The Girl With the Dragon Tatto

Is nothing sacred? I heard on the news last night that there is to be a Hollywood version of the book "The Girl With the Dragon Tatto." I guess there was too much attention and money involved to let a classic remain pure. OK, I'll admit I am no fan of the Hollywood machine that projects a special effects world where everyone is 25, blond, super thin, and botoxed to the hilt (omit men in all the aforementioned areas except the botox... I know, I know, more kitty litter over here as I'm becoming rather catty).

Part of what I liked about the Swedish movie was that none of the people were portrayed as perfect but appeared quite regular in terms of their physical makeup and complex psychological problems. These were the kind of people you could expect to see walking down the street with faces that were expressive and harbored all the marks you expect to see on yourself as well as the person next door. I guess you could say this was what added to the believability of the movie in relation to the gritty Stieg Larsson books.

And, to use a line from a famous Abba salute movie "Muriel's Wedding": "You can't stop progress!" But, I can give you a sample of the alternative. I have embeded the trailers from the Swedish movies and urge you to go see it along with the second feature in the trilogy "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which is currently playing in theaters. Both are spellbinding and the people are real!

My New Guilty Pleasure...

It all started quite innocently, I found a list of independent films that were a "must see" and sighed thinking they would probably never come to Jacksonville. And then, one day I read an article in the local newspaper about a small indie theater just starting up... and I was hooked! As usual, click each photo for a better view.

We found ourselves going all the time to a little section of town called 5 Points. The initial draw was the first in the film trilogy from the Swedish author Stieg Larsson, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." Last night we went for the second installment "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and decided to walk around a little and I realized that there, almost in the heart of the City, is a small town.

A small town that has no malls, possesses a vibrant street life... and a little edge!

A little edge like the shop called Wolfgang where the owner has a passion for vintage motorcycles that he displays next to the fashions he sells.

Or the bar next to the theater that has this wonderfully whimsical mosaic in the outside seating area.

I love this shot of the display window of an antique shop. I like the busy feel of it, almost like a collage where you see the bike, and then the reflection of the cars, and an older woman staring at the bike probably remembering a time long ago.

There is wall art everywhere like this mural and relief mounted near the door of a shop,

or further down the street near a bead shop this mural that incorporates the reflections from the window to show what is happening in the street.

The absolute find of the day is this huge mural of a dragon or lizard, depending upon your mood, that covers the entire side of one building.

Some people love chocolate but, don't tell anyone, my new guilty pleasure is 5 Points!