Once Upon a Bookshelf

Saw Prince Caspian last - I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time. I loved The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe - the cast, the score, the cg animals, it was just as I had always imagined Narnia to be. And it’s unusual that I’m not angry at first by a movie adaptation of a book that I hold so dearly. Needless to say, I had high expectation for Caspian.

And coming away from the movie, I have to say that I loved it. Loved it. There were parts that made me angry, but overall, it was wonderful, and beautiful, and everything that I expected. Read the rest of this entry »

I had the chance to see Iron Man this week with a friend of mine, and oh was it fun! I will admit that the first 15 minutes of the movie had me worried that this movie was going to be all kinds of American propaganda supporting the war on terrorism. I was pleasantly surprised after that first section to realize that it definitely more about the accountability of our own actions.

Marvel definitely did not disappoint with this movie. But then again, it’s Marvel, so what did I expect? I mean, other than Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand, when has Marvel ever really disappointed me? Oh wait, there was the travesty that was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer too. BUT other than those three movies, when has Marvel Studios ever let me down? It had what I enjoy in movies - great soundtrack (how could it not be good when it opens with AC/DC’s Back in Black?), great cast, awesome special effects and snarky humour. On the topic of the humour in the movie, let’s face it, Pepper Potts had most of the best lines. And she was not some wimpy female superhero’s girlfriend like a certain Mary Jane Watson.

The villain left a little bit to be desired… I can understand his lust for power would drive him to do what he does, but … there’s no mystery! I like my villains to be a little bit more in-depth, to make me wonder what drives them, and why they are the bad guy. I suppose, in the next installment, they can have more time to focus on the villains as the movie won’t be so much about introducing Iron Man. At least one can hope.

Of course there was the scene after the credits that I loved. Ah, how could one not be excited about Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance? I mean, dude. Excitement! Stuff to look forward to! Yay!

Overall, a fun and entertaining movie, but not one that I’m going to buy on DVD.

I’m all for modern day retellings of Jane Austen’s work. But serious. A hip-hop version of Emma?

You have GOT to be kidding me. There are limits to what I will accept as a modern day retelling. I think I may want to cry a little bit.

I went to see The Spiderwick Chronicles last night after a long day of shopping with a friend. I read a couple of reviews on various blogs where the blogger did not like the movie at all, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. While I really wanted to see this movie, I normally do not enjoy book adaptations very much. I was pleasantly surprised.

I read the books about four years ago, and while I loved the illustrations in the books and the general idea of the story, the books themselves did nothing for me. The narration wasn’t enjoyable and there was no real character development. If I had been in the age group these books were aimed at, I would’ve loved them, but as an older reader reading them, they just didn’t do anything for me. Since then, I’ve gone back and looked at the illustrations (because they are beautiful) but haven’t reread them.

The first time I saw the trailer, I got so excited to see this movie. As I said, I loved the general idea of the story, so this seemed like it would work for me better as a movie than the books did. And in the end, I was right - I loved the movie. This is one of the very few times you’re ever going to read me saying this - I did enjoy the movie so much more than the books.

It did have its flaws, the main one being that Freddie Highmore did not have a great American accent. But then again, he’s still young, still learning, so he did well considering all that. It also took liberties with the book. What book adaptation doesn’t? And considering the fact that they had to put five (albeit short) books into an hour and a half movie, it’s not surprising.

But it had a lot of good points too. It was very funny. It could have been the fact that we were surrounded by a bunch of kids and their amusement was infectious, but there were other times when my friend and I were the only two in the theatre laughing. Mary-Louise Parker was wonderful as always, and Sarah Bolger was adorable. The fairies in the movie - well, they ran anywhere from being cute and lovely and gorgeous to slightly frightening. They looked so real most of the time that it was, at times, hard to remember that they weren’t real.

This was definitely one of the most enjoyable movies that I’ve seen in theatres in a while, and I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

John Hughes is brilliant. Sixteen Candles? One of my all-time favourite movies. I may have had a bit of a crush on Jake Ryan, and yes, deep down, I may have wanted to be just like Molly Ringwald.

I may have been a (really) little kid when most of the movies written about in these essays were first released, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love and appreciate them as much if I had seen them all in theatre.

This book is a collection of essays on those films that became such well-known and well-loved movies. It mostly focuses on Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but there are some mentions of Weird Science, Some Kind of Wonderful and Uncle Buck in there as well. The foreword was written by the lovely, talented Ally Sheedy, and it really showed how much she respeced Hughes and enjoyed working with him.

As with any collection by numerous people, there were essays I did not enjoy, and others I loved. Make a Wish: The First Kiss Lasts Forever (written by Mary Sullivan) was my favourite; she analyzed and compared some of John Hughes’ movies (as well as what she herself was going through during that time period) to the Cinderella story. It always amuses me to see how much what we watch and read today has to do with those classic fairy tales or myths, and next time I sit down and watch any of those movies, I’m definitely going to be thinking about Cinderella.

Another one I quite enjoyed was by Moon Unit Zappa - How John Hughes Altered My Life - although, at times it came across that she was trying to impress the reader with everyone famous that she has met.

This was definitely a thought-provoking read, and I will view the movies just a little bit differently next time I watch them.