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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Books

Publishers’ Craziest Schemes to Avoid Book Spoilers

By Tom Hawking on

The news that the translators of Dan Brown’s new book Inferno were basically isolated from the world for two months to avoid any chance of them leaking its plot was enough to elicit a collective bewildered shaking of the head at Flavorwire central. Still, it’s not even the batshit craziest thing that publishers have done over the years to avoid details of their precious books leaking before publication — as an industry, publishing has embraced the embargo-based insistence on secrecy so beloved of Hollywood, especially when it comes to books likely to sell in the bazillions (i.e., anything by JK Rowling). Here are some of the craziest schemes concocted to avoid leaks. … Read More

Books

10 of the Most Powerful Female Characters in Literature

By Emily Temple on

[Editor's note: In celebration of the holidays, we're spending the next two Tuesdays by counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #12, was originally published March 3rd.] Since March is Women’s History Month, we’ve been thinking a lot about the women who have had positive and lasting impacts on our lives — and perhaps not surprisingly for a bunch of literary geeks like us, we’ve realized that many of them are fictional. For all the hullabaloo about the dearth of strong female characters in modern culture, thankfully there are some wonderfully powerful, kick-ass maidens that have inspired us with their strength, self-discovery, and incredible brilliance over the years. Click through to see our list of ten of the most powerful female characters in literature, and then be sure to pipe up with your own suggestions — we’ve chosen the ten who resonate most deeply with us here, but since there are many more than ten strong ladies in literature (thank goodness), we want to know which ones blow you away on a daily basis. … Read More

Pop Culture

Watch Buffy, Lisbeth, and Katniss Star in ‘BAMF Girls Club’

By Judy Berman on

The women on Bad Girls Club have nothing on our favorite fictional heroines. Sure, they can drink and swear and get into brawls and generally cause a ruckus, but can they save the world from vampires and demons approximately once per season? Can they survive a dystopic teen death match? Are they master hackers who torture and/or set fire to every deranged misogynist they encounter? Nope, and that’s why we much prefer BAMF Girls Club, a hilarious new web series that finds Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Lisbeth Salander (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), Michonne (The Walking Dead), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), and Bella Swan (Twilight) sharing a house and stepping into the reality TV spotlight. In the first episode, which you can watch below, Buffy and Hermione get awkward about witchcraft and, to our great relief, we learn that Bella’s only there for the purpose of hilarious contrast. … Read More

Photography

Famous Meals from Literature Captured on Film

By Emily Temple on

The connection between literature and food is a long and storied one. After all, literature is reflection of or commentary on life, and food is what sustains that life, so it’s no wonder that we think they’re meant to be together. Or maybe we’re just trying to support our snacking-and-reading habit. Either way, we love this photo series from the aptly-named graphic designer Dinah Fried, entitled Fictitious Dishes, wherein Fried recreates the famous meals from some of our favorite classic novels. And man, does that clam chowder look good — maybe we finally understand why Melville spent a whole chapter talking about it. … Read More

Pop Culture

Pop Culture Characters Who Would Make Persuasive Cult Leaders

By Alison Nastasi on

An amateur investigative journalist and his girlfriend infiltrate a group led by an enigmatic woman who claims she hails from the future and will keep those who follow her safe from harm. Initially intent on exposing the woman as a fraud, the couple becomes more deeply immersed in the strange, new world. Zal Batmanglij’s Sound of My Voice — co-written with lead star Brit Marling, who plays the mysterious cult figure — opens in theaters today.

Creepy — and often hilarious — depictions of covert organizations and new religious groups have abounded in pop culture. There are a few figures, however, which haven’t amassed their own cult, but could easily attract legions of followers by sheer personality alone. We examined several pop culture characters that would make persuasive cult leaders below. Chime in with your picks in the comments section. … Read More

Film

12 of the Greatest Movie Roles Almost Played

By Jason Bailey on

The weekend’s big movie, as you well know, was The Hunger Games, while DVD and Blu-ray players have been firing up Fincher’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo since its release last week. The two films have a lot in common: powerful female protagonists, adaptations of bestsellers, probable franchise kick-offs. As such, they were also each objects of carefully considered casting. It’s become part of the pre-production process, the bandying about of potential name actors for high-profile roles; Fincher reportedly talked to Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Kristen Stewart, and Scarlett Johansson before settling on Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, while Hunger Games director Gary Ross’ alternate Katnisses included Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts, Chloe Moretz, and Saoirse Ronan.

Contemplating proxy casting choices is a fun parlor game for movie fans (perhaps second only to considering movies that never came to pass at all). After the jump, we’ll take a look at a dozen iconic movie roles, and the actors who almost, almost filled them. … Read More

Television

Sony Kills Alleged ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ Copycat TV Series

By Judy Berman on

A tough 20-something female hacker joins forces with a police detective to bring down criminals. If this quick description of CBS pilot Quean sounds familiar to you, then you’re not alone — Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, wasn’t thrilled to hear that The L Word creator… Read More

Film

How to Prioritize Your Oscar Week Movie-Cramming

By Jason Bailey on

The Oscars are six days away, and you know what that means: only one more week to see every major nominee, in order to appropriately cheer, jeer, and second-guess on Sunday night. But time has flown in these early months of 2012 — we got distracted by the Super Bowl, and then we suddenly had to watch Knicks games, and now, here it is Oscar time. How on earth are you supposed to get through all of the major nominees? It’s easy to go into a tailspin — what do you see? What can wait? What should you avoid, now and forever?

Have no fear. Flavorwire is offering, as a public service, a priority ranking of the nominees for the major awards (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress), so you can sift through the 18 nominees and see what time will permit you to see. Let’s be clear: this list is only tangentially related to the actual quality of the films at hand (since, as we’ve discussed, the Oscars often don’t reflect that quaint notion). And it’s not a prediction list per se (that will come later in the week). But it is a guide to working your way through the stuff that’s probably going to matter come Sunday night. Sift through with us after the jump. … Read More

Film

Opposites Attract: Odd Couples on Film

By Alison Nastasi on

That bittersweet, neurotic, and utterly charming look at love — Annie Hall — arrives on Blu-ray today. Woody Allen’s 1977 film is one most of us can identify with, especially when it comes to all the anticipation, insecurities, and uncertainties of a new relationship. Although Allen’s self-conscious, irksome nebbish Alvy Singer shares some qualities with Diane Keaton’s titular character, the divide between them eventually grows too wide to persist. We wanted to examine other odd couples on film, with an eye toward the pairings that made it work. Check out our picks past the break, and share your opposites in love votes below. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Demi Moore has been cast as feminist icon Gloria Steinem in that Linda Lovelace biopic that we feel like we’ve been reading about forever now, and is finally shooting in Los Angeles. Also part of the ensemble: Amanda Seyfried, who plays Lovelace, Peter Sarsgaard as her husband, and James Franco, who will make a… Read More