Note this blog entry contains spoilers about the final two Harry Potter books
It’s a truism that cinematic adaptations often pale besides their literary counterparts. An obvious counterexample is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner but, off the top of my head, I can’t think of more. For those who’ve only seen the film, it’s well worth reading the Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to see just how different it is, but to explain some elements of the screen version you’d have to gloss over otherwise.
Read the book to discover why the Blade Runner owl is artificial
A wonderful thing about a book is that everyone’s idea of it is unique. The reader converts the printed word from the page into a world of their own imagination. How I see the Imperial Palace on Melania in my head, is different from any readers of the Johnny Mackintosh books. Perhaps that’s why film adaptations so often disappoint, as the Director is competing with thousands of movies that have already run within a reader’s head.
There’s no film I can remember that’s disappointed me more that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates with a screenplay by Steve Kloves. As someone who loves the stories so deeply, it horrifies me that this pairing were also asked to make the double film of the final book. While I think the quality of film-making in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince isn’t terrible (though it is weak), what I can’t fathom were the drastic, totally unnecessary changes to the plot that were introduced, diverting from Rowling’s marvellous story architecture and characterization.
[spoiler alert]
Yates and Kloves think they know better than JK Rowling
With a long book, why introduce a mad scene where Bellatrix Lestrange destroys The Burrow? Where will they hold the wedding in the next film, or has that been scrapped too?
A more important example was the death of Dumbledore. In the book, Harry is powerless to act, hidden under the invisibility cloak with Dumbledore’s body-bind curse on him. He would do anything to fight to save his pseudo-grandfather figure, and knows all too well the Hogwarts Headmaster is dead when the curse lifts. If the film, Harry is hiding in the background, and chooses simply to watch and not act, perhaps due to some bizarre element of cowardice that Yates and Kloves wanted to introduce into Harry’s character. There are numerous other examples and a lot concerning Dumbledore’s relationship with Harry: in the books, our hero is kept in the dark and has o puzzle things out for himself; according to this film, Harry is Dumbledore’s confidant.
When I write the Johnny Mackintosh books, I confess I sometimes have a secret nod to possible future film adaptations. I know a fair amount about film theory and structure, and sometimes I’ll be particularly proud of a passage because I know how well it would translate onto the big screen. I see the same in Jo Rowling’s writing at times, where she’s gone a little out of her way to write a beautiful, cinematic scene for her directors, knowing how much it would enhance the film. Yates completely ignored this. There ar
What's the one thing that could bring a Master Jedi, a Sith Lord, and a CARLMAN together? The Lightning Thief movie! Zack, Bill and Carl have seen it and here are our thoughts.
Since I'm already here, I, the CARLMAN who brings balance to the Force, will and give my review first. Actually, I can sum my whole
review it up in two words--Not Bad. It wasn't a great movie and it wasn't terrible; it was good. There's a lot to like--lots of action, lots of monsters, and great effects, as you can see with the Hydra. All the stuff GUYS love in their movies! There were also a couple of things I didn't like as much. For instance, even though there was humor in the movie, there wasn't as much as there should have been. (even though Grover is really funny) And the final scenes with Percy and the Olympians was kinda lame. (I expected more tension between the gods and between Percy and Poseidon) But, overall, I enjoyed the movie and I think you would too. Worth seeing. I'd give it six or seven stars out of ten.
Now the big question is--IS THE MOVIE DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOK? Well, yeah. A lot different, in some places. But don't let that stop you. Movies and books are two inherently different media--which is a fancy way of saying that books and movies are very different and you can't expect them to be the same. So if you expect the movie to be a exact replica of the book, you'll be disappointed. But if you go in there and watch the movie on its own terms, you'll like it.
One more thing--I'm going to demand credit for scriptwriting!! I've been saying for years that a Percy Jackson story should take place in Nashville, Tennessee since it has a full-scale model of the Parthenon and is called "The Athens of the South." So where does the middle part of the movie take place? HUH??? I demand my cut!!! (and not with Riptide!)
Okay, Tis I Darth Bill, and I went and saw the movie Sunday. I really was expecting the worse from the reviews the movie received by the "experts" in the paper and media who said at best it was average. Also several people I know said it was lousy. Okay here is where I give my sermon on forming your own opinions. I can't tell you how many times I have seen books and movies reviewed by so called "experts" and my opinion has been totally different from their conclusions. Bottom line, form your own thoughts
Last week we had a Camp Half-Blood program at the Matthews Branch Library and it was a blast. I did this with my padawan (and super cool Teen Librarian) Rebecca. We had a bunch of people show up and took lots of great pictures. You can see the pictures on the
Matthews Branch Facebook page.
I did get a chance to see the movie over the weekend, but I don't want to say too much about it before the CARLMAN gets a chance to go. What I will say is that the movie is NEVER as good as the book, so just remember that before you go see it.
Hey, guys, I'm in the mood for a game. I've been thinking about this for a while and decided to put it on the blog today. (Maybe because the Oscars were on last night) I'm sure everyone knows that Hollywood is going to make a movie of Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief. Chris Clolumbus, who directed the first Harry Potter movie, is going to make this one. So here's a game--if you were the director, who would you pick for the different parts? Now it has to be someone famous and someone who is now living, so we would know who you're talking about. OK?
Here are my picks. Keep in mind that I've been around a while and seen a lot of older movies, so these people may be more famous to me. Some of them haven't made many movies lately, but I still think they'd be great.
Dionysus--Danny DeVito. 
My first choice and, I think, a perfect choice. He's got that "don't bother me, you punk kids, I'm stuck here for 100 years" attitude that the D-man has in the books. Besides, he looks like a big satyr.
Poseidon--Jimmy Buffet.
Yeah, the singer. Some of you may not know him because his music is more for grownups, but I bet your moms and dads have have his music. This may seem like a weird choice, but think about it--he's got that laid back, good-time beach look that Poseidon has. But I bet he could be serious when he needs to, just as in the books.
Zeus--hard choice. You'd need someone who's mature, commands respect, and still seems able to incinerate you in a minute if you cross him. I'd pick Paul Newman
or Anthony Hopkins.
Ares--Hulk Hogan. 
Yes, the wrestler. I kept thinking of him while I read the books. He'd be great--big, loud, strong, aggressive, ready to squash you like a bug.
Hades--Alan Rickman, 
who was Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Capable of being scary yet funny (remember how funny it was when Hades complained of the traffic jams on the way to the underworld?) or Clint Eastwood. Now imagine him as a giant
immortal, sitting on the throne of the underworld. Brrr--makes me shiver!
Athena--Maggie Smith, 
who was Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies. She looks like the lady you couldn't fool because she knows everything.
Voice of Kronos--James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader. Need I say more?
There are no prizes for this game--I just thought it would be fun. What do you think? Who would you choose?
Carl
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Nannah V here,
I took my two grandsons to see this movie. Jeffrey is almost 11 and Bruce is 6. They loved it! Now they want to read the book! They are also excited about the two movies they saw intros for. "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" & "The the Last Airbender". Jeffrey has read all of the Whimpy kid books and they are very big fans of the Airbender cartoon. Personally I agree, I wish the actors looked younger. I have a hard time believing that they were 13. They looked more like 16.
You guys hit most of my beefs with the movie: that Percy was 15 instead of 13, and that the consequent love interest story was more pronounced (really not in the book); that it just wasn't as funny, with Percy being rather flat in the movie and flat-out-funny in the books; that there were lots of changes from the book.
I was really hoping for a closer rendering of the book, because its really a great one. I'm concerned that they may not make future movies, just because the story lines in book 1 were truncated, especially the parts that are important for the future movies! But if the money's there, they probably will...
STILL, very worth seeing and a fun action flick. AND if it gets kids to read the book(s) - which we already have - then it's all good.
it left out my favorite part with echidna and the chimera.
giant fan of the books.
Yeah, I hated they left out that part too. And I hated they left out Ares and Mr. D. I still say they should have had Hulk Hogan for Ares and Danny Devito as Dionysis.