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January 8, 2012:

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGGIN’ TATTOO

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, sometimes chronology can be a bitch. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, sometimes chronology can be a bitch. And a bitch it was yesterday. That damn chronology was just a big ol’ bitch yesterday and it drove me a little crazy, which, when I’m in book mode, is not that long a drive. I have a rather incredible memory for most things, but as was proven when I was writing There’s Mel, while I knew events and had an idea when things happened, there were times when I was so wrong it wasn’t even funny, most especially about when David Wechter and I met. The problem yesterday was I was writing about the end of 1993. I knew I’d gone to New York for six long weeks and I thought I’d done She Loves Me, Unsung Musicals and maybe the two Lost In Boston albums that we did back-to-back. But that didn’t make sense and I called elmore who agreed there was no way he could have orchestrated those three albums all together. I kept saying, “Okay, but why was it a six week trip?” And I was trying to write it and really understand what exactly took six weeks. Then I went and pulled out a few CDs to look at copyright dates and recording dates in the booklets. I found no other 1993 albums, but I happened to open the booklet from Lucky Stiff and voila – that was the culprit. I’d recorded that in between She Loves Me and Unsung Musicals – that finally made everything make sense – three albums in six weeks.

But it meant that after finessing stuff yesterday morning that I then had to go back and add all that stuff and do a lot of rewriting. It was very frustrating, but in the end it was so much better, with so many interesting tidbits. That added five or six pages to what was already a very long chapter. And it literally took all the time I had before the stumble-through. So, I’d only written about eight pages by that point. Now, in the Hofstetter books if I did eight pages in a day I’d have been thrilled. Ten would have been a major deal. But with There’s Mel and now this book I average about twenty pages a day – I just keep going like the Energizer Bunny because I want to get all this down while I’m remembering so many things.

The stumble-through went reasonably well, with only a handful of forgotten lyrics. I felt one of our new gals was really uncomfortable doing her stuff, so she stayed after and I had a long chat with her and she totally got what our vibe is for these shows and what adjustments she had to make. I think she was very relieved to have the talk. It’s a wonderful selection of songs and everyone is great. Now if we only have an audience. After the stumble-through I went and had dinner at Stanley’s – a small Caesar salad and a chicken tostada, both good. Then I came home and wrote three more pages.

Prior to all that, I’d overslept and hadn’t gotten up until ten-thirty, so that was part of the problem. But I really needed the sleep, I guess. I talked to the East Coast singer who said her first of three performances of her APAP showcase had gone reasonably well, so that was good. I also picked up one package (the third Maigret box set) and no important envelope. I am truly getting tired and more than a little irritated that these envelopes don’t arrive on the week they are supposed to and I guess I’m going to have to send an e-mail about it.

After my early evening writing I went to a screening of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. As some dear readers probably remember, I’m a very big fan of the Swedish original film (and the entire trilogy). I did not think an American remake was necessary, and I certainly was not that interested in a David Fincher remake. Many people argue that it’s not a remake that it’s a new adaptation from the book, but since the Swedish film is from the book, I disagree. It’s a remake of the Swedish film, plain and simple. There is nothing that’s terribly different in the Fincher film – it’s the same length as the Swedish film and both leave out stuff from the book. The Fincher film has a couple of things that are good to have, like the leading man’s daughter, but mostly it’s the same exact thing. People have criticized the Swedish film for leaving out a lot and therefore not being true to the book. Those people all said that the Fincher film would be much truer. And all those people who were saying that are curiously silent now that the film is out – because the fact is that Mr. Fincher and his screenwriter have invented all sorts of things for the ending of their film.

In any case, I really tried to have an open mind, to just take the Fincher film on its own. But in the end if you love the Swedish film you can’t do it. Because, for me, the Swedish film, especially in its extended edition, is far superior in every way. It’s a much better paced film, it has more tension, it is far more emotionally satisfying when it needs to be and the acting is better, and the score is 1000% better than the electronic soundscape that the Fincher film has, which is annoying in the extreme. Fincher seems to go out of his way to blow two of the film’s big moments – the reveal that Lisbeth has taped her guardian’s appalling behavior (in the Swedish film you don’t know that until after she gets home – it’s very satisfying that way – with Fincher he shows you the camera during the scene and it just blows it), and Lisbeth’s appearance when the leading man is in real trouble. Many scenes play exactly the same. Daniel Craig, who some people have been saying is much better than the Swedish actor, has about two expressions and speaks in that awful monotone of today’s actors. Rooney Mara is very good as Lisbeth, but not quite as good as Noomi Rapace. She does give it her all. And there are a small handful of moments that play really well in the American version. But overall, things that are very clear in the Swedish version are muddled in the Fincher version – after the movie was over several people were trying to figure out what the HELL was going on in the last thirty minutes. And the pace is occasionally deadly and I kept wanting to call it The Girl With the Draggin’ Tattoo.

So, for me, the American version is pointless and not good enough to boot. It’s been somewhat hilarious watching the grosses on this film, and it’s a perfect illustration of how corrupt the reporting of grosses has become. The film opened on a holiday weekend (December 22) and had a really poor showing of thirteen million dollars. Now, somehow between then and a week and a half later, they were reporting fifty-nine million dollars domestic. I don’t have to be good at math to know a load of hooey when I see one. Sorry, this film will lose most if not all of its eighty million dollar budget. The real question to be asked is what brainiac thought you should open a dark, cerebral thriller at Christmas.

After that, I came home and wrote a few more pages and did manage to get up to eighteen, so that’s pretty good. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must really get another good night’s beauty sleep.

Today, I shall get up, finesse, write new pages, and then we have our sound check at four and our show at seven. I haven’t even gone over my patter for the show yet, so I have to do that and make sure it’s fine.

Tomorrow I go back to my strict writing mode. I am very behind on the liner notes so my plan is to do the book writing in the day, and then one set of liner notes Monday night and the other on Tuesday night, so I can get the packaging done and in for approval. And I’m hoping to get these first pages to muse Margaret. This will be the most pages at one time she’s ever gotten – in the first week I’ve written over 150 pages, which is unbelievable – it’s two-thirds of an Adriana Hofstetter book – if I were writing one of those, I’d be finished with it in a week and a half. Hopefully muse Margaret will like it and find it interesting. I really want to get her the pages no later than Monday.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get up, finesse, do a jog, write new pages, have a sound check and do our seventeenth Kritzerland show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, the boy with the draggin’ brain.

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