Dear Mr Fincher...

I've just been to see movie The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I am now tearing through the third and final volume of Swedish writer Stieg Larsson's gripping trilogy and eagerly anticipating the third film.
While I preferred the first movie, I enjoyed both the Swedish made films of the novels. But this being L.A, of course there's an American remake on the way.
Oh no, I hear you groan, let's see what a dog's dinner Hollywood can make of yet another excellent European movie.
Just as films of your favourite novel never seem to quite measure up, American remakes of foreign films often fall short of the original.
I'm still waiting to see what happens to the fine French thriller Cache, which has been optioned by a couple of big Hollywood hitters including Ron Howard but still (perhaps mercifully) hasn't reached the screen yet.
It's not all bad news. At the helm of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is David Fincher who made The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Seven.
Casting is everything of course, and let's hope Mr Fincher doesn't yield to studio pressure to go the commercial route, but gives us at least half as interesting a choice as Noomi Rapace, who nails the role of Salander in the Swedish movies so brilliantly.
And, Mr Fincher, can you please keep the author's lovely intention of having Blomkvist eat and drink his way through every crisis: "He put on his sports jacket and went downstairs. He ordered a coffee and a cheese and liver pate sandwich.....Blomkvist bought a pasta meal from the 7-Eleven on his way home..."
Come on, it's part of Micke's character. In fact, everyone is constantly chowing down or drinking coffee in the books. Please keep that in - I know Mr Larsson put it in for a reason.
I'm hopeful that Mr Fincher will give us something that conveys the complexity and intelligence of the books, but going on past records, I'm not convinced that something will not be lost in translation. I'd love to be proved wrong!

Intern-al affairs

When I was a kid, the only intern I knew of was TV's Dr. Kildare. Now as I comb the job vacancy lists, the most frequent word I read is "intern".
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an internship meant to be a professional training of some kind, on the understanding that if you make the grade, there could be a job at the end of it. And traditionally, internships cover your expenses or pay a small stipend.
These days it seems there is very little likelihood of getting a paid position at the end of internships which typically run from a month to six months. Heck no. They just replace you with another eager and willing pair of hands, desperate to get a foothold in their desired field.
What's more, most interns complain that they get no travel or food expenses. This means interns are actually paying to work, which just doesn't seem fair to me.
Why not just come right out and say it: "Come and work for us for free, then get back in the job line. Sure, you'll have some valuable experience that may include being a general dogsbody, but whoever promised you more than that? Next sucker, please!"