The Eye of the Storm: My Take on the Movie

Well thank God for Judy Morris! She's the Australian actress, director and writer who not only took on the very dense and mystifying novel, The Eye of the Storm written by Patrick White in 1973, but coaxed a pretty good screenplay out of it. At least in my eyes. All those tedious inner monologues. Gone. Presto Chango. Just like that. And I sure as hell didn't miss them - you can read my initial take on the novel here if you're so inclined.  In...

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Life of Pi Premiere and Reviews Are Coming In

Life of Pi premiered last night at the New York Film Festival. Check out this link to Collider to read some early reactions to the film based on Yann Martel's popular book. Earlier, Deadline reported "that Lee described the film as “an adventure of hope, wonder, survival, spiritualitand faith”, and indeed it does have a strong religious aspect to it that should help box office appeal for audiences in the heartland. Lee, a two-time Oscar director...

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Congrats to Don 'Raymond Chandler' Winslow

Attention SAVAGES fans. Don Winslow will be presented with The Raymond Chandler Award at the Courmayeur Noir Festival, held in December in the Italian Alps. Nice work if you can get it.The festival said Winslow was being awarded  "for a dazzling writing career spent depicting the intense humanity of crime and the marginalized, from Mafiosos to the disenchanted ideals of the California dream, in a style that owes much to cinema. Hollywood has...

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Happy Twenty Fifth Anniversary to The Princess Bride

UNSCRIPTED "Anyway, here's the "good parts" version. S. Morgenstern wrote it. And my father read it to me. And now I give it to you. What you do with it will be of more than passing interest to us all.” William GoldmanA friend sent me this fun link to Little Known Facts About The Princess Bride on its 25th Anniversary. Chee...

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Broken: Should I Read it Before I See the Movie?

This is crazy. This cover looks like a kids book but the publisher's blurb shows it is anything but. Should I read it before I see the movie?The film version, directed by the British stage director, Rufus Norris, screened at Cannes and now the news is that Film Movement has picked up the screen rights. Broken, starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy and unknown Eloise Laurence will open early in 2013. This is Laurence's first movie but she does...

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A Tatterdemalion in Cloud Atlas

Tom Hanks plays Dr. Henry Goose /  Isaac Sachs / Dermot 'Duster' Hoggins / Valleysman ZachryHere's my word for Wondrous Words Wednesday, a fun meme hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion Tatterdemalion comes from my reading of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which after a slow going first chapter or so is really starting to hum along. "No more tatterdemalion a renagado I ever beheld, but Mr. Evans swore the quadroon, Barnabas, was "the fleetest sheepdog...

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FIRST POSTER: Les Miserables

Isabelle Allen is the young Cosentine,Amanda Seyfried plays the grown up version.What do you think of this first poster (on the left) for Tom Hooper's Les Miserables? You were expecting Anne Hathaway or Hugh Jackman perhaps?  Or do you like that the studio has chosen to echo - at least initially - the iconic image from the musical (the poster on the right)?  All I want for Christmas is to see this one! Okay, that's not exactly...

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Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: My Take on the Movie (trailer)

It was so exciting to see to see the characters and the country of India come to life onscreen in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. A huge fan of the book, Deborah Moggach’s These Foolish Things, renamed and republished in time for the film’s release, I was quite nervous to see the film. I needn’t have worried. While Ol Parker has changed quite a bit from the book, erasing and changing characters, he’s left the essential center, the heart of the movie,...

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Theatres Now

Read My Take on the Book HERE"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."Steven Chbsoky, The Perks of Being a Wallflo...

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Saturday Snapshot: The Game of Politics

My husband and I took a walk down 3rd Street Friday night. 3rd is a kinda trendy L.A. street chock full of restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries, and tres cool stores. It's also the route to Old Navy; my husband loves their socks because they hug your feet and don't slide down. Quality plus they're only $5 for 3 pair. Ridiculous! Anyway, since it's only a mile to Old Navy and it's such an interesting street, we hoofed it. It was a beautiful balmy...

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Big Screen Adaptaton of Winter's Tale

About the Book:Set in New York at the beginning and the end of the twentieth century, Winter´s Tale unfolds with such great narrative force and beauty that a reader can feel that its world is more real than his own. Standing alone on the page before the book begins are the words, I have been to another world, and come back. Listen to me. In that world, both winter and the city of New York (old and new) have the strength and character of protagonists,...

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MUST SEE Les Miz Extended First Look

 OH WOW! This long first look behind the scenes of Les Miserables is really exciting. I think Tom Hooper's decision to have a piano on set to play along as the actors sing is one of those genius moves that separates the boys from the men. It definitely demonstrates the kind of brilliance that earned Hooper his Academy Award for The Kings Speech. I can't wait to see th...

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Unscripted: Peter Jackson

UNSCRIPTED"To get an Oscar would be an incredible moment in my career, there is no doubt about that. But the 'Lord of the Rings' films are not made for Oscars, they are made for the audience."                                                                    ...

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New trailer: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The brand new trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyI want to live in the shire ... and I remember haivng this same exact feeling when I read the book years ago. I didn't want the story to leave the shire.Very excited to see Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Hungry for more Hobbit info? You will probably dig their website which you can visit hereThe Hobbit opens December ...

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Miserables on Christmas Day

Opens Christmas DaySome big moves going on in the book to movie world. Les Miserables director, Tom Hooper has turned in his cut of the movie (YES! YES! YES!) and Universal has decided to push the release date from December 14 to December 25. According to Deadline the studio thinks the movie musical is right for a Christmas Day opener which probably means they think it will appeal to families. I know it appeals to mine. The fact...

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OUT TODAY ON DVD & BLU RAYCheck out my post about the book h...

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The Eye of the Storm: My take on the book

Purchase a copy or read a selection of the novel hereMy fellow blogger Louise  at A Strong Belief in Wicker gave me an out when I wrote I was reading nobel laureate Patrick White's 1973 book "The Eye of the Storm" prior to seeing the movie. "Oh dear, Patrick White is Hard. I've only read one- Fringe of Leaves. It took me 3 months to get through it. No one will think the less of you as a reader, or a person, if you have to give up!" Would...

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Image courtesy of IFC Films http://www.facebook.com/#!/OnTheRoadF...

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Bradley Cooper's Very Good Day

Earlier I blogged about Bradley Cooper's current release The Words which I saw yesterday. The film has been received poorly by critics and filmgoers alike. But if Cooper was feeling a bit down about his Rotten Tomato score, he has no need to. Today, direct from Toronto, where The Place Beyond the Pines, the film where Cooper costars along with lovebirds Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes, was quickly snapped up by Focus, we learn that success...

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The Words: My take on the movie starring Bradley Cooper

I didn't need to read any reviews to know The Words was not supposed to be very good.  The verdict was in the air. I knew it but I wanted to see it anyway. Unlike most of the movies I blog about, this one wasn't based on a book BUT the storyline is all about books and writers so I really wanted to see it and share my thoughts with you.  It begins with Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reading to a large crowd from his newest best seller The Words....

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Building Blocks: Saturday Snapshot

My son took this shot of the L.A. skyline. I love the haze caused by sunglare. Back when I was his age (in the 70's) this L.A. skyline would have been shrouded in smog. Thanks to the governments epa standards that has changed considerably over the years. I also love the simple geometry of it - it looks like a ghostly version of the building blocks cities he used to build when he was a a little boy.Post your own Saturday Snapshot...

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Unscripted: Brad Pitt

UNSCRIPTED" Heartthrobs are   a dime a dozen."     Brad P...

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Top Ten Update

In my post, 10 books to Read before you see the movie, I told you that Killing Them Softly was coming out in October.  They've just changed the date to November 20th. The Brad Pitt movie is based on Cogans Trade, the crime novel written by crime writer extraordinaire, George V. Higgins.Here's the lowdown from Random House:A hard-hitting, tour-de force tale of the mob and the man who makes sure their rules are the only rules, by the American...

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The Best of Dahl

 Apparently today is Roald Dahl day. I didn't bake a cake. But I did discover some bits and pieces about Dahl that surprised me - like the fact that he never went to university and that he was a British RAF fighter pilot during World War II . I also learned that besides being one of the worlds most beloved childrens book writers, he wrote a good many screenplays including episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also wrote...

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