Why remake something so good?

I am enjoying a day off from working at the movie theatre by staying home and having a movie marathon. So far today : Forrest Gump, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Little Miss Sunshine.

I hadn't watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo until today. I have read the book so the plot was no surprise, but it was still a new experience. I am left a bit unsettled and completely blown away by the movie, much as I was by the book. First off, the Swedish title Men Who Hate Women is a better title for this story than the somewhat trivial sounding The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. That is essentially what this story is about which is why it is so unsettling and disturbing. It does not hold back, and despite some criticisms that I have read, I did not find it glorified and of the violence against women depicted and described. The violence that is shown is frighteningly realistic and graphic but not celebrated. Although I am rather afraid it will resort to this in the Hollywood version coming up, but that is another whole issue.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is somewhat of a feminist story in its own way. Its protagonist is a heterosexual white man, but its heart is in the character of Lisbeth Salander. She is a strong, stubborn woman who has been mistreated and abused by all kinds of people who are supposed to be on her side. She has no sympathy for men who hate women. She gets revenge. She is not your typical Hollywood female character. Of course, this is not Hollywood. This is so much better.

In this movie, a murder-mystery storyline is deftly woven in with greater social problems like sexism, misogyny and Nazism. This is one that makes you think. It is a movie that deals with the dark side of humanity. The things we wish didn't exist in human beings, but the things we cannot ignore. The degree of evil that humans are capable of is shown here without being glossed over. It makes me wonder why we are capable of such darkness.

After watching this movie, I still have lingering feelings of being unsettled for a number of reasons. Many of which are related to thinking of how women are (mis)treated every day by society at large. By men who think it is ok to catcall on the street, to the media who seem to care more what female politicians wear than what they have to say, to men who think a woman's place is in the kitchen, to those men who think rape is "taking what they want or deserve." Sometimes our society can be incredibly frustrating. However, I like when a movie makes me think about my life, about society in general, about the problems we face. There may not be any answers offered but I like a movie that makes me think about the questions. We cannot ignore what we don't like and hope it will go away.

With that, I return to my movie day. My parting note on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I do wish the English version had kept its bolder Swedish title. Men Who Hate Women is too bold to look away from. You can't pretend it is a murder mystery and ignore the feminist undertones. That title forces you to confront the problem.

My love for movies can sometimes be excessive. I do not want to try to imagine how much money I have spent on DVDs over the years. Thankfully I haven't had to pay to see a movie in over 6 years or it would be even worse. I have decided to put this love into something semi-productive that hopefully someone will find interesting and start blogging mostly about movies.

Working at a movie theatre since 2004 has caused me to take movies for granted at times. Up until Christmas I was in one of those times. Recently I rediscovered my movie love and this past week I saw what I believe to be two of the best movies to be released in 2010.

First was The King's Speech. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. It is a beautiful story and amazingly well acted. It made me laugh and cry. This is a special movie that I would suggest to anyone. I love moives that are carried by good scripts and excellent acting. This movie delivered in both areas. There isn't really any action and it is still an absolutely amazing film.

Then a couple of days ago I finally got to see The Fighter. Another wonderful story carried by beautiful acting. Christian Bale gives the performance of his life. He deserves all of the awards season hype that he is getting. Mark Wahlberg also gives a stellar performance in his role. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams also show off some incredible acting abilities in their roles. The story is both heartbreaking and uplifting. I also lovedf the rock songs used in the soundtrack. Any movie that uses "Good Times, Bad Times" and "Back in the Saddle" in its soundtrack wins points with me. Also, the way this movie was filmed added to the overall tone.

These sound like technical, short reviews of movies, but to me, it means more. I love the humanity in movies. I love what they can tell us about our lives and ourselves. I love seeing our society reflected back from the screen. Seeing movies made in past decades can allow us to see the dominant ideologies of that time. Seeing movies today set in the past lets us see how we currently perceive things to have been at those times. And all of the movies that I love allow me to see something about people that makes me feel something. Sometimes it is about seeing the good in people, seeing people rise above thier original circumstances, overcoming adversity and leaving me hopeful. Other times movies that I love show the other side of humanity. They show the things we wish did not exist in people, the darkness and the things we wish we could forget exist. As long as it speaks to me about something human, something true, I can usually find something to love. Even when it is hard to watch, as long as it hits the heart it can be something for me.

And this ends my inaugural blog entry. I welcome any suggestions of movies I should watch, any recommendations, any genre. I will try to write a little something on as many movies that I see as possible and hopefully I will have something worth saying that people like to hear.

Thanks for reading