Bit rich of Scarlett Johansson.

I won one month's access to an app that allows me to read various magazines on my phone from McDonald's Monopoly, which has provided a satisfactory companion for my commutes.

I was browsing one of the magazines when I saw this quote from ScarJo:

Saying we need to support other women sounds very nice in principle but I didn't see her doing as much when she stole a role from an east Asian for Ghost in the Shell. GitS underperforming at the US Box Office is apt karma for such brazen whitewashing, if you ask me.

I am so sick of:

a) Hollywood actresses stealing roles from east Asian actresses who struggle with visibility in film enough as it is (ScarJo, Emma Stone, Tilda Swinton), and 

b) white feminists who purport to care about equal rights for women, when all they care about is equal rights for themselves (Jennifer Lawrence, ScarJo, Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, the list is endless). 

These women would trample over women of colour in a heartbeat if it meant progressing their own (already thriving) careers, yet still want the crown of being ~all inclusive~.

Fuck that.

I’m so Thirsty (You already know).

When I’m not whining about how terrible the music in La La Land was, I like to sample a wide range of food and drink. My brother, graciously, shares this passion, so when he was back home over the Christmas holidays we basically raised Tesco and just bought whatever drinks we thought looked pretty.

Here be photos of and brief thoughts on said buys!

Film review: THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (Daniel Alfredson, 2009)

A year on Lisbeth Salander’s minor victory from the end of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the eponymous character back in Stockholm. Mikael Blomkvist, who’s magazine Millenium, she had helped gain back a legitimacy in the first film, is now investigating sex trafficking. At the same time, a bunch of murders (including that o the lawyer who raped Salander in the first film) occur, framing Salander for the murders. Lisbeth Salander knows it’s time to go on the run. She also knows that someone is after her.

As with the first film, what makes The Girl Who Played with Fire is Noomi Rapace in the lead role. With her short spikey blame hair, multiple facial piercings and tattoos and skinny frame, she is the physical embodiment of Lisbeth Salander, but her performance is just as noticeable, if not more so, than her physical attributes. In one scene, where she has a man tied up by the neck and is trying to extract the truth from him, face painted white (for some reason), Rapace’s reactions to learning each new fact totally mirror our own. 

It will be interesting to see how Rooney Mara, who turned heads as Jesse Eisenberg’s love interest in The Social Network, will fill her shoes in David Fincher’s big-budget Hollywood adaptation of the series. From the photos, she looks every bit the part, but Mara has her work cut out filling Rapace’s shoes.

What distinguishes this instalment of the film from the first is that here, we delve deeper into Lisbeth’s murky past, with the reasoning behind her cold exterior illustrated somewhat, especially when we find out why she was labelled “incompetent” in the first place, and what she did to get herself thrown into scare. At the same time, as events become progressively more sinister, Lisbeth comes to accept that sometimes, she can’t handle the world entirely by herself, and becomes more receptive to the held from her friends. At the top of these people is Mikael Blomkvist, who’s belief in Lisbeth’s innocence never falters for a second. 

As anyone who has read the books will know, the Mikael/Lisbeth will they/won’t they romantic subplot is ongoing throughout the trilogy, and the natural chemistry between the two actors is likeable and believable. Unfortunately they spend much of this film apart, but even so, the way they communicate via short, staccato messages through computers (which Lisbeth hacks expertly) all builds to what I feel is one of the on-screen duos of the 2000s.

That the film is not quite as thrilling as the first is more down to two things. Firstly, the whole “missing person” plotline of the first was a little more interesting. Secondly, it is due to the very high precedent set by the first film. From some scenes, it is easy to see how these two films, and the finale, were adapted into a six-part TV mini-series in its homeland Sweden, as production value is generally not the highest. But, nonetheless, The Girl Who Played With Fire is an intense, well-sculpted bit of filmmaking, worth watching, and one that doesn’t shy away from the dark underbelly of the Swedish underworld. I eagerly await seeing the third.

The Monday Mmm.

Today, it's scans of Ewan McGregor for the Japanese CQ magazine.

1 // 2 // 3 // // 4 // 5 // 6

People magazine looks back at the movies of the Summer.

the scan

This is what it said:
Best in Show: The Dark Knight
Funniest performance, intentional: James Franco, Pineapple Express
Funniest performance, unintentional: Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia!
Summer MVP, Male: Robert Downey Jr
Summer MVP, Female: Penélope Cruz
Worst Ending: Bung and the City Movie
Best comback: Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder
Least Memorable: that Indiana Jones movie that came out
Best Romance: Wall-E

Thoughts:
- Good to see Penélope Cruz on there for female MVP (Most Valuable Player). Though I haven't seen Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it looks like a really interesting movie and I hear that Scarlett's trampiness is redeemed by her and Rebecca Hall's loveliness. Plus, I have seen Elegy and whilst the movie itself could be a candidate for "Least Memorable", Penélope Cruz was on sizzling form in it.
- Massive yay for Wall-E as best romance. I think it was one of the most beautiful romances I've ever seen. The romance was so innocent, and different, and refreshing, and cute... And it's not just Wall-E who fell in love with Eve; I did too.



- Do I detect a hint of snobbery? Pierce Brosnan wasn't brilliant in Mamma Mia! (his singing... no thanks!) but he didn't have to be, and I can produce a litany of Summer performances that were much more unintentionally funny than his: Keira & Sienna in The Edge of Love, Luke Goss in Hellboy 2, those two who can't stop bunging in The X-Files Movie, etc etc etc.
- I'm not sure if the film came out in the States, but Somers Town was one of my favourite films of the year. At 75 minutes long, it was a bit of a rip-off where ticket prices are concerned, but the ease and subtlty at which Shane Meadows captured a friendship between two boys in North London was an absolute joy, not least in its own idiosyncracies (one boy gives the other a counterfeit Arsenal shirt with "Terry Henry" on the back).



- Don't think I would have The Dark Knight as the best film of the Summer. Whilst it had many, many amazing qualities and was highly entertaining and thrilling, Wall-E just did a bit more for me. I ♥ Wall-E.

I like.

Vanity Fair's Atonement:



^^Joe Wright, James McAvoy & Keira Knightley.