries to lure Malekith into one final battle.
Now, the costumes and effects in this movie were great. I absolutely loved them. I also loved how much Thor seemed to have matured and developed as a character since the first movie. The direction and scripting in this movie was great as well. Alan Taylor did great and they did a great job choosing him as the director. All of that was great.
I do have some problems with this movie, though. My first problem with the movie would probably be that it sort of felt like this movie was more about Loki than Thor, which I would have totally been okay with if the movie had Loki's name in the title rather than his brother's.
I mean, yes, Thor got some character development, but it really felt like Loki was the only one with any real character. It felt like, at the end of the day, the cast and crew put more work into Loki's character than anyone else's. And that's not what I, personally, as a movie-goer wanted to see. I mean, yeah, I love Loki. He's a great villain. Everyone loves him, but I wanted to see Thor make new mistakes and learn new lessons, and kick some ass in the process. And, yeah, he did all of that, but the majority of learning and making of mistakes was done off-camera, so that Tom Hiddleston's fangirls could have more Loki screen time.
My second problem with the movie is that Natalie Portman's character didn't really seem to have a reason for existing other than being there to act as the host body for the Aether. I mean, I'm seriously pretty sure the comedic relief got more screen time than she did, which is disappointing because the other thing I was really looking forward to with this movie was seeing some sort of change or growth in her relationship with Thor.
And that didn't happen.
Pretty much as far as that aspect of the movie goes, all we found out was that yeah, they still like each other.
Taking all of that into consideration, I'm gonna have to give this movie a 7 out of 10, which I think is fair because despite its flaws, it is still an awesome movie that Marvel fans are sure to love. That being said, please be sure to make this your Saturday night movie one weekend while it's still in theaters because this is definitely one superhero movie you're not gonna want to miss.

Cinema & Movies

Being a huge will movie buff, I have to have a page to post about cinema and movies. I just have to.
Now, not all of the movies I post will be in theatres because there are a lot of old movies on my Must Watch list, so hopefully you guys will enjoy reading about them.

If there's something you want to watch and write about, please feel free to suggest it in the comments below.