First thoughts on a controversial remake: Ali Karim talks The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Later this month, the English-language Hollywood remake of the outstanding Swedish film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's juggernaut bestseller THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO opens in cinemas.

Crime fiction fans around the world seem to have very mixed feelings about this latest Hollywood effort to cash in on foreign creativity, and make it more accessible/palatable for a wider (ie American) audience who perhaps aren't too keen on subtitled films, no matter how good.

Will Rooney Mara be able to provide a performance as Lisbeth Salander in the same league as Noomi Rapace, who set the bar so very high and seemed to embody Larsson's creation? Does the fact that terrific director David Fincher is involved give sceptics more hope than if other Hollywood heavyweights had been involved? Ditto for screenwriter Steve Zaillian? We'll all just have to wait and see.

Unless, that is, we were lucky enough to attend the world premiere in London this week. Like renowned crime fiction afficianado and commentator Ali Karim, who has written and edited for the likes of The Rap Sheet, Shots! ezine, January magazine, Crimespree magazine, and many other specialist crime fiction publications. People think I've interviewed a tonne of crime writers, but I've got nothing on Mr Karim, who has been at the forefront of crime fiction commentating for many years.

Now, Karim has shared his thoughts on the English-language remake on The Rap Sheet:

"Let me say that I enjoyed the original Swedish version directed by Niels Arden Oplev, so I was intrigued to see what the Americans might accomplish with the same material. I was not disappointed, as this new version is, in a word, mesmerizing."

Karim has much more to say about the film, and you can read his full review here.

So, are you looking forward to seeing a new version of Larrson's blockbuster? Comments welcome.

Who's your favourite amateur sleuth?

Following her popular 'World's Favourite Detective' online vote last year (won in the end by Michael Connelly's terrific creation Harry Bosch, over Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe in the final), award-winning crime fiction reviewer and book blogger Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts has now launched another worldwide vote - this time to find the favourite amateur sleuth.

Like last year, the vote is in the form of a knockout tournament bracket, similar to the FA Cup or Wimbledon etc (for those in Europe) or the NCAA basketball tournament (for those in North America). It starts with 64 sleuths, who are put into 32 pairings. Voters choose their favourite from each pair, the winner goes through, the loser is out. Next week there will be 32 left (16 pairs), and so on, until only one amateur sleuth remains.

The voting 'lines', so to speak, are now open - with the first week's vote underway. Here's the full list of amateur detectives in the running, and their initial pairings:

1. Rebecca Robbins vs Hannah Swensen
2. Hector Lassiter vs Ellie Foreman
3. Goldy Schultz vs Henry Gamadge
4. Hitchcock Sewell vs Myron Bolitar
5. Ruth Galloway vs Jack Garrett
6. John Putman Thatcher vs James Qwilleran
7. Nancy Drew vs Josie Prescott
8. Kiki Lowenstein vs Jack Reacher
9. Lord Peter Wimsey vs Lady Emily Hargreaves
10. Lily Moore vs Penny Brannigan
11. Stephanie Plum vs Lucy Stone
12. Ned Oglive vs Stella Hardesty
13. The Hardy Boys vs Odelia Grey
14. Ollie Paras vs Wiki Coffin
15. Amelia Peabody vs Paula Holliday
16. Poke Rafferty vs Jane Marple
17. Carter Ross vs Stewart Hoag
18. Troy Chance vs Gervase Fen
19. Gus Carpenter vs Amanda Pepper
20. Annie Kincaid vs Abby Knight
21. Alafair Tucker vs Asey Mayo
22. Benni Harper vs Emily Tempest
23. Emma Lord vs Doc Ford
24. Dorothy Martin vs Flavia de Luce
25. Lisabeth Salander vs Father Brown
26. Kelly Flynn vs Charlotte McNally
27. Duffy Dombrowski vs Kent Murdock
28. Lori Shepherd vs Annie Darling
29. Annika Bengztrom vs Omar Yussef
30. Phryne Fisher vs Brett Kavanaugh
31. Candy Holliday vs Wollie Shelley
32. Zack Walker vs Amlingmeyer Brothers

I must confess that I've read or heard of far less of these 64 amateur sleuths than the 64 detectives (police and private) last year. At a guess I would imagine several of the above are popular or well-known in series in the United States, although perhaps not published widely throughout the world. It is great to see Joan Druett's terrific hero, Wiki Coffin, in the running - anyone who's read any of Druett's books or short stories in AHMM and EQMM etc will know that Wiki is well deserving of a vote (with apologies to Ollie Paras).

It will be very interesting to see how the vote goes - especially given some of the initial pairings (seems a shame to lose one of Salander/Father Brown and one of Bengztrom/Yussef in the first round, given some of the other pairings). But that's the nature of these things - and it's fun to see how the cards fall.

You can back your favourite and make your own vote count by voting here.

Who is your favourite amateur detective? Have you read many of the above sleuths? Who would you like to see win? Who should win? Are there any glaring omissions?

Introducing your new Lisbeth Salander...

The latest issue of W magazine has actress Rooney Mara in full Lisbeth Salander mode on the cover, as part of a large feature on the upcoming David Fincher English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's worldwide phenomena of a book/series. As W magazine says in the introduction to its "exclusive first look from the set of the year's most anticipated film", Fincher, "the darkly obsessive director" of Fight Club and The Social Network - perhaps last years biggest or best film - has now taken on "the biggest franchise since Harry Potter".

Internationally, Rooney may be facing something of an uphill battle as Salander (given that Noomi Rapace was so pitch-perfect brilliant in the role in the Swedish-language films), but for American audiences (in particular) who may not have bothered with the subtitled films, the photos from the latest issue of W show that there is perhaps quite some potential there. And with David Fincher (FIGHT CLUB, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, etc) at the helm, things may not be so bleak for the film as those in the anti-remake camp may have it.

You can see a 9-picture slideshow of Mara in Salander mode on the W magazine website here. You can also read the interesting full article by W magazine's Lynn Hirschberg here.

Hat tip to Jeff Pierce of the excellent The Rap Sheet for the heads-up.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the English-language version?