Posts Tagged ‘Rooney Mara’

Short Take: Gets the atmosphere of the books, but not quite its most important aspect: its female lead.

Director: David Fincher

Screenwriters: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Stieg Larsson (novel)

Cast: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Yorick van Wageningen

Length: 2 hours 38 minutes

Synopsis: Based on the international bestselling thriller of the same title, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tells the story of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Mara) as they investigate a decades-old mystery. In the 1960s, Harriet Vanger disappeared from her family’s private island home in Hedestad, Sweden. Blomkvist agrees to investigate her disappearance after losing a libel case that destroys his credibility. Salander soon becomes his research assistant and as their personal connection intensifies, they are nearly added to to its list of victims.

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Short Take: Cleverly written and edited, it addresses more issues about its subject matter than one would presume

Director: David Fincher

Screenwriters: Aaron Sorkin (script), Ben Mezrich (book – “The Accidental Billionaires”)

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones

Length: 2h

Synopsis: Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg), a sophomore at Harvard in 2003, found himself envious of the social elite and decided to startup a website called TheFacebook.com with his friend Eduardo (Garfield) that would allow all of his fellow students to make personal profiles and socialize with each other like they never could before. Snags occur early and often during the early stages of the site’s development, but they are nothing compared to the legal and emotional troubles to follow. Three other students claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea for the website, but not even that is as disruptive as the tension that mounts between Mark and Eduardo when Napster founder Sean Parker (Timberlake) becomes involved and tries to steer the ship. Zuckerberg is forced to make some tough decisions, and unfortunately not many people are going to like them. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: What's different shouldn't be different, and what's familiar should have been original. An overall wasted opportunity.

Director: Samuel Bayer (feature debut)

Screenwriters: Wesley Strick (Wolf, Doom), Eric Heisserer

Cast: Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Little Children), Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body), Rooney Mara (Youth in Revolt), Katie Cassidy (Black Christmas (2006))

Length: 1h 35m

Synopsis: In an unsuspecting suburban town various teens begin to experience frightening nightmares that are dangerously real. And in those nightmares they all come across the same evil man named Fred Krueger who continually tries to viciously murder them. Some teens fall victim to his assaults, the rest try to find a way to stop him – and keep from falling asleep. Pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together, which lead the surviving few to a final confrontation with their supernatural terror. To come out on top, they’ll have to literally fight their fears. Read the rest of this entry »