Movies & Books Into Movies

[ginny]

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? We've expanded this discussion as we're all restricted to our homes with this coronavirus pandemic.  If you've found good movies to watch or shows on TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime or wherever, please come share with us.

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

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!

[ginny]

Still watching I Love Lucy, for 24 minutes of happy upbeat laughter daily.

Also am watching interviews with Andre Leon Talley, the huge man who was with Vogue and Anna Wintour for so long and is in so many films on fashion. He has a new documentary on his life I'd like to see.

 That led me to the documentary The Last Emperor, which is about the fashion designer Valentino, which is the first place I saw Talley,  which is on  youtube now under Valentino The Documentary, it's an extraordinary film, I think, so watched it yesterday.

I am such a Philistine, I was in Rome  and very excited to see the new Ara Pacis, when his exhibition at the Ara Pacis was on, and I went there in great excitement only to see it full of his creations which I did not want to see initially, but the staging and the gowns themselves, such splendid things, won me over. What an amazing collection. There had also been a fashion show with runway and excitement was high. This is what was left after the show.

 The gowns apparently are designed for those 6 feet tall with 18 inch waists, but they were truly spectacular. Let me see if I have any photos of same left, something has happened to my old photos.

They had the mannequins arranged as if they were attending a sacrifice at the Ara Pacis in Rome, and my poor little camera at the time could not get them all in:



Here's one I got close up:  Pretty good shot for a tiny nothing camera, and it captures the stunning effect. (Anatomically the neck of that first mannequin is unlikely, perhaps?)

These last two are not mine,  but you can see the full effect:

And the dresses were all colors as well, here are the black ones, stunning:


And now I am SO glad I got to see it!

[rosemarykaye]

What fabulous photos Ginny - I've sent them to my arty daughter, I'm sure she'll be interested.

I am still watching the new adaptation of Black Narcissus, being shown over three consecutive nights on BBC1. Gemma Aterton (who played head girl in the remake of St Trinians,!) is now the head nun at the remote Himalayan convent. Aisling Fraciosi is really excellent as the scary Sister Ruth. The scenery is of course spectacular, but you do wonder why anyone, even a nun, would foresake a relatively cushy number in Darjeeling and take themselves of to such a remote palace on top of a freezing cold mountain. It's all quite Gothic, with so much repressed sexuality that is no doubt about to explode in the final instalment.

I've never heard of Andre Leon Talley, but I have seen a documentary about life at the Vogue offices with Anna Wintour, and it seemed such a strange and pointless existence (though I do remember Meryl Streep's acerbic put down, in The Devil Wears Prada, when Anne Hathaway implied that fashion was hardly that important.)

I've only recently realised that YouTube has all this stuff on it - for years I thought it was just for music videos. I am such a dinosaur.

Rosemary

[ginny]

 Golly suddenly there is NOTHING on  TV here. I don't think we get Black Narcissus and Netflix seems full of costume dramas which look about as appealing as that Selling Sunset which I can't deal with, at all. Talk about vapid shallow people.

You have to worry when I Love Lucy and Dragnet suddenly seem appealing!!

Ted Danson is in a new comedy this coming Thursday something about The Mayor. I really liked him in The Good Life I think it was called, what an innovative program. The Good Fight I thought for the first 3 years was very powerful TV, I wonder if there is a new season, I haven't seen anything about it.

But I now  DO have my Charles Dance/ Gillian Anderson  Bleak House  extra disks, so will look forward to that. I love those takes by those who actually produce films. I thought the ones on Wolf Hall and the new Sherlock series were super. So MUCH time given to details and why they film what they do, and how.  Why  Wolf Hall is so dark, etc.

[Latina90]

Hi all.  Happy New Year.

I watched the movie Unorthodox.  It is quite interesting and a true story.  Yesterday I watched a little bit of the Roman Empire.  Seems to be interesting also, but bloody.  Books:  Caste and The Racketeer.

[ginny]

 Welcome, Latina90! I have heard of Unorthodox, thank you for mentioning it here.

Where did you see the Roman Empire one? On Netflix?  Almost all the Hollywood Roman movies are bloody and way over the top. Unfortunately.

I have heard about Caste, did you like it? Come over to the  Books section also and tell us about it: here's a link to the Library:

https://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=881.msg401060#msg401060

[ginny]

 Tomereader, can you tell me whether what I'm reading is the same as the first movie Jurassic Park? I am seeing (and I'm no expert on the first Jurassic Park movie as you know) differences in the text, big ones, which make reading it for me an experience which is new. I'm really enjoying the book.

When they first go to the island, and are to have a tour,  (and I can hear the music now) do you recall after they toured the labs, etc., (on foot?) that the small group of Dr. Grant and Ellie and Malcolm and the kids were told oh of course you can go see the Velicoraptors, it's just behind the building and they go out behind the building and while looking through an electric fence at ferns encounter an attack by these Velicoraptors slamming suddenly up  against the electric fences, which was sudden and frightening?

I seem to recall in the movie version  a slick like presentation where they entered a lecture type thing and then it spun them about on a tour immediately? I don't recall this small group venturing out because their guide suddenly had to attend to something? And they didn't walk through those labs did they? Weren't they taken there by this automated  Disney type tour thing?

I seem to recall the appearance of the Velicoraptors came later on and was stunning as was their identification as such?

Or do I have the entire thing wrong?

[rosemarykaye]

Hi everyone

It's freezing here, literally. Ice, ice all around, so very difficult to walk, but I have acquired some of those straps with studs on that you wrap round your boots, so today I slithered down to the river, and it was wonderful. Winter sunshine on the water, no ice on the river path itself - and I was rewarded by the sight of two herons AND an otter having a fish for his lunch on the far bank (must admit I wouldn't have seen the latter, but a very kind dog walker pointed it out to me.)  Such richness!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/all/gallery/_7PwKn6bT3Ssm-XKX_hPTw?pageIndex=0

Black Narcissus has finished - I wouldn't say it was 5* TV, but it was worth watching.  Now I'm re-watching The Night Manager, which was made a few years ago and is being rerun on I-player, presumably to mark John Le Carre's death. Of course I can't remember most of what happens (was relieved when Madeleine, who watched it with me the first time, said she too could only recall the first and last scenes - and she has youth on her side...) so I am enjoying it just as much as I did before. Tom Hiddlestone, Tom Hollander, Hugh Laurie, and this time I am especially appreciating Olivia Colman's world-weary, unglamourous FCO officer Angela Burr - such a brilliant contrast to ultra-smooth ex-soldier Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston) and ultra-rich/evil arms dealer Richard Roper (Laurie.)

I've also just recorded the Kenneth Branagh remake of Murder on the Orient Express, of which I've heard mixed reports, and Nothing Like A Dame, which is a kind of 'fly-on-the-wall' meet up of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright, filmed in 2019 - I have seen part of it before but would like to watch the whole thing.

And on BBC Sounds I'm listening to an ancient adaptation of Dorothy Sayers' Have His Carcase, with Ian Carmichael, who will always be Peter Wimsey for me, and Maria Aitken as Harriet Vane.

Hope you're all a bit warmer than I am!

Rosemary

[rosemarykaye]

Sorry I still can't get these photos right. I thought you stuck the photo's URL between the two brackets that come up when you click on the little world icon, but that doesn't seem to have worked!

Hey ho.

[ginny]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/ZEz8vpj7dAbI6wZ1wjCOOCzLBGmwIgoBMZ0c2buYTVX

What a gorgeous scene, is that where you walked?

It doesn't want any brackets, it's fine as it is.  The website will make it clickable. Apparently it's while you are actually viewing the photo that you copy that link.

I never heard of Amazon PHOTOS!  Oh my goodness, isn't that gorgeous? And EXTREMELY cold looking!

[rosemarykaye]

Yes, it's the walk I do almost every day beside the Dee - it was indeed very cold today, but here it is in August:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/d2DXqRCGvn0jdNmstzbLnI96vhQ8chGlQl4e143evcY

I am enjoying looking back at the photos of the same location throughout the year - as I have probably already said on numerous occasions, 2020 made me so much more aware of the subtle changes in nature as the months passed.

I ignored Amazon Photos for ages, but it comes free with my Amazon Prime subscription, and offers unlimited photo storage, so I thought why not?  I had been using Dropbox, but they have cut the amount of free storage they give you, and after that they just nag you endlessly to 'upgrade' ie pay for more. So to avoid that I was having periodically to move all my photos from Dropbox to the pictures file on my old laptop, and the storage on that wasn't great either, so then that started moaning!  I've got far more storage on my new computer, but now that the photos all go automatically into Amazon Photos it's so much easier. You get the app on your phone (and any other device you want it on), then when I come back from a walk, I just open that app and the photos are uploaded and backed up. So far no complaints!

[BarbStAubrey]

Wonderful to see the river Rosemary - of course most attractive with leaves on the trees and blue water - but I'm betting up close there are delightful bits during the cold weather season - I'm also guessing the days are much shorter - I'm remembering way back in the 90s visiting London at Christmas time for a few years and was shocked that it was dark just after 4:00 - and so a bracing walk I'm imagining is the perfect thing to settle in afterwards in a cozy warm house.

I thought of you Ginny and the 12 days of Christmas when I came across this today...

[rosemarykaye]

Thanks Barb, and yes, we have very short days in winter and very long ones in summer.

At the moment here it is dark before 4, but in June it will be light till almost midnight, then light again before 4am. I like the summer but I can do without those very light mornings, as I sleep badly enough already, and no black-out blind keeps out all of the light, it gets round the edges whatever I do!

And I agree, there is always something to be seen in nature whatever the season. The gorse/bracken is in yellow flower again, which is strange as it flowered profusely in the summer, and I don't think this can be put down to climate change as it's barely above freezing here, even at noon, at the moment. Maybe it flowers twice a year? Must look that up!

[Tomereader1]

Ginny, I sent you a private message, but I got the message you had "blocked the message".

[ginny]

Was it on this website?  I haven't blocked anything but I don't get the messaging service here.

Let me email you so you'll have that address. Thank you for trying.

[Tomereader1]

It was just a private message, yes, on this website.  I thought I could go back and find what I had posted, but I'm not having any luck with that right now.  I will reconstruct the message so you will know how the book/movie differ.

[ginny]

Thank you, I really appreciate your doing that. I had forgotten about Malcolm and the getting out of the ride.

I had the BEST day today, I sat with the fake fire and did nothing but read all day long and am almost through Jurassic Park.

Do you recall at all any scene with Dr. Grant and the two kids in a raft?

The way the book is written is quite ingenious, it allows all the edge of your seat stuff but it explains it, I think,  better,  and it always has this dry scientific bent going on, which kind of allows you to be in control. I even got through Nedry's death which nearly gave me yearly nightmares, when I saw the movie.  That actor was really good.

I have so enjoyed it. I've got  Crichton's last here, it's also got a dinosaur on the cover, other people finished it for him after his death which doesn't sound promising, I'll try it next.

Pure escapism.   Good thing, there is NOTHING here on TV.

Wow Rosemary, dark before 4 and light again before 4, that's a lot of darkness!

For some reason I always get "down" in February. It's usually everything budding here in February, I have no idea why. I'm going to adopt a project and stick TO it to see if that helps.

[BarbStAubrey]

February is also my down month Ginny - I did get one of those daylight lamps that is next to the computer which is next to my desk and that did help -

I notice our dry years when there is more sun it is not as bad but to take advantage I have to go at least into the backyard - but what really made a huge difference - started first week in February of 2019 and by the end of that week I felt the difference with energy and bright thoughts - complete change - I started a regime of Acetyl - L - Carnitine, Inositol, Magnesium and potassium - repeated the same thing this year and even though we were already staying at home for Covid the combo came through - only this time I was a regular, using this combo along with my other vitamin intake pretty much daily - what a relief -

February depression was getting out of hand and now with my combo regime I can keep myself active without feeling I am sluicing through wanting only to sleep.

[Tomereader1]

ginny, no scene with Grant and the kids in a raft.  I don't even remember that from the book, but it has been years since I read it, although I watch it quite frequently. (Just wondering, where would they use a raft?  Never showed any waterways, except when they were approaching the island in the chopper.)

[ginny]

It appears there is a  lot different actually. Definitely a river, and it's a long one, it runs the entire length of the park and they got on it on a raft at one of the feed supply places, and they themselves go down it 5 or 6 miles,  and there's quite a bit of adventure on it with the TRex, it's quite exciting.

Now at the end Dr. Malcolm is lecturing us all on the earth, and science, and on and on, several pages of lecture that he (Crichton) feels is necessary, but it's OK, he's done a great job with the book and the somewhat sterile focus ON  science is very helpful  with all the dinosaurs and their killing sprees. In fact I love the charts about the electronic monitoring of the animals. I'm  right at the end now, I wonder if he wrote a sequel.

[ginny]

Barbara, I think that's good advice on the getting out in February. I found the last two times I went anywhere in February, for a weekend or when I went with the kids twice to Disney World, that I was surprised at how invigorated I was for the rest of the  year because of it. Of course that is not going to happen this year. Maybe the getting out can take another form.

I also take a bucketload of vitamins and supplements and always have, since before my children were born. I already am taking potassium and Magnesium, what are these other things Acetyl - L - Carnitine, Inositol?


Whoop! Tomereader, Crichton  DID write a sequel!!! He wrote Jurassic World, and that's my second favorite movie of the series. I just thought it was a movie, I didn't realize he wrote the book, too. I have ordered it. I do like to read a paperback rather than a screen. I feel like all I do is read screens.

I think when I'm through with him I'll reread some Peter Benchley (Jaws). Not to read Jaws but Beast, which I loved. He was a serious oceanographer and he wrote Beast and people laughed at him and he wasn't dead a month before one of the species washed up and people were astounded._Since then even bigger and more gigantic ones have been found.


Is anybody watching any of these new costume dramas? They seem suddenly to be everywhere. Are any of them any good?

[BarbStAubrey]

Ginny a friend, much younger, I think in her 40s - had a weight problem along with joint issues, lack of energy, allergies, migraines on and on - she found a program of vitamins that has made a huge difference - gave her energy and that started the ball rolling - Looking deeper into the program, it was built around these four vitamins and minerals -  potassium, Magnesium, Acetyl - L - Carnitine, and Inositol -

Several of us decided to find the four minerals and vitamins separately and see if we could have similar success - well we did - I am the oldest but one is in her 70s, another just turned 60 and the other in her late 50s - we all had a brighter feeling when we woke up and that brighter feeling stayed with us during the day - 2 of us had a better night's sleep and we all had more energy so that we could get things done and Anna in her 70s started first walking and now she is jogging -

Separately the information about each sounds like - what?! Why? I am no longer a baby machine or I drink plenty of water etc etc. It appears there are additional benefits to the main benefits that most information lists and together something happens so that there is this positive affect - or at least there has been for the four of us. 

For me if I do not take this combo for a couple of days I can really tell the difference - I start feeling almost depressed and weepy - I take the combo and within an hour I feel stable and the next day after the second round, I'm feeling all is right with the world again.

 

[ginny]

Thank you. I was more interested in the chemical composition of what they are, I have to be careful what  I take due to the meds I'm on.

It turns out that  Acetyl - L - Carnitine is NAC. NAC is something that boosts immunity and that's something that my doctor said before he retired, take NAC. It would seem that NAC also affects blood tests on the liver and you need to tell them if you are taking it, if you have a blood test,  so I take it on and off. I'm a little afraid of it and it stinks.

 Inositol appears to be a cure all for anything that ails you, mental, physical or anything else. "Inositol might balance certain chemicals in the body to possibly help with mental conditions such as panic disorder, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder." I don't have any of those that I know of.  "It might also help insulin work better." And the list goes on and on. So does the list of side effects.  Apparently no studies have been done on taking it more than a year.  I might better leave that one to others.  I appreciate it, though.

I am taking into account what you're saying, and how well it worked for others, though. Were they also on a multi supplement regimen to start with?  I probably need to approach that last one with caution.

[Tomereader1]

Ginny, tonite on FX channel they are showing "Jurassic World".  Is that the one you liked?  I think I tried watching it before, but didn't strike me as being nearly as good as Jurassic Park.  I'm spoiled, I guess.   I've set my DVR to record it, and will give it another try.  I can always "delete". 
I saw the best program (which I had recorded) on PBS.  It was a concert by Lea Salonga, filmed at the Sydney Opera House.  I had no idea who she was, but is a Broadway musical star.   She is very lovely, and has a voice that wows you.  She is of Filipino heritage, and her brother, Gerard, conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
I can't recall how long ago I recorded this, but maybe, knowing PBS, it will get a re-run. Hey, you may not even care about musical concerts.  But I thought I'd just throw that out there.  Somebody else here might see the post, and comment on the show, or be interested enough to look it up. 
Let me know about Jurassic World (the movie).

[ginny]

 Saw this just in time!!!! 9 pm tonight! Got it!

No it's not as good as Jurassic World, because the original had the original concept, and was a really good movie, but I liked it as a sequel. That's Ron Howard's daughter, isn't she gorgeous!

Thank you so much!

[ginny]

How did you like it?

Since I'm an early to bed type and turn  into a pumpkin at 9 pm, I did enjoy it till 9:30. I'm very glad to have it again. Love the beginning and can't wait for the book.

 I have seen Lea Salonga  on you tube, and she has a glorious voice. There's a film of her and a young man from the audience doing a duet on youtube. There was another singer also I had never heard of till Freddie Mercury did a duet with her of the song "Barcelona." Her name was Montserrat Caballé. He  had heard her in the opera and  thought she  had the most beautiful  voice he had ever heard and insisted he sing with her.

She agreed if he would write a song about Barcelona and this is the result, the first pairing of a rock star and an opera singer. Pavarotti was incensed but the acclaim was incredible and he  ended up doing it himself later on.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9vNiQ4AdJ8  It's not a very good film but  you can get the idea.

There's also another wonderful film about them working on it and behind the scenes and how it came to be made. It's beautiful.

[Tomereader1]

Salonga says she always picks someone from the audience to sing a duet with her, and did so in this concert.  A duet from the movie "Aladdin".  He was so star-struck, but did a good job!

Monserrat Caballe, yes, is an opera star.  Talk about your glorious voices!  I will need to watch that YouTube a bit later. 

Re: Jurassic World, I watched the first few minutes of it, but was stricken with a bout of ennui, which happens to me quite frequently nowadays, so I went to bed early too!  I will watch this afternoon.

[nlhome]

Ginny, when I had my most recent eye procedure, the nurse of course sent me home with a list of instructions from the ophthalmologist that included a paragraph that he added because of COVID, advising Vitamin D (already taking) and NAC, for the immune system, for his patients. So I take that now, along with fish oil because of a dry eye condition. The thing about vitamins and supplements is that it's hard to prove they work, but who wants to stop taking them because they might?

I have never watched the entire Jurassic Park movie or read the book, but my husband appreciated them. You and Tome Reader have me interested in Lea Salonga, though.

[ginny]

Tomereader, if you can get into it, tell us how you liked it. I know the first one is the only one  for you (and it is good) so that might not happen but I really appreciate your telling me it was coming on!

Nlhome, do you take any particular kind of NAC? Is there some kind of ....slow release or coated tablets? Stuff smells really nasty.

I've always taken  a lot of D  but  not too much. LACK of D apparently is a major issue, though.

[Tomereader1]

What is NAC?  I thought I was familiar with the full spectrum of vitamins and supplements.  Guess not!  LOL

[Tomereader1]

ginny, I was awfullly busy today, and did not get into Jurassic World.  Did you know that "Jurassic World -Fallen Kingdom" was on the same channel at 9:00 PM last night.  It supposedly was filmed in 2018.  I have no idea what time frame was for the other JW films; wait, I looked up one, Jurassic World was in 2015. 

[rosemarykaye]

I too have absolutely no idea what NAC is! 

[Tomereader1]

Its whole name is N-Acetyl Cysteine, it is a supplement.  Side effects can be: diarrhea, eye irritation, fatigue, nausea, skin rash, vomiting.   Essential for Making the Powerful Antioxidant Glutathione. NAC is valued primarily for its role in antioxidant... 2. Helps With Detoxification to Prevent or Diminish Kidney and Liver Damage.
I Googled it.

[Tomereader1]

With those side effects, even if minor, I don't want anything to do with it.

[nlhome]

I have no side effects that stick out. I take a 500 mg. capsule daily with food, don't notice any smell. Take Vitamin D, drops rather than tablets. I take no regular prescriptions, so it's hard for me to remember so I have to leave them out on the table to remind me.

[BarbStAubrey]

I don't experience any side affects either - I think now days they list the possible side affects for every herb as well as most meds - the only supplement that has a negative affect for me is if I take more than one tablet of magnesium a day - if so I'm on the pot over and over and over however magnesium is so great for any pain especially arthritic pain - I did pickup some roll on athlete type magnesium that does wonders -

My guess is there are a few who react to herbs, supplements even prescription meds but for most of us it is only if we take more than the recommended dosage because for instance if you use safflower oil you are eating NAR however, most of us no longer fry our food much less use safflower oil - today more of us use olive oil which has other pluses and yep, if you look it up the side affects will be listed. No one wants a law suit and all it takes is one who has the funds to be persistent.

[ginny]

 Hahahaha Well my husband always said I  had a nose like a  bird dog. 

Apparently some others have noticed things, too, though,

From the Internet:

This smells really bad like dead fish, is this normal? - Amazon ...
amazon ask › questions

The smell is 100% normal and from the sulfur in the NAC. NAC in its right dosage and potency should have a strong sulfur/rotten egg smell.



People also ask

Why does NAC smell bad?

The odor you smell is likely from the sulfur that is part of NAC (N-acetyl-cysteine) — this is normal. This is discussed in the "What to Consider When Buying" section of our NAC Supplements Review.Jun 2, 2017

I've got the 500 mg ones, too,and I got them at Garner's Health Food  store.  They smell like poop to me. hahahaa Maybe I need to take them with food and that might make a difference. 

Mine is listed as #3 in t his list of the top brands of NAC for 2021: https://topsupplements.com/Best-n-acetyl-l-cysteine-nac/?gclid=CjwKCAiAuoqABhAsEiwAdSkVVGhZ8wpXedBKg6VNIVDunq8QTjlJBZOcbgMvTAwPJ5A0k87Vmov5FxoCvjYQAvD_BwE

I will see if they have some encapsulated so as not to  have to smell them.

[ginny]

I have been hearing a lot about a new documentary called Some Kind of Heaven about a gigantic retirement community, called the Villages, a "Disneyland for Retirees"......have any of you heard of  it? There are lots of reviews and articles about  it like this one in the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/movies/some-kind-of-heaven-review.html

 The trailer is quite interesting:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmRnGHrjl1w

I don't know what to think about what I've seen of it so far. (Trailers and reviews).  To me, something like that is intimidating. I didn't want to be a cheerleader when I was  young, much less now.

In Edit:  It's on Amazon Prime and you have pay to rent it because it's in theaters, but I think it's worth 6 bucks, and I really want to see what it's about. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper and safer than going to the movies.

[jane]

I’ve been to The Villages in Fl twice over the last 6-8 years when my sister rented a house there for a couple of months.  You can see a lot of it, too, on You Tube where a couple talks about life there and gives the golf cart (main form of transportation inside the Villages) tours of the places.

I think it’s a love or hate kind of place...look at theYouTube for a look...and talk of rules, etc.

Jane

[jane]

On YouTube...the Villages Florida Newcomers