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David Fincher's remake of Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo now has its leading man -- Daniel Craig has signed on to play journalist Mikael Blomkvist in Sony's update of the wildly popular thriller. Craig's character is a disgraced reporter who finds himself tasked with unraveling a decade's old mystery involving the disappearance of a young woman from a wealthy family. The Girl Who Played with Fire is currently making the rounds in theaters, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is set to premiere on October 15.
Craig's deal has options for the actor to return for both sequels -- no small feat considering how busy he is these days. The performer who is best known for taking over the role of James Bond, could have a fledgling franchise in this series, and if the Comic-Con buzz is any indication, could have a third series in the works with Cowboys and Aliens. Trying to figure out the logistics of all these shooting schedules -- particularly if the next Bond film ever gets off the ground -- could be a real challenge.
With Craig now locked in, Fincher and company can start working on the next major casting selection -- choosing a young actress to play the role of antisocial hacker Lisbeth Salander. Deadline's list of potential candidates for the part includes Ellen Page, Emily Browning, Mia Wasikowska, Rooney Mara, Sara Snook, and Sophie Lowe.
I do like the casting of Craig in this part -- his Blomkvist should be similar to the one in the novel, which I just finished. Casting Salander is the more crucial, and difficult choice. Any of these ladies strike your fancy or would you prefer someone else?
The espionage thriller Salt starring Angelina Jolie opened this weekend, and like so many other women out there, I was holding my breath that this time Jolie would show that when it comes to action, it doesn't matter if it's a man or woman, it only matters that they can kick some serious a**. So judging by some of the reviews (you can see Eric's take here), the movie may not be a surefire hit, but sisters, we may be able to stop holding our breath because Jolie could still do the impossible: she could be the head of the first female-led action franchise.
There is nothing more satisfying to me as a female moviegoer than to watch a fellow sister clean house. If movies are wish fulfillment, then growing up in a culture where I've been told I'm not as strong or as my male counterparts, the image of a woman who is smart and resourceful, and doing a little physical damage is a dream come true.
Recently, Wired Magazine put together a list of the 'Female Ass Kickers' that are near and dear to the heart of any geek, and it's a pretty comprehensive list of ladies. But I started to think about some of the other kinds of movies that contain some pretty cool chicks that don't reside (solely) in the 'geek ghetto'. So even though every big-screen tough girl owes a debt to Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley, I looked a little further to find the women who have wowed me by being some of the biggest bad-a**es around -- so let's get started...
You will believe a cultivated, refined man is a brutish lout, a backwoods recluse prone to bursts of anger and unprovoked, violent assaults. Robert Duvall gives a finely-modulated performance as Felix Bush in Aaron Schneider's Get Low, which opens on Friday in limited engagements, and it's among his finest roles. And considering we're talking about an actor who's been nominated for six Academy Awards (winning once, for Tender Mercies) and has left an indelible footprint upon cinema for the past 40 years, what's most impressive is that he can still find ways to surprise, delight, and move audiences who may think they've seen every trick in his pocket.
With Duvall, though, it's never been tricks or tics. The old joke in Hollywood is that all you need is sincerity; once you can fake that, you've got it made. Duvall brings an in-born sense of integrity, rather than forced sincerity, to every character he plays. It may sound like a game of semantics, but Duvall manages to be exude honesty even when he's lying to your face. He believes what he's saying, even if he's fooling himself.
Duvall's career began in the 60s, and he brought Harper Lee's Boo Radley to haunted life in To Kill a Mockingbird in 1963. He stayed busy throughout that decade, but as a child of the 70s, I first got to know him through his portrayals of three powerful, strikingly diverse characters: Mob attorney Tom Hagen in The Godfather, television executive Frank Hackett in Network, and 'morning smell of napalm' loving Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. Yet none of those is his greatest role.
Mark Pellington's I Melt With You has been generating some buzz over the past few weeks. The director is looking to keep the momentum going with the announcement of the film's fourth male lead and the unveiling of a nearly five minute long teaser clip that shows audience's what the director's vision is for the project.
Pellington is also giving audiences their first look at what the film might be like -- might, because it doesn't begin filming until next month -- with a nearly five minute long clip featuring a disheveled Thomas Jane monologue intercut with scenes of nature. The clip is somber and the rest of the film sounds equally bleak. It's said to focus on the "pain of the modern male psyche" as it "follows four college friends now in their forties who find themselves immersed in various stages and types of mid-life crises."
Pellington said, "I am 48 and found a dearth of films that speak to my life experience. Where is my generation's version of Cassavetes' Husbands?" Good question. Maybe this will be it. The director, who has shot both music videos and thrillers like Arlington Road is looking to make this feature for a measly $1 million bucks, which wouldn't pay one of his four leads' salaries in a normal production.
Check out the clip after the jump then weigh in with your thoughts below.
The lines. The crowds. The crazy stabbing in Hall H! Con-goers had to deal with a lot just to make it to Saturday's delayed Marvel panel for Captain America and Thor, but they were rewarded handsomely for their patience with an epic presentation of gods and superheroes -- followed by the single biggest collective geek-out moment of Comic-Con 2010.
Yes, the Avengers pwned the competition.
The restless denizens of Hall H couldn't have been more ready to consume what Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige cooked up, beginning with a sparse, if effective, presentation of Joe Johnston's Captain America movie with Johnston, Chris Evans, and Hugo Weaving in attendance.
A brief -- and I mean, really brief -- teaser reel set the tone for the highly anticipated 2011 tentpole: A slow scan of Cap's familiar red, white, and blue shield layered over WWII newsreel footage, leading up to a reveal of Chris Evans in his Captain America costume. "Next summer, meet the world's first Avenger," the screen read, before the trailer ended with a first person view of Evans hurling Cap's shield at the camera.
David Fincher's remake of 
Mark Pellington's 
