OZ, The Great and Powerful: Which Witch?

Who is this Witchy Woman? OZ, The Great and Powerful is the  upcoming film directed by Sam Raimi. Inspired by L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the story works as a prequel to both the novel and the 1939 movie. This is NOT Wicked, the musical as a movie but that is coming in the next year or so too. If it was Wicked, I'm betting on Anne Hathaway to be Elphaba, especially if she is as brilliant in the Les Miserables...

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Unscripted: Stephen King

People want to know why I do this,why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy...and I keep it in a jar on my desk.                      Stephen K...

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George Clooney casts Hunky Men for Monuments Men

I blogged about Monuments Men here when I first heard that George Clooney was going to make the adaptation of the nonfiction book, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, by Robert M Edsel.  If the title isn't clear enough :) the book is about recovering art stolen by the Nazis in World War II. Scroll down to read the full description from the publisher.Show More Show Less...

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Portrait of a Lady is 131 years old today

Henry James published Portraitof a Lady 131 years ago today.Nicole Kidman starred in the1996 screen adaptation.“Her reputation for reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic.”Henry James, Portrait of a L...

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Sunday Snippets: 2 Films Newly Released on DVD

If you didn't get a chance to see them in theatres - or you didn't want to see them enough to shell out the increasingly large wad you need to get you through a movie - two films based on books came out on dvd and blu ray this week. You can read my take on the Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter movie. Check out the trailer here                                                                              ...

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See To Kill a Mockingbird on the Big Screen

 This is so cool. In celebration of their 100th birthday, Universal is releasing a newly restored print of the movie version of Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird for a ONE DAY ONLY SCREENING on November 15th.  I've never seen this very special movie on a big screen so this is a date I plan to keep! I look forward to seeing the glorious Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. It's been too long...I even have time to reread...

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Saturday Snapshot

My son Russell at two.                               Russell as the bat.He's always loved a good caped crusader. STAY SAFE and HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Visit Alyce at At Home with Books. She's the one who hosts the fun Saturday Snapshot meme....

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Hey Girl ... Sorry I can't stay but I gotta run...

                                                  Run, Runner Run!  If you're waiting for Ryan Gosling to strut his stuff in the futuristic finery of Logan's Run, you can forget it. He's just officially...

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5 Habits of Successful Film Adapation: David Mitchell

There is an awesome article online at BBCAmerica about David Mitchell's take on the screen adaptation of his book, Cloud Atlas. Go to the BBC link to read it but the gist of it is Mitchell says 'if the movie was structured like the novel it would suck'.He also acknowledged: "Each art form does bring certain limits to the table,” Mitchell said, and those making adaptations ignore them at their own peril."Paul Hechinger, the BBC America reporter notes...

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"Your life amounts to one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?"David Mitchell, Cloud At...

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Cloud Atlas Review: My Take on the Movie

Last night, I was lucky enough to see a screening of Cloud Atlas,  the film based on David Mitchell's acclaimed book, which opens this Friday.  Cloud Atlas, the movie, is definitely not Cloud Atlas the book. It's as if the filmmakers took the novel, ripped it from its spine, tossed it up in the air and waited to see where the pages would land. Except that would be a haphazard result rather than the organic way the storyline has...

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Q&A at Cloud Atlas Screening at the Directors' Guild of America

Tom Tykwer, Lana, Andy WachowskiI planned on getting Cloud Atlas read in time for the opening this coming Friday. Except my husband took me to a screening at the DGA (the Directors Guild of America) tonight, well last night now.  I ignored the fact that I wasn't finished reading and went because the DGA theatres are extremely high quality so you know you're seeing the film as intended to be seen. And also because the three directors...

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Cloud Atlas Coming This Friday October 26

Natalie Portman Reading as UsualI think how producers come to option books for adaptation is really intriguing. Think of the enormous volume of books out there, both novels and non-fiction; let alone original scripts; how do you possibly choose material?  The directors of the upcoming Cloud Atlas, the Wachowski siblings, discovered David Mitchell's book via Natalie Portman, who was reading Cloud Atlas on the set of their 2006  "V...

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Saturday Snapshot: Untitled

 My son Russell took my SATURDAY SNAPSHOT this week. He was sitting on my couch playing with a waterbottle. "What are you doing?" I asked watching him holding the bottle up near his iphone. "Trying to get this shot"  He got the shot and edited it with a photoshop app on his phone. I think it's gorgeous and can't get over what we can do with our phones. What an age we live in!To play along visit Alyce over at At Home with Books. Have...

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The Rules of Civility: Can You Judge a Book by its Cover

Yes, sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover. Take Rules of Civility. This is a movie waiting to happen. You don't have to have read Rules of Civility to know the best seller is destined for the screen. Just one look at the cover and you know everything you need to know. The overview just cements that notion."It's 1938 and twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent and roommate Evelyn Ross have moved to New York, determined to small-town...

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Is Alex Cross based on a James Patterson novel?

No! The movie, Alex Cross which opens today, Friday October 19 isn't based on any one James Patterson novel. Rather, the film is based on James Patterson's Alex Cross character, a young- ish homicide detective slash psychologist. Cross is played by Tyler Perry taking a break from comedy.  Matthew Fox is his adversary.  Will you see it? ...

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My Book as a Movie: The Summer of France by Paulita Kincer

I am so excited! Recently I read The Summer of France, a fast-paced novel written by my blogger buddy Paulita Kincer over at An Accidental Blog. Seeing the characters and action so clearly in my mind as I devoured the book, I wondered how Paulita would envision her book as a movie. I asked the author if she would write a guest blog post and I'm so glad she said yes!  Paulita Kincer Here, then, Paulita Kincer on her book...

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