The movie starring George Clooney (swoon), Ewan McGregor (another swoon), Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges is more of a fictional comedy than Ronson’s mostly non-fiction book which is said to contain some potentially damaging information about the U.S. Army. But come on, we all know that playing songs from Barney & Friends is sheer torture. That’s hardly a state secret.
Ronson hopes that The Men Who Stare at Goats gets people thinking about what goes on behind closed army doors. He says, “It’s all the craziest stuff that’s true. I mean, there actually were a hundred de-bleated goats smuggled into the Special Forces Command Center at Fort Bragg, N.C.; there’s a weapon called the Predator that’s much like the one in the movie; and there’s a connection between the U.S. military and the mass suicide of a cult from San Diego. ”
Proulx’s papers include an early draft of the cowboy romance when it had working titles such as Bulldust Mountain and Swill-Swallow Mountain along with:
“… 4,200 pages of short stories, essays, poems and screenplays; 145 pages of preparatory notes and research and three original notebooks with holograph draft ideas; more than 1,060 pages of holograph diary; more than 10,200 pages of typescript, much of it with holograph revisions and corrections, 2,100 galley proofs, and 1,855 pages of other related materials. Correspondence, including email totals more than 4,500 pages.”
Bringing her rural tales to the big city generates “an odd sense of balance” says the 74-year-old author.
I’m not a huge fan of Barbie nor of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series so this truly is a vampire nightmare for me - Twilight Barbie dolls are now available.
The Bella Swan doll is typical of any “new” Barbie. It’s the same face, same unrealistic body type just with brown plastic hair and, I’ll admit, a better outfit than a lot I’ve seen. The Edward Cullen doll however, is a bit more distinct and not so Ken-like. The doll is very pale skinned and has the signature heart-shaped jaw line of actor Robert Pattinson.
Alas, if your preferece is for Jacob over Edward in the New Moonlove triangle, you’re out of luck - at this time, there is no Jacob in Barbieville.
If you’re a Twilight fan, I am happy for you. If you’re parent having to buy the dolls for gifts, I’m sorry.
Welly welly well, my dear droogs. Not at all sure how I feel about this (thanks, Quill and Quire!).
It seems Yann Martel’s fantastical, dark, strange and wonderful novel Life of Pi is to be made into a movie, directed by Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Hulk, Brokeback Mountain). I thought Ang Lee did a decent job of Brokeback Mountain, which was adapted from E. Annie Proulx’s short story of the same name - the conflict, emotions and bond between Ennis and Jack was portrayed well on the big screen, and did the story justice.
But while Brokeback had the challenge of emotional struggle, secrecy, and inner turmoil to portray, it was essentially a presentation of facts, in terms of a linear, undisputed storyline - this is what happened, this is what happened next. Life of Pi is anything but. Much of the novel, if you’ve never read it, is impossible (or is it?), magical, and possibly delusional. It has two separate stories running in parallel, and much of the interpretation, the decision of truth, is left up to the reader. I feel one way about it (mostly), and most people I know with whom I’ve discussed the book subscribe to the other possible interpretation. I’m very curious to see how this will be handled in the film version.
I remain cautiously optimistic, with a decent side of skepticism. The film is still being scripted, so no word on the who or when thus far. We’ll keep you posted!
Over-protective parents - and there are lots of them - who think the movie version of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is too frightening for children can “go to hell”, says the author.
Excellent, fighting talk. I have a new found respect for Sendak. It’s a shame the movie has been battered by so many critics. The NPR review was scathing. Even the local guy on CBC Radio here in British Columbia said the film would have no appeal for children and warned they would “fidget” all the way through it.
I’ve just finished reading Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones and must say, in all sincerity, it is one of the best books I have ever read. I’ll confess I was reluctant to read it at first - it had been on the bestseller lists and I feared that it was just another book that achieved greatness by hype.
But I was wrong. The book deserved to be a bestseller - in its own right.
Somehow, Sebold manages to capture the pain and angst of a family experiencing a horrific loss - the murder of their daughter, sister, friend. You can understand the actions of the individuals which could, offhandedly seem irrational, irresponsible or even hurtful. But because you feel their pain, you can understand why they do the things they do.
The sadness is tempered by the fact that Susie, the victim, narrates the story. It’s not that the sadness isn’t there - it most certainly is - but somehow, her presence is comforting. Perhaps it’s this that people suffering such a loss are looking for and that Sebold has skillfully captured. And no matter what your beliefs are about death and what happens thereafter, there is nothing offensive or off-putting about Sebold’s tale and you can actually view what happens from many different angles.
Having read the book, I fear the movie which is due out in December. Could a film adaptation really do this book justice? Fortunately, the movie was put into the very capable hands of director, Peter Jackson which leads me to believe, okay hope, that this will be the best adaptation that there could be.
But that doesn’t mean that I’ll like it. The characters were so real to me, I know that the actors will not match what was in my mind. And viewing the trailer confirms that. Susie doesn’t look like “my” Susie, even Holiday the dog doesn’t match. Also, as I feared, the movie seems to have to spell out some of the details that you simply pick up when reading the novel and looks perhaps to focus more on the hunt for the killer than the story does.
Saying that, I probably will watch the movie - I have a couple of months to psyche myself into it and to have the book pale in my memory. I do strongly recommend that the book be read prior to seeing the movie so that you fully “get” what Sebold was portraying and not the “Hollywood” interpretation.
It has also just been announced that The Lovely Bones has been chosen for this year’s Royal Film Performance. The Royal gala is a charitable event with all money raised going to The Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), which helps families connected to the film and TV industry who are experiencing financial struggles.
But I say it again - read The Lovely Bonesnow before seeing the movie in December.
Regarding the excitement around the impending opening of the film adaptation of his book Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak comments, “I kind of want it over. I’m not used to this invasion.”
An interview with Sendak in The Globe and Mail also reveals surprising feelings of resentment towards the popular children’s book. The book which has sold more than 10 million copies since publication in 1963 and has been honoured with the prestigious Caldecott Medal, has overshadowed most of his other work. Work that may merit more attention that that of his 10-sentence tale of Max, who is sent to his room for being naughty and embarks on a marvelous adventure of the imagination.
“At one time, that was a bitter, bitter pill. It no longer is,” says Mr. Sendak. “ Where the Wild Things Are is no longer an enemy. It’s now Spike Jonze’s [the movie's director] and lots of nice people who have become friends.”
On Saturday, we had a family outing to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. It is a good children’s book and now a good movie too.
I don’t know if the book was ever published in the UK, but I’d never heard of it until we took it out of the library a couple of years ago. My oldest daughter loved it and it certainly made a welcome change from the constant diet of books about princesses and fairies. Within the movie, there are little parodies of Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Independence Day, and a few other films. Bimbo TV weather girls are also taken to the cleaners. Mr T and James Caan are excellent. The movie also chips away at America’s super-size-me culture of all-you-can-eat-buffets, breakfast-served-all-day and eating-more-even-when you-are-full.
This will nicely follow Richard’s post about our Bleakest Books feature. Here’s the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The film is set for release in the USA on November 25th.
(skip ahead to 0:43 to skip the annoying announcer lady at the beginning).
If you’ve read the book, then the trailer will probably make you shiver a lot, like it did me. If you haven’t read the book, I’m torn as to whether to recommend it. I would say it is among the finer pieces of writing I’ve ever experienced, and it did a bang-up job at staying with me - it was a profoundly affecting book. That said - holy nightmares, Batman.
Nevertheless, it was so effective, so engrossing, and so paralyzingly captivating that I know I’ll see the movie ASAP - and then wonder whether to recommend it to others.
On the heels of the news that Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York has been sued for unpaid bills are reports of her signing a film deal to bring her children’s books to film. Potentially worth millions, the deal will prop up the Duchess’ bank account nicely.
The Duchess told Richard Kay of the Daily Mail, “‘A major U.S. film company has just bought up rights to my series of pre-school children’s books. The films will run as a series. I cannot yet tell you the name of the film company. I cannot tell you how exciting that is for me. America has been so good to me. I failed in Britain, and when I gave it a go in America I was ready to fail there, too - but they have really embraced me.”
Her six most recent books have indeed been sucessful in America - The Little Red series and Tea for Ruby have all been bestsellers there.
The Duchess’ first children’s books surrounding a little helicopter called Budgie were also popular and inspired a cartoon TV series.
But you have to admit, having a royal title doesn’t hurt your chances of success…
The New York Times travel section writes about the delights of Forks, Washington, which was a one-horse town where the horse left until Stephenie Meyer based her Twilight vampire novels in this unheralded corner of the Pacific Northwest.
“You used to say you were from Forks and people would stare,” said Marcia Bingham, director of the Chamber of Commerce, referring to the “B.T.” (“Before ‘Twilight’ ”) days. “Now when they hear where you’re from, they’re breathless.”
And teenage girls aren’t the only ones hyperventilating. Women — traveling in packs, in pairs or on their own — make up a big part of those on the “Twilight” trail. Susan Englin, a retiree from Colbert, Wash., who has read the books seven times and has downloaded the movie to her iPod, was visiting stepchildren in the area recently and couldn’t resist an outing to Forks. “I get caught up in the characters,” she said.
I’m so not going to visit this town! Hordes of vampire-obsessed women wandering around with tattered copies of Twilight.
I am very fearful after reading in The Guardian that a movie version of Netherland is being planned. I’m not worried that they’ll make a mess of Joseph O’Neill’s book but that they’ll make a mess of displaying cricket on the Silver Screen. I’m sure they can recognise the situation of immigrants in New York but how will they explain the game to an American audience?
Over the next few months there are six blockbuster children’s stories being turned into films and there are a couple that I am really looking forward to.
First is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which is coming out this September 18th. The children’s classic about the town of Chewandswollow where the towns meals are dropped in three times daily by mother nature in the form of soup rain or meatball hailstorms. The film adaptation differs slightly from the book in that the food storms are a result of a scientists attempt to solve world hunger problems by turning water into food.
In October Spike Jonze will unleash his adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s ten sentence titan Where the Wild Things Are. Considering the length of the original book the films creators have a fairly wide birth in where to take the movie, the opening trailers look pretty good but a lot could go wrong between a two minute trailer and a 90 minute movie. That said I have high hopes.
In November we get three films. First yet another adaptation of the Charles Dickens Classic A Christmas Carol. This animated adaptation will feature Jim Carrey playing the role of Scrooge as well as the three ghosts (Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come). The story has been told over and over so I think I might give this one a miss and just settle in with one of the older adaptations, perhaps the Muppets version, I have always been partial to that one.
One of my favourite stories as a child was Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and so when I found out it was to become a film I will admit I was worried that my memories of the story would be shattered. Earlier this week, with a little trepidation, I decided to watch the trailer and am pleased to say that I am now quite excited to see this adaptation. The biggest complaint seems to be that only the farmers ended up with British accents, which is a bit of a shame but I would much rather a few American accents than trying to force the American actors into a badly done faked accent. (Keep in mind that I pretty much ruled out the idea of Hollywood abandoning American star power to help push a film, an all British cast would have been great but I will take what I can get and George Cloony does seem to have a good voice for Mr. Fox)
A week later we get another Twilight movie, New Moon. I am sure someone is quite excited about this but I just cannot bring myself to care. Three cheers that Stephenie Meyer has gotten more kids reading but I just cannot take anymore of this watered down pseudo-Goth vampire romance.
Lastly, and most distant, is Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland. The movie is set for early next spring and continues where Lewis Carrol’s books left off. Alice is now a teenager and finds herself escaping reality down the rabbit hole 10 years after her last visit. Expect the film to be dark, and well done. Knowing with Burton is capable of I think this will be quite good.
Super recluse author Thomas Pynchon has (sort of) stepped out into the spotlight (reading) in the trailer for his new book Inherent Vice. The video was posted online last week causing a great number of Pynchon fans to wonder who the narrator in the video is.
After some probing by the Wall St. Journal, and Galleycat, it has been confirmed that we are hearing the voice of none other than Thomas Pynchon, making this his closest brush with the public eye since his appearance on The Simpsons.