This week's featured movie adaptation is "Moneyball," which is based on Michael Lewis' fascinating book about baseball's move from old-fashioned talent scouting to modern statistical analysis. Brad Pitt portays Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane, whose numbers-based evaluation manages to find talent that has been overlooked by wealthier ballclubs (read the Yankees). I'm interested to see how the book translates to the screen, though, because as I recall from my reading of the book, there wasn't a ton of action. Still, the tale of baseball's technological revolution may make a compelling movie, in the same way "The Social Network" did. Here are excerpts from some review:

-- Tribune newspapers: Director Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” is the perfect sports movie for these cash-strapped times of efficiency maximization. It's also the best sports movie in a long time, period, as well as honestly inspirational — even though nobody knocks one into the lights, causing showers of sparks to blend in the night sky with the fireworks. This is not that film. It’s better than that film.

-- New York Times: It’s a story of baseball and bean counters, the hunt and the kill, yet while there are on-field scenes, the movie is less about the game as a pastime or passion or even a cruel capitalist sport than as a great epistemological problem. What is the question? Billy asks his bewildered scouts right before hiring Peter, a guy with a poster of Plato hanging above his bed.

-- Washington Post: Like a cold beer under a bluebird sky; like a flawless line drive on a warm summer's day; like a long, languorous seventh-inning stretch - "Moneyball" satisfies. A sports-centric come-from-behind drama that harbors profound truths under its self-effacing grin of an exterior, "Moneyball" is a movie of such loping, unforced ease and solid entertainment value that it's easy to take its gifts for granted.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The premiere of George Clooney's new film, "The Ides of March," at the Toronto International Film Festival is getting a lot of attention.

Much of the attention has focused on whether Clooney and Baltimore-area ex-pro wrestler Stacey Kiebler are really a couple. A wee bit is focused on the merits of the adaptation of Beau Willimon's play "Farragut North."

I think Clooney's movie is worth noting for another reason: egregious punctuation. As National Punctuation Day nears -- Sept. 24 -- it's time to take stock of our use of commas, apostrophes and other squiggly things.

So when I read on the "Ides" website that the movie is about a campaign manager in a "political scandal that threatens to upend his candidates shot at the presidency," my blood starts to boil.

I see more and more misuse -- and disuse -- of the apostrophe these days. Another offender: our local snowball stand, which proclaims on a sign: Kid's Rule.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Director Baz Luhrmann, who brought us "Moulin Rouge," has started production of his remake of "The Great Gatsby" in Sydney, Australia, and I hope his version is better than the last.

I thought the 1974 movie adaptation, starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Bruce Dern, lacked the impact of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic. Even though the characters were all beautifully costumed, I was left cold by Redford, who seemed to lack passion. (Admittedly, I may just have been jealous of all the swooning that accompanied his roles.)

Luhrmann's version, scheduled for a 2012 release, will have plenty of stars: Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. It will also be shot in 3-D, which will be interesting for a film that doesn't exactly have the pacing of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."

I just hope no koala sneaks into the frame.

You may recall the novel's opening lines: In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Today's featured adaptation is "Seven Days in Utopia," which may make you wistful for summer days on the links (or a sermon). The movie, about a struggling golfer who learns about sport -- and life -- is based on "Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia" by David L. Cook, a respected teacher of pro golfers and other athletes. Here are excerpts from reviews:

-- Los Angeles Times: With Golf Channel commentators and players such as K.J. Choi participating, the film bears an official stamp of approval [and] it plays as a "Zen and the Art of the Links" with a Bible Belt persuasion.

-- New York Times: A stultifying hybrid of athletic instruction film and Christian sermon, the movie, directed by Matthew Dean Russell, is ... a kind of Southern-fried, Christian “Tuesdays With Morrie.”

-- Roger Ebert: I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again. It tells the dreadful parable of a pro golfer who was abused by his dad, melts down in the Texas Open and stumbles into the clutches of an insufferable geezer in the town of Utopia (pop. 375), who promises him that after seven days in Utopia, he will be playing great golf. He will also find Jesus, but for that, you don't have to play golf, although it might help.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Max Brooks won lots of fans with his book "World War Z," and many of them are upset by the liberties taken with the script for the movie adaptation. The book looks back at a war between humans and zombies, and is written as an oral history in the aftermath of the bloodshed.

Zombies can be endlessly entertaining -- my favorite big screen treatment is the hilarious "Shaun of the Dead" -- but Brooks loyalists are upset that the story line for the adaptation is a run up to the war, rather than a reappraisal. Paramount's synopsis sounds more like a Dan Brown thriller than a thoughtful sci-fi tale.

Their fear is understandable. I cringe with apprehension every time Hollywood gets hold of a favorite book -- a Pavlovian reaction that originated with the pitiful adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Dune." And handling flashbacks is an especially tricky business on screen, though it can be done well -- as we saw recently with "Sarah's Key." So we'll have to wait for the release of "World War Z" to see if director Marc Forster and star Brad Pitt can create a powerful narrative, without following Brooks' literary roadmap. Meanwhile, fans should feel free to sound a warning.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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This week's featured adptation is "The Help," a staple of book clubs everywhere, and the reviews are very good. Kathryn Stockett's book was a real tear-jerker, if my household is any measure, and I bet the movie is rated at least three hankies. Here are exceprts from some reviews:

-- Tribune: [Viola] Davis is reason No. 1 the film extracted from Kathryn Stockett's 2009 best-seller improves on its source material. You can talk all you want about how a movie begins and ends with the screenwriter(s), or lives and dies on a director's ability to use the camera as more than a recording device. But some film adaptations owe their success primarily to the rightness of the casting. "The Help" is one of them."

-- New York Times: If the movie’s director, Tate Taylor, had his way, your tear ducts would be sucked dry by that big finish, emptied out by a pileup of calamities that include a painful romantic breakup, the devastations of cancer and the mighty wailing of an emotionally abandoned toddler.

-- Los Angeles Times: "The Help" is a delicious peppery stew of home-cooked, 1960s Southern-style racism that serves up a soulful dish of what ails us and what heals us. Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient — turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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I saw "Sarah's Key" over the weekend -- the movie adapted from Tatiana de Rosnay's popular novel -- and came away moved and exhausted.

The intersecting story lines flip between a modern-day journalist's research into the deportation of Jews from Paris during World War II, and the actual round-up and imprisonment. The scenes are gripping without being bloody, and startling in the way lives were suddenly turned upside down by the French government's collaboration with the Nazis. It's a well-told story about personal and mass tragedy.

I hadn't read the book, but my wife and her friend, Debbie, who also watched the movie, vouched for the adaptation. I'm amazed that all of the action could be crammed into a 300-page book. And the on-screen movement back and forth between the 1940's and the present (with a couple of stops in between) was not too jarring.

This isn't typical summertime fun. But if you don't mind a wrenching emotional experience, check it out.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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This week's featured adaptation is "The Smurfs," and the movie reviews have been uneven (though they were all were written by adults). It's a big-screen version of the tale of little blue folks, a group created by the Belgian artist Peyo and made into a TV cartoon in the 1980s.

According to the offical Smurfs site, after Peyo left school in Brussels, he looked at newspaper want ads and considered openings for a dental assistant and an illustrator. He was too late for the job at the dentist's office, so he turned to the city's vibrant cartooning scene. One of the pleasures of walking around the city now is seeing the large cartoon murals scattered about. Next time you're in Brussels, you can get a feel for Peyo's work at the Belgian Comic Strip Center, a fascinating museum.

Some sample movie reviews:

-- Tribune: The slapstick is very small-kid friendly, and even the most adult-friendly jokes are pretty mild stuff. Yeah, the Smurfs are still sickeningly sweet and upbeat. But if you've got kids, it's not nearly as torturous to sit through as you might have feared.

-- Los Angeles Times: To borrow the lingo of the little blue people who populate "The Smurfs" — What the Smurf? If that sort of bad "blue" pun, as opposed to fun, is to your little one's liking, then parents, you are in for a fingernails-on-the-chalkboard, ahem, treat.

-- Washington Post: [P]arents, be warned: Unlike family films produced by Pixar, "The Smurfs" will only appeal to a pre-adolescent audience.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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This is a big weekend for book adaptations, and the biggest buzz is not for a movie but for the new trailer for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." It's a chilling preview, and shows that the series -- once more whimsical and fantastic -- has become darker and darker.

Other adptations premiering this week include "Green Lantern," taken from the DC Comics character, and "Mr. Popper's Penguins," a big screen version of the charming book by Richard and Florence Atwater.

But I think my weekend treat will be "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen -- which comes highly recommended by my daughter and is sure to bring out the Francophile in me. Have a great weekend and report back with your movie reviews.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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As this week's featured adaptation, we bring you reviews of "Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer." The movie is based on the Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds, which details the adventures of the little girl from Virginia Dare Elementary School. Despite the co-starring role of Heather Graham, the movie appears to be aimed arrow-straight at elementary schoolers.

Definitely not suitable for date night, but perfect for an afternoon of baby-sitting. Here are excerpts from reviews:

-- Roger Ebert: It's "a film that little kids might find perfectly acceptable. Little, little, little kids. My best guess is, above fourth-grade level, you'd be pushing it."

-- Dallas Morning News: "For those sighing about why they don't make more movies like last year's Ramona and Beezus, based on the book series by Beverly Cleary, they just did."

-- Boston Globe: "Some movies make you remember being a child. Some movies treat you like one. “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer’’ does both. This is good news for the 8-year-olds who’ve read Megan McDonald’s books, which began to arrive in 2000. They might not mind the movie’s relentless determination to be both an arts-and-crafts project and dessert."

-- New York Daily News: "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" isn't just "Rare!," as its title heroine would say - it's a seriously perfect vacation destination.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This week's adaptation hits a familiar there -- bringing a comic book to the big screen -- and reviews for Thor range from "tasty" to "turkey." (Wait, I think turkey is tasty, so where does that leave me?) It certainly has promise, with director Kenneth Branagh, and actors Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman. The latest Marvel superhero to make it to the movies is featured in his early days, before he teams with Iron Man, Hulk and others as The Avengers. Here are excerpts from reviews

-- Chicago Tribune: The last 25 minutes of "Thor" aren't much better than the first. But that hour in between — tasty, funny, robustly acted — more than compensates.

-- New York Times: A howling turkey is at least something to laugh at, and maybe even something to see. But “Thor” is an example of the programmed triumph of commercial calculation over imagination.

-- Los Angeles Times: "Thor" has its strengths, but it is finally something of a mishmash with designs on being more interesting than it manages to be. Part of "Thor's" artistic confusion and lack of unity can be attributed to its having not only two different settings but two completely different tones, which in turn may be partly because of it having no fewer than five credited writers ...

-- USA Today: Under Kenneth Branagh's direction, Thor has eye-popping special effects, strong performances and, perhaps most notably, 3-D technology put to good use. Though the plot has some holes, the dazzling look of the movie and the earth-rattling action sequences fill in those gaps.

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"Water for Elephants," the movie adapted from the popular novel by Sara Gruen, is this week's featured adaptation. The book, about a romantic triangle in a squalid, Depression-era circus, was a big hit with book clubs, guaranteeing a ready-made audience. For the Twilight crowd, there's even a starring role by Robert Pattinson; his co-stars are Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz. Here are some movie reviews:

-- Los Angeles Times: The romance of the carnival is strong in this film, and it's not too much to say that it's the element viewers will come away remembering most.

-- New York Times: With her caring trainer, Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary student who drops out of Cornell after his parents’ sudden deaths, Rosie [the elephant] shares a quasi-mystical understanding of good and evil. That intuitive rapport — the soul of the novel — is barely felt in this cool, placid film, which so studiously tries to cram all of the book’s incidents and characters into two hours that it forgets it is telling a story.

-- Roger Ebert: In an age of prefabricated special effects and obviously phony spectacle, it's sort of old-fashioned (and a pleasure) to see a movie made of real people and plausible sets.

-- Rolling Stone: Even nonreaders of the book can figure out what happens next. It's all in the telling. Gruen provided grit and pungent detail. The movie settles for gloss.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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You know I'm a sucker for movie adaptations that supersize comic book superheroes. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man (why is his name two words?) -- the more, the merrier. So I was excited to see the new trailer for "Captain America," which is scheduled for a July 22 release.

From the three-minute clip, it looks like the movie treats weakling-hopeful Steve Rogers with the right touch of pathos. And the action scenes look good. Still not sure whether it will have a comic or ironic touch -- one of my requirements for a great superhero movie -- but I'm hoping that Tommy Lee Jones can provide it, as he did in "Men in Black."

For those who did not grow up reading comics in the back seat of a Chevy Biscayne, Captain America is the alter ego of Rogers. Rejected by the Army while trying to enlist during World War II, little Steve volunteers for an experiment designed to create super-soldiers. The result: "agility, strength, speed, endurance, and reaction time superior to any Olympic athlete who ever competed," according to his Marvel bio. He later joined Iron Man and others on the Avengers.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The reviews are in for "Little Red Riding Hood," a movie that is not exactly a literary adaptation but more like a mash-up of the fairy tale and Twilight. Cute girl gets mixed up with werewolf -- where have I seen this before? But the scenery and other cinematic touches make it an intriguing film. Here are some excerpts from reviews:

-- Washington Post: For the strenuous effort [director Catherine] Hardwicke puts in to juice up "Red Riding Hood" with hormonal lust and psychosexual meaning, the movie remains an oddly wan, bloodless affair. My, what big pretensions it has.

--Los Angeles Times: Gorgeously shot, smartly conceived, cleverly cast, badly executed — the lush medieval beauty here is at best only skin deep.

-- Philadelphia Inquirer: Seyfried holds the camera's attention, playing this storybook business pretty much straight, although David Leslie Johnson's script puts the actress sorely to the test. The shots of Valerie walking across the snow in her long red cape are splendid, and aptly dreamlike; in fact, the color-saturated look of the film gives it an almost psychedelic aura.

-- New York Times: But, my, what sharp teeth Ms. Hardwicke doesn’t have: working from David Leslie Johnson’s screenplay she takes on the story’s grown-up themes of sex and death directly but weakly. This might be because the movie has been pitched at young adults, as evidenced by its pretty leads, electronic soundtrack, contemporary vibe and veneer, and caution.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Reviews are out for today's featured adaptation is "Green Hornet," a decades-old franchise that has spanned every medium except of stone tablets. The story of Britt Reid, the media mogul turned crime-fighter, began as a 1930s radio serial, and has been retold via books, comics and TV. The movie includes other memorable characters, including trusted assistants Kato and Lenore "Casey" Case. Here are excerpts from reviews (and here are reviews for many more adaptations):

Los Angeles Times -- An anemic, 97-pound weakling of the action comedy persuasion, "Hornet" is a boring bromedy that features mumblecore heroics instead of the real thing. ... Invention, however, is what's lacking in this latest version. Neither director Michel Gondry nor star Seth Rogen (who also co-wrote with Evan Goldberg) have been able to bring even a semblance of life to an inert enterprise that did itself no favors by converting to 3-D late in the game.

Washington Post -- I will grudgingly admit that much of the movie was really funny. Sure, I didn't laugh - in lieu of laughter, I emit a harsh sound like a dog's cough - but all around me, the crowd really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Rogen and Jay Chou, the charismatic Taiwanese pop star who plays Britt's partner, Kato, have real chemistry.

New York Times -- “The Green Hornet” is not terrible, just pointless, and it offers further proof that superheroism is, at least for now, pretty well tapped out as a vein of lucrative pop-cultural bounty.

New York Daily News -- Michel Gondry has crafted an irreverently funny, ultramodern take on the 1930s radio serial, with a vibe so casual you half expect star Seth Rogen to amble off screen and put his feet up on the seat next to you. That slacker attitude is an act, of course. A movie this determined to entertain requires hard work. And no one had to work harder than Rogen to prove he could play a classic hero.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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This is not our usual Friday adaptation post, but I wanted to check out some movie reviews for Tron: Legacy because the  franchise has spawned so many print spinoffs. Among them, "Tron" by Brian Daley (1982), "The Art of Tron" by Michael Bonifer, "Tron: Betrayal" by Jai Nitz, and the Legacy series. So here are some excerpts from reviews:

New York Times -- There’s more than a touch of Zeus in Kevin’s white beard and Olympian digs, but, much like Icarus, no one in “Tron: Legacy” gets to soar too high.

Roger Ebert -- Since the Tron universe exists entirely within chips, don't bother yourself about where the physical body of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) has been for the last two decades; it must surely have been somewhere, because we can see that it has aged. ... Joseph Kosinski's "Tron: Legacy" steps nimbly over such obstacles and hits the ground running, in a 3-D sound-and light show that plays to the eyes and ears more than the mind.

Time -- Tron: Legacy ... activated my couch potato impulses. I wanted to loll in my chair enjoying its dark cinematography, punctuated by aesthetically appealing neon, while Daft Punk's strangely soothing electronica washed over me. The movie is like visiting Satan's spa.

Tribune -- This is one of those big-budget projects destined to split audiences (a good thing, always). ... "TRON: Legacy" comes to life when Sam, played by a too-cool-for-school Garrett Hedlund, learns the ways of the Lightcycles and the perilous joys of racing on "ribbons of light." Here, we get the sweep and simple excitement we need. Elsewhere, we get exposition more sluggish than the stuff we had to wade through in the second and third "Matrix" movies, and a strained, opaque brand of intellectual-property mythology that might mean tons to ardent fans of the first "Tron," but less to others.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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This week's book-to-movie adaptation is "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," which is based on the series by C.S. Lewis. Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are magically pulled into a painting of a ship, and wind up on the Dawn Treader, whose captain, the King of Narnia, is searching for seven lost lords. Judging from the reviews, this is the Sarah Palin of movies: You love it or hate it. Here are some review excerpts:

Washington Post -- It's great to be back in Narnia. ... [I]t isn't every kid's movie that wrestles with the subject of faith in a higher power, or sin, or the afterlife. And it isn't every kid's film that can do it so entertainingly. Sure, that's heavy stuff if you're looking for it. But it doesn't spoil the great, great fun to be had in Narnia - or the magical spell it casts - if you're not.

Los Angeles Times -- Oh, there are sword fights aplenty (as bloodless as ever), but instead of a real story, we are left clinging to individual moments. There are funny ones — the one-footed dwarfs (big foot, tiny bodies, lots of hopping); poignant ones — the magic dragon desperate to undo the spell; sort of scary ones — a ghastly sea serpent whose belly is the beast; and flat ones (too many to mention).

Roger Ebert -- The characters have characteristics rather than personalities, and little self-consciousness. They spring to the service of the plot, which, not particularly coherent, boils down to one damn thing after another. Still, this is a rip-snorting adventure fantasy for families, especially the younger members who are not insistent on continuity.

Time -- The film is not objectionable, just perfunctory — a decorous succession of adventure clichés with a cast of performers who should seek treatment for charisma deficiency. Dawn Treader, the name of the ship in the story, should here be rechristened Yawn Treader.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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This week's book-to-movie adaptation, "I Love You Phillip Morris," is receiving great reviews -- especially for the performance of its star, Jim Carrey. The movie -- and book by Steve McVicker -- tell the true story of con man Steven Russell, who used his considerable intellect and chutzpah to break out of the Texas prison system four times. (The title refers to his love for a fellow convict, played in the movie by Ewan McGregor.) Some excerpts from reviews:

Rolling Stone -- OK, the movie, written and directed by John Requa and Glen Ficara of Bad Santa fame, is all over the place. But it's also outrageously funny.

Entertainment Weekly -- [ILYPM] pulls off ingenious schemes of its own: It dramatizes a highly unusual relationship — that's an understatement — between two men in which homosexual love and sex, ardently enacted on screen in a finely tuned tour-de-force interplay between two movie stars, is just another piece of the story. And it sustains a tone of compassionate hilarity in which oversize romantic gestures coexist with gigantic scams.

Village Voice -- [I]n ILYPM, Carrey finds the perfect outlet for his manic energy: Id and libido are fused, with Steven driven by actual lust and the unwavering—and completely believable—determination to provide for his fragile boyfriend.

Associated Press -- Jim Carrey gets to show off the best of what he can do in "I Love You Phillip Morris," both the physical comedy he made his name on and the unexpected tenderness that has crept into his later, more dramatic work.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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The reviews are in for "Burlesque," starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, and it provides a twist from our standard Friday book-to-movie adaptation posts. A glossy, picture-rich book accompanies the movie -- and if early reviews are any guide, it might wind up in the remainder bin rather quickly. Then again, star power of the two leading ladies could generate some box office power. Here are exceprts from some reviews:

Tribune newspapers -- Writer-director Steven Antin may have a heart as big as Iowa and California put together but he's not much of a filmmaker. The perpetually unsteady camerawork (a choice, but a bad one), the suffocating claustrophobia induced by the preponderance of "Chicago"-inspired club interiors, the high-fructose corn syrup disguised as dialogue: It's a lot to overcome, which is where a movie musical's musical numbers usually come in.

San Francisco Chronicle -- "Burlesque" is irresistible from its first minutes, and over time it creates a whole atmosphere, not only onscreen but within the audience. It's big, perfectly cast and entertaining in every way, but more than that it feels like a generous public event. See it with other people. See it with a crowd.

N.Y. Times -- Given that she spends much of the movie onstage, singing and dancing in what is essentially a succession of music videos linked with backstage filler, Ms. Aguilera doesn’t have much time to embarrass herself. She’s a serviceable screen presence who has a voice and an occasional song (Etta James’s “Tough Lover”) big enough to keep her from sliding off screen.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Movie reviews for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1" -- certainly the most highly awaited adaptation of the year -- are starting to come in. At the risk of seeming movie-heavy on the blog this week, with yesterday's Green Lantern post, here are some excerpts from reviews:

Tribune newspapers -- It takes its time. It has a heavy heart, and a sluggish middle passage. By conventional "wow" standards it offers the least magic and conventional energy of the films so far. ... What works especially well this time? The little things. Alexandre Desplat's musical score is the best of the series so far, never going for bombast when an undercurrent of emotion or menace or comfort will do instead.

Boston Globe -- “Part One’’ features the most deliriously inspired moviemaking since “The Prisoner of Azkaban,’’ from 2004, but I’m not sure I believe Warner Bros. is ready to part with a franchise that’s pulled in the equivalent of the gross domestic product of most of the islands in the Caribbean. ... “The Deathly Hallows’’ ends as it begins, in Lord Voldemort’s creepy thrall. But the film has enough moments of silence and shots of its three heroes doing nothing so much as looking spiritually put-upon to pass muster at European art houses. On one hand, scenes of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) trekking through the woods and across moors are precious filler. On another, they’re daring.

Salon -- The over-under for making sense of "Deathly Hallows" is five. If your consumption of Potter books and movies totals at least that much, and includes one or more iterations of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (sixth in the series), you should be fine. If you lack at least a moderate degree of immersion in the Potter canon, though, then this movie seriously isn't for you. Sure, doing some homework on Wikipedia or fan sites might help, but it's no substitute; you won't greet the members of the extended Weasley family with the same affection, welcome the deus-ex-machina reappearance of the magical elf Dobby with the same joy, or squirm in your seat at the ongoing soul-torment visible within Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Here's a request from the newsroom for adult Harry Potter fans.

Are you a grown up of a certain age who isn't ashamed to admit that you're dying to see the latest Harry Potter movie next week? Are, perchance, you more into the books and movies than some kids you know? Do you buy your Wizard Rock T-shirts in men's and women's sizes???

If so, The Sun needs to talk to you for a story about Harry Potter's adult fans.

We're looking for people in the Baltimore area willing to chat with reporter Jill Rosen about their love for the series (which, technically is a children's book, no?) If you wouldn't mind her calling, please email: jill.rosen@baltsun.com as soon as you can.

Posted by Kim Walker at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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This week's highlighted adaptation is "Fair Game," which is based on the book by Valerie Plame, the CIA operative who was outed by the Bush administration. She and her husband, former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson IV, were caught up in political intrigue after he wrote a report about Iraq that did not support administration suspicions about that nation. Here are some excerpts from reviews:

Los Angeles Times -- [T]he hitch in "Fair Game" is that the nakedness of what was publicly done to Plame and Wilson may be more compelling than the filmmakers counted on. They chose to focus much of their efforts on how having the White House gunning for the couple affected their personal relationship, but they shouldn't have. Though that dynamic is of interest, it is frankly dwarfed by the outrage you have to feel at both the misuse of governmental power and the pro-war propaganda offensive, and that unbalances the film. The way that Plame was considered, ... "fair game" in a world of brutal realpolitik is so disturbing it overwhelms the personal drama that accompanied it.

Roger Ebert -- What's effective is how matter-of-fact "Fair Game" is. This isn't a lathering, angry attack picture. Wilson and Plame are both seen as loyal government employees, not particularly political until they discover the wrong information. ... This topic has been so poisoned by misinformation that a rational discussion seems impossible. I suppose the question becomes, how well does "Fair Game" work as a movie? I suspect it will work better the more you walk in agreeing with it.

Continue reading "Fair game movie reviews -- the Valerie Plame story" »

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

Leonardo DiCaprio as a serial killer -- that may be only news scarier than the political sniping and bickering that awaits us after Election Day.

DiCaprio has acquired the movie rights to Erik Larson's book, "The Devil in the White City," and plans to play the role of serial killer H.H. Holmes, according to Deadline. The book tells of Holmes' criminal exploits, targeting young women amid the backdrop of the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893 in Chicago. The book was a big hit -- and, considering the subject matter, I've suprised at how many women tell me they loved it.

It will be tough role for DiCaprio -- it's hard to beat the menace of Anthony Hopkins, who set the serial killer standard in the movie adaptation of Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs." But DiCaprio has taken on challenging roles before, so let's see whether he can duplicate the success of the book.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," a movie adaption that ends Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy is out today, and the reviews are coming in. I've been waiting for this movie, which stars Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, because I jumped into the trilogy late and have been hesitant to see the first two movies without reading the books. (Plus, I'm captivated by the foreign title: "LUFTSLOTTET SOM SPRÄNGDES." The phrase, which sounds like an appetizer at a German restaurant, doesn't seem to have a clear meaning into English. It is translated as "The Girl Who Ran" (Google), "The Air Palace That Was Blasted," (stars21.com) and "LUFTSLOTTET which up" (Babylon.com). Here are excerpts from some movie reviews:

Roger Ebert -- So what has happened is that this uptight, ferocious, little gamine Lisbeth has won our hearts, and we care about these stories and think there had better be more.

Tribune -- As Larsson wrote it and screenwriter and exposition-condenser Ulf Rydberg adapted it, it's a rather wobbly blend of courtroom drama and loose ends tied, albeit rather leisurely. ... I did like the notes struck at the end between Noomi Rapace, the series' fine, fierce Lisbeth, and Michael Nyqvist as Blomkvist. The book ended differently; the movie has the guts to let things dangle.

Entertainment Weekly -- "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" is mostly an epic rehash of the tale Larsson has already told, and that makes it, at two hours and 28 minutes, the first movie in the series that never catches fire.

Salon -- [The] good news is that [director Daniel] Alfredson finds his footing in "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" and delivers a rousing, grueling, almost operatically scaled finale to the series.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's featured adaptation is "Red," the Willis/Freeman/Malkovich shoot-em-up crafted from the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Looks like a wild ride with the "Retired Extremely Dangerous" crew. Don't forget to wear your Old Guys Rule cap to the theater. Here are some reviews to help you plan your weekend:

Tribune newspapers -- Movie adaptations of graphic novels as disparate as "Road to Perdition" to "Sin City" can seem awfully thin. Around the midpoint, "RED" starts repeating itself and spinning its wheels and looking for an ending, well before the ending arrives. The actors have considerable fun with it, though I can't be the only one who would prefer not to see another movie containing the line "Wow. You really are CIA!" until the summer of 2011.

New York Times -- If you are in the mood to revisit some of the bad movies of last summer — there was no shortage — then “RED” may be just the ticket. You might even say that this movie, directed by Robert Schwentke and based on the comic books created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, represents a do-over, a moderately successful attempt to restore the entertainment potential of two much-abused genres.

L.A. Times - Conceived of as an action comedy with a tongue-in-cheek, Tarantino-lite sensibility, "Red" can't stop itself from trying too hard to be hip. It's not that it doesn't have effective moments, it's that it doesn't have as many as it thinks it does. The film's inescapable air of glib self-satisfaction is not only largely unearned, it's downright irritating.

CNN -- Hardly a bull's-eye, the movie barely makes sense, but it's performed with enough gusto to give it at least the sham of a personality and the semblance of a good time. Box office hits have been made from far less.

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

It's been a while since a good movie adaptation has been released, and this week we get a touching girl-meets-horse tale of "Secretariat." The source book was William Nack's "Secretariat, the Making of a Champion," and the former turf reporter for Newsday told The Baltimore Sun that he was couldn't be more pleased with the movie. The main character, played by Diane Lane, took over a horse farm from her dying father, "left her family and went East to run the career of this racehorse. It made her and her husband estranged; she had a very difficult time. but she managed to start a new life," Nack told reporter Michael Sragow. Here are some reviews:

Los Angeles Times -- As the Walt Disney Pictures enchanted castle logo unerringly indicates, "Secretariat" is a fairy tale about a horse. If you're in the mood for it, and in the mood for a strong and satisfying performance by Diane Lane, you're definitely in the right place.

New York Times -- Squeaky clean and as square as a military flattop, “Secretariat” doesn’t take the wide or long view when it comes to horse racing or anything else, despite an occasional oblique nod to Vietnam. Instead it sticks to the Disney gospel that life means following your dreams ...

Washington Post -- [Director Randall] Wallace's secret is that he makes "Secretariat" about characters, not races, and he has found irresistible protagonists in both his equine and human subjects.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

The tale of Temple Grandin's battle to cope with autism and fit into the modern world may have been the surprise of the Emmy award ceremonies. Sure, everyone knows about Glee, Mad Men and Modern Family, but the show that will open most folks' eyes is the HBO movie about her life. It won five Emmys, and it was touching to see the winners mention the inspiring Grandin.

Doctor/author Oliver Sacks, who is fascinated by the mind/brain mystery, included her story in "An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Takes." And Grandin delivered her own version in "Thinking in Pictures." As noted on Grandin's website, she "didn't talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping, and humming. In 1950, she was diagnosed with autism and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. ... Dr. Grandin later developed her talents into a successful career as a livestock-handling equipment designer, one of very few in the world. She has now designed the facilities in which half the cattle are handled in the United States, consulting for firms such as Burger King, McDonald's, Swift, and others."

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 won't get to theaters until November, but The Baltimore Sun has put together a slideshow of stills from the set to whet your appetite.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 is scheduled for release Nov. 19, with Part II coming July 15, 2011. And that will be it for the Potter series in print and on screen -- unless author J.K. Rowling can be enticed from retirement.

Meanwhile, fans can enjoy these photos of stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and others.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Looks like David Fincher has found his tattooed hacker extraordinaire: Rooney Mara will play the titular role in the new "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The 25-year-old Mara was most recently in "Youth in Revolt" with Michael Cera, and played Nancy in the "Nightmare on Elm Street remake."

Production begins next month, with Daniel Craig cast as Mikael Blomkvist, and the movie is set to open Dec. 21, 2011.

No matter what you think of the plot, that is one pretty, pretty cast.

(AP photo)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

To promote "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth" -- book five in the hugely popular series -- the official 2010 Ice-Treat Truck Bookstore Tour is headed to Baltimore.

Tomorrow, Aug. 17, the treat truck is scheduled to make two stops in the area. At noon, it will be at the Ellicott City Barnes & Noble, in the Long Gate Shopping Center 4300 Montgomery Road. At 4 p.m. it will stop at the The Children’s Bookstore, 737 Deepdene Road in Roland Park. You can stop by from 4 to 5:30 p.m. (If you don't live in the Baltimore area, here's the complete U.S. schedule for the truck tour.)

Book five in the series featuring middle schooler Greg Heffley comes out Nov. 9, and is likely to quickly jump into the best-seller ranks. The first Wimpy Kid book was published in 2007; now more than 35 million are in print in the U.S. And as you know, the Wimpy Kid series is written by University of Maryland alum Jeff Kinney, so toast the Terp with your popsicle or other treat!

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

As promised, here's a look at reviews for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," one of the week's big book-to-movie adaptations. (We'll be back later with reviews of "Eat Pray Love.") I bet that bringing a Bryan Lee O'Malley graphic novel to the screen is easier than adpating pure text, because the original version carries visual clues for the director -- and viewers. Here are exceprts of reviews for the movie, which stars Michael Cera as the supreme slacker.

Village Voice -- For all of Scott Pilgrim's strict adherence to the comic—the stylized video-game imagery, the rock-and-roll and references, the self-conscious merging of chop-socky action and puppy-dog-sweet sentiment—it goes even deeper, conveying the ache pulsating between the lines in O'Malley's original, which was so simply drawn that it looks like the work of a child not even trying very hard.

Variety -- With Michael Cera in the title role, twentysomethings and under will swiftly embrace this original romancer, which treats the subject as if there were nothing more important in all the universe, though anyone over 25 is likely to find director Edgar Wright's adaptation of the cult graphic novel exhausting, like playing chaperone at a party full of oversexed college kids.

New York -- At first the crazy-quilt inventiveness of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World can put you over the moon: Yes, this is how you bring a graphic novel to life onscreen! ... Given these marvels, why ... isn’t it the coolest movie ever? One problem is, well, Scott Pilgrim. Cera dials down his patented semi-castrato hysteria and doesn’t play every scene on the defensive, but our superhero is still a super-cipher: callow, cowardly, morose.

The New Yorker -- The film is alive with bad rock bands and dizzying bit parts, the standout being Kieran Culkin, in the role of Scott’s gay roommate, but we feel them gyrating around a hollow core. Who cares if Scott winds up with Ramona, Knives, or anyone else?

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

This is a big week for movie adaptations, with the release of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Eat Pray Love."(Click on either title for the movie trailer; here are Scott Pilgrim movie reviews.)

It's hard to imagine two books -- or movies -- that have more distance between their audiences (or do they?). Scott Pilgrim, a popular series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, appeals to guys who have spent entirely too much time watching TV and playing video games, are angry about all the jocks who torment them, and are yearning for a relationship. It's set to a frenetic pace, as if the camera crew had been on a diet of Pop-Tarts and Froot Loops.

"Eat, Pray, Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's book, is aimed at women who are searching for some larger meaning in life, are angry at all the guys who have tormented them, and are yearning for a worthwhile relationship. The movie is heavy on scenic shots that would fit well in a travelogue. I enjoyed Gilbert's sense of humor in the book, and I hope that element carries over to Julia Roberts' character.

We'll bring you more about the movies, including early reviews, as the week goes on. In the meantime -- even though the movies have common themes of anger and yearning -- I bet lots of couples and families are scheduling their weekends at the cineplex, guys to the left for Scott Pilgrim, women to the right for "Eat Pray Love." Am I going to be the only person to see both?

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

The movie adaptation of Nick McDonnell's acclaimed novel, "Twelve," is out this week, featuring Chace Crawford as a drug-dealer among young, chic New Yorkers. Think of Holden Caulfield gone bad during his Christmas doldrums and you'll get the idea. Here are excerpts of reviews for the movie:

Village Voice -- Famously published when its author was only 18, Twelve the book briskly moves along with the Didion-esque disdain of an insider—material that first-time screenwriter Jordan Melamed transforms into a hand-wringing cautionary tale with a tacked-on moral lesson and visions of a dead, beatific mother.

Variety -- "Twelve" can't decide if it's a cautionary tale or a lifestyle catalog. ... [It] feels like ersatz Bret Easton Ellis watered down for the "Gossip Girl" crowd (it even stars the latter's Chace Crawford, as its drug-dealing antihero).

Rolling Stone -- Joel Schumacher's Twelve, from a much better 2002 novel by Nick McDonell, is a drag-ass slog with GG's Chace Crawford as a sober weed dealer, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as his supplier, and a young cast whose work is done by irritating, wall-to-wall voice-over from Kiefer Sutherland. Sorry, no XOXO for this slick, hollow hooey.

Entertainment Weekly -- The movie adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, covers all of McDonell's ground. But between page and screen, youthful immediacy has been lost, replaced by effortful art direction that saddles the of-the-moment story with a dated Less Than Zero aesthetic heavy on the wardrobe and decor.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Nancy is headed to the Maryland Science Center tonight for the release of Eclipse, the latest movie adaptation from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. (Nancy says she's not a Twi-hard, but I think she harbors a secret crush for Edward.) She'll be tweeting from the show, so if you want wall-to-wall coverage check in with ReadStreet on Twitter. Meanwhile, here's a look at the fans who turned out for a local Twilight marathon and excerpts from Eclipse movie reviews:

New York Times -- If there is a bit more humor on display here ... there is also more violence, and, true to the film’s title, a deeper intimation of darkness. What there isn’t, as usual, is much in the way of good acting, with the decisive and impressive exception of Ms. Stewart, who can carry a close-up about as well as anyone in movies today.

Los Angeles Times -- "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is back with all of the lethal and loving bite it was meant to have: The kiss of the vampire is cooler, the werewolf is hotter, the battles are bigger and the choices are, as everyone with a pulse (and a few without) knows by now, life-changing.

USA Today -- While director David Slade's unnerving psychological drama Hard Candy (2005) was fascinating in its unpredictability, he is hampered here by Meyer's leaden plot, adapted like the previous ones by Melissa Rosenberg. Early scenes have a gritty tension, but the rest of the movie, with its slow pacing and lackluster cinematography, doesn't live up to that initial promise.

Hollywood Reporter -- It took three films, but "The Twilight Saga" finally nails just the right tone in "Eclipse," a film that neatly balances the teenage operatic passions from Stephenie Meyer's novels with the movies' supernatural trappings. Where the first film leaned heavily on camp and the second faltered through caution and slickness, "Eclipse" moves confidently into the heart of the matter -- a love triangle that causes a young woman to realize choices lead to consequences that cannot be reversed.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Thousands of "Twi-hards" jammed Los Angeles this week for a chance to see the premiere of Eclipse, the latest movie adaptation in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. And last night, the dream came true for the lucky ones who got a peek at the stars -- and at the movie. They came from Seattle and Dallas and Scranton, camping in a special tent city erected for the event, according to an AP report.

Amanda Belcher, 27, a mom from Scranton, Pa., who took a week off work at a public affairs agency to camp out for the premiere said the experience was worth it. "It's a great way to bring people together," Belcher said. "It's like intense friendship building."

The millions of other Twilight fans will have to wait until June 30 for the movie's general release. Here in Baltimore, the Maryland Science Center's iMax theater will be among the venues. In the meantime, some cities are offering free showings of Twilight and New Moon, the first two movies in the series, on June 26. You can check here for a list of cities. Nothing in Baltimore, but true Twi-hards willl think nothing of driving to Washington or Philly for the event.

As noted earlier, "Breaking Dawn," the final book in Meyer's series, will be released as two movies -- a decision I disagree with.

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Categories: Books to Movies
        

In addition to "Robin Hood," another bookish movie is out this week: "Letters to Juliet," (trailer here) starring Amanda Seyfried. It describes Il Club di Giulietta, dedicated volunteers who for decades have answered the poignant letters left for or sent to Juliet in Verona -- a fascinating concept. Of course, we need more drama (and young love) for a movie, and this treatment seems like a cross between the book by Ceil and Lise Friedman, and "Eat Pray Love." Here are excerpts from movie reviews:

Los Angeles Times -- "Letters to Juliet" is an ode to romance of the most starry-eyed sort, a sugary paean to quixotic clichés and a film destined to be a guilty pleasure for some (me included, sigh) and the painful price of a relationship for others (so steel yourselves).

Chicago Tribune -- The key to the film's success is its lack of strain. As written by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan, this isn't one of those pushy slapstick affairs; it's more romantic than comic, and despite the corn there are no villains (not even the nattering fiance is demonized).

Time magazine -- I'd take any woman in my life, ages 10 to 100, to Letters to Juliet and my guess is we'd both leave with a little Italian glow.

Entertainment Weekly -- Director Gary Winick and cinematographer Marco Pontecorvo fit together the fate-tossed stuff of mass-appeal love stories and the seductive imagery of travelogue vacation movies so smoothly that the sequel to "Letters to Juliet" might well be "Letters to Orbitz:" Find me a flight to Verona!

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Movie directors often have reinterpreted the story of Robin Hood, which originated in ancient ballads and was set down in print as early as the 16th Century in A Gest of Robyn Hode. In early chracterizations, old RH was "a violent yeoman who steals from the dishonest and helps those whom he pleases," according to a study by the University of Rochester. Only later did he become more of a folk hero for the oppressed. Not having a definitive text allows a lot of artistic license when it comes to movies, and today we get another look at the charismatic guy who takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Here are excerpts from reviews of "Robin Hood," a Russell Crowe/Cate Blanchett prequel that is dividing critics: (More movie adaptations are here.)p>

Los Angeles Times -- Simultaneously simplistic and over-plotted, revisionist and predictable, this "Robin Hood" has trouble getting untracked and, once it does, proves an awkward mix of international geopolitics, repressed memory, old-fashioned villainy, human rights advocacy, the Magna Carta and pigeons that send secret messages.

Chicago Tribune -- I liked it. It's on a par with [director Ridley] Scott's "American Gangster": No revelations, but a satisfying, large-scale genre movie, toned up by its cast.

Philadelphia Inquirer -- Shot in glorious widescreen ... Robin Hood boasts graphic battle scenes and ingenious intrigue, a sense of history that may not be accurate but feels authentic, and a love story that smartly plays with gender and Hollywood stereotypes.

Wall Street Journal -- It's an ersatz epic about men in fights—grim fights, grinding battles, clanking combats that are repetitive and, in a movie that runs 140 minutes, all but endless.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Looking for some unique real estate? Want to be the envy of all your guy friends? The Iowa owners of the “Field of Dreams” movie site -- and the iconic diamond -- have put the property up for sale, according to an AP report. Don and Becky Lansing say they love the land, but think its time to give it up.

The movie was based on the novel “Shoeless Joe” by W.P. Kinsella, in which a farm family makes a mythic connection to the baseball gods. It's a novel that belongs on your shelf of baseball books, with others such as Bernard Malamud's "The Natural," Philip Roth's "The Great American Novel" and Robert Coover's "The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop."

"Field of Dreams" made the Lansings' land a popular tourist destination. For sale is a baseball diamond, a two bedroom house, six outbuildings, and a 193-acre parcel of land; the Lansings haven't listed a sale price, AP said.

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This week's bookish movie is -- what else? -- a acomic book adaptation: "Iron Man 2." It follows other small-panel-to-big-screen works such as "Kick-Ass" and "The Losers." I'm not a regular reader of the Marvel's Iron Man strip, but I did like the first movie, which had a nice mix of comedy and action. (I wasn't alone; the movie took in more than a half-billion dollars.) So I'll probably give the second one a shot, too. Here are exceprts of reviews from the new release:

Los Angeles Times -- Given the non-organic way "Iron Man 2's" plot came into the world — hatched by the producers in a series of meetings before a screenwriter was brought on — it's surprising that the film has any pluses at all. What makes the difference, at least for a while, is the sense of humor of screenwriter Justin Theroux ...

New York Times -- It’s not that the action sequences are badly executed; they just aren’t very interesting. The suits and explosions and C.G.I. flight simulations may have cost a lot of money, but more imagination has been invested in the film’s sleek and shiny look and, above all, in its jittery, loquacious and eccentric population of geniuses, frauds, playboys and bad guys.

Roger Ebert -- The superhero genre doesn't necessarily require good acting, but when it's there (as in "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight"), that takes it up a level.

Continue reading "Iron Man 2 movie reviews" »

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By now, everyone in America knows the story of Michael Oher, a homeless black kid who became pro football player with the Baltimore Ravens -- thanks in large part to a well-to-do white family that took him in. His story was a focus of Michael Lewis' book "The Blind Side," and made into a popular movie starring Sandra Bullock. It was a heart-warming tale of redemption but Oher did not like the implication that he was dumb, so he kept his distance from all the hype. Now, Oher will offer his own version in "I Beat the Odds: My Amazing Journey from Foster Care to the NFL and Beyond," a memoir to be published next February by Gotham Books.

The book will be written with Don Yaeger, who has had a hand in books about UCLA coaching legend John Wooden, N.Y. Mets pitcher Tug McGraw and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton. He's obviously pumped, judging from his recent tweet: @ErinAndrewsESPN I just signed to write Michael Oher's own book. He's an amazing kid...even better than the movie!

Gotham Books publisher William Shinker had this comment: "From reading the book The Blind Side and seeing the award-winning movie of the same name millions of people think they know Michael Oher's story, but they really don't. He gave only two interviews for the book and none for the movie. This will be the first time he will be able to tell his story in his own words with details that only he knows, and to offer his point of view on how anyone, no matter their background and upbringing, can achieve a better life."

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens' Michael Oher to publish memoir" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Maybe nice guys finish first after all.

The box office returns of the ultra-violent "Kick-Ass" movie, which is based on a comic by Mark Millar, have been disappointing, fellow Sun blogger Michael Sragow points out. For those keeping score: "Kick-Ass" had a $30 million budget and appears likely to top out at $55 million in the United States. By contrast, the $15 million "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie, based on the funny and poignant series by Jeff Kinney, movie has already made $59 million domestically.

Is there a lesson for film-makers -- and authors -- there?

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This week, two bookish movies are being released: "The Losers" (trailer above) and "Paper Man." The first is an explosive (literally) adaptation of the Vertigo comic about a group of secret agents who have to face off against the government. (It comes just a week after the adaptation of Kick-Ass, another popular shoot-em-up comic.) The second features Jeff Daniels playing a failed novelist who has quirky relationships with a 17-year-old girl (Emma Stone) and a superhero. Some early reviews for "The Losers" -- and for "Paper Man" after the jump:

Chicago Tribune -- "The Losers" drags you down to its level at gunpoint with its drooling fetishization of weaponry, its focus on Zoe Saldana in wee shorts, various and sundry assassinations designed with gamers in mind and more rabid mistrust of the U.S. government and its freedom-destroying institutions than you'd find at a tea party fundraiser.

Orlando Sentinel -- The movie is a stupid, over-the-top comic-booky action picture with the occasional cheesy effect, oddball casting and an utterly predictable get-that-guy-before-he-gets-us plot, but [Chris] Evans and a couple of his mates make it passable entertainment. If "The A-Team" is half this much fun, they’ll be lucky.

Village Voice -- Writer Andy Diggle dedicated his snappy DC comic books "The Losers" to ’80s screenwriting superstar Shane Black, creator of the Lethal Weapon series. But in adapting "The Losers" for film, director Sylvain White and screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Peter Berg strain to achieve the pleasurable mix of cheap laughs and expensive action that Lethal Weapon pulled off effortlessly with the help of its stellar cast.

Huffington Post -- The Losers is like The A-Team's farm squad -- call them the D-Team. Or perhaps the 2-D team, since this film doesn't exist in three dimensions in any sense -- indeed, it struggles to reach that second level.

Continue reading ""The Losers" and "Paper Man" movie reviews" »

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This week's literary adaptation -- Kick-Ass -- ain't exactly Jane Austen. But it's taken from a wildly popular work, the comic by superstar Mark Millar. The tale of ordinary kids aching to be superheroes has been done before -- isn't it everyone's wish? Yet Millar gives it an engaging, if bloody, spin. In this interview MiIlar discusses the challenges of finding supporters for his ultra-gory story, which features an 11-year-old killer named Hit Girl. Here are excerpts from reviews (and reviews of more book-to-movie adaptations):

Chicago Tribune -- I started hating this movie around the midpoint. And while Hit Girl's single usage of a c-word more commonly heard in Britain than in America has generated some controversy, the more pressing issue is how stupidly relentless the gore is, from beginning to end.

New York Times -- Fast, periodically spit-funny and often grotesquely violent, the film at once embraces and satirizes contemporary action-film clichés with Tarantino-esque self-regard — it’s the latest in giggles-and-guts entertainment.

Los Angeles Times -- This shrewd mixture of slick comic-book mayhem, unmistakable sweetness and ear-splitting profanity is poised to be a popular culture phenomenon because of its exact sense of the fantasies of the young male fanboy population.

Associated Press -- Director Matthew Vaughn has made an action comedy so bloody funny — double emphasis on bloody — fans might need to see it again just to catch the gags they missed from laughing so hard the first time.

Continue reading "Kick-Ass movie reviews" »

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This week's movie with a literary connection is "Letters to God," a tale of a young boy who is battling brain cancer and forms a spiritual bond with those around him, including a troubled postman. Patrick Doughtie wrote the story, inspired by his son Tyler, who died in 2005. Doughtie has written a companion book, and he and wife Heather also created a kids' version. By all accounts, this seems like one of those tear-jerkers that critics will pan and fans will adore. A more religious version of a tale that Nicholas Sparks might weave, on the order of "The Last Song" or "Dear John." Here are excerpts from reviews:

Orlando Sentinel -- Good looking ... but slow and bland, this faith-based tear-jerker is a depressingly unemotional affair, with writing and some of the acting so flat that even its emotionally loaded situations can’t inspire waterworks.

New York -- A young boy with cancer writes letters to God; an alcoholic postman gets them and reexamines his life. This feel-good (or should that be feel-bad?) movie purports to be about how the power of prayer affects others in a community. Something tells us it’s not meant for a New York audience.

Variety -- Bearing echoes of "Pay It Forward," "My Sister's Keeper" and even "Miracle on 34th Street," this faith-based/fact-based inspirational weepie allows no one to escape the saintlike glow of its terminally ill protagonist.

MovieGuide -- an impressive, well-written, redemptive, powerful movie that will touch the hearts of most people who see it.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Nicholas Sparks churns out movies the way James Patterson mass-produces books, and this week his latest adaptation, "The Last Song," comes to theaters. Seems like just yesterday that "Dear John" appeared. (It was early February.) Sparks movies are a known commodity -- reviewers hate them for their tragedy-tinged romance, but viewers love them. Miley Cyrus' starring role is sure to attract even more fans. Here are excerpts of reviews for "The Last Song" (you can read reviews for other book adaptations here):

Los Angeles Times -- There aren't a lot of surprises in store when a film is struck from Nicholas Sparks and is called "The Last Song." There will be young love in the picturesque South, there will be a battery of contrivances keeping those crazy kids apart, and there will be tragedy and much rending of hair.

Variety -- Cyrus, alas, hasn't yet learned not to act with her eyebrows and overbite. But she does show off her considerable chops as a pianist and remains reasonably likable throughout.

Chicago Tribune -- "The Last Song" is primarily for teenagers looking for something disposable to cry about for a couple of hours, though I did find it a tad easier to take than "Dear John," which was slicker but more galling in its heartstring-yanking.

Continue reading ""The Last Song" movie reviews" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

If you're a fan of the late Stieg Larsson's gripping crime novels, head over to the Charles Theatre on Sunday morning for a special showing and discussion of the adaptation of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” The final entry in the
Cinema Sunday series has had great reviews -- The Wall Street Journal called it “a stylish thriller with real complexity, people with interesting faces, a sensational actress cast as an ambisexual Goth hacker heroine ... . Joseph Schaub of the College of Notre Dame will introduce the film and discuss it with the audience afterward. Doors open and bagels are served at 9:45 a.m.; showtime is 10:30. Info: 410-727-3464 or cinemasundays.com. You can find more reviews, trailers and other information on book adaptations, including "Shutter Island," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Eat Pray Love" here.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

We're a little light on bookish movies this week, but here's an entertaining new trailer for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," which is based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley (no relation to our guv, as far as I know).

The Manga-ish series has been a big hit, and the movie features slacker guitarist Scott who wants to win the heart of a girl. To do it, he has to defeat her seven ex-boyfriends. Not exactly Sword in the Stone material, but the trailer makes the challenge look like fun.

By the way, is Michael Cera the only guy in Hollywood who can play the meek, doe-eyed role? Reminds me of the way French films are cast -- has anyone EVER seen one that doesn't include Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche or Audrey Tatou?

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Fans of Kathryn Stockett's book "The Help," a surprise best seller, will be happy to know that filming on the movie adaptation could start this summer. There's a lot of interplay between books and movies these days. The recent Oscar awards were loaded with adaptations, and book sales have been getting a big boost from movies. As for "The Help" adaptation, People has already helped with the casting call, suggesting this lineup: Claire Danes as Skeeter, Oprah Winfrey as Aibileen, Anne Hathaway as Hilly and Mo'Nique as Minny.

How can I link a novel about Southern race relations with a reality series about summer debauchery? Easy -- my household includes one big fan of both works. My daughter will be thrilled (or at least amused) by the announcement that two cast members from MTV's "Jersey Shore" show have written a book, "Never Fall in Love at the Jersey Shore," which is scheduled for an early July release. I expect Jenni "Jwoww" Farley and Ronnie Ortiz-Magroin to provide an inside look at the Shore lifestyle -- a combination of hair gel, bar fights, Italian pride and GTL. If you haven't seen the show, it's hard to explain -- this recap of the finale from the Reality Check blog may help. But you can expect to see the book all over the O.C. beaches this summer.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

While we're on the topic, the Washington Post had an interesting story yesterday, asking prominent residents about the books they most enjoyed reading to their children. Michelle Obama picked "Where the Wild Things Are" and Diane Rehm, "Peter Rabbit."

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

What lurks in the brain of Jeff Kinney, creator of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series? With the Wimpy Kid movie out today -- you can get a sampling of reviews here -- the Baltimore Sun's Michael Sragow interviewed Kinney about the events that have inspired his writing and the movie. Kinney was born on Andrews Air Force Base and attended the University of Maryland, so even though he now lives in Massachusetts, we'll count him as a Marylander. Here's an excerpt from Sragow's article: 

He started the Wimpy Kid series back in 1998. (The first book came out in 2007.) He felt as if he was giving voice to a silent minority. "When I was in junior high, I remember feeling that they just tucked us away, they were just trying to hide us from society as we made that transition between childhood and teenagerhood - or is it teendom? It felt so strange to me that there were six or seven years of elementary school and two years of junior high, then four years of college. It just felt like something was up."

Kinney says he had a "really pretty typical childhood experience" as he grew up in Fort Washington, Md., and accumulated raw material for his books. "The stories that interest me [or strike me funny] are stories that fiction writers couldn't make up." For example, when his brother was in elementary school, one of the kids in a talent show "just roller-skated in a circle to a Bon Jovi song, for like three and a half minutes....I take moments like that and fictionalize them and make them serve my story."

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's bookish movie, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," was born from the phenomenally successful YA series by University of Maryland alum Jeff Kinney. (Fear the Turtle! Beat Houston! Sorry, a sudden attack of March Madness) The books, which recount the trials of middle schooler Greg Heffley, have sold millions upon millions -- the most recent, "Dog Days," had an initial press run last fall of four million. (Are there that many wimps in America?) Kinney calls himself a "failed cartoonist" (he drew a strip called Igdoof in college and had hoped to syndicate it), but he certainly has built a winning franchise. All four of the Wimpy Kid books are in the top 35 of USA Today's best seller list, and they're sure to climb after the movie opens Friday -- possibly even dislodging some of the "Percy Jackson" books. Here are some early movie reviews:

Chicago Tribune -- Any good episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" or "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" had the stuff this film doesn't: the cleverly hyperbolic touch that takes the audience a step or two away from comic realism, fruitfully.

Variety -- [I]it's an enjoyable ride -- albeit one infused with enough gross-out moments to make you feel relieved you've left middle school far behind.

Roger Ebert -- It isn't as good as "A Christmas Story," as few movies are, but it deserves a place in the same sentence. Here is a family movie you don't need a family to enjoy.

Village Voice -- Diary of a Wimpy Kid is sweet and funny at either end, but in between, it sags with endless repetition of gross bodily functions and Greg's torment at the hands of larger, angrier, or more popular kids—in that order.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's bookish movie is "Green Zone," the war-time thriller drawn from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City." I say "drawn from" because the book's author, former Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasakaran, analyzed the Americans' idealistic but misguided policies in occupied Iraq. I don't recall Matt Damon in that account. The Hollywood version features Damon at his Bourne best, searching out conspiracies and dodging bullets. (You can read other reviews of book adaptations such as Shutter Island and The Ghost Writer here.) Some reviews:

Chicago Tribune -- To me, it's too soon, or perhaps just too depressing, to turn recent, tragic and grimly well-documented geopolitical events ... that did not reflect well on America's place and purpose in the world into simplified, thriller-friendly material. "Green Zone" is partly real and partly, increasingly, fantastic and outlandish in its wishful thinking.

New Yorker -- “Green Zone” approaches every human activity as if preparing to defibrillate. ... This pathological wish to thrill delivers diminishing returns.

Roger Ebert -- Yes, the film is fiction, employs farfetched coincidences and improbably places one man at the center of all the action. It is a thriller, not a documentary. ... The bottom line is: This is one hell of a thriller.

Village Voice -- From the opening frenzy of hopped-up shock-and-awe panic among the Iraqi leadership to the frantic final chopper chase through the back alleys of downtown Baghdad, the movie is nonstop havoc. You catch your breath only to have the wind knocked out by the mirage of the carefree scene around the Green Zone swimming pool.

Continue reading "Reviews: Green Zone movie" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Books to Movies, Reviews
        

This week's literary movie, "Alice in Wonderland," is one that I can safely see -- without having to worry about the ending being spoiled. It will be interesting to see how Disney has captured the zaniness of Lewis Carroll's classic rabbit-meets-girl tale. Here's a taste from the trailer. I've always been a big fan of the 1951 animated version -- with the great Ed Wynn as the loopy voice of the Mad Hatter and a screenplay originally adapted (and rejected by Disney) by Aldous Huxley. For cartoon characters, can you beat the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't Cheshire Cat? Let's see whether director Tim Burton can top that. Here are some "Alice" reviews (and here are reviews of "Shutter Island," "Percy Jackson" and other book-to-movie adaptations):

Los Angeles Times -- Given the strength of Burton's imagination, it's not surprising that many of these creatures are engaging, especially if, like that rabbit, they are voiced by top British actors. ... Rather less satisfying is the script's notion that the creatures spend much of their time bickering as to whether this Alice is the same person who came down the rabbit hole a decade earlier ... .

New York Times -- Dark and sometimes grim, this isn’t your great-grandmother’s Alice or that of Uncle Walt, who was disappointed with the 1951 Disney version of “Alice in Wonderland.

Variety -- Quite like what one would expect from such a match of filmmaker and material and also something less, this "Alice in Wonderland" has its moments of delight, humor and bedazzlement. But it also becomes more ordinary as it goes along, building to a generic battle climax ... .

Entertainment Weekly -- Burton's Disneyfied 3-D Alice in Wonderland, written by the girl-power specialist Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast), is a strange brew indeed: murky, diffuse, and meandering, set not in a Wonderland that pops with demented life but in a world called Underland that's like a joyless, bombed-out version of Wonderland.

Continue reading "Reviews: Alice in Wonderland movie (2010)" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This is a big week for literary movie mysteries set on Massachusetts islands. If you don't want to be creeped out by "Shutter Island," Martin Scorcese's take on the criminally insane in Boston Harbor, try "The Ghost Writer." It's fugitive director Roman Polanski's adaptation of "The Ghost," a novel by British thrill-writer Robert Harris set on Martha's Vineyard. The plot: A ghostwriter, hired to finish the memoir of a former British prime minister, finds evidence linking the politician to war crimes. Here are excerpts from reviews of the movie, which had its weekend debut at the Berlin Film Festival:

Los Angeles Times -- These people not only act beautifully, they all work in concert with the director toward creating the across-the-board mood of nagging unease, of nefarious doings just outside our line of sight, that has always been one of Polanski's strengths.

New York Times -- Mr. Polanski is a master of menace and, working with a striking wintry palette that at times veers into the near-monochromatic — the blacks are strong and inky, the churning ocean the color of lead — he creates a wholly believable world rich in strange contradictions and ominous implications.

Wall Street Journal -- Mr. Polanski is a magician, his movie a synthesis of Mr. Harris's sturdy narrative, a Mamet-like appreciation for the shadows that lurk between words, and a drollery that most directors wouldn't even think about attaching to a thriller.

Variety -- All the ingredients are here for a rip-roaring political thriller, with corruption in the highest places and a cast of sexy and/or suspicious characters, but for the first hour there's little accumulated atmosphere or any sense of a bigger story hiding in the wings. Polanski simply transfers Harris' undistinguished prose direct to the screen and, though the pace picks up marginally in the second half, there's little wow factor in the revelations as they appear.

Continue reading "The Ghost Writer movie reviews" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's literary movies are led by "Shutter Island," the Martin Scorcese adaptation of Dennis Lehane's super-creepy novel. The book won widespread praise- -- reviewers callied it "utterly absorbing," "startlingly original," "instantly cinematic" and "as good as entertainment gets." High praise, but Lehane is a master of grit and suspense -- especially when it's served Boston-style. Here are excerpts of reviews, starting with the weekend debut at the Berlin Film Festival:

Chicago Tribune -- "Shutter Island" is hysterical, in the clinical and cinematic senses, followed by plodding, just when a potboiling contraption cannot afford to be.

New York Times -- Mr. Scorsese in effect forces you to study the threads on the rug he is preparing, with lugubrious deliberateness, to pull out from under you. As the final revelations approach, the stakes diminish precipitously, and the sense that the whole movie has been a strained and pointless contrivance starts to take hold.

Los Angeles Times -- In its own way, Laeta Kalogridis' screenplay, which is based on the Dennis Lehane bestselling novel, turns into Teddy's most formidable adversary -- never letting him rest as obstacles are thrown in his path and paranoia rises with every step he takes.

Wall Street Journal -- It won't be a beloved movie. It will inspire doctoral dissertations. And while this news may not bring unbridled joy to the folks at Paramount Pictures, let them be consoled by the thought that it possesses a kind of obsessive perfection.

Continue reading ""Shutter Island" movie reviews" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

I've already read all the comments eviscerating "The Lightning Thief," which opened this weekend. And I completely understand the complaints and disappointments. But let's be honest: This movie wasn't given the time, the budget or the attention that the Harry Potter movies were. Comparing the two is just silly.

I went into this movie expecting a good time with some familiar characters, and that's exactly what I got. I felt that the casting was brilliant, even with the older actors, and the basic premise remained: The Olypmic gods depend on their children and humanity to keep the traditions of Western civilization alive.

Was I disappointed that the Great Prophecy was ignored? Sure. But you know what made me happier? The fact that they didn't set this movie up to be an automatic five-picture deal.

They're giving people a chance to explore Rick Riordan's world, and if this movie leads to a sequel, than great. (But I should note: Any sequel should include the more complicated villian arc. Hades being the bad guy is too pedestrian, even for a children's movie.)

If not, we were given an entertaining film that stands well on its own. And what it lacked in plot, it more than made up for in special effects, in my book. In the future, they can bring more complex elements, but if they don't I'll still enjoy the gist of the highly imaginative world the author brought to us in the first place.

In my mind, this movie is the perfect example of staying true to the vision without treating the source material like an ironclad gospel. And if you are truly upset that a certain character is brunette instead of blonde, or that another is black instead of white, well ...

We'll always have the books.

(AP photo)

Posted by Nancy Knight at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This weekend's big literary movie is "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," and I haven't seen Nancy so excited since Maryland's basketball team beat the Dookies. The movie is adapted from the first book in Rick Riordan's fantasy series about a troubled kid who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon. Nancy promises to see the movie this weekend and review it on Read Street, -- UPDATE: SHE LIKED IT! (You can read more reviews of book adaptations here.) Meanwhile, here are excerpts from other reviews:

Chicago Tribune -- Percy, who has dyslexia and attention-deficit challenges, has been bumped up in age from 12 to 17. That's too bad, I think: This is an adolescent's odyssey. The movie, which of course owes a lot to Harry Potter and company, won't ruin anybody's life. But even with all its computer-generated fireballs, it's lukewarm medium-budget blockbustering.

Los Angeles Times -- The problem, though 10-year-old boys might disagree, is not so much that the "Lightning Thief" team has eliminated or changed numerous key plot points and scenes, but that it has done it without any particular grace or skill. This is generic filmmaking at its most banal, a simple-minded simplification of a not overwhelmingly complex book.

New York Times -- The movie, in which virginal teenagers do battle with fire-belching monsters, belongs to the same family-friendly genre as the “National Treasure” films. Although the standard allegorical bases for mythical-quest movies are dutifully covered, the obvious similarity of “Percy Jackson” to the Harry Potter movies inevitably makes it feel somewhat secondhand.

Washington Post -- Percy's sense of humor, as realized by Riordan, was a sardonic delight. And Percy's literary adventures, while they could at times be violent, were always tempered with narrative wit. ... But the movie suffers by taking itself a little too seriously. It's not just that it's a lot less funny than the book. It's also a lot less fun.

Continue reading ""Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" movie reviews" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (93)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's literary movie is "Dear John," a tear-jerker adapted from the book of the same name by the King of Tear-Jerkers, Nicholas Sparks (who's a high school track coach in his spare time). It's a love story interrupted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Practical Army guy (played by Channing Tatum)meets idealistic girl (Amanda Seyfried), he abandons her to fight Osama, and a "Dear John" letter follows. (Here's the trailer and official site.) Sparks' novels have sparked other romantic movies, including "The Notebook," "Night in Rodanthe" and "A Walk to Remember" -- "Dear John" appears to be another weeper. Here are excerpts from reviews for the new movie:

San Fracisco Chronicle -- Sure, it sounds corny. But director Lasse Hallstrom ("Chocolat") and screenwriter Jamie Linden give the whirlwind romance an appealing, straightforward decency, and Tatum and Seyfried click rather effortlessly. They're not Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams from "The Notebook," but they'll do.

New York Times -- [T]he latest attempt to bring his warm, earnest, therapeutic sensibility to the screen, falls in the upper middle range of Sparks film adaptations. the latest attempt to bring his warm, earnest, therapeutic sensibility to the screen, falls in the upper middle range of Sparks film adaptations.

Miami Herald -- "Dear John" is at its date-movie best in the first half; it's the sort of pretty weeper that will draw young women in droves. Later on the film gets a bit bogged down in its noble ambitions.

Los Angeles Times -- What we don't really have is an actual film but a very long music video with lots of montages of John and Savannah "moments" as they read their letters in absentia, which means neither the fans nor the foes of "The Notebook" are likely to be satisfied.

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Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

The Oscar nominees released Tuesday are brimming with literary makeovers, showing that Hollywood still depends on authors to generate great stories. For example, Meryl Streep is up for Best Actress for her portrayal of Julia Child in "Julie & Julia," adapted from Julie Powell's book. Here's a sampling of the bookish nominations in the Best Picture category:

"The Blind Side," adapted from Michael Lewis' book of the same name, tells the story of Michael Oher, who overcame challenges of poverty and a dysfunctional family to become a football star.

"Precious," starring Baltimore-born Mo'Nique, is a tale of street survival based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire.

"Up in the Air," is adapted from Walter Kirn's novel about a corporate hatchet man.

"An Education," is Lynn Barber's memoir about growing up, and defying parental expectations.

"A Serious Man," which some critics have compared to the Book of Job. (OK, so it's not a pure adaptation, and I have a hard time naming the author).

The envelope please ...

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

This week's literary movie is Extraordinary Measures, adapted from Geeta Anand's book "The Cure." It's the real-life story of the Crowley family, and the father who pushes a scientist and company to develop a cure for his two young children afflicted with fatal Pompe disease. The move stars Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. Here are some reviews:

Los Angeles Times -- ... a life-and-death story that feels brisk, business-like and oddly emotionless as we follow the deterioration of the kids and the difficulties of the research, as well as the business of turning a scientific theory into a life-saving, and as important, profit-generating treatment. 

New York Times -- ... the startling thing about “Extraordinary Measures” is not that it moves you. It’s that you feel, at the end, that you have learned something about the way the world works.

Washington Post --... the film can't help but grip the heart and imagination, especially when the camera is trained on the two adorable, plucky children whose life-and-death struggles propel the plot. But too often "Extraordinary Measures" gets bogged down in meetings, business plans and PowerPoint presentations.

Continue reading "Extraordinary Measures movie reviews" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Sad news comes today that Erich Segal, a classics professor who found his greatest fame with the pop novel "Love Story," has died at age 72. If you are of a certain age, you can recall the clamor over "Love Story," about a poor, street-wise Radcliffe girl and rich Harvard preppie -- Jenny Cavilleri and Oliver Barrett IV -- who fall for each other. You'll remember the bright greens, reds and blues on the book's cover, reminiscent of Robert Indiana's classic "LOVE" pop art. And who could forget this line: Love means never having to say you're sorry...

The slim novel was a runaway best seller, and the movie adaptation starred Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw. (I, like most other people my age, had a crush on her character for years.)

Segal followed his hit with other books, including the tepid sequel "Oliver's Story" and “The Class,” which traces the fates of five members of the Harvard class of 1958. But he never came up with a big hit again as a writer.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Books to Movies, Obituaries
        

Thomas Cobb got great reviews for his 1989 novel "Crazy Heart," about a washed up country-and-western singer named Bad Blake. And the movie adaptation, whose cast includes stalwarts such as Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall and Maggie Gyllenhaal, is getting the same sort of critical acclaim. (If you're not into C&W singers, this is also a week for the widespread release of "The Lovely Bones" movie; take a look at early reviews.) Here's a sampling of reviews for "Crazy Heart":

The Washington Post -- There are many reasons to admire "Crazy Heart," chiefly a performance from Bridges that stands as a quiet triumph within one of Hollywood's most durable and consistent careers, while making subtle nods to the actor's best-loved characters.

Los Angeles Times -- The grim parts of the film present the bourbon-battered Blake slowly (or, at times, quickly) losing his grip on life. But there's also a comically bleary ballet to the performance by Bridges, who plays Blake as a gifted songwriter who never loses his supple intellect or candor even as his body gives out to his liquored life.

New York Times -- a small movie perfectly scaled to the big performance at its center. It offers some picturesque views of out-of-the-way parts of the American West, but the dominant feature of its landscape is Bad Blake, a wayward, aging country singer played by Jeff Bridges.

Continue reading "Reviews: Crazy Heart movie" »

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Books to Movies
        

Tributes were pouring in today for Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank's family in an Amsterdam attic. Gies, who died Monday, also preserved the famous journal that became "The Diary of a Young Girl." She worked in the office of Anne's father, Otto, and in early 1942, when the Franks went into hiding, she and her husband provided food and other supplies. After the family was betrayed and arrested, she found Anne's diary and kept it until the war ended.

I had a chance to visit the Anne Frank House a couple of years ago, and it was truly sobering. The book, of course, is a chilling reminder of the innocence that is often crushed by oppression. Excerpts of some tributes:

New York Times -- It was Mrs. Geis’s habit to deflect accolades for defying Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam ... . But to accept that self-description would be to overlook the remarkable selflessness and courage Mrs. Gies demonstrated, an example so powerful that it continues to inspire nearly 70 years later.

The Washington Post -- Her passing represented the loss of the only connection that Anne had to the present world, and that her fans, in turn, had to her. As years passed, and the Holocaust became something that happened a generation ago, then two, then three, Gies alone was our tie.

New York Daily News -- In the end she could not save Anne and her family from betrayal to the Nazis, even by risking all to protect them. But it was Gies who preserved the young girl's diary that will echo through the ages as an expression of faith in the face of incomprehensible evil.

And here's a 1988 interview with Gies.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Books to Movies