TheRetroCritic

The original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a film I expected a lot from. Overhyped upon its release, it was really being pushed as THE next must-see thriller series. Bourne was done, Bond and Ethan Hunt were on their gap years: this was the sexy European fix we needed. What we got was a cross between a TV movie-style investigation, a classic whodunit and a sexy, modern, kickass thriller. It hardly blew me away but it worked and although I was no fan I acknowledged it was well made and was a good example of the genre. Now David Fincher is in as director for the remake and the likes of Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard make up the cool US cast. The result? It's the same. Well, more or less the same. You've got a swanky Placebo-style music video to get you started as a kind of dark, modern, gooey Bond opening title sequence complete with fire, Led Zepellin AND hornets. Not sure how useful that really was but I enjoyed it: it was

Something of a cult classic in France, this nasty little black comedy is very simple but effective. An evil, manipulative (and possibly clinically insane) old lady treats everyone around her like crap in order to either get her own way or just have her sadistic fun with them. Everything goes fine for her as she tortures her family until she finally meets her match. Worth seeing if only for this one scene where she gets slapped in the face, which is MONUMENTALLY amazing on so many levels, Tatie Danielle is a dark and fun treat for those with a slightly twisted sense of humour.