Daniel Craig Is The Final Straw: Hollywood Has Stopped Caring

I highly recommend watching the Swedish film Män som hatar kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women), commonly known in America as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Do so before the evil Hollywood types butcher the film with a US version.

To get a feel for what I’m saying, watch the original Death At A Funeral then follow it up with a viewing of the 2010 remake featuring a pair of washed-out comedians (Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock) who haven’t been funny since sometime last decade.

The movie studios will attempt to bleed money from any penny they come across. As a blogger from Lazysupper puts it, Hollywood is creatively bankrupt. Based on the excessive number of remakes in recent years, I agree. There are 75 remakes in 2010 alone. There are US versions of Japanase horror films, 23 television shows being cooked up, and an ongoing list of movies which is quickly becoming astronomical in number: Clash Of The Titans, GI Joe, Transformers, The A-Team, Dukes Of Hazard, The Karate Kid, etc. Those are some of the films already released and we still have Tron, When Worlds Collide, Back To School, The Illustrated Man, Poltergeist, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rosemary’s Baby and about 50 more to go.

As anyone familiar with Fanedit can attest to, the problem isn’t in remaking movies it’s in remaking them so poorly. Movie studios obviously go about production with the same corporate mentality for cutting corners as BP and the end result is absolute crap!

The Swedish production of Men Who Hate Women is a powerful film. Thoughtful casting led to a final product where the actors could deliver in their roles. Acting is already the US version’s downfall, as Daniel Craig has been selected for the lead character Mikael Blomkvist. Popularity is obviously the motivating factor. I’m scratching my head to figure out how a guy who looks like the athletic cousin of Alfred E. Newman gained so much success. It certainly wasn’t because of his acting skills. From L4yer Cake to Defiance, the same persona gets rehashed film after film. Craig’s strongest (and inaccurate) performance as Perry Smith in Infamous was completely outshined by the stronger performance of Toby Jones as Truman Capote. If Craig is the star, expect every co-star to be dumbed-down so as not to outperform him.

So why Craig instead of Bryan Cranston, a superior actor and perfect fit for the Blomkvist role? For a long time now, filmmaking has not been about quality but instead about quantity. Studios churn out films with enough special effects or popular stars to draw people in the cinema doors. These end-products are the fast-food equivalent in filmmaking.

Daniel Craig is the final straw –I know Hollywood no longer cares at all. I’m actually surprised Angelina Jolie wasn’t cast as Lisbeth Salander. Instead, it looks like they’ll go with cutesy and adorable Carey Mulligan. She’ll do her best to look like Tegan and Sara, donning fake piercings and tattoos, and come across as nothing but artificial. So will the dopey-looking Craig pretending to be an intelligent investigative reporter. I’m not saying Mulligan is not a capable actress. She’s just not right for this part. Lisbeth had a rough life, especially when it comes to abuse from men. Noomi Rapace is the embodiment of Lisbeth. Neither ugly nor attractive, somewhat boyish and feminine all at once. Mulligan is no more right for this role than she would taking on Sigourney Weaver’s part in a remake of Alien.

There is still opportunity to go with someone like Clea DuVall whose performance and personification of Lisbeth would be spot-on. I’m not a casting agent though, so what do I know (except how awful these remakes are in general and even more so when compared to the originals).

I am a fan of David Fincher’s work. Se7en and Zodiac are prime examples of how good his telling of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo could be. Unfortunately, Fincher looks to be working on a number of films at once including remakes of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Heavy Metal. This could be a sign he’s become a cog in the Hollywood film machine. If so, one of his upcoming films could easily become what The Last Airbender has been for M. Night Shyamalan –the demise of a career.

From the ungodly amount of crap movies in production, I’m not expecting anything good to come from remaking an already great movie. Men Who Hate Women is perfect in it’s native Swedish. Even in the hands of a great director, too many corporate types have their influence over the final product and are capable of butchering anything they get hold of. Fanedits only come about after movies have been released and the industry is anything but happy about better, amateur work. A film is only as strong as its weakest part and even a Fanedit will not turn Craig into the character with personality his Swedish counterpart was able to deliver.

Technorati Tags: men who hate women,the girl with the dragon tattoo,noomi rapace,michael nyqvist,män som hatar kvinnor,daniel craig,death at a funeral,martin lawrence,chris rock,fanedit,bryan cranston,clea duvall,david fincher

How To Survive A Layoff | Part 9: Reforming Government

or: Part 8 Revisited | The Maximum Pay Initiative

After further discussion with a group of friends, the previous idea was sound but negatively impacted individuals with lower pay much harsher than those with excessive incomes.

The revised plan: cap the salaries of public employees at 10% more than the median of a 2-income household.

Based on the current figure of $63,521, the maximum is just shy of $70,000. While this would cut almost $100,000 from Governor Gregoire’s pay, government was never intended to offer lucrative salaries to begin with. From the average citizen’s perspective, $70,000 is a very nice income. Government should not be comprised of a wealthy or elite group of individuals. It was intended to be embodied by our peers.

This plan automatically takes economic conditions into consideration leaving no wiggle room for elected officials to give themselves cost-of-living increases. If median income goes up, so do the salaries of government decision-makers. This is incentive for them to contribute to their constituents financial well-being. Taking away the money incentive is almost a guaranteed deterrent for corrupt people wishing to get into government. Those who are already inside will want to get out.

Yet this plan does not go far enough. The allure of money is still there, as many politicians draw huge sums through campaign financing. To make honest people of our politicians, the Fair Elections Now Act must pass. Fair Elections Now is modeled on the successful public financing systems in place in seven states and two cities. Under these programs, candidates who give up all private donations receive full public funding for their campaigns once they reach a threshold amount in small contributions. The federal proposal allows candidates to raise additional funds via a four to one match on contributions limited to $100.

Obviously I’m not counting on our elected officials to initiate a bill eliminating a significant portion of their salaries –or counting on them for much of anything. Instead, I contacted Tim Eyman. While our political views do not mesh, I recognize Tim’s ability to get Initiatives To The People on the ballot. With his support, I believe it would be a painless process to gather the signatures necessary to get this on the ballot in 2011.

While I have a lot of enthusiasm to move on this, I am also uncertain it is even possible for we the people to institute something of this magnitude. If not, it should be!

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Fair Elections Now Candidate

It’s just not possible to stress the importance of Fair Elections Now. It is the most viable bill on the table. Of the 176 sponsors, only 3 are Republican. Over half of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives supports the bill. Of the 21 sponsors in the Senate, there’s not a single Republican amongst them.

Yet it is not all good news for Democrats, especially in our state. Senator Patty Murray remains resolutely mute on the subject of public financing of campaigns. It’s not hard to see why when you look into campaign fundraising of nearly $10 million over the past 5 years with nearly $6 million left as cash on hand.

Feeling the only alternative to Patty is Dino Rossi, a lot of voters will continue to vote for her but there is a better choice.

Enter Bob Burr who joined the race specifically due to Patty’s hesitation to support Fair Elections Now. In his own words, “Public financing of elections is absolutely critical. Polling shows that 80% of Democrats, 78% of Independents and 65% of Republicans support public financing of federal elections, as do all geographic and demographic subgroups. Yet, leadership in the Senate and House are not moving public financing forward. Patty Murray is part of that tone deaf leadership. She is not listening. She is very comfortable in our pay-to-play system. She is part of the problem, not part of the solution. That is why I feel it necessary to challenge her from within the Democratic Party.”

Bob is really taking up a grassroots movement but with limited funding runs the risk of not gaining the attention of voters throughout Washington state. He needs and deserves our support. He’s one of us. We absolutely must have more of our peers in elected positions.

If his support of public campaign financing isn’t enough to pique your interest, take a look at his website. When it comes to where Bob stands on the issues, he’s the epitome of transparency. Both Patty Murray and Dino Rossi have refused to be candid with voters about where they stand.

This appears to be a theme amongst candidates. I asked Jason Overstreet, running for Representative in Washington’s 42nd district, where he stood on Fair Elections Now. He said he was unfamiliar with the bill and suggested I email him information through his website. I did so almost 3 weeks ago but have not received a reply of any kind. Of course, I never expected one. How could someone running for Representative be unaware of a bill sponsored by so many members of the House including 3 from his own party?

We need to elect candidates who are not aloof to the most important issues our country is facing. Never in the past 30 years has it been as important than now to elect someone like Bob Burr to the Senate. Someone who has pledged to serve a single term. He will not accept PAC money or financial donations from any source. Most importantly though, he would immediately co-sponsor Fair Elections Now and make it his top priority. Since public financing would still be optional, he knows it would remain a relatively weak bill and would work towards mandatory legislation while pushing for a Constitutional Amendment clarifying what most of us already grasp--Corporations are NOT People.

Voters who are fed up with the status quo take notice: Bob Burr for Senate!

Bob Burr for Washington state Senator!

Technorati Tags: bob burr,patty murray,washington state,senate,senator,congress,fair elections now,campaign financing,maximum pay initiative,government reform,governor christine gregoire,dino rossi,tim eyman,jason overstreet,democrats,republicans,house of representatives