Daisy Talks About Catching Fire

**WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE SERIES**

I went to see it on Monday and OMG, it was simply amazing! I love how they're translating the book to script and screenplay and it's just so good to see it done well! Because let's be honest, a lot of times it doesn't work that way.

Some of my reactions to the movie:

-I LOVE Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson! I was firmly Team Peeta from the books, and the movie only strengthens this for me. I was SO hesitant about the choices for the actors before the first movie, but man, they are mindblowingly good!
And seriously, that moment when Peeta is showing Katniss the locket and saying she needs to survive cause people need her back home and she goes 'I need you' and MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT! TEARS!

-I was pleasantly surprised by Jena Malone, loved her as Johanna! I did have a funny when I though about her playing Donald Sutherland's daughter in Pride and Prejudice and now he's sending things at her to kill her.

-The arena was just how I pictured it! It was so well done!

-CINNA! *CRIES*

-Those baboons are so gonna give me nightmares... *shudders*

-Sometimes things are actually worse when you know they're coming. Like those mutt baboons. And poor Mags... And Wiress... And Cinna...

-I love how the movies give us a little peek behind the scenes with President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee and the whole controlling of the Games. It adds a little something extra.

So I'm guessing a lot of you have also already seen the movie, let's discuss! Did you like it or not? What are some things that stood out for you? Are you scared for the third movie? I'm really wondering how they'll translate the first half of Mockingjay into a movie!

Tahleen gets ready for Hallmark Christmas

Hi! It's Tahleen.

Sooooo please don't hate me for this, but I'm getting excited about Christmas. JUST A LITTLE. Stop scowling.

Deal with it.

I can't help it! I've been watching the Hallmark Channel and during every episode of Cedar Cove, they have a little promo letting us all know IT'S COMING. Starting November 2, The Hallmark Christmas movies are coming. And they are starting with a Thanksgiving movie, so there.

This got me to thinking about how Debbie Macomber, author of the Cedar Cove books, constantly has her stuff turned into these made-for-TV movies. And how often, the movies are wayyy better. Sorry, Macomber lovers.

I do read my annual Christmas story by her, maybe even a few, because the stories are HEARTWARMING. But her writing is ...not my favorite. That's why I am super happy every time I see Hallmark is turning another one of her books to an easily digestible, 90-minute nugget of Christmas fuzzies. And why I was really happy Cedar Cove became a series. She just has this knack of creating a great foundation, then Hallmark takes over the rest of the character development and story etc. I don't know what it is, but it works.

And soon, I will be checking out our Christmas collection at the library, currently hidden away in a secret cabinet, looking for other books that will make me happy it's one of my favorite times of the year again.

Are there any movies you like better than the books they were based on? Or do you have any favorite Christmas/Thanksgiving/Hannukah/whatever holiday coming up?

In Which Lori Gushes over You've Got Mail

1998 is when this amazing movie came out that just completely changed my newly eleven-year-old life.  It touched me in a way that no movie had ever done before and really hasn't since.  Sure, I've got my favorite movies--Gone With the Wind, Roman Holiday, The Seven Year Itch, and some others that all fill me with a sense of wonder--but this one is special.  It combines some important elements of my life--books, meeting people online, having to be braver than I believe I am--and helps me know that I'm not alone...which is always important, especially when you are eleven years old.

I wrote a post on my own blog the other day about the role this movie played in my recent bid to finally finish reading Pride and Prejudice.  It's Kathleen Kelly's favorite book.  She and Joe Fox go through their own bit of re-enacting the story with their own moments of pride or prejudice getting in the way of their characters finally getting together.  And Kathleen just makes the book sound magical and enchanting, which is the two main adjectives that I feel best describe this movie as a whole.  (By the way, have you listened to the soundtrack?  I just bought it and can't stop playing it in the car or at work!)

The movie has some of the best quotes that really sum of my feelings about life in general and my life in particular...

More than any of the other quotes I am going to share with you, this one means the most to me.  I think I could write an entire blog post dedicated to my feelings on this quote and how much it applies to me.  Obviously, I don't see anything wrong with reading...but sometimes I worry that I miss out on some of the other things in life or that I spend too much time in books--even if it's just thinking so much about a book after I finish and walk away--and not enough time doing original things.  

Seriously, have you ever listened to people order at Starbucks?  Try it sometime!  The way people order their coffee has got to have some sort of psychological insight.  Why have studies not been done on this yet?  (Or if they have, please let me know)  

OK.  I've never been to New York, let alone New York in the fall, but this really sums up that feeling you get on the first day of school or when fall truly begins wherever you live (which happens to be late September, early October in Oklahoma).  My program is almost entirely online and yet I can't help the thrill of buying new school supplies every year before school starts.  The leaves are turning and then dying, and the world is preparing for its long slumber through winter, but there is a sense of hopeful anticipation.  Or I am just crazy.  Whatever.

I mean, forget about the acting--which is amazing--there are some of the most amazing quotes and truths about life and books and happiness in this movie.  It's about living a simple life and finding pleasure in the small things.  I just want to crawl inside the movie and live.

What about you?  What movies have changed your life so much?  What movies make you want to crawl inside them and live?

Movies you might not have known were books, part 2: Children's edition

Everyone seemed to enjoy my last post on movies you didn't know were books, so I thought I'd do another one. This time, I'm focusing on the children's movies. Some of these you might have known about, but I know one in particular blew my mind when I found out it was a book first. That book is

1. Mrs. Doubtfire based on Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine

Who knew Mrs. Doubtfire was a book, and by Anne Fine no less? When I saw this at the library I work at, I was floored.

2. Shrek, based on Shrek! by William Steig

The book is pretty different from the movie, I have to say, but I still love William Steig. I'm pretty sure the only similarity is that it's about an ogre named Shrek who goes to look for a wife. Though the ending isn't as happily-ever-after as DreamWorks decided it should be. Still, I like both.

3. The Great Mouse Detective, based on Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus

Who remembers this movie? Ah, the good old days. I kind of feel like I have to read this book now. Look at the delightful cover!

4. Jumanji, based on Jumanji by Chris van Allsburg

This one is probably much better known as a Newbery-award winning book, but some people still might not know. Again, the book is pretty different (alas, no Robin Williams character, who I just realized is making a few appearances on this post's list), but both are very enjoyable.

5. Fly Away Home, based on Father Goose: One Man, a Gaggle of Geese, and Their Real Life Incredible Journey South by Bill Lishman

I guess they figured no kid would want to see a movie about a guy who wanted to see what would happen if he tried to lead some Canada geese south, so they threw in Anna Paquin and made the geese orphans. Check out Lishman's Wikipedia article here, which kind of explains what he was trying to do.

6. Homeward Bound, based on The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

Okay, okay, I know most everyone knows this is a book, but I figured I'd throw it on there for the hell of it. This movie has a pretty great soundtrack, by the way. Oh hey, one cool thing I just noticed in writing this post is the family that owns the pets are called the Burnfords, which is the name of the author. Also, look—it was a Disney movie in 1963 too.

There you have it, folks. Any that I missed? I love having my mind blown by stuff like this, so don't hold back.

Movies you might not know are based on books

There are a lot of movies that are based on books out there, but you might not have realized some of those well-known films are based on literature. Here are a few that I (Tahleen) have discovered.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? based on Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf

 

I feel like this one always shows up on lists like these, but I just couldn't resist. I haven't read this one, but I remember the movie well from childhood. Mostly how it freaked me out. It's a good thing it wasn't based too closely on the book, because I would never have been able to sleep again.

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

 

As someone who has seen the movie and read the book, I have to say I liked the movie better. However, it wouldn't even exist without the book, especially since most of the dialogue was pretty much just lifted right out of the novel.

The Town based on The Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan

 

This one more people might know about. I knew about this one because I worked at a bookstore when the movie came out. I haven't read or seen this one, so I won't be much help there. But I can tell you it was set in Charlestown, in Boston!

Field of Dreams based on Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

I feel like I knew about this one before, but forgot. Anyway, I knew about the book and of course I knew about the movie, and now I know they're connected!

Fast Times at Ridgemont High based on book of the same name by Cameron Crowe

Who knew? I kind of want to read the book.

Die Hard based on Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp

Die Hard is pretty awesome. I haven't read this book either, unfortunately, so I can't attest to how closely the movie follows, but hey! Another "who knew" moment.

Those are only a few movies based on less-well-known books out there. I know I'm missing a lot of them including the one I thought of that inspired me to write this post (curses!), so please leave them in the comments!

Book vs. Movie: I Capture the Castle

Hey everyone. It's Julia. A while ago, I did a feature on my blog, CompBiblio, where I compared book to movie. I have been meaning to do it again and I thought I would do it here with I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I reviewed I Capture the Castle at CompBiblio, but here is a bit of a summary of the book and what I thought of it.

Cassandra is our narrator of this story and she chronicles the going on of her family, who are destitute and living in a ramshackle castle, through a series of journals. You can see her writing become better as the story progresses. ...

The cast of characters in this novel are remarkably well rounded. I loved the interactions between them all, and those interactions really drove the plot. The first few chapters are getting to know them and their situation, but the plot really begins when two men stumble into the castle one day. These two men are the new owner of the castle they rent, Simon, and his brother Neil.

Shenanigans ensue.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and toward the end it was hard to put down. ...

I would recommend this to people who like historical fiction and a fun set of love stories. It really is just a picture of these peoples lives, a really interesting picture too.

I really think how much you in enjoy a movie based on a book or the book it was based on depends in the order you actually experienced the story. Can you appreciate the story told from both mediums? Sure. It just takes a lot of willpower to forget what you originally thought from the first experience. That said, lets look at the movie.

First off, my God! Could the casting of this been any better for some eye candy? The first one I recognized was Neil, played by Marc Blucas from my Buffy the Vampire Slayer days. Then there is the kid who was in E.T., Henry Thomas, all grown up. But the coup de grâce is truly a young Henry Cavill. Oh wow! I loved him from the few The Tudors episodes I have seen and he his soon to be superman in the new movie...

Now the actual movie. The book is a very character driven plot which means casting wrongly or over acting would have negatively effected this experience. Luckily, I think the cast and their acting was done really well. A lot hinged on who was set to play Cassandra but she was very good. I was not disappointed.

What they changed early-on, if there was anything, I didn't notice. I did notice them skipping some things, but I didn't mind as it moved the story. In the last half hour though the changes started to become more noticeable. Were they necessarily bad? I don't know. I don't think so. Did they add anything? I don't think they did. I think they were really one of those things that changes when the book is adapted for a movie.

I did have one qualm and that was the pacing. It felt a bit rushed, especially toward the end. Also there were some subtleties that the book had that were lost in the movie, because you were able to see scenes that were not from Cassandra's POV.

Some positives were that I didn't have to deal with some of the repetition of 17 year old in love crap that I had to in the second half of the book. Also the last page of the book bothered the crap out of me, but the way they edited the line for the movie made me very, very happy.

Overall, I enjoyed both of them for what they were. I liked the book more, but I truly enjoyed the movie.

For anyone who is interested in seeing I Capture the Castle, it is instant streaming now on Netflix. And I am sure, since it was out in 2003, you could find it at libraries that have DVDs.