Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Books & Movies

Son2 is really looking forward to the upcoming release of the Lightning Thief movie. He's been reading his way through the series throughout the school year, and he's enjoyed them quite a bit. I read the first two (the books were were recommended here when I was begging for book recommendations), and I especially enjoyed the first.

I am just hoping that the movie lives up to Son2's expectations. That book to movie transition isn't always smooth. In fact, I've enjoyed very few movies based on books I love. The Lord of the Rings movies are the most notable exception. I loved The Lovely Bones when I read it, but I wouldn't dream of seeing the movie, and that's usually how I feel about such things. I like to preserve my feelings about a book and not let a movie wreck it. You know?

So, I'm wondering whether you've read any books and subsequently enjoyed the movies...

Sometimes I think that it's just whatever you first experience. A gzillion years ago I saw the movie Unbearable Lightness of Being and just loved it. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it. Then i read the book and didn't love it so much.

Son2 is pretty critical of things. He has strong feelings about music and stories and movies. We would not be surprised if he grows up to be a filmmaker, or at least gives it a good shot. He's always making these goofy movies and posting them on YouTube. More important, he's always dreaming up the next one. He had one cooking in his brain throughout early December, and as soon as Christmas break started, he devoted himself to three days of filming. He played all the parts and did almost all the filming. It was a total manic creative episode. When he finished, he sat down and edited it for hours. The result was his most well thought out and interesting movie yet, though it is a bit lengthy. We were so proud of him.

All of this to say, he loves Percy Jackson and he loves movies, and I hope he's not disappointed.

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On an entirely different note, I had another ultrasound the other day, and the little guy decided to show me his face, which I appreciated. I brought home the pictures, and brothers 2 & 3 announced that they thought his nose looks awfully big. (In all fairness, it does look like kind of a turned up pug nose.) And I thought, poor guy, not even born and already being criticized by his brothers. Regardless, we all keep wandering over to the refrigerator to sneak peeks at the little buddy's pictures hanging there...

4 comments:

Emily said...

Ultrasound pictures are like a sweet tease - I would stare at them constantly, trying to figure out if the odd combination of inside and outside could reveal what the baby might look like!

I am so into the depth of character development, that movies rarely please me when compared to the book, especially because I imagine all the characters in my mind first. However, I really enjoy most BBC versions of Jane Austen, especially the old Pride and Prejudice. I am sure it help to make a miniseries, so you can really leave out nothing! I also really loved the Series of Unfortunate Events, even though it was compressed and a little rearranged a little. It was marvelously done, I thought.

Jessica said...

I am looking forward to the Lightening Thief too--I hope it's a smooth transition, as you say, from the book to the big screen...And awesome that you got to see your little guy's face! Turned up noses are adorable, too:)

And let's see, I know that I really love the book Little Women AND I loved the movie, too.

Emily said...

sometimes proofreading is invaluable

Nina said...

Ha! Emily! I didn't even notice the first time through. I agree about the BBC versions of Jane Austen. I never did read Series of Unfortunate Events, but I thought it was a great movie.

And Jess, Little Women, yes! I knew there had to be some more successful book to screen transitions. Here's to hoping the Lightning Thief is one of them.