Friday apparently has not seen many movies based on books

Fave weather:  Spring when it’s about 70 degrees and nicely sunny, but not too hot in the sun and with a nice breeze.  Also Fall under the same conditions, but about 60 degrees so you can comfortably wear a light jacket.

Fave thing about the 90s: This one’s hard! All my childhood nostalgia comes from the 90s, as that’s when I grew up (as we all did!), but I’ll pick just one part. I think my favorite part of it may have actually been that childhood wasn’t yet dominated by technology and the internet. Children didn’t have cell phones (hardly anyone except hardcore businessmen had cell phones when I was in elementary school), families were only just starting to get house computers, and more. When I’d play with my friends after school, we played with our toys, went outside to the playground, and in general used lots of imagination in everything. So, to sum up, my fave thing about the 90s would be that we lived without the massive connection to technology that we have now. (Don’t get me wrong, I love technology, but it’s always nice to get some time away.)

Okay, book-to-movie adaptations! First off, I’ll talk about some of my favorites:

1.       1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes, Peter Jackson changed some things, added in some, and edited out others, but I just love the finished product. I think the movies do a wonderful job of portraying the books and also led a whole new group of people to love the stories. It was the movies that led me to the books and the fandom, so they’ll always hold a special place in my heart for that reason as well.

2.     2.   Harry Potter-wise, Deathly Hallows Part 1 is also one of my favorite adaptations. In addition to the first and second films, I think this was the most book-accurate of the Harry Potter movies. There are omissions of course (Dumbledore’s family, anyone?), but overall the style and feel of the movie is, I think, very similar to the feel of the first half of the book. (I also have to take this moment to freak out a bit- Part 2 in one week?????? I’ve got my tickets and costume ready and will be bringing a pursefull of tissues to the theater, that’s for sure.)

As for bad adaptations:

1.      1.  I also have to mention Ella Enchanted. I loved that book when I read it in elementary school and the movie just did not do the job of telling the original story well. That scene where she jumps up, spins around, and kicks a bunch of people? No, just no.

2.       2. Again, Harry Potter-wise…. My least favorite HP book-movie adaptation is probably Order of the Phoenix. This may, actually, have something to do with the fact that OotP is my least favorite HP book. It also happens to be my least favorite HP movie. I found it to be very forgettable and it didn’t completely feel like a Harry Potter movie, you know?

My question for everyone: What are your thoughts on the last Harry Potter movie coming out and what are you doing next week for the premiere?!

Thursday Wants to be a Millionaire!

First, I just want to say I love warm weather with some sun, but plenty of cloud cover to prevent painful sunburns.

As for my favorite books turned into movies, I have approximately two of them. First one being Slumdog Millionaire (directed by Danny Boyle who is pretty much one of the greatest directors ever). The original book was called Q & A, written by Vikus Swarup. I didn't read the book until a few days ago, but I have to say it was pretty amazing, even if it was slightly reminiscent of Forrest Gump (another really amazing book to movie adaptation). The thing that makes the movie work so well is how it makes all the truly improbably happenings from the book seem like they could really happen (as well as strengthen the romantic angle). Granted, almost everything in the movie is completely different from the book, but this isn't a book where the story is the most important thing, but the idea behind the story; that sometimes you get really lucky and it's the little insignificant things in our lives that make them so amazing.

The other one I would like to mention is Breakfast on Pluto (book by Patrick McCabe). I'll be completely honest; I haven't read the novel for this movie, but how can a movie with Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea, and Cillian Murphy (IN DRAG!) not be a truly amazing film? I'm pretty sure that there are discrepencies between the versions, but as with Slumdog Millionaire, this doesn't neccessarily take away from the quality of the film, and can even make it better sometimes.

Now, as for horrible adaptations, I would most definately say it's Eragon (really, no one liked it). They had a perfect cast (except for Sienna Guillory as Arya) and an amazing production value, but the script and story was horribly lacking the the director completely failed to direct anything (if you make Jeremy Irons look like a hack actor you suck at your job). Also, they totally botched the ending so horribly that a sequel wasn't even possible because there wouldn't have been any coherent thought between the first film and any proposed sequel films. And we all know that the point of making movies based on book series is to make more money by actually making more movies of those books. I know that y'all have already discussed this, but I need to vent my anger over the worst adaptation ever. Seriously, Twilight was better and that wasn't even a good book (although I suppose some argue the same for Eragon, but I digress).

I also think that Ella Enchanted was a failed attempt to adapt the novel by Gail Carson Levine. I sorta liked the movie; it had Anne Hathaway (perhaps my favorite actress), Cary Elwes (As you wish!), and I actually sorta enjoyed the anachronisms such as the wooden escalator. But having said that, I didn't feel like the movie had the right essence of the novel portrayed on screen. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but I think it's because the novel has a slightly darker tone, whereas the film felt really lighthearted and didn't bring those dark elements with it. Which makes sense, because it is marketed as a family film.

I almost always enjoy the books more than the movie, so any movie that I even consider to be on the same level as the book is either a really good movie, or the book was just horrible to begin with (such as anything written by Nicholas Sparks or Stephanie Meyer).

OMG, I forgot about Stardust! So I guess you'll have to read/watch to see how awesome it is.

Wednesday is feeling a bit childish...

Casey: I was ALL ABOUT BARNEY when I was little… That and Lamb Chop. Also Disney movies are made of pure win. My favorite was The Little Mermaid (though Cassie will surely hold me in highest disdain for such a claim!).

Christina: I love your challenge! As soon as I read it, I knew just what charity I would pick. I’ll do more research on it, as per your requirement, but this charity is a recent addition to my life, and so it’s not just one I’ve known about for a while and picked by default.

Cassie: Very serious agreement on your Princess Bride #1 placement. I haven’t read the book (cue shame), but the movie is incredibly effective and wonderful and among my favorites as well. Clearly our opinions of The Little Mermaid differ, but that’s only because my opinion is rooted in the delightedness of a four-year-old version of myself. I’m sure if I were to (a) know the original story (cue more shame) and (b) watch the movie for the first time at my age now, I would harbor thoughts similar to yours.

Alexandra: Ditto your thoughts on Eragon. It’s been a long time since I either read the book or saw the movie, and my post has (slightly) more detail on my musings, but ditto nevertheless.

Near as I can figure, the best movie adaptation of a book (or at least a really good one) is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Forgive me my juvenility, because neither the book nor the movie deserves great acclaim, but I enjoyed the book and then liked the movie even better. Sure, the characters are pretty cookie-cutter in both formats, but I loved them and the way they worked together. The movie didn’t stick exactly to the book (pretty close, but no cigar—movies that get the cigar tend not to be great, I think we all can probably agree), but it was close enough that it conveyed the same messages.

Don’t get me started on the second SotTP movie. The book wasn’t that great, and the movie was sheerly TERRIBLE. I can barely force myself to watch even a minute of it when it’s on and friends want to watch it. It’s a complete failure of a cinematic experience in every way. But because I didn’t care for the book either, I can’t say that it was the movie’s fault. Therefore, I bring you my final paragraph of the day.

Off the top of my head, I can claim with a bit of confidence that Eragon is the worst movie adaptation of a book. Maybe not ever, but in my experience, at least. It came out when I was in the midst of my early-teen dragon phase, and the author was admirably young (19 and a NYT Bestseller!), so I devoured the copy my aunt bought me. I’m sure it would have different value for me if I read it today for the first time, but I loved it. And then there was a movie made!... if you can call it that. I remember vaguely enjoying parts of the “movie,” but leaving the theater utterly dejected. It could have been so good! And it just… it just sucked. What had been a vibrant plot and character set became two-dimensional and jumbled. I was sorely disappointed.

Random question of the day!: What’s your favorite weather?

Tuesday Is A Bit of a Cinema Buff

It's true, that. I get touchy when people tell me how original a film is, and I am forced to point out that it is a remake of a Chinese black and white film or an adaptation of an obscure, rather bad book from twenty decades prior. I know my adaptations, and I love them. And, perhaps coming with the love of film, I am very forgiving of adaptations. I accept the limitations and abilities of film over other mediums, be that television or the written word. And I have seen it done well enough times to know that there is no excuse for a bad adaptation.

My favourite book-movie adaptation would probably have to be Jaws. Jaws is a flawless film, the book is... not. As an adaptation, I wouldn't call it great. If we're just talking about how well it conveys the same information in the new medium, yeah, it changes things. But it makes it much, much better than the book ever did. It's honestly a pretty terrible book. Things that I would rank in a similar category with this would be Silence of the Lambs, The Godfather, etc. Where the movie is near inarguably superior to the book it is based on. If you'd just like something that adapts it with few changes and does it well, I guess I would go with Fight Club. Even the author admits to that one.

And, since I feel it should be addressed given the Potter lovers in the group, I would say that of all of the Harry Potter films, my favourites were probably the first two. Though not as well acted or as nice looking, I felt like - as adaptations - they were the best. They didn't keep all of the content, but more than the others, they kept the feeling, and I think that's the most important thing. I don't really care how they got rid of Norbert or if we see Snape's contribution to the protection of the Stone, I just want to feel the same way I did reading the books.

My least favourite book-movie adaptation would be Eragon. I preface this by saying that I don't like Eragon, but my problems with it aren't really in regards to storytelling. For all of its problems, it isn't incoherent nonsense, which is what the film is. The film version of Eragon skips very large, very important chunks of the novel in favour of... nothing, absolutely nothing. I feel like the director took seven chapters at random and chose to adapt those and nothing else. It's a bit troubling, honestly. A similar instance of this would be Everything is Illuminated, another book I didn't really like but oh god did they ruin it with the movie. That, however, was because of the book. I would put the book alongside House of Leaves in terms of how much the narrative itself is important to the book, and a film would have to work hard to come up with something similar. And they just didn't try.

For Harry Potter, honestly, movies 3 through 5 all left a bad taste in my mouth. I love Half-Blood Prince, and the first half of Deathly Hallows, but... Prisoner of Azkaban was a jumbled up mess that I really couldn't appreciate, and that still it ends on (the one with Harry on the firebolt) just made me more annoyed when the credits came around. Goblet of Fire was just... confusing, honestly. Reminds me of The Last Airbender (though not based on a book, I should point out now that this was the worst adaptation ever made of anything in history). And Order of the Phoenix, more than any of the others, broke the rule I mentioned above. It didn't feel like the book, at all. I don't care about the changes, I care about the tone, and I just felt that it was really off. And it didn't improve anything with it. HBP was a bit off in tone, but I liked it. Same with Deathly Hallows - I honestly like the movie more than I like the first half of the book, because at least it wasn't boring.

Monday will tear apart your childhood nostalgia . . . and she'll even be mildly sorry for it

Hello, girls! It’s Monday. And a holiday . . . in the US, that is. I hope, if you celebrated, that your Independence Days have all be relaxing and enjoyable. I celebrated the way I celebrate every year – with my birthday. My birthday was yesterday, and it was a very nice day – I got to spend time with my family (including my three-year-old second cousin once removed Tyler, who spent the whole day calling me “New Friend,” which was utterly adorable). I got mostly practical gifts (a new suitcase, a new messenger bag, badly needed dress sweaters) and quite a few books, but the best gift of all? Not having to pick the themes for the next fifteen weeks! :)

But I am excited to talk about Casey’s topic. So. Books into movies and how well down they are.

I used to be of the mind that movies would always always always be better than they’re movie counterparts, no contest. But then my brother started this series on YouTube called Books vs. Movies, and that taught me pretty quickly to really think about adaptations and whether or not they’re truly well done. Since he started that, I have realized that not only can movies be excellent adaptations of their inspiring material, they can, in some instances, be better than the books they’re based on.

So, I’m going to tell you about not just one favorite/least favorite, but my top three in each category.

Favorite Adaptations!

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

I am well aware that any opinion on the Harry Potter movies is likely to be highly contested, but I for one truly enjoyed 7.1. I think the decision to split Deathly Hallows in half was a very smart one to make (though it bugs me that everyone else is now jumping on that wagon *coughTwilightcough*) because splitting allowed the film to tell a better story. I won’t even say “stay closer to the books” because I’m not a movie purist. Some of my favorite scenes from the movies have been ones that were added and not in the books at all. Keeping to the spirit of the story and to the overall story is what I find important, and 7.1 did that very well in my mind. What they added was engaging and interesting, and what was cut was well chosen and not obtrusive. They captured the spirit of the first half of this book, and I just hope the second half lives up to what they established with part one.

2. The Little Princess

Now, with Little Princess, we’re talking the Alfonso Cuaron film, not the Shirley Temple one. Just to make that clear. This movie was made in 1995, and they did a superb job with it. They took Burnett’s beautiful story about the power of imagination and used the medium of film to their advantage. I love the framing device – the Indian legend that Sara tells throughout the film echoes what’s happening in her own life and really makes that sense of imagination come to life. The choice to have the actors who play her parents also play Rama and the princess in the story scenes. The movie’s climax is heart-wrenching and gorgeous, and while there are a few things that they could have done better, overall the movie is incredibly well done.

1. The Princess Bride

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and it is the perfect example, in my mind, of using the  different mediums of storytelling to their greatest advantage. If the movie had chosen to follow exactly what was set up in the book, it wouldn’t have worked. The literary device Goldman used was just that – a literally device. It would not have translated to screen. So instead of being married to the exact story, those who put the screenplay together looked instead at what the book was trying to do, and they found a way to do the same thing cinematically. Enter the framing device. It was brilliantly done, as was the choice to incorporate character backstory in the scenes and dialogue rather than flashbacks. It worked wonderfully, and is, I believe, part of the reason that the movie has endured and will likely continue to do so.

Now for my least favorites . . . those travesties to literature, to paraphrase Casey’s stipulations.

Least Favorite Adaptations

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Again, I am aware that I may draw dissent, but this movie was awful, easily the worst of all seven so far. Kloves (the screenwriter) got lazy and sloppy and instead of seriously looking at the story and figuring out how best to tell it, he picked the most exciting scenes and counted on the audience having read the book to fill in the story. Because say what you want about the movie and how great the special effects were or what have you, THERE WAS NO STORY. None. There was absolutely no throughline, and if you hadn’t read the book, you were completely lost fifteen minutes in. I know. I saw the movie with people who hadn’t read the book. It was just one action scene after another with no cohesion or connection either to itself or to the movies that had come before. And that doesn’t even start into the complete character destruction of Ron and Dumbledore (to name just two) or the horrible directing style and choices. But we will leave those things as a rant for another day.

2. 1940s Pride and Prejudice

So I, unlike most, am no fan of Keira Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice. I found the to be historically inaccurate on several levels (which is just inexcusable, I’m sorry), Knightley’s portrayal of Elizabeth to be utterly uninspired, and their version of Darcy to be angsty and irritating. Also, the screenwriters’ dialogue was entirely out of place next to Austen’s. But that’s neither here nor there, since the truly heinous adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is the movie made in the 1940's. The women are all dressed like Southern Belles from the 1860s and Darcy was whining and, again, irritating, but I could have looked past those things, if not for the end. Oh Good God, the end of this movie. Talk about killing the spirit of the book! If you don’t know the story, this won’t mean anything to you, but basically, in this movie, Lady Catherine’s confrontation with Elizabeth over whether or not she’s going to marry Darcy is just a front, to test Elizabeth’s love for Darcy because Lady Catherine’s been behind the match the whole time! So, basically, they remove any power Darcy had at all, as he needs his aunt to go catch his girl for him, and they also, you know, eliminate the recognition of one of the main conflicts of the movie – that Elizabeth is socially beneath Darcy in a time when such a match would have been met with what, you know, AUSTEN WROTE IN THE FIRST PLACE! I just . . . I have no words. None. Except that if you want to write that story, then write it! The hatred to love is a common enough trope that you should have no problem with it. But don’t choose to tell a classic story if you’re just going to turn around and change what makes it classic. This same note is given to the 1980s adaptation of Northanger Abbey.


1. The Little Mermaid

Yes, I’m about to bash a cherished and treasured Disney film. Brace yourselves. I get so much dissention for this opinion, but Disney’s Little Mermaid was awful. Not only did it mangle Anderson’s beautifully tragic short story almost beyond recognition, it didn’t replace what was heinously ripped away with anything worthwhile. Now, I have problems with pretty much all of Disney’s animated fairy tale films prior to Beauty and the Beast, but I have a bigger problem with The Little Mermaid, and I’ll tell you why. Those other movies – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White – have awful messages, yes, but they’re pretty faithful to the story they’re based on, singing animals notwithstanding. They started with Perrault’s stories and they pretty much ended with Perrault’s stories, awful messages and all. But The Little Mermaid was different. First of all, despite what many people believe, the Little Mermaid is not an oral tradition tale like those others, passed down through cultures and generations. It has an actual author – Hans Christian Anderson. It was a short story written in the style of oral tradition fairy tales, and Disney completely ignored that in favor of giving the story a happy ending. But even that, I wouldn’t take too much issue with – after all, Ponyo is essentially a retelling of Little Mermaid with a happy ending, and I liked that movie just find. No, the difference is that in giving their movie a happy ending, Disney completely destroyed Anderson’s beautiful and moving message of sacrifice in love and didn’t replace it with anything else. That’s my problem – not that they changed the end, but that they took this beautiful and tragic but necessary lesson that love requires sacrifice and that sometimes the happiness of those we love is more important than our own selfish wishes, and replaced it with: act like a childish, petulant teenager, defy your father, change your physical appearance, and go after that guy you don’t know at all, and not only won’t you get punished, someone else will clean up all your messes and you’ll get whatever you want in the end!    

And that’s all the love and rage we really need from me this week. I look forward to hearing your own thoughts!

Week 17: Summer Movie Week!

In accordance to my challenge, I shall issue you this week's (and next week's and the week after that's) topic, which is movies. Specifically, which movie that has been adapted from a novel is your favorite? And, which movie adapted from a novel is the biggest disgrace to literature since Twilight?

I look forward to seeing your entries :).

A Trip and A Challenge

Hi all!

I'm back from the roadtrip and it was great! I got to see so many cities and states that I've never been to and just see more of America in general. The trip was well timed with the Fourth of July, so I'm just going to pretend that we did that on purpose. Totally planned. We drove down to Corpus Christi, TX and back and stopped in lots of places along the way: Indianapolis, Memphis, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Nashville... it was great. I came back with a stronger appreciation of the diversity of America, to be sure. I'll admit it, I did love to poke fun at Texas before. Now that I've actually been there, I can see why its residents love it so much. It really is a very nice state! I don't agree with the politics at all, but the state is nice and I'd like to go back. Dallas was one of the most enjoyable cities that we stopped in and I'd especially like to go back and spend more time there.

We spent four full days in Corpus Christi. It's a city right on the Gulf  of Mexico, so very hot! I am a very fair-skinned northerner, so I came back from the trip with much more color and painful sunburn on my back. The pain has subsided, but the peeling has just begun... SPF 55 with several reapplications was clearly not enough. I bought some SPF 100 today at the store. Kyle and I enjoyed a nice day at the beach on the Gulf of Mexico and it was only my second time in waves. My first time at the beach was in Rhode Island when I was younger and I had a very negative experience with waves, constantly being pulled under and almost losing my glasses that I'd forgotten to take off (we somehow found them in a turn of luck). This time was the complete opposite, I came away loving the waves and having fully enjoyed playing in them for hours on end. I would have liked to go back for another day, but time did not permit it and I don't think it would have been wise given the bright red shade of my back after that day anyway.

We also spent a full day in New Orleans on our way back to Michigan. New Orleans was one of the things I was greatly looking forward to on my trip, and the city did not disappoint. We stayed in the French Quarter and it was beautiful. The whole city of New Orleans really does have a completely unique appearance and feel. Kyle and I went to a museum while we were there and learned all about Katrina. I hadn't realized how much I didn't know about it and I feel very educated about the disaster now. The whole thing is very frustrating, given how much we now know in hindsight could have been done to help in advance. I, unfortunately, suffer from migraines. After having been completely clean on the trip, I got three migraines in a day in Louisiana, so had to go back to the hotel room around 7 pm and spend the rest of the time in bed. I was really disappointed because I wanted to see more of New Orleans and go out to get jambalaya for dinner, but at least we had seen most of what we had planned and had enjoyed our time there. I really want to go back! I'd like to talk more about the trip and post pictures, but I can't post any right now, so I'll talk a little more about it next week. :)

And as for the challenge! I had a little difficulty deciding what to propose as my challenge. The idea I ended up going with is one I've been mulling over for awhile now. Each of us will find a charity/cause we are interested in and passionate about and help that organization in some way. That could be by donating money, time, or in another way you can think of. I wanted to leave the way in which you help open because I know not everyone has spare money to donate and giving time is very valuable as well. Now, this can't just be the first charity you find. This needs to be well thought out. Spend at least a week researching different charities (the research doesn't actually have to last a week, but give yourself a week to do your research and then sleep on it before committing). The charity can be either local or worldwide, animals or people, there are no guidelines as to what kind of charity you can pick. This should be a meaningful experience for you, so please pick something important to you! In addition to the charity work, on the week we post about what we did we'll all write up a paragraph explaining the charity we chose, why we chose it, what it does, and why it's important. Hopefully we'll all find new charities/causes to support for years to come. I already have an idea of what area I want to go with this and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Enjoy. :)