Essays Archives - i luv cinema

March 20, 2011 By iluvcinema Leave a Comment

Fan-girls, Sexy Dwarfs and Reading The Hobbit (Finally)

As you may have gathered from previous posts I have made here, I really look forward movie/book tie-ins. In anticipation of the forthcoming release of The Hobbit (2012), I would like how I came about getting to the point where I felt I HAD to read the book.

By reading The Hobbit for the first time at this point of life I clearly passed up the opportunity to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic as a youth. In fact, I had no desire to read it despite being a nerd growing up. In fact it is not that the world of fantasy and sci-fi was something lost upon me (I was a huge Star Wars fan), but I simply was not a voracious reader. In fact, for the most part, I found reading to be a taxing process.

Fast-forward several years later and my attitude toward reading changed dramatically. And I have the movies to thank for that. In high school I got into classic films big time. I then started to notice that many movies I was watching were based on works of fiction. As a result, I started to gradually get more into reading. In fact, if not for Alfred Hitchcock, I would have missed out on reading one of my all-time favorite novels, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

After completing my university studies and entering the workforce, I was able to return to my newfound love of pleasure reading thanks to daily train commutes to work.

Also during this time, the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) films were released. Part of me certainly felt like I was missing out on details found in the source material, but I concluded that the time had passed to read the books – they WERE kid’s books after all. Thus, I appreciated the spectacle of LOTR as purely cinematic events.

That all changed with Harry Potter. Until I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OOTP), I was content to not bother reading J.K. Rowling’s books. However, after watching OOTP, I was left feeling like I was missing a lot of details. This feeling was amplified when I discovered OOTP was not only the LONGEST book but that it had one of SHORTEST running times of the film series.

Armed with that information, I immediately went to the bookstore and started reading all the books. Since completing all of the books in the series, I have been rewarded with a satisfying trip to the movies. At this point it is safe to say that I am on the periphery of fan-girl status. Not sure I am ready for Comic-Con just yet.

With the HP franchise concluding this summer, my “enthusiasm” has naturally gravitated towards the next epic book-to-film adaptation – Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, Parts I and II.

I was all the more delighted when I started to hear the casting news coming out of the production. I recognized the names of Martin Freeman (The Office, Sherlock) as Bilbo Baggins (Richard Armitage (North and South and MI-5) as Thorin Oakenshield and Aidan Turner (Being Human) as Kili.

Remember at this point, I have NOT read The Hobbit so even knowing the names of Thorin and Kili meant nothing to me; the only Hobbit characters that had any resonance with me with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf. I was not even sure which other characters crossed over from one book to the next.

Imagine my surprise in discovering the characters of Thorin and Kili are DRAWFS! John Rhys Davies was my “Middle Earth” vision of what a dwarf should look like. And with all due respect to Mr. Davies, Armitage and Turner are quite attractive so the thought that they are dwarfs (dwarves), left me a little perplexed.

Apparently many dyed in the wool Tolkien fans were equally perplexed by the casting choices. Simply type in the words “sexy/handsome dwarfs and The Hobbit” into Google to see what I am talking about. I will not elaborate here but I will say I trust Peter Jackson and his team.

So instead of putting me off the idea, I was more interested in The Hobbit than ever. And that is where I am at the moment. I am currently in the thick of the novel and hope to finish the novel by the end of the month. And then the countdown begins – 18 months (or more) and counting!

August 4, 2009 By idawson Leave a Comment

"But in the book" … and more musings from book snobs

My most recent inspiration to read a novel that is being presented on the silver screen has been The Time Traveler’s Wife. For as long as I can remember, there have been movies that inspired me to read source material. I can recall that after seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I ran out purchased all of the books and over the course of the next two months read each book in the series.

I fully appreciate that films cannot cover all the material in detail found in the source text(s). I am perfectly okay with that. This leads to the point of my post. The expectation that some readers have when a favorite novel of theirs in adapted for the screen just downright boggles the mind. Nowhere is this observation more apparent than in one of my current favorite TV shows, True Blood). The discussion boards for this show are littered with folks going on and on about “how in the books, this or that happened,” or “the show is SO NOT like the books,” etc. You get the point.

In one respect I guess I generally get where the text fans are coming from. After reading something that you find yourself totally engrossed in, you bubble with the excited of actually seeing it on the screen, only to think afterward, “Well that isn’t exactly how I pictured it.” That leads to the obvious in my opinion. THAT is the very point of reading – you create the movie in your imagination. There is no way that any movie can match the human imagination. By our very nature there are details and biases we interpret from our reading. That is what makes reading and discussing with others such a wonderful social enterprise.

Take Confessions of a Shopaholic for instance. Prior to watching the film, I knew that many of the elements that made the film so much fun to watch had been altered. Moreover, I refused to let that alter what I had imagined when I first read the books.

So going into watching the film, I figured that my having read the books served of little use, except I knew the story arc. Sure enough, that is exactly what I experienced. This is perfectly fine. Granted, for me the movie served as “passable” entertainment. I probably could do without watching the film again for many reasons, least of which was the adaptation from the source material.

On the other hand, take the following two Jane Austen adaptations from 1995: Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice. I love these both novels and the film versions of these works, although I was not a fan of the choices made in the casting of some of the key roles. Given that, I was deterred from appreciating both media as forms of art.

Now back to The Time Traveler’s Wife. One thing that interests me is that after reading the film and watching the trailer, I think they did a good job of casting, especially with Eric Bana as Henry. Will that be enough for me to enjoy the film? Probably not. The most I hope for is a well-made movie based on a story that I am familiar with due to my reading the source. Nothing more. If I get more, that will be the icing on the cake.

For another, articulate take on this dilemma, read this article on the Saint Louis Today.

July 27, 2009 By idawson Leave a Comment

The Thing About Woody is …..

Let me start by saying I am not a huge Woody Allen devotee. At the same time, I have not intentionally avoided his work … sort of. I have had plenty of opportunities to watch his movies on Reel 13 or on any of a plethora of cable channels. I have been told that films like Interiors, Annie Hall, and Manhattan are “essential cinematic viewing.” Most of these films of course mark for many Mr. Allen’s “artistic peak.” So part of me feels like I am suffering from Monty Python Syndrome, or MPS, as I call it. MPS is a self-described condition in which I am unable to understand the humor presented. In other words, I just do not “get” it. I really tried to see what my dad sees in The Holy Grail. Because of this condition, I conclude that the humor must simply be over my head and I am not in on the joke. For the majority of my movie going adult life, I ascribed this condition to Woody Allen’s work.

That is until rather recently. The first Woody Allen movie I saw from beginning to end was 2005’s Match Point. I really liked this movie; the London set pieces were a major appeal for me but I also appreciated the central thesis of the narrative. My next Woody Allen feature I watched was Scoop. Overall, the movie was flat on many levels. This however did not stop me from examining some of Allen’s recent work further. In 2004’s Melinda and Melinda while there were moments I found unconvincing, I LOVED the concept of telling a story about someones life from two disparate angles.

Last year, I ventured to the Angelika and saw Vicky Christina Barcelona. I had heard a little bit of buzz generated for the picture and decided to check it out. I am glad I did. The film was largely anchored by Penelope Cruz’s fantastic performance.

Fast forward to yesterday. Almost a year to the day I saw Vicky Christina, I was back at the Angelika to see Allen’s latest outing, Whatever Works. The most I was looking for was a mildly diverting comedy. What I discovered was an enjoyable and funny movie. I therefore concluded that for me, the winning Woody Allen formulae are when:

= writer/director = picture I like

AND

= actor = picture I probably will not like

The latter formula may be a sacrilege to some but it is my experience. I am willing to disprove these formulas by watching his earlier work, including those films featuring him as an actor. That is what Netflix is for…

In the end, I feel I have benefited from being able to watch a Woody Allen film with a relatively fresh set of eyes. Maybe upon watching his earlier work, my perspective will change. However, I see that as a gradual process. One thing that watching these films from his later years has shown me is that I should give myself a chance to “discover” his work.

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