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Now a Major Motion Picture:

This Vs. This?





Not anymore!


Hey now, hey now!

Just thought I’d blow off some steam while I wait for the kettle to boil. Guess it’s not only pots that never boil.

Sigh.

Any who, here’s the topic du jour! :

Now a Major Motion Picture:


Has anyone realised that there is a particular influx of book to film adaptations there are lately? So much so that every time I scan the shelves in Eason’s, every book I see says “Now a major motion picture”. I have no problem with this…in theory.
In reality, it’s beginning to get on my wick.
To start off, I read a lot of books. An awful lot. Let’s put it this way: My library shelves are falling down.
Again.
And my other two libraries aren’t in great shape either.
Anyway, about 87% of the books I have read in the last year alone are being adapted for the silver screen. It’s pretty cool. I mean, I get to speculate all I want about who should be in it (See: Rant below), and I can watch all the cast videos, find script leaks and enjoy the general buzz surrounding the whole thing.
And then it comes out.
Generally, I am left less than enthused about book to film adaptations. And why shouldn’t I be?
For example, I’ve read the entire Percy Jackson series, and when I saw the trailers, I thought it might be good. I hoped with all my heart that they wouldn’t hurt it.
And they didn’t hurt it.
They killed it!



They completely butchered the plot line, chopping and changing it until it was like a Percy Jackson rip-off rather than the film itself. The Annabeth they cast would have made a better Clarisse, and she just wasn’t a know-it-all in a good way, but in the “why won’t you ever just shut the fudge up?!” kind of way. Logan Lerman can hold a screen. But I always associate him with Jack and Bobby. The film was more like a game, which teed me off, and Chris Columbus tied all the ends together because it was intended to be a stand-alone rather than a series.
But they should do a sequel, just so they can fix the problems with the first one. But I won’t hold my breath.

But not all book to film adaptations are bad. In fact, some are better than the film itself.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Love the film, the book is all right. It takes a while to get into, but it’s interesting. But, in my opinion, the films kicks it’s ass more Hit-Girl kicks Dave’s!

But why has script-writing taken such a down turn? I’m struggling to think of a film that wasn’t a adapted. You’re a genius if you know seven off the top of your head.

Or an addict to IMDB!

Anyway, I was thinking something, and wondered if you could help me out? Since Harry Potter was released, has there been any book series, besides Twilight and LOTR, to have it’s sequel given the green-light?

Points if you can think of any!


Sound off, three four.

If you think this was rant-ish, you should see me at school!

XOXO

Oh my effing GG!

I'm actually beyond repair! I think I may have a shit-fit of some sort.
Okay, Maybe not. It's my dramatic side getting the better of me, but I am fairly pissed.

I just found out that Taylor Momsen may have been cast as Katniss Everdeen.



NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I have three main problems with this:

1) She couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.

2) She's really not right for the part.

3) She's not Nina Dobrev.



Nina dobrev is the perfect choice for Katniss. She can act, actually she's really really good,
She can play a bitch if needs be but can aso hold a screen, and she looks like the girl on the book cover.

Hello? Perfect!


Want proof?

Taylor Momsen:


(Brunette)




Blonde:






Nope, not seeing it.



Now:


Nina Dobrev:



Yup!







I really hope by the time I get out of college, they decide to hire me as a casting director. Because, if they think Taylor Momsen would pull off Katniss, they are sorely mistaken.



That's it for my fan-girl moment.


XOXO, you know you love me.......



Sort of.

New Beastly Movie Trailer - Official

I'm excited about this. I love NPH, and Alex Petyfer is so................ any way!

Hey, don't diss YA!

I just love to rant-y rant rant!

There is a current trend for YA literature, and currently, I’m loving it.
However, there’s a stigma attached to it that you can’t seem to shake, and it’s beginning to get on my nerves.
Recently, the whole paranormal romance trend has gone into over-drive, and it’s all good in the proverbial with me.
Reading is a means of escape; to get out your head for an hour or two and get drawn into someone else’s world, at least it is for me. The fact that I like to read teen fiction shouldn’t be a reason to look down on me; the fact that I read at all should be commended. As it should be for anyone.
Teen fiction is interesting. I know that’s a bit of a glib interpretation, but it’s the only way to put it. Adult fiction, especially the paranormal kind is so convoluted and complicated, to the point where sometimes you want to scratch out your eyes before reading another page. Ok, I admit that’s a minority, but, for example, I now refuse to read another Sookie Stackhouse book for as long as I live. The reasons are threefold:

1) Harper Connelly is a cooler female protagonist.

2) Charlaine Harris is a terrible writer. Honestly, I’m not sure how she was published, but I’m convinced it’s because of the porn element of her books. It takes up ¾ of the pages, or thereabouts.

3) The T.V. show, True Blood, is so much better.




* Review of series two coming soon……


Any who, back to TF, PR, UF, YA-- Whatever you call it, or abbreviate it to, it’s in the headlines. And now to the reason for my quasi-rant……


Books being made into films:

There’s always an ulterior motive, isn’t there?

I’m extremely excited that some of my favourite books of the moment are getting the silver-screen treatment.


The Hunger Games:



Possibly the best adventure to come out in the last decade, I defy anyone to read it and not get completely absorbed. And if you can’t take my word for it, take Stephen King’s. And those of you who know him will know he likes absolutely nothing! So that’s a compliment in in itself.
To top it all, Suzanne Collins-- the author -- is writing the script herself so that her world, and story won’t be butchered and its soul destroyed, like Rick Riordan. That poor man. Percy Jackson deserved so much better and so did he.
Plus, I just found out he has written a series about the Cahill’s, so I like him even more now. Shame about the “S” though. But I digress…..again.
Suzanne was actually a critically acclaimed screenwriter for T.V. and film before her writing career took off and she topped the NYT bestsellers list for weeks on end. Anyone remember a show called Clarissa tells it like it is? Like Clueless, it consumed my childhood.
Anyway, my point is that if the author herself is writing the script based on a literary phenomenon, it’s bound to be of epic proportions.
I already have my dream cast picked out, and will report back later when I cover it in The Book Report; my book reviews.

The Mortal Instruments:



Cassandra Clare’s epic trilogy is based in New York City and depicts the underground organisation called The Shadowhunters, who are Nephilim and utterly amazing. The characters are well drawn and the world is full of colour and flavour, and how can you not love a man who calls his cat Captain Meow? I mean, honestly?!
Anyway, the series has been picked up the makers of the Lord of the Rings, and is bound to pick up interest from big name stars and directors. I’m hoping for Guillermo Del Toro or Chris Nolan as director, since they’ll be able to depict the world and creatures, as well as connect the audience to the characters. Plus, The Orphanage is freaky!

Although, If you want scary and Spanish, watch Rec. Jiminy Cricket!

Once again; dream cast, director and book report coming to a screen near you.

Wicked Lovely:



Mellissa Marr has created this ultra-intense, fairly freaky faerie world that, and I just can’t get enough. The rights were purchased by Universal pictures and Marr herself has read the script, and loved it.
Actually to quote hr, it’s better than the book.
Now that’s saying something!


There’s a lot more to cover, but The Big Bang Theory is on, and I love Sheldon.
“Why are you such a stupid head?! That’s also rhetorical!”

Comedy genius: Jim Parsons, I love you!

I'm Free, free falling.......And I do fall an awful lot.

Finally, I can officially say that what I deemed the apocalypse actually wasn't that bad after all.
And to celebrate, I'm listening to Metric and Glee on repeat. Good times.
However, I was in the mood for a quasi-rant, so here we go....

Kick-Ass: By name and nature:







Well, everyone who’s anyone has probably seen Kick-Ass by now: Matthew Vaughn’s renegade film, which gives two fingers to the companies who rejected it by becoming a world-wide sensation.
If you haven’t………Where the hell have you been?
The first five minutes of the film set us up for a series of thrills and spills, and some action sequences that are, quite frankly, jaw-droppingly awesome.
This is when we meet Dave, a typically nerdy Peter Parker like Social reject -- (Played brilliantly by Aaron Johnson, who has a surprisingly good American accent) -- who asks his less than helpful friends why nobody has ever attempted to be a superhero? Of course, you would think a guy who gets his ass kicked on a daily basis, and gets mugged at least three times a week would just give up and become an accountant, but Dave decides to get pro-active: and Kick-Ass is born.
On his first mission as the Scuba-masked vigilante, he gets into a bit of trouble and ends up in hospital for two months after, ironically, getting his ass-kicked. His nerve endings are fried and he can’t feel pain. Every bone in his body is coated in metal from his extensive injuries, and instead of whining about it, he decides to get back to fighting crime. Some people just never learn.
And of course, they introduce his dream girl, and just for added sting, she thinks he’s gay.
Of course she does.
Johnson puts in a solid performance, and has a knack for comic timing. And for anyone who has seen Percy Jackson, He looks scarily similar to Logan Lerman, don‘t you think? I never noticed it, until he pulled on the mask, and then it was like, Bam! But, once again, I’ve gone off-topic.
The real star of the show however, is Chloe Moretz, who plays the incomparable Hit-Girl. I loved Chloe in (500) Days of Summer and I’m eagerly awaiting her turn in the American Remake of Let the Right One In. I just thought I would throw in that little titbit, since I’m very excited about it. It’s the best Vampire film to come out in ages. Screw You Neil Jordan. (Sorry, I jus really hate Interview with a Vampire; Book and Film. They suck. Pun intended).
Any who….



She’s super-sweary, very violent and you seriously would not want to meet this chick down a dark alley…..But how cute is she?
Anyway, Moretz gives a stellar performance, showing a range of emotion and making you laugh and cry in the same scene. For example, a personal favourite scene of mine is when Big Daddy -- (played by Nicholas Cage, who, miraculously, didn’t make me want to scratch my eyes out of their sockets, mainly because of his Adam West voice) -- decides to teach his eleven year old daughter what a bullet to the chest feels like, and he’ll take her for ice cream if she doesn’t whine. Later, he tells her he left it on the low Calibre, and Hit-Girl proclaims him “The kindest Daddy in the world”.
That’s not my definition of kind, personally; but each to their own, I guess.
The film is shockingly violent, and I have heard many complaints that it glamorizes gun-violence and at times, I would agree. All the characters seem very laissez-faire with the idea of shooting someone in the chest. There seems to be no consequences to their actions, and everyone’s pretty happy when people die. But, then again, the film needed a certain level of comic violence for that extra punch.
It didn’t bother me, but for those of a squeamish disposition, I would advise you to stay far away, and of not, have a bucket at the ready.
The added appeal to the film for me was that no-one had to fall in a tub of radio-active material, get bitten by a radio-active spider, or even have to born on an alien planet. Everything about Kick-Ass, no matter how ludicrous, can be found in reality. Big-Daddy wears French Riot gear; Hit-Girl could get her clothes in Penny if needs be and Kick-ass bought a scuba suit on EBay.
Personally, I’m tempted to start saving up for one of those Jet-Packs. I hear the guy from Mexico has a quality product.
All in all, Kick-ass was pretty damn class. It was fresh, funny and original, and was a definite spanner in the works for the overpopulated Superhero-Vigilante genre market. But, if I’m honest, it’s Moretz performance that really sole the show, and it would have been a lesser film without her. I hope those Oscar idiots take note: We’ve got a star on the rise.

And I’m off to find a purple wig!

If you liked Kick-Ass:

Watch: Pulp Fiction, The Dark Knight, True Romance, Spider- Man 1 &2 and Kill Bill Volume 1.

Read: Graphic Novels. Kick-Ass finished filming before Mark Millar finished the comic, so there are differences in each, but the film keeps pretty close to the source material. I’m not a big fan of Manga or Graphic Novels, so this isn’t exactly my area of expertise, but after seeing the film, I’m all for reading it.


So Kick-Ass: Not for the faint-hearted; but hey, that’s showbiz!

I saw coins. and then I saw you.

Okay, here we go. I’m kicking off with a review of Dear John; a “Love story” based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, the same emotional manipulator who brought us such classics as the Notebook and A Walk to Remember.



Dear John:

The Film:

Well, the producers certainly knew what they were doing by dragging Channing Tatum’s Adonis-esque naked torso into the first three minutes of the film. He can dance and surf; a man of many talents.
The thing that surprised me, however, is that he can actually act. Shocking, I know.
The films begins with a whirlwind romance, where nothing monumental actually happens. I know that doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it does in the context of the film. They tried to make the ordinary extraordinary and, as quoted by the always likeable Amanda Seyfried-- (who I will remember as Veronica’s murdered Best friend on the taken-before-it’s-time neo noir drama, Veronica Mars)--

“It only took two weeks for me to fall in love with you.”

Call me a cynic-- and many of you do-- but I found it a bit rushed. I’m a fan of dragging stuff out, building up the UST and making the audience want it just as much the characters do, but that’s just my worthless opinion. However I just wish it could have happened, because the love story was what let this film down.
Tatum and Seyfried’s chemistry is okay. It steadily progresses as the film does, but it still didn’t have that emotional connection that we received with Ryan and Rachel in the Notebook, or Mandy Moore and Shane West; the kind of love that makes people well up when they remember it. And I just don’t think Dear John will have that same resonance.
Amanda Seyfried is a good leading lady, she lights up the screen. --Usually. But, compared to Savannah in the book, she just wasn’t up to par, or her usual best.
However, the film, like the book is not a love story. It’s a story about love, and the most heart-warming and heart-wrenching part of the film comes from a sublime performance by Richard Jenkins, who plays John (Tatum) Tyree’s father. He is a man so consumed by his love of coins that his relationship with his son had suffered. There is an exact reason for this, which wasn’t explained clearly in the film, and I sorely missed some of the elements from the book, which dealt with the love story of the film in a much more elegant, believable way.
Seyfried didn’t seem to have much of a purpose, and that’s okay, because in the book she was mainly just a MacGuffin-- Something that moves the plot along. Thanks you, Alfred Hitchcock.
Elements of the film had a Vanity Fair feel, and others felt like a True-movies seven o’clock showing. I suppose the fact that the film had a pastel coloured back-drop and a soft-lighting mood that
I felt lacking. I prefer a dynamic picture, where every colour pops and catches the eye.
Saying that, everyone was very, very pretty; Except for Tim, Wow, that really teed me off!



And now to the good stuff:

How did it compare to the book? :



In short, it didn’t.
The book dealt with many of the issues in a far better way. Including Tim, whose character and plot I was sorely disappointed in while watching the film, was actually one of my favourite characters in the book. He was so witty, wise, and wonderful, and they completely and utterly cocked that up, which actually had a detrimental effect on the ending.
Whereas the book deals with his relationship with his autistic brother, the film decided to convert it to a father-son relationship, which wasn’t as effective or heart-warming as it could have been. The struggle in the book was more far interesting. I was really, really peeved at the second hospital scene, as well as the ending, and I assume any fan of the book is screaming into their proverbial pillows right now.
I’m a fan of Nicholas Sparks’ brand of pulling at the heart-string prose and character development. Although, I admit most of the plot lines are the same.
However, of his books that I read, I though Dear John was a better read than The Notebook, but not as poignant or heart-breaking as A Walk to Remember.
They completely re-hashed the ending of the film, to give the audience peace of mind, but I felt it lacked the emotional depth that the book had and felt a bit cheated if I’m honest.



Still, anyone who saw me afterward will I agree I was an absolute hysterical mess who would have put any X-Factor contestant to shame.
Thank you, Richard Jenkins.


So, in all, It’s a good weepy, that will devastate you if your in a fragile state, and confuse you if you think too much, A chewing Gum for the brain night out if there ever was one.

If you’re looking for a good film, something that makes you think “Wow, that was amazing, that was the best thing I’ve ever seen…”
…Then you have really low expectations. I don’t think anyone who claims to be a Cine-phile ever comes out without some complaint or another.
But I digress. Dear John is for fans of The Notebook., but not the one’s who expect an epic love story. But despite all it’s misgivings, and Patel colours, I went in smiling, and came out looking like this:





Wow, that was surreal. I fucking Hate clowns. Thanks to you, my supposedly waterproof mascara! Blatant false advertising.

Recommendations:

I’m ever-helpful.
If you like Dear John:

Watch:
The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Last Song, Message in a Bottle, The Majestic, My Girl, Pay it Forward, I am Sam, and any Greys anatomy episode featuring an old couple, and come prepared. Kleenex and Ben &Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge brownie at the ready.

Read:
Adult/ Chick Lit:
Anything by Nicholas Sparks, -- The first four named above, but don’t forget the Lucky One. Just like Dear John, literally, only not as good in my opinion.
The Gift by Danielle Steele,
Pay it Forward by Catherine Hyde,
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd,
The Time Traveller's Wife,
The Memory-Keeper's daughter

Young Adult/ Paranormal Romance Reading:
Anything by Sarah Dessen,
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (it’s about Zombies, but it’s heartbreaking),
Betrayal by P.C. Cast (The only decent House of Night Book),
Wicked Lovely-- a book about Faeries with an intense relationship that makes you feel its heat radiating from the pages.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Broke my heart several times over.


I never realised how emotional I am until I came out of the cinema in flood of tears. Huh, interesting.
You learn something new everyday!

Well, I finally decided to stop whining and get on with it.
I think I hear a hallelujah chorus somewhere in the back. Thanks for that.
Anyway, there seems to be a myriad of Blogs popping up at the moment, and why not? Retro is so in right now, so I 'm joining the bandwagon.
But this is not your ordinary film review blog.
No, they're usually good.
I just decided to put my insatiable need to read a book before the film comes out, and contrast the two.
There will be plenty of news, reviews, comments, recommendations, and bitching about Miley Virus.
I'm excited already.

Talk to you later. I'm off to trawl through contless internet pages searching for the latest thing.

Mairead.
XxX

P.s. 5 months till Mockingjay comes out. I can't frigging wait!