Movies & Books Into Movies

[Dana]

How many of you have read a book, then watched a movie that was based on that same book? Were you disappointed? Or elated that they hadn't made any significant changes? Or even surprised to discover the movie was even better than the book?

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Books Into Movies Now on DVD
Recent Movies Based on Books
Books in a Series by Their Authors
Movies Based on the Book

Join us in an ongoing discussion of this very popular subject right now.
Pull up a chair, take off your shoes, pour yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and join in!

Your Discussion Leader: pedln

Just watched "Cambridge Spies" again. (BBC 2003) That's so well made and fascinating if not strictly true to the facts.  I have to find a book about them all.

[pedln]

Dana, it looks like there are a lot of books about Philby, Burgess, et al, even one with the same title, THe Cambridge Spies.  And I'm happy to see that Netflix does have the BBC production, with captions, and also a mixed bag of reviews.  It looks like it's either love it or hate it.

Have you all been watching Breaking Bad?  I have yet to see it, but did put it (#1 of Season 1) on my Netflix queue, where it is a very long wait. That's okay, it'll be a while before the final DVDs come out.  I have given up trying to keep up with long-term weekly broadcasts, without having a DVR, but have found the DVDs to be quite satisfactory.  I am loving rewatching THe West Wing, (a good purchase for me), got tired of THe Sopranos and Desperate Housewives after a few seasons, glad I didn't buy those.

I'm just about finished with the final DVD of LarkRise to Candleford. What a delightful show.  Earlier than Downton Abbey -- circa 1880's, small village and hamlet economics -- but just as enjoyable.

Looking forward to Foyle's War tonight on PBS.  Have their Last Tango in Halifax on my Netflix queue.

What are you all watching these days?

[MaryPage]

Pedln, I bought all of the DVDs for Larkrise to Candleford because I enjoyed that show so much.  Did you notice that Brendan Coyle plays Robert Timmins in Larkrise and Mr. Bates in Downton?  I really like and admire that actor.
I am, and always have been, enamoured of Sir Derek Jacoby, so of course I am eating up Last Tango in Halifax.  Am also adoring Miss Fisher's Mysteries, which is a long series with a lot of episodes and clothes to die for, and The Hollow Crown, a series of 4 Shakespeare histories:  Richard II, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, and Henry V.  The acting is breathtakingly First Rate.
All of these, sigh, are on PBS.  Wish I had a bazillion dollars to contribute to them!
Tonight, fairly lateish, I will enjoy another episode of Dalziel & Pascoe.  I am a long time fan of everything Reginald Hill ever wrote, and also bought all of the DVDs issued thus far for this series, but have watched those and given them to my granddaughter namesake.  Even so, I find I still enjoy them replayed, they are so good.
I own The West Wing, too!

[JeanneP]

Lark rise to Candleford.  One that I bought also. I think and picture my GGparents living  like that with their 7 children. About the same period.  My family lived in village just like the 2areas but in Derbyshire. UK. I have photos and tales about their lives.  Those English villages do not change much as years go bye. I could stand that way of living now.  Had to get away to the big city when young.

[MaryPage]

Had a delicious evening of television viewing last night.  At eight came an hour to thank our Australian friends for:  Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.  Again, the clothes and acting were divine. From the series of books by Kerry Greenwood.
Then at nine, two and a half hours of The Hollow Crown.  This week it was Henry IV Part Two, and Tom Hiddleston took my breath away in his portrayal of Prince Hal becoming Henry V.  The last time I saw this play, it was Kenneth Branagh in the part, and he is a great favorite of mine and was beyond wonderful.  But Hiddleston beats him, IMHO.  Oh Boy, oh boy, oh boy:  was that EVER a KING transformed at that coronation!  Put shivers up and down my spine, it did!  From the series of plays by William Shakespeare.
Great actors keep coming!
And I can look forward to another Phryne Fisher, followed by Henry V, next Friday night.  I'll be all settled in my easy chair, eyes wide and ready.

[pedln]

MaryPage, thanks for the uptick.  I completely missed that Robert Timmins and Mr. Bates were both played by the same actor.

JeanneP, have you been back to the village of your grandparents? I see that LarkRise was originally a book or a series of books, by Flora Thompson, who left school at age 14 to work in the post office.

I had Page Eight (with Bill Nighy)from Netflix here, but sent it back before finishing as I just couldn't get into it.It started out so slowly and  wasn't willing to hang in.  But then a couple of good ones came along.  The Reluctant Fundamentalist, about a young man on his way to becoming a successful AMerican busnessman until attitudes changed his path.  Ella had talked about the book, but I don't remember who wrote it.

Last night I watched The Painted House, based on JOhn Grisham's novel. I don't know how I missed it before, we read the book here on SeniorLearn several years ago.  But it was delightful -- 5 stars.  And so timely, what with the St. Cardinals about to take part in the World Series.   

[JeanneP]

Pedlin

No not yet.  Family moved to Lancashire  which is within about 40 miles. Hope to followup on some family research next trip back.  Have lots of photo's of the place and it can be brought up on the Web.  BirchVale is the name of our Village.  So like Larkrise.  Is shows in Peak District Town and Villages. Derbyshire. On line. Area still lot like back in the 1860s other than the bigger towns gone modern.  Homes and cottages still standing.

[JeanneP]

BirchVale

Birch Vale is a hamlet in the parish of Hayfield in the Peak District of Derbyshire. Driving through you’d be forgiven for thinking Birch Vale is just a speck on the map of the Dark Peaks with little to offer, because its beauty and attractions are hidden from view and can be found along the 2-and-a-half mile Sett Valley Trail. Following the original track of the railway line from the village of Hayfield to Manchester, the trail provides a tranquil and scenic route through the wonder of the High Peak for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. A place of outstanding natural beauty, this route forms part of the Pennine Bridleway National Trail between Hayfield village and Birch Vale. The area occupies a peaceful spot in the valley of the river Sett amid some of the wildest hills in the brooding Dark Peaks. Whether passing through or pausing a while to absorb the breathtaking natural beauty while exploring the trails, it is hard to imagine that the surrounding countryside stood once at the heartland of industrial England. For wheelchair users, Hayfield provides access to the Pennine Bridleway National Trail, cyclists and horse riders can join at Birch Vale and other junctures

[MaryPage]

Sounds lovely.

[pedln]

Indeed it does, MaryPage.  Sounds like it would be a wonderful tour offering.

[JeanneP]

The Peak District is very popular now for tourism. Family still live where both the Peak District south and Lake District north. Only about 40 miles each one.  That is what I miss about living in UK. Every thing is so close.  The whole country is smaller than this state.

[pedln]

Dana, you were talking about the film Page Eight a while back.  I finally saw it, or part of it, and felt much like you. It didn’t do anything for me and I guess I just didn’t get it.  Returned it to Netflix before it was over.

Kick me, folks, if I talk too much about Gone Girl and the filming here, but it’s fun learning about the effort put into filming techniques. (I know a lot of folks did not care for the book.)  And apparently director David Fincher is a perfectionist. (Interview link below). I’ve never paid a lot of attention to directors or the filming details, such as finding the right site. 

Q: How do you like filming on location in Cape Girardeau?

A: I've found it to be extraordinary. There's a funny story about that because I toldGillian Flynn, who wrote the book, that we were going to Missouri for scouting. We scouted and got photos from Carthage, Springfield -- a bunch of other places. We needed a place where there was a downtown, access to water, a place to have a vigil, a place for a bar. I got the photos of Cape Girardeau and said this might be the place. I called Gillian and told her that I'd found a place and that it's Cape Girardeau. She said, "Oh, that's what I had in my head when I wrote the book." I said, "Gillian, you don't have to keep this stuff from me. We could've saved a couple of weeks of people driving around."

David Fincher

[MaryPage]

Pedln, you cannot possibly bore us with relating how that movie goes.  I feel the same fascination re film making from the outsider looking in.  We, in fact, had a movie made here a couple of years back:  down on State Circle, and they made a men's tailor shop, old and revered, into a book store, I think it was.  Anyway, our local paper followed the whole thing along and I read with great interest.  I have forgotten now the name of the movie, and the somebodies famous in it, but when it comes out, I am counting on The Capital to tell me.  I will look for the local landscape avidly.  But never went to see the movie ANNAPOLIS a few years back, because hey, it was filmed in Philadelphia!

[marjifay]

I had planned to see the movie currently running in the theater, Captain Phillips, with Tom Hanks, as it has gotten great reviews.  The movie shows the captain of a U.S. cargo ship to be a real-life hero when their ship was attacked in 2009 by Somali pirates.   

That is, until I read the news about the ship's crew suing the movie maker and the ship's owners for $50 million.  The crew says the movie is a lie and that it was Captain Phillips' arrogance and disregard for their safety that got them attacked by Somali pirates.  They make him sound like the captain of the Caine Mutiny.  Instead of basing the film on Captain Phillips' book, as they did, the movie producers should have talked to the crew.

Marj

[pedln]

Re:  Captain Phillips

I'd let the crew and the movie people fight it out, Marjifay, and just go and enjoy what sounds to be a good movie.  From all I've read about it and the reviews, it's a very good movie, very suspenseful, etc.  Every reviewer praised Paul Greenglas, the director and spoke highly of Tom Hanks' acting skills.

I find it interesting that the pirates are played by actual Somalians living in Minnesota.

I really hadn't paid much attention to any of it until Captain Phillips himself was on Morning Joe the other day. Regardless of politics and lawsuits, it sounds like a good movie.

[marjifay]

I won't see the movie after reading what the crew members said about Captain Phillips.  Can't get interested now in a movie that purport to be nonfiction, but the crew says is fiction.

I just got from the library Captain Phillips' book, A Captain's Duty.  Curious to see what he has to say about what happened.  The movie claims to be based on his book.

Marj

[Tomereader1]

I saw "Captain Phillips" and it was a very good movie.  Must have been two days later, and what pops up on my AOL News screen but the mess about the crew saying it was all a "lie".  You know, and I know, that this is most likely the case with 95% of the movies (and books).  The people involved all have their own POV about what happened, how it happened, etc.     I wish someone would name one movie that told a story that was 100% true and not embellished.

[Frybabe]

Lawrence of Arabia comes close. I read Seven Pillars of Wisdom and could only find one spot where they changed the outcome. One of the orphan boys who followed him around died of exposure in the mountains during the winter campaign, not by getting dragged in by quicksand. They also went light on the treatment he got from the Turkish commandant when captured while doing reconnaissance in Aqaba. I marveled at the time how closely the movie people managed to stick to his book. Peter O'Toole did a pretty good job of capturing the character of the man.

[PatH]

In 2006, when we read Captain Bligh's description of the mutiny on HMS Bounty, plus some supplemental material, we investigated some of the many movies made of the story.  The 1984 movie, The Bounty, with Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh, is pretty accurate.  It's a good job, too, though the lengthy scenes of bare-chested native women get tiresome.  Daniel Day-Lewis, in his first movie role, plays one of Bligh's officers, a smooth-talking yes-man, a very young looking Mel Gibson is Fletcher Christian, the head mutineer, and Liam Neeson is a mutinous seaman.

[pedln]

It’s been pretty quiet here lately, so I’m assuming no one has seen anything they really liked.  My Friday night movie gang watched MUD the last week. Like watching paint dry – I gave it three Netflix stars.

I watched an oldie the other night – Glengarry Glen Ross, but found I really didn’t know what was going on.  Maybe you have to understand the language and know the business.  Barbara, have you seen this one from years ago?

Just saw an add for something promising – Philomena, with Judi Dench.  I don’t think it’s opened yet here in the US, but don’t know if it has in the UK.  Has anyone seen it?

What?  Is it almost Oscar time again?  Not officially, but here’s a list someone posted at the International Movie Database

Oscar List

Overall, not too many that appeal to me, but there are a few.  One surprise – I didn’t know there was a film August: Osage County.  The play, by Tracy Letts, Bille Letts’ son, won the Pulitzer for Drama in 2008.  (I loved Bille Letts' book about the baby born at WalMart, always have a warm spot for the Letts family. I don't know them, but at one time years ago Bille and her husband lived in Cape G.  He taught at the University and she took classes there.)

[Tomereader1]

I am hoping to see "The Book Thief" when it opens in wide distribution here (supposedly tomorrow).  I have seen preview in theatre, and trailers on TV and on-line.   Geoffrey Rush was on the same morning show I mentioned in "The Library" board.  He says the young actress is simply fantastic!

[pedln]

thanks for the reminder of that, tomereader.  That should really be a good one.  I just watched a trailor of The Book Thief. Wonderful photography.  What else has Geoffrey Rush played in? The name is familiar, but I can't connect him with any films.

Book Thief trailor

[Tomereader1]

"The KIng's Speech" - he was the speech therapist.

[Tomereader1]

Won Oscar for the movie "Shine".  He was in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series.  Has won Tony Awards, Golden Globes.   A fine, fine actor...from Australia.

[JeanneP]

Just ordered (the book thief) at the library. They have it in LP.  Don't see it at any of our movies this weekend.

[MaryPage]

The 2nd in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire, comes out next week, I think.  I will not go to the movie theatre, but will purchase the DVD.

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Lawrence, but am also excited to see another favorite will show up in this film:  Jena Malone.  Did you see her eons ago as a child actor in Bastard From Carolina?  She is just flat out outstanding, and has been nominated for all sorts of awards.  I don't know what it is she has, but she has it in spades!

IMHO

I relished the Orson Card book ENDER'S GAME eons and eons ago, and have never forgotten it.  Again, I intend to buy the DVD for homeviewing.  But son Chip went straight off to the opening and enjoyed it.  He was, of course, disappointed it was not precisely done as the book portrayed;  but then again, isn't that ALWAYS the case?

[PatH]

I relished the Orson Card book ENDER'S GAME eons and eons ago, and have never forgotten it.  Again, I intend to buy the DVD for homeviewing.  But son Chip went straight off to the opening and enjoyed it.  He was, of course, disappointed it was not precisely done as the book portrayed;  but then again, isn't that ALWAYS the case?

Actually, "precisely as the book portrayed" is a moving target in this case.  Card has altered the later printings of Ender's Game to avoid some inconsistencies resulting from his sequels.  So what the book portrays depends on your printing date.  But I suspect the inconsistencies your son objects to are bigger than this.

[Frybabe]

That's interesting PatH. I went off to see which edition I have, but as usual, it is not where it should be. Can't imagine that I got rid of it. Arrggggghhhh!

[PatH]

I have the same problem.  I can't find the book I read many years ago.  It was old enough that I'm sure it's the original.  I know I didn't get rid of it, but if it was my daughter's, she might have done so.

[MaryPage]

I am quite sure I read an original, and was not aware there have been changes.  I passed it on to one family member or another.  I read it in paperback, and the pages would be very brittle and ecru colored by now, I would imagine.

[jeriron]

I just watch a movie called "What Maisie Knew" on Netflix streaming. It is a modern  day version of a book by Henry James. I thought it was very good and I would recommend it.

[ginny]

I saw Last Vegas with Robert DeNiro and Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas and Kevin Kline and I absolutely loved it and would go see it again. The female lead is good too: Mary Steenbergen?

Each of them are so good and there are a lot of truths in it. I particularly liked DeNiro but I always do and Morgan Freeman. I thought the scene when Freeman's  grandchild was leaving with his son was so poignant, he's a super actor. It was just good fun and the theater was full, (which it almost never is here) and there were a lot of laughs.

I saw it two Fridays ago and it has been out a week, it's another Marigold Hotel but it's funny and it's about aging with some fine performances and plot lines.

I really liked it. Maybe I was in the mood or something but I'm going to buy it when it comes out in DVD.

Oh golly, Glengarry Glen Ross, the one with Jack Lemmon in it?  That was dark and really profound, I thought, about salesmen. Depressing, but powerful.

[JoanP]

Don't forget to get in on the drawing for one of the five very nice hardcopies of PBS'  Rebecca Eaton's 25 years as producer of Masterpiece Theater.  They are sitting on my dining room table, waiting to be shipped to the five lucky winners.   They would make a great gift too for Masterpiece Theater lovers.

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY before the random drawing! To be included, all you need to do is stop into our Seniorlearn PBS discussion and post on either your favorite PBS production in the past, or something you enjoy watching now.  It's that easy!  See you HERE!

[PatH]

During the holiday I saw Gravity with my daughter and SIL.  It's truly excellent.  Don't go when you're looking for calm, though; you'll be on the edge of your seat the whole time.  It's a tightly plotted story of astronauts trapped in space by a disaster, trying to get to safety.  There is much action, but only one brief scene is gruesome, and you can foresee it and look away as it starts.  Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, the only actors, are excellent.

SIL, the family movie expert, said it was the first movie he had seen in which the 3-D added something and didn't detract, and I would agree.  He also admired director Cuaron's strategy of telling the story in long scenes, with no cutting back and forth.

Astronaut Mark Kelly, in the Washington Post, said that Cuaron has accurately captured what it's like to be in space, and inside a space station.  He then pointed out some fatal flaws in the physics of the story, but said, and I agree, that it doesn't really matter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/mark-kelly-gives-an-astronauts-view-of-gravity/2013/10/11/2b4e5e6c-3286-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_story.html

[ginny]

I'm glad to hear this review and I thought Mark  Kelly made some great points, too, it's helpful to me to read it first before going. Thank you for both of them.

[marjifay]

I will look for the movie Gravity that you recommended, Pat.  I love good movies that keep me on the edge of my seat!

I watched a good movie in the theater recently, Twelve Years a Slave, based on a true story of a young black man, a violinist, married with children in the north who was abducted and made a slave in the south for twelve years.

Want to see the current film, Nebraska, by the director who did About Schmidt.  I like his films, and "they" say Bruce Dern may very well get an Oscar nomination  for it.

Just watched a hilarious 1952 film from Netflix, The Importance of Being Earnest, based on the play by Oscar Wilde, with Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans and other great actors including Margaret Rutherford who played Miss Marple in the Miss Marple movies.

Marj

[Frybabe]

Marj, plays are not something I generally care for, but The Importance of Being Earnest is a major exception for me. I'm not sure I saw the Michael Redgrave one; the first one I saw had Patrick McNee in it. I also very much enjoyed reading his The Picture of Dorian Grey. Although I remember seeing the old film, I don't remember much about it except for one scene.

[MaryPage]

I collect DVDs of all of the Shakespeare plays I can get my hands on, AND all of the various different ones of The Importance of Being Earnest.  TIOBE was one of the first plays I saw as a teenager, and not only did I love it then, as now, but I am downright nostalgic about it.  Have you see the one with darling Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon?
I also collect all the Jane Austens.  Colin Firth was in one of the very best ever Pride & Prejudices, too.
If you DO get the Colin Firth version of TIOBE, be sure to watch all the way through the credits at the end.  It is a hoot!

[marjifay]

No, MaryPage, I have only watched the 1952 film with Michael Redgrave.  I just ordered from Netflix the 2002 version with Colin Firth.  

Frybabe, I tried to read Wilde's book, The Picture of Dorian Gray, but couldn't get through it.  I'll give the movie a try.  I've put the 2002 film with George Sanders and Angela Lansbury on my Netflix queue.

Marj

[marjifay]

My son and I saw the movie Nebraska yesterday in the theater.  We both really liked it.  Bruce Dern is excellent, and so are all the other actors.  What I liked is that they all looked and behaved  like real people, not Hollywood types.  Loved the humor in it.  I'd recommend it.  I liked seeing it on the big screen as you get the feel of Montana and rural Nebraska as the father and son drive through these states. 

Marj