It seems like every time we turn around, there is a brand new movie coming out that has been adapted for screen from books. Three very famous ones are the Twilight series, the Harry Potter series, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Having read two of these three series, or most of the series at least, and having seen the movies, I always catch myself wondering why are the movies so drastically different from the books?
My first example is "Twilight." Yes, I was the one watching it critiquing everything that was different about the movie. First off, Waylon Forge, who is Bella's father's best friend, is not even in the books. In the movie, he is a man who is killed by the vampires that come through Forks, yet he wasn't even a character in the books. The thing that made me the most mad, is when Bella visits Edward's home for the first time, and he throws her on his back, flies out the window and climbs a tree. That is so not even in the books, and yet it is a huge part of the movie. He could run extremely fast in the books, which was quite poorly done in the movie in my opinion, but he never could climb a tree!! Why on Earth is that in the movie???
Another example is the "Harry Potter" series. The books have so much detail, so many little things that help you fully understand the story, that there is just none of in the movies. I read the first three novels, but never could get into the fourth due to other reasons, and never got back to reading them. But even while watching the fourth-sixth movies, I had to have an explanation for a lot of things in the movies that I did not get since I had not read the books. They did not bother to include all this back-story information in movies. I just do not understand how they could leave so much out of these movies that were such important things in the books.
Another series currently being adapted to movies is the "Chronicles of Narnia" series. While I have not read the book, or seen the second movie through all the way, I still understand that I am probably not getting all of the story and information I need to fully grasp the whole saga of what is going on.
Just from watching other books to movies, such as the ones listed above, I find that I probably should read the books before I go see the movie. It would let me know more what is going on, and it would give allow me to see those things that were not of the author of the book, such as Edward climbing trees, but were from the screenwriters minds. I have always been of the persuasion that if I read the book and go see the movie, I want to see exactly the same stuff. I be able to watching the whole book in movie format. I understand that others are not like this, but at least the screenwriters should try to get the movie at least a little bit as good as the book was.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Film Crazy Fans
I know that everyone out there gets excited about seeing new movies. I love seeing a new movie as soon as it comes to theaters, and I love getting to talk about it with my friends afterwards. Yet, I've never been one to just go absolutely crazy over a brand new movie. I really don't understand how people loves movies so much that they will just go all out to see the midnight showing of their favorite new sequel.
Now, I must admit before I go any farther, yes, I totally did buy midnight premiere tickets to see "New Moon" from the Twilight sage. It was the Thursday before my birthday, and I and my wonderful boyfriend got there at 9pm to see the midnight premiere. (Even though my boyfriend did this sweet thing once, he swore he'd never ever do it again). However, I didn't get dressed up in "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirts. I didn't dress up like Bella. My boyfriend certainly did not go as Edward or Jacob. Yet as we sat their, more and more people filed in with these outfits on. Sororities came in together with handmade matching shirts. I really never left my seat once everyone started to pile in, but I am sure there was someone dressed as Edward or Jacob, trying to impress some girl. There were probably people with fake vampire teeth, even going so far as to have fake blood on them. I just don't get quite that crazy.
Another example is when I and some friends went to see the then final "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. I have now heard there is a fourth one in production. There was some guy their dressed just like Jack Sparrow, which is Johnny Depp's character. My friends just had to get their pictures made with him. People had fake swords, or just the pirate hat, or Jack Sparrow's wig. Everyone was so excited to see the movie. I was excited to see it too, even though I think it was kind of a let down for me. But I wasn't the guy out front taking pictures with people. I wasn't that crazy about it.
And now another confession. I and my boyfriend are going to the midnight premiere of the newest "Harry Potter" movie, which comes out the 19th of November, or for me, the midnight between the 18th and 19th. I never really read the books, only made it through the third, and that was a year ago. I have seen the movies, and really enjoy watching them with my boyfriend. I know that going to this premiere, everyone I see will be decked out in Gryffindor's colors, burgundy and gold. There will be people there with wizard robes on. I would even go so far as to say that their will be multiple people there dressed up as Harry and his friends. Who knows, as much as some people seem to think Harry Potter is evil, there might be a couple protesters. That could be fun.
I just don't understand how someone gets that wrapped up in these series, in movies at all. Yes, they are all fairly decent series. But I'm not that excited to the point of dressing up or making shirts with my friends just to come to a movie. Maybe that's just me lacking the want to have fun, but I feel I have just as much fun as the other ones.
Now, I must admit before I go any farther, yes, I totally did buy midnight premiere tickets to see "New Moon" from the Twilight sage. It was the Thursday before my birthday, and I and my wonderful boyfriend got there at 9pm to see the midnight premiere. (Even though my boyfriend did this sweet thing once, he swore he'd never ever do it again). However, I didn't get dressed up in "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirts. I didn't dress up like Bella. My boyfriend certainly did not go as Edward or Jacob. Yet as we sat their, more and more people filed in with these outfits on. Sororities came in together with handmade matching shirts. I really never left my seat once everyone started to pile in, but I am sure there was someone dressed as Edward or Jacob, trying to impress some girl. There were probably people with fake vampire teeth, even going so far as to have fake blood on them. I just don't get quite that crazy.
Another example is when I and some friends went to see the then final "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. I have now heard there is a fourth one in production. There was some guy their dressed just like Jack Sparrow, which is Johnny Depp's character. My friends just had to get their pictures made with him. People had fake swords, or just the pirate hat, or Jack Sparrow's wig. Everyone was so excited to see the movie. I was excited to see it too, even though I think it was kind of a let down for me. But I wasn't the guy out front taking pictures with people. I wasn't that crazy about it.
And now another confession. I and my boyfriend are going to the midnight premiere of the newest "Harry Potter" movie, which comes out the 19th of November, or for me, the midnight between the 18th and 19th. I never really read the books, only made it through the third, and that was a year ago. I have seen the movies, and really enjoy watching them with my boyfriend. I know that going to this premiere, everyone I see will be decked out in Gryffindor's colors, burgundy and gold. There will be people there with wizard robes on. I would even go so far as to say that their will be multiple people there dressed up as Harry and his friends. Who knows, as much as some people seem to think Harry Potter is evil, there might be a couple protesters. That could be fun.
I just don't understand how someone gets that wrapped up in these series, in movies at all. Yes, they are all fairly decent series. But I'm not that excited to the point of dressing up or making shirts with my friends just to come to a movie. Maybe that's just me lacking the want to have fun, but I feel I have just as much fun as the other ones.
Wicked Stepmothers
In these blog posts, I have recently become fascinated with movies that have stereotypical family relationships. Two I have talked about have been the evil uncles who wish to lead their nephews astray to get their power and fortune, and long lost twins, who always find themselves and lead their respective parents into love. This blog discusses the most famous of these stereotypical family relationships, the wicked stepmother, who is always trying to cause their stepdaughter misery.
The first and most obvious example of this is the beloved "Cinderella." Every little girl dreams of being Cinderella, or at least feels like it sometimes. I know when I had to do chores, I always felt like her, hoping one day my prince would come. Mine did, and so did Cinderella's, just after some hardship with her wicked stepmother and step sisters. I never really understood how her father died, maybe they didn't explain, or maybe I was just to young to understand, but from the very beginning, she is living with her stepmother, who has inherited all of her father's belongings. Cinderella is made to act as a servant girl, cleaning floors and cooking breakfasts. She is not allowed to go to the prince's ball, where he is to find a fiance. Yet luckily, her fairy godmother makes her into a beautiful girl ready for the ball, and sends her on her way. After dancing with the prince, and having to run away, since her time was up, she lost her glass slipper. That was how the prince found her. However, when the prince came to make all the females try on the shoe, the wicked mother locked her in her room, but she escaped, the shoe fit, and they lived happily ever after. There are so many remakes of this movie, it is crazy, yet each of them have a wicked step mother that is trying to ruin her stepdaughter's life.
Another movie that includes a wicked stepmother is "The Univited." In this story, a girl is put into a pysch ward after the death of her mother. When she is out and returns home, her and her sister begin to see the ghost of their mother, trying to tell them things. They also find their father is now married to their mother's nurse, who is extremely mean to the girls. The mother's ghost leads them to discover that the way their mother died was not by accident, but by the stepmother.
Another example is a movie I mentioned in the long lost twins blog. It is "It Takes Two" which stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. They play identical looking girls who take turns turning one of their future-wicked step mother away. The woman is absolutely horrible to them, and is overheard saying how much she will change everything once she is married to the father. The girls use all sorts of tactics to make sure the woman does not become one of their stepmother's. My favorite tactic was putting gum in her hair, causing her to have to cut it off, making her look horrible! They save the day and run her off, down the wedding aisle screaming. Again, it is another example of the stepmother wanting to control the stepdaughter and change everything about the father, if their is one still alive.
It is crazy to see how many of these family stereotypes their are in movies. It is also interesting to see how many of these remakes have been made. it is definitely worth learning more about.
The first and most obvious example of this is the beloved "Cinderella." Every little girl dreams of being Cinderella, or at least feels like it sometimes. I know when I had to do chores, I always felt like her, hoping one day my prince would come. Mine did, and so did Cinderella's, just after some hardship with her wicked stepmother and step sisters. I never really understood how her father died, maybe they didn't explain, or maybe I was just to young to understand, but from the very beginning, she is living with her stepmother, who has inherited all of her father's belongings. Cinderella is made to act as a servant girl, cleaning floors and cooking breakfasts. She is not allowed to go to the prince's ball, where he is to find a fiance. Yet luckily, her fairy godmother makes her into a beautiful girl ready for the ball, and sends her on her way. After dancing with the prince, and having to run away, since her time was up, she lost her glass slipper. That was how the prince found her. However, when the prince came to make all the females try on the shoe, the wicked mother locked her in her room, but she escaped, the shoe fit, and they lived happily ever after. There are so many remakes of this movie, it is crazy, yet each of them have a wicked step mother that is trying to ruin her stepdaughter's life.
Another movie that includes a wicked stepmother is "The Univited." In this story, a girl is put into a pysch ward after the death of her mother. When she is out and returns home, her and her sister begin to see the ghost of their mother, trying to tell them things. They also find their father is now married to their mother's nurse, who is extremely mean to the girls. The mother's ghost leads them to discover that the way their mother died was not by accident, but by the stepmother.
Another example is a movie I mentioned in the long lost twins blog. It is "It Takes Two" which stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. They play identical looking girls who take turns turning one of their future-wicked step mother away. The woman is absolutely horrible to them, and is overheard saying how much she will change everything once she is married to the father. The girls use all sorts of tactics to make sure the woman does not become one of their stepmother's. My favorite tactic was putting gum in her hair, causing her to have to cut it off, making her look horrible! They save the day and run her off, down the wedding aisle screaming. Again, it is another example of the stepmother wanting to control the stepdaughter and change everything about the father, if their is one still alive.
It is crazy to see how many of these family stereotypes their are in movies. It is also interesting to see how many of these remakes have been made. it is definitely worth learning more about.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Long-lost twins
A few weekends ago, while watching television at my boyfriend's house, a movie comes on, and his mother leaves it on. The movie is Two of A Kind with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. I loved this movie as a little girl, and watching it again, i realized again my love for this movie. However, I got to thinking about it and all the other movies that feature twins and came to the conclusion that just about every set of twins featured in a television show or film are long lost twins.
Two of a Kind is this kind of movie. Well actually it is a bit different.In the movie, Mary Kate and Ashley's characters are not twins, but two very different girls that look absolutely identical. They find each other at camp, and begin trying to set their respective guardians up so they will fall happily in love. The trick works and Steve Guttenberg and Kristie Alley's characters fall for each other and the end of the movie reveals that the whole thing was a set up by the two identical looking, but not twin, girls.
Another more famous version of this is The Parent Trap. This is the movie that made the long lost twin story famous. Two girls go to camp, find each other, and realize that they are identical twins. One twin lives with the mom, the other twin lives the the dad. They realize all of this and at the end of camp they switch places to visit the other parent. At the end, they reveal their true self and have to make the switch back, all while trying to convince their parents that they truly are still in love and can make it work.
A television show that also had the long lost twins was "Sister Sister." This show was about two twin girls that found the other while shopping in the mall. One had been adopted by a woman, the other by and man, and when finding out they each had one half of a set of twins, they moved in together and tried to make it all work out.
It seems that whenever there are twins, they have been separated at birth and find the other at some point in their life. Once making this discovery, they also try to get their parents to fall madly in love and move in together or get married.
Two of a Kind is this kind of movie. Well actually it is a bit different.In the movie, Mary Kate and Ashley's characters are not twins, but two very different girls that look absolutely identical. They find each other at camp, and begin trying to set their respective guardians up so they will fall happily in love. The trick works and Steve Guttenberg and Kristie Alley's characters fall for each other and the end of the movie reveals that the whole thing was a set up by the two identical looking, but not twin, girls.
Another more famous version of this is The Parent Trap. This is the movie that made the long lost twin story famous. Two girls go to camp, find each other, and realize that they are identical twins. One twin lives with the mom, the other twin lives the the dad. They realize all of this and at the end of camp they switch places to visit the other parent. At the end, they reveal their true self and have to make the switch back, all while trying to convince their parents that they truly are still in love and can make it work.
A television show that also had the long lost twins was "Sister Sister." This show was about two twin girls that found the other while shopping in the mall. One had been adopted by a woman, the other by and man, and when finding out they each had one half of a set of twins, they moved in together and tried to make it all work out.
It seems that whenever there are twins, they have been separated at birth and find the other at some point in their life. Once making this discovery, they also try to get their parents to fall madly in love and move in together or get married.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Evil Uncles
It seems that in movies, the things that most people look for is some sort of love interest between the star characters. And while that relationship always adds to the story and plot of the movie, the relationship between the family members are important too. It seems that in some movies, there is a son whose father is dead, or dies in the movie. And where there is this son, there is an uncle that is acting as a mentor. However, this uncle always has a different idea of how things should go. These uncles are always upset because their brother was the one that was rich, popular, king, or a leader of an international country. It never fails that while this uncle is mentoring to his nephews, he is also undercutting them at the same time and planning their eminent demise of the nephew. Thus, I have the theory that the uncle is always an evil character.
One example of this would be the beloved childhood movie The Lion King. Mufasa is the lion king of the pridelands. His only son, Simba is born and is worshiped by all. The birth of this prince, Scar, the brother of Mufasa is put only farther from his place as the king of the pridelands. He tries everything to kill both Mufasa and Simba, however he only achieves in one instance. While SImba looks up to Scar and tries to follow his lead, he is only put into danger of being eaten by the hyena’s that are under Scar’s control. In the end, The hyenas join forces with Simba and help him to bring down and kill Scar. This is really the first instance of the evil uncle that we see in out movie-watching lives, yet it is not the only instance.
In the recent movie Iron Man, Tony Stark is the pretty boy of Stark Industries, a company that was created by his father, Howard Anthony Stark, and uncle, Obadiah Stark. Howard dies before we join the storyline and plot of the movie. This death puts Obadiah is charge of 51 percent of the shares of the company, which is to go to Tony when he is ready. With this control of the company, he uses it to sell the missiles and weapons produced by Stark Industries to the terrorists that are fighting against America. Tony only realizes this when he is attacked and brought to the terrorist camp, only to learn in the breech of his company in sending the terrorists these weapons, and then finally escape in the Iron Man suit. All throughout the movie, Obadiah tries to keep Tony from the spotlight, from making any changes to the company, and creates a suit in which to fight Iron Man. In the end he dies, as do all the bad uncles in these movies.
A more recent example is the uncle in The Prince of Persia. Nizam is this evil uncle’s name. He actually gives the adopted prince, Dastan, a cloak the give to the king, which only burns him to death. This is all in a plot to get the dagger that will turn back time, so he can go back and undo a decision that would make it where the king had died much younger, and therefore, the princes would have never been born, making Nizam King of Persia. This all frames Dastan for the king’s murder, making him run for his life from his other brothers. In a dramatic fight for who gets the dagger and who gets to go back in time, Dastan wins and turns back time to save his father and brothers. He also kills Nizam, who he confronts and kills in an act of defense.
These three are just some examples of uncles who want the power that their brother and nephews have. They then try to kill the father, if the father did not die previously, and then tries to take out the nephews using any means necessary to gain the control. However in the end, he is always defeated by the good heroic nephew. It is easy to say that the next time I see a movie like this, I will not be fooled into thinking that the uncle will end up a good character.
One example of this would be the beloved childhood movie The Lion King. Mufasa is the lion king of the pridelands. His only son, Simba is born and is worshiped by all. The birth of this prince, Scar, the brother of Mufasa is put only farther from his place as the king of the pridelands. He tries everything to kill both Mufasa and Simba, however he only achieves in one instance. While SImba looks up to Scar and tries to follow his lead, he is only put into danger of being eaten by the hyena’s that are under Scar’s control. In the end, The hyenas join forces with Simba and help him to bring down and kill Scar. This is really the first instance of the evil uncle that we see in out movie-watching lives, yet it is not the only instance.
In the recent movie Iron Man, Tony Stark is the pretty boy of Stark Industries, a company that was created by his father, Howard Anthony Stark, and uncle, Obadiah Stark. Howard dies before we join the storyline and plot of the movie. This death puts Obadiah is charge of 51 percent of the shares of the company, which is to go to Tony when he is ready. With this control of the company, he uses it to sell the missiles and weapons produced by Stark Industries to the terrorists that are fighting against America. Tony only realizes this when he is attacked and brought to the terrorist camp, only to learn in the breech of his company in sending the terrorists these weapons, and then finally escape in the Iron Man suit. All throughout the movie, Obadiah tries to keep Tony from the spotlight, from making any changes to the company, and creates a suit in which to fight Iron Man. In the end he dies, as do all the bad uncles in these movies.
A more recent example is the uncle in The Prince of Persia. Nizam is this evil uncle’s name. He actually gives the adopted prince, Dastan, a cloak the give to the king, which only burns him to death. This is all in a plot to get the dagger that will turn back time, so he can go back and undo a decision that would make it where the king had died much younger, and therefore, the princes would have never been born, making Nizam King of Persia. This all frames Dastan for the king’s murder, making him run for his life from his other brothers. In a dramatic fight for who gets the dagger and who gets to go back in time, Dastan wins and turns back time to save his father and brothers. He also kills Nizam, who he confronts and kills in an act of defense.
These three are just some examples of uncles who want the power that their brother and nephews have. They then try to kill the father, if the father did not die previously, and then tries to take out the nephews using any means necessary to gain the control. However in the end, he is always defeated by the good heroic nephew. It is easy to say that the next time I see a movie like this, I will not be fooled into thinking that the uncle will end up a good character.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Inception
Recently, I had the opportunity to see the movie Inception with my boyfriend. This movie is about a man, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, whom, with his team, is hired to plant an idea into a man’s head using several levels of dreams within a dream. The team succeeds and the idea is planted and takes root once everyone is fully awake again.
This movie was very interesting and suspenseful. It was action packed and a great storyline, however, it was slightly difficult to keep up with the different levels, or which dream within the main dream they were actually in. I found it confusing as to who was really still in what dream and what the snap back to reality would be for them. I, for the most part, thought the movie was an alright movie, until the end.
Throughout the movie, each character carries a ‘totem’, or something that only they know how it works. DiCaprio’s character’s totem is a small, metal top that was his late-wife’s totem. The secret behind it, is that if he spins it, and it falls down and does not continue to spin, then he is not in someone’s dream, but he is in reality, or at least what our, as the viewer’s, sense of reality is. If the top continues to spin, then he is still in a level of someone else’s dream.
Throughout the movie, we keep coming back to DiCaprio’s wife, Mal. She is in every dream he has, trying to kill him, someone else, or mess up the plan in general. We learn that she and him were stuck in a dream together for years. They spent an entire lifetime in this dream. They had children here, a home, everything was perfect. Then they woke up. Mal continued to believe that that dream was the only true reality, and when they had ‘awoke,’ they had really entered into another dream. The only way to exit this dream and get back to her reality was to kill herself, which was the way they had gotten out of the first and only dream to begin with. She commits this suicide to get back to her life, to her kids, and their home, and begs him to come along; however he refuses, trying to convince her that where they were was reality.
In the end of the movie, after planting the idea in the man’s head, they snap back to ‘reality’ and DiCaprio’s character gets to see his children again. At the very end of the movie, he spins the top, which was his totem on the table, gets distracted, and leaves it before it tells him where he is. Once the camera zooms back onto the totem, the viewer gets to see it start to wobble, but the movie ends before you really find out if it kept spinning or stopped, signifying he was either still in a dream or reality.
So the whole movie leaves you the viewer with this huge question, well, many questions. Was he still in a dream? Was the whole movie a dream? Was it not a dream and this is reality? If it was a dream, then did Mal killing herself really send her back to the reality they had with their home and children, and she was there with his body begging him to come back to her? If that was it, then the whole movie was just a big dream inside his head; everyone, everything was a piece of him.
The whole ride home with my boyfriend we argued about what it meant. The ending of the movie made the movie so much better to me. It left me with the huge feeling that I could create in my mind how I thought the movie should end, and then have the fun of arguing that point with my boyfriend. It was like a very fun game to play. Had I gotten a clear-cut answer on how the movie was, and had not been left with this fill-in-the-blank ending, I would have still been confused and bored with the movie overall, and I would had not had near the fun that I had that night.
This movie was very interesting and suspenseful. It was action packed and a great storyline, however, it was slightly difficult to keep up with the different levels, or which dream within the main dream they were actually in. I found it confusing as to who was really still in what dream and what the snap back to reality would be for them. I, for the most part, thought the movie was an alright movie, until the end.
Throughout the movie, each character carries a ‘totem’, or something that only they know how it works. DiCaprio’s character’s totem is a small, metal top that was his late-wife’s totem. The secret behind it, is that if he spins it, and it falls down and does not continue to spin, then he is not in someone’s dream, but he is in reality, or at least what our, as the viewer’s, sense of reality is. If the top continues to spin, then he is still in a level of someone else’s dream.
Throughout the movie, we keep coming back to DiCaprio’s wife, Mal. She is in every dream he has, trying to kill him, someone else, or mess up the plan in general. We learn that she and him were stuck in a dream together for years. They spent an entire lifetime in this dream. They had children here, a home, everything was perfect. Then they woke up. Mal continued to believe that that dream was the only true reality, and when they had ‘awoke,’ they had really entered into another dream. The only way to exit this dream and get back to her reality was to kill herself, which was the way they had gotten out of the first and only dream to begin with. She commits this suicide to get back to her life, to her kids, and their home, and begs him to come along; however he refuses, trying to convince her that where they were was reality.
In the end of the movie, after planting the idea in the man’s head, they snap back to ‘reality’ and DiCaprio’s character gets to see his children again. At the very end of the movie, he spins the top, which was his totem on the table, gets distracted, and leaves it before it tells him where he is. Once the camera zooms back onto the totem, the viewer gets to see it start to wobble, but the movie ends before you really find out if it kept spinning or stopped, signifying he was either still in a dream or reality.
So the whole movie leaves you the viewer with this huge question, well, many questions. Was he still in a dream? Was the whole movie a dream? Was it not a dream and this is reality? If it was a dream, then did Mal killing herself really send her back to the reality they had with their home and children, and she was there with his body begging him to come back to her? If that was it, then the whole movie was just a big dream inside his head; everyone, everything was a piece of him.
The whole ride home with my boyfriend we argued about what it meant. The ending of the movie made the movie so much better to me. It left me with the huge feeling that I could create in my mind how I thought the movie should end, and then have the fun of arguing that point with my boyfriend. It was like a very fun game to play. Had I gotten a clear-cut answer on how the movie was, and had not been left with this fill-in-the-blank ending, I would have still been confused and bored with the movie overall, and I would had not had near the fun that I had that night.
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