The Summer of Books and Blockbusters

Yep, I'm talking about adaptations again. Look, I'm about to graduate, I love movies and books, and I'm running out of excuses to write about them, so just sit back and enjoy. Because the dry spell is ending! We are almost to summer blockbuster season! To me, the months of about January to April are something of a cinematic no man’s land. Oscar contenders are out of theaters, summer movies don’t start until May at the earliest, it’s the season of “meh”. Granted, there are usually a few good ones in the mix, but mostly it’s just a time when Scary Movie 5 can actually make a tiny bit of money. But now, summer is coming, with its great movies! Big! Splashy! Explosions! Last year’s summer was a major one (The Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, Ted) and this year hopes to give us even more. And several of the movies this year happen to be based on books! So let’s take a peek at some of the upcoming summer movie spectacular adaptations, and hope that they are more Lord of the Rings and less His Dark Materials. 

                               The Great Gatsby

The big one. One of the most famous books in American history is now going to become one of the biggest movies of the summer, with a big budget, all-star cast, and a pretty awesome trailer. For those who aren’t in the know, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the definitive novel of the roaring 20s, a deconstruction of the American dream, and a romance story gone horribly wrong. It tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and mysterious young man living in New York during the 1920s, who throws fabulous parties, but seems to have some dirt in his past. It’s told through the eyes of his neighbor Nick, our narrator, who gives us his perspective on the wealthy, debauched lives of the rich and powerful in the middle of the Jazz Age. One of my favorite books, this movie was just begging to be adapted into a modern day film, full of the dark secrets that lie behind the glitz and glamor of the fabulous people. This book was already adapted once in 1974, with Robert Redford as Gatsby, which was…alright. Not really bad, but not as great as this novel deserves. This upcoming film has a great cast (Leo DiCaprio in the title role is pretty inspired casting), a lot of hype, and an interesting director (Baz Luhrmann, who also made Moulin Rouge!) at the helm, so I am hoping that this movie will give one of my favorite books the treatment it deserves.

                                                      What Maisie Knew

Let’s take a break from the big budget, glitzy flicks, and look at a more quiet and indie minded one. What Maisie Knew is based on the 1897 book by Henry James (Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw), in which he showed his contempt for British society at the time through the eyes of a young, but perceptive child named Maisie, who is caught up in the divorce of her irresponsible parents. Like Gatsby, this book is very relevant to our contemporary era, despite being written years ago, with its themes of dysfunctional families, child welfare, and the importance of education and knowledge. So it makes sense that creators would update this story to be set in modern day Manhattan, with Julianne Moore and Alexander Skarsgard as the parents, which already gets me interested. It has a solid cast, classic (although not as well known) source material, and a lot of good buzz already-- plus I always like seeing little girls as main characters in dramas like these. If your eyes start hurting from all those blockbuster explosions, try out this movie as some substance for your summer.

                                 World War Z

I'll admit it. While we don’t actually have this book (but the local public library has plenty of copies), its film adaptation is coming out this summer, and I really want to talk about it. The novel by Max Brooks is a VERY different take on the zombie genre. The story actually takes place after the zombies have been more or less beaten back, and instead of focusing on action, it focuses on a UN worker traveling around the world, talking to all sorts of survivors of the zombie outbreaks, around a decade later. He talks to politicians, mercenaries, soldiers, civilians, loners, astronauts, anyone and everyone who has a story to tell. It’s all told through these interviews, showing what is, I think, the most realistic look at what would actually happen in the event of a zombie invasion, spanning the entire world. It’s a great book, one that would make a difficult, but really interesting adaptation. Get tons of great actors for short, individual vignettes, from the zombie fighting cowboy, to the Japanese fan boy turned ninja badass, to the Samoan warriors, to Nelson Mandela-- and just so many great stories, I can’t even talk about half of them. It’s scary, sad, but ultimately hopeful for the future of humanity. The movie I have seen in trailers and in press releases though…is not Brooks' World War Z. It looks like yet another action flick where Brad Pitt is the nice, heroic American white guy main character who is called in to save the day, but he just wants to get back to his generic wife and cute daughters, and it’s a race against time and blah blah blah. Ok, perhaps I'm being too harsh. I haven’t even seen the movie, and it could actually be really good. I hope it is, and Brad Pitt may actually be a solid choice as the main interviewer. But, from what I have seen, they have done the thing that all fans of books fear from adaptations: dumbed down an interesting story to please the Lowest Common Denominator. They made a movie that looks like every other mediocre movie that audiences will swallow up. I am an adaptation apologist, I know how much needs to be changed to make a story work, but you need to have SOMETHING from the original there! While I look at the first two movies here with optimism, I look at this one with worry. I hope the film can prove me wrong, but I rather doubt it.

Whew, needed to get that off my chest. But, in all honesty, I'm excited about this summer’s crop of movies. We have almost escaped the sad cloud of mediocre movie season, and gone right into the sun-kissed time of blockbusters, as well as the occasional quiet indie film that always pops up at some point. And if any of these movies, whether they turn out great or crash and burn, can inspire people to go check out the source materials, then all the better. Watch a movie, read a book, and celebrate summer.

CP

Fighting Finals with Films 2: The Big Chill

Feeling the end of year stress yet? Papers to write, books to read, projects that you knew about for months but are just now getting starting on?  It’s a busy time of year, tough on everyone, and it can feel like there’s no time for fun or relaxation.  The pre-finals season is a time of stress and occasional panic, but never fear, there's hope. Instead of dealing with stress by binging on chocolate and crying to yourself, check out some of these movies we have here at the library! They're fun, feel good, and funny, which will hopefully take your mind off your impending finals and the never ending list of things that need to be done by the end of the semester. They range from wacky foreign films, to iconic teen flicks, to family adventures, and they all have something to make you smile. So check these out, and take a break from those finals blues!

                                          Amelie

Looking for a sweet romantic comedy that everyone can like? Then give this 2001 French film a look, because trust me, there is a lot to look at! Amelie, a young, isolated waitress who grew up almost totally on her own due to her over- protective parents, eventually decides to break out of her shell and help people. Near the start of the movie, she finds an old box filled with childhood mementos, which she returns to its owner. The movie then follows her attempts at making the world around her better, and to find some happiness for herself, including possibly falling in love. The movie is bright, colorful, and has a light, whimsicalness to it, and seems to be set in a magical version of Paris filled with color, quirk, and a lot of cute clothes. It’s funny, sweet, and yes it has subtitles but don’t let that scare you off! No matter what language it’s in, this movie is enough to shake anyone out of the finals blues, with bright colors, lovable characters, and a story that encourages viewers to get out there and live life.

                                             Mean Girls

Oh yes. We have it. Mean Girls, the fountain of a thousand internet memes, is the movie that just about everybody of a certain generation can quote endlessly. But when was the last time you actually watched it? Well, now seems to be a perfect time. Mean Girls is the sharp, witty satire about high school politics, friendship, and cattiness. Cady, a former home school student who has lived in Africa for several years, is now going to a typical American high school. She soon becomes entangled with “The Plastics”, a trio of popular girls (ditsy Karen, neurotic Gretchen, and queen bee Regina) who rule the school with an iron heel. What follows is a hilarious tale of high school life, that is as funny as it is real. Anyone who went to high school has to remember some of the things seen here, like three way calling attacks, fake compliments, and the always complicated table seating in the cafeteria, with tables seeming more like warring nations than high school cliques. But it also has a great lesson about the importance of friendship, and the silliness of drama and backstabbing. So get your friends together and get watching. I promise, it’s still so very Fetch!

                                             Secondhand Lions

This 2003 film was somewhat overlooked when it first came out, but trust me when I say it’s worth a look. Set in the early 1960s, it tells the story of a young boy named Walter, who is dumped off by his irresponsible mother at the farm of his two eccentric uncles to spend the summer. From there, the movie sort of has two stories. One is how the boy bonds with his cranky, isolated uncles and comes to term with the fact that his mom is a crappy, crappy parent, and the other is the story of his uncles' past lives in World War I, in the French foreign legion, and his uncle Hub's romance with a Middle Eastern princess named Jasmine. Jasmine also shares the name with an old lion that the uncles buy from an old circus, with which Walter bonds (hence the title). It’s a sort of coming of age/family drama/period piece/adventure story/comedy, with a lot of laughs and heart. Plus it has Michael Caine playing a Texan! That’s pretty hard to beat.

The end of the semester is tough. Trust me, I know. I have seen a lot of them. But you don’t have to be miserable about it all the time. If you just need to de-stress, watching a movie can be a great way to do it, whether it’s with friends, family, or just in the comfort of your own room. So whether you feel like whimsy, snarkyness, or circus animals, the library has something out there for you among its hundreds of DVDs!  And if you want to binge on just a little chocolate, I won’t tell.

 

CP

Rockin' Movies, Marlon Brando, and Awkward Attempts at Film Adaptation and Censorship

All my life, I have loved movies. All sorts of them, from comedies to drama, from explosion-heavy action flicks to artsy foreign films, I can find something to like in pretty much any genre imaginable. I also love talking about movies. How the movies we create reflect the culture or place or time period they're made in. At their best, films can teach us about ourselves and the world we live in, as well as transport us to somewhere else. Seriously, don’t let me corner you at a party; I can go on about films in a cultural and sociological context for hours (stay tuned for my epic post “America, Humanism, and Pop Art in the World of Michael Bay”). Turns out, there are lots of authors out there who love this stuff as much as I do, but they have credentials and talent and stuff. So check out some of these movie books in our Reference section, and see just how important film can be. Or at least, you can keep up with your hipster film major cousin at the next family reunion.

                                                Forbidden Films

I am not a fan of censorship. Are there movies that I think are disgusting, exploitative, and downright offensive? Oh yeah. But at the same time, people have the right to make them or watch them if they want to. It is a free country after all. And I feel like Forbidden Films backs this up. It details the histories of 125 movies that have been censored for various reasons, and by different people. Some of them, like the infamous Lolita (banned from multiple theaters and given a special SUPER hard R for being a movie about the pseudo- sexual relationship between an old guy and a young girl) are kind of understandable.  However, some of them are just baffling to me. Like, people trying to ban Schindler's List for being “too disturbing, violent, and sexual”. Yeah, disturbing images in a movie about the Holocaust. Never could have seen that one coming. Or the mass protests by Christian groups about Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, a controversy that would have made more sense if the protests had happened AFTER anyone saw the movie, and realized half the stuff they were protesting wasn’t even in the film. If this sounds interesting, give this book a try, and make up your own mind. Plenty more great films are mentioned that someone, somewhere, wanted to keep from the rest of us.
                                                                      The Rock & Roll Film Encyclopedia

And speaking of people who hate censorship…rock & roll! Yes, movies and music have gone hand in hand for ages. Music in movies has been important ever since they were putting orchestras into silent movie theaters. And eventually, they started to make movies about that crazy new swing the kids are all grooving to: ROCK! This book lists a colorful variety of rock related movies, some about actual rock stars (The Doors, Sid and Nancy), musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Grease, and movies that have rock as a major element, like The Commitments, and American Graffiti. It gives some information about each film, and talks about the music that each one offers, and it’s a pretty diverse group. It describes classics like The Beatles' ground breaking Hard Day’s Night, or the infamous Mariah Carey bomb Glitter (which not even the book's writer can help but snark on); there's something for everyone here. So if you love both the power of rock and the power of film, turn on your favorite Springsteen song and start reading!

 

                                                   Novels into Film

Remember that blog I wrote 100 years ago about adaptations? Turns out, we have a whole reference book about the magical world of book-to-movie adaptations! Where the previous book I described was about fusing music and movies, this is fusing movies with books. Like the other reference books, it lists movies from A to Z, flipping through a number of genres and time periods, as long as they are films that were once books. It came out in 2005, so it’s a bit out of date, but there are still plenty of movies to choose from. Even movies that people forgot were adaptations at all. Did you know The Godfather was a book first? Or Forrest Gump? This book discusses the differences and similarities between a novel and its film adaptation, as well as why certain changes were made in adapting the source material. Like, did you know that when Francis Ford Coppola was making Apocalypse Now, they had to almost entirely redo Marlon Brando’s villain role because he had gained so much weight? There are lots of stories and interesting facts like that in this book to entertain you, especially if you watch most adaptations screaming “WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THAT?!?!”! Adaptations are not easy, but to learn how Hollywood does them, give this book a look (before it gets its own HBO series).

Like I said at the top, I love movies. And talking about movies. And writing about them. In fact, we have even more reference books about movies that I just didn’t have time to talk about here! There is a lot to say about all these subjects, and if you want to learn more, check these books out. If you love movies, books, music, or other issues surrounding those things, get reading. Or just wait until the film versions come out. With a funky indie soundtrack.

 

CP

 

Fight Finals with Film!

Ah, finals season. Projects due, papers to be written, endless study guides to memorize. And to make matters worse, there’s already holiday shopping to do and it’s dark at 4:30 in the afternoon! Yes, it’s a gloomy, depressing time of year when teachers and stores and even NATURE ITSELF have all teamed up to make the next few weeks aggressively unpleasant. But never fear! There is relief! In those rare moments of free time, here are some movies for you to pick up right here at the library to cure those finals blues! Or at least make you feel better about that paper you were supposed to do yesterday.

The Muppet Movie [DVD PN1997 .M877 2005] 

Remember The Muppets, which came out last year? With the dynamic duo of Jason Segal and Kermit the Frog? Well here’s the movie that started it all! The Muppet Movie was released in 1979, and was the first time the Muppets were ever seen on the big screen! The movie shows (approximately) how Kermit left his home in the swamp, with dreams of making it in the film business. As he travels across the country, he picks up other Muppets who have similar dreams, including Fozzie Bear, (The Great) Gonzo, and the ever-ambitious Miss Piggy. Basically, it’s a road trip movie. With songs (like its most famous, “Rainbow Connection”), an evil frog hunter, a crooked fast food entrepreneur, and celebrity cameos. And by celebrity cameos, I mean people like Steve Martin, Bob Hope, Mel Brooks, and Orson freaking Welles! That’s enough reason to pick up the DVD on its own- but really what makes this movie are its endless laughs, and its endless optimism. No matter what, Kermit and friends never give up on their dreams, and it all pays off in the end. Just like we will, hopefully, make it through these finals and get to see the rainbow (and good holidays) on the other side.

 

8 ½   [DVD PN1997 .O886 2010]

 Brain feeling drained? Want to feel smart and sophisticated and artsy? Then try this classic 1963 art house film directed by Federico Fellini, a movie basically about how crazy it is to be Federico Fellini. Part of a film movement going on in the 60s that loved experimenting in tones, visual style, and narrative -oh boy does this movie seem experimental. It’s basically a story about an Italian director named Guido Anselmi, who is clearly a stand in for Fellini, trying to get past his writers block and get his increasingly out-of-control life in order(sound familiar?) Anselmi/Fellini is attempting to finish his latest project, a big budget sci-fi epic, despite the fact that he has no idea what he wants to do with the movie. To make matters worse, his wife and his mistress both end up staying at the same spa/resort where he is shooting his film. To escape all this, the film starts going slightly bonkers, flashing between Anselmi’s imagination and his memories. It’s a strange, surreal movie, sometimes more like a dreamy musical than an actual story. It’s pure, bizarre escapism. While it does seem rather 60s at times, it’s aged well, mainly due to its surreal nature, and its basic plot, something that I think we can all relate to right now: inability to keep your entire schedule (and maybe your life) from spinning out of control.

It’s a Wonderful Life   [DVD PN1997 .I8722 2006]

Well, we needed at least one holiday flick here, and what better movie to erase the Finals blues than one about overcoming adversity just in time for Christmas! While most people remember the big happy ending, the first parts of the movie are filled with almost shifting genres, starting with angels in the heavens chatting amongst themselves, and going from there to a coming of age story to romance to comedy to drama to crushing tragedy to overwhelming happiness at the end. Lead actor Jimmy Stewart is great from beginning to end, playing a nice guy who’s pushed to the breaking point, but with divine help comes back from the brink. So many Christmas movies just seem to be a combo of wacky misunderstandings, “heartwarming” children, and everyone coming together at the end to learn some phoned-in message about the “True Meaning of Christmas”. This movie actually has all those things, but they’re played with such heart, and such pathos, you totally believe all of it. As George Bailey [Stewart] is put through the ringer, you really feel for him, so when he realizes how wonderful his life really is, and that with the help of the people he loves, he can make it through all the hard times, it does feel like you have learned the True Meaning of Christmas, whatever that is to you. It’s basically about the light at the end of the tunnel, the light many of us are hoping to see very soon. 

 

Happy viewing-  and here’s a good thing: the library’s DVDs may be checked out over the winter break!

CP