Novel Ideas on Film

“It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.” 
-Roger Ebert 

Things I never thought I’d hear in my lifetime. Lucky for me dreams do come true….in the form of forgotten stories rediscovered.

It’s that magical time of year. The time of year where the crack of the bat replaces the piercing shriek of a football umpire’s whistle. When Florida is full of young, vital athletes, rather than hobbling septuagenarians. When it’s perfectly acceptable to pay three times as much for beer and hotdogs….because it’s about the experience.

That’s right folks…baseball season is upon us. In honor of Opening Day and the return of America’s Pastime, here is my review of Moneyball; the story of the under-funded Oakland A’s, their fearless leader, Billy Beane, and how statistics saved the day.

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“The question filmmakers should ask is not, ‘How can I bring this story to the screen without losing anything?,’ but ‘What in this book do I want to emphasize?’”

life:

Happy birthday to the man that LIFE Magazine once described as “a dreamy young man with an unconquerable compulsion to write.”

Here, on Williams’ 101st birthday (he was born, not in Tennessee, but in a small town in eastern Mississippi, on March 26, 1911, and died in New York City in 1983), LIFE.com offers a series of portraits of the great American playwright by some of LIFE magazine’s finest photographers.

Putting one’s finger on why Williams’ plays have held pride of place in theater goers’ hearts for so long is another matter. Yes, the dialog is a thrilling mixture of the perfectly colloquial and the poetic. Yes, the passions on display in works like The Rose Tattoo, The Glass Menagerie and, of course, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are as blistering as those given voice by any other American dramatist, while the characters Williams brought to life remain, for many of us, as indelible as members of our own families.

(see more photos here)

Happy birthday Tennessee Williams! What’s your favorite Tennessee Williams film adaptation?

Like the rest of you out there, I saw The Hunger Game this weekend. And, after suffering through endless vampire movie trailers (Breaking Dawn = Bella the deer hunter? Ha!), I finally got to see what I’d come for: teenagers fighting to the death in a government controlled arena. What better way could I spend my Saturday?

I’m usually one to stay far away from grim, post-apocalyptic type stories…but there was no way I could NOT read The Hunger Games. I’m sure a great deal of you read the books after you experienced a situation similar to this:

Me: What are the Hunger Games?

Friend: OHMIGOD YOU HAVEN’T READ THEM?! You HAVE to read them NOW.

Me: Okay…but what is it?

Friend: It’s this futuristic story where kids have to fight each other…and there’s this one girl who’s a badass…and…ugh just read it.

Then I, like so many before me, read it.

And I couldn’t put the darn thing down. I was one of those zombies coming in to work with a Venti instead of a Grande with my only excuse being, “I finished. I need Book 2.”

So yeah, I’ll admit it. I loved The Hunger Games.

(Except for the third book. That was the biggest literary tease that ever was. Katniss just blacks out?! Seriously? Did Suzanne Collins procrastinate on her deadline and have to wrap it up real quick? I mean, COME ON!)

But, I digress…

With a book that has captured the imagination of so many fans, young and old, the film had a lot to live up to. Especially when you consider the fact that it had to stick to a PG-13 rating in order to satisfy the series’ YA readership. (Okay, let’s be real here, it was to satisfy the parents of the tweens clamoring for Hunger Games tickets).

Considering these restrictions, I think they did a great job. Sure, there are always things you miss when you see a movie based on a book. There are always characters and places you imagined differently. It’s always, at most, only 99% as good as the original novel. But, overall, considering the epic story they had to bring to life, I think the filmmakers pulled it off.

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apriki:

God Katniss now is not the time

Yes. I saw The Hunger Games today. And, whaddya know, it was a book first! Expect a review tomorrow.

(via heckyeahneilmcneil)

A year ago today, another icon of Old Hollywood passed away. RIP Elizabeth Taylor…and thank you.

oldhollywood:

Mary Badham, Harper Lee, and Gregory Peck on the set of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, dir. Robert Mulligan) Photographer: Leo Fuchs (via)

Does it get any better than Gregory Peck as Atticus?

No. It does not.

Add this to my ever-growing list of film adaptations to write about. (It’s one of my favorites!)

I wanted to write this post weeks ago but, unfortunately, technical difficulties kept me from it. By now, the 84th Annual Academy Awards are long over. It was a good night…full of Billy Crystal’s return to hosting, stars’ memories of their favorite films…and lots and lots of French people.

(Side note: congratulations to Jean Dujardin, Michael Hazanavicius, and the rest of The Artist cast and crew! You can see my thoughts on this year’s Best Picture winner here.)

But the award for the most tearful and heartfelt acceptance speech of the evening undeniably goes to Octavia Spencer, who won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Minny Jackson in The Help.

In honor of Octavia’s win…along with the many nominations the film received, including Best Picture…I figured it was about time I reviewed The Help. 

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