The seventh and final Harry Potter book—I remember how excited I was when this first came out. My mom and I are huge fans so she pre-ordered us each a copy on Amazon.com. The two books were delivered on a weekend day and at around 10:00am we each cracked open our copy, started reading, and didn’t stop until we finished (we took breaks for food and such, of course.) My mom finished at around 1:00am and I finished at 4:00am, so this tells you just how massive a book it is. Unless I miss my count that’s 15-18 hours of reading, and both of us read fairly fast. Seeing it put in numbers like that makes it sound crazy, but it’s a great book so I think it was worth it (I’m not sure I’d want to marathon it again, though!) One of the most fun parts, I thought, about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is that it doesn’t take place at the school, as all the other books have. The difference in setting made such a huge difference in the feel of the story that it was impressive. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are searching the globe for things called “Horcruxes,” which supposedly can help them bring about an end to Voldemort’s reign of terror. Partway through their journey they learn about the Deathly Hallows, a trio of items in the wizarding world that grant the owner “the power to cheat death.” Voldemort, of course seems to be searching for these items as well as Harry, who he is determined to see dead.
So, from what I remember (because I read this when it came out, which was July of 2007—three whole years ago), I really enjoyed this book. I remember the epilogue being a bit strange for reasons those who’ve read the book will understand (A.S.P.—that poor child…) and I don’t remember how the resolution went. Usually I remember the more crucial parts of the story and forget the little details, but I’ve managed to forget most of everything—seeing the first half of the 7th movie brought a lot of things back!
So what are the numbers? Well, here’s the google search: Contemporary Lit.about.com gives it a 5/5, Amazon.com gives it a 4.5/5, as does Goodreads.com (4.5/5). The general consensus is that this book was great.
So fans of Harry Potter can rejoice—the ending really does it justice. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people saying how impressed they were with “How nicely things wrapped up!” For the record: It really is that good, and yes, they did need to split it into two movies. They couldn’t have done it justice otherwise!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Film Reel #2: New Moon
Released to Theatres November 20th, 2009
It was through my mother’s coercion that I saw this movie at all—I was dead set against seeing any of the Twilight movies originally. I have this issue with books turned into movies where, if the main actors and actresses don’t look like what I pictured the main characters of the book looking like, I don’t want to see the movie. I’ve also made an odd observation about a lot of these movie converts: books written in first person don’t translate to the silver screen quite as well as third person books do. I think that’s got a lot to do with the “inner dialogue” many first person books are full of and you can’t put thoughts in a movie and create the same amount of tension as you could in a book. Anyway, so this is about New Moon. New Moon leads off with Bella’s birthday, in which her boyfriend’s family (which is full of vampires) tries to attack her and her boyfriend, Edward, decides they’re too dangerous to be around her anymore and he breaks up with her. She becomes depressed and turns to her friend Jacob for both thrills to make her feel alive again and an emotional leaning post. It isn’t long before Jacob’s own “family” gets a bit strange and he starts distancing himself from Bella as well—for the same reasons as Edward. It’s a little funny that these guys are trying to keep her from getting hurt when she’s running off trying extreme sports like cliff-diving, which she wouldn’t have turned to if they hadn’t been attempting to “protect” her. Nice job guys.
So how was the movie? My honest opinion is that it was “okay,” which means I didn’t suffer while watching it but I wasn’t really all that impressed by it either. Would I watch it again? Probably not—I only have so much free time and this movie wasn’t good enough to deem a second go-around. People keep telling me the movies have been “getting better since the first one” which leads me to wonder how awful the first movie must’ve been. Again, I suppose we should keep in mind the intended audience of this series: teenagers. I have it on good authority, however, that many of the women who went to see New Moon were in their middle ages, and only went to “drool over Jacob.” My best friend tells me that when she went to see New Moon, the entire theatre gasped during a scene in which Jacob removed his shirt. If all this movie is good for is eye candy, count me out—I much prefer movies that make you think and there are plenty of those with attractive guys in them.
As for the numbers, well, they don’t bode as well as those on the book. Internet Movie Database gave New Moon a 4.5/10 (ouch), and Rotten Tomatoes says 1.5/5 (even worse). An interesting point to take in is that those who are huge fans would rate the movie higher than those who aren’t. Tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news says “Twihards” give the movie a 9/10 while “Non-Twihards” give it a 6/10.
So basically, if you liked the first movie, you’ll like this one. If not, find a better way to occupy your time—this is not the film for you.
It was through my mother’s coercion that I saw this movie at all—I was dead set against seeing any of the Twilight movies originally. I have this issue with books turned into movies where, if the main actors and actresses don’t look like what I pictured the main characters of the book looking like, I don’t want to see the movie. I’ve also made an odd observation about a lot of these movie converts: books written in first person don’t translate to the silver screen quite as well as third person books do. I think that’s got a lot to do with the “inner dialogue” many first person books are full of and you can’t put thoughts in a movie and create the same amount of tension as you could in a book. Anyway, so this is about New Moon. New Moon leads off with Bella’s birthday, in which her boyfriend’s family (which is full of vampires) tries to attack her and her boyfriend, Edward, decides they’re too dangerous to be around her anymore and he breaks up with her. She becomes depressed and turns to her friend Jacob for both thrills to make her feel alive again and an emotional leaning post. It isn’t long before Jacob’s own “family” gets a bit strange and he starts distancing himself from Bella as well—for the same reasons as Edward. It’s a little funny that these guys are trying to keep her from getting hurt when she’s running off trying extreme sports like cliff-diving, which she wouldn’t have turned to if they hadn’t been attempting to “protect” her. Nice job guys.
So how was the movie? My honest opinion is that it was “okay,” which means I didn’t suffer while watching it but I wasn’t really all that impressed by it either. Would I watch it again? Probably not—I only have so much free time and this movie wasn’t good enough to deem a second go-around. People keep telling me the movies have been “getting better since the first one” which leads me to wonder how awful the first movie must’ve been. Again, I suppose we should keep in mind the intended audience of this series: teenagers. I have it on good authority, however, that many of the women who went to see New Moon were in their middle ages, and only went to “drool over Jacob.” My best friend tells me that when she went to see New Moon, the entire theatre gasped during a scene in which Jacob removed his shirt. If all this movie is good for is eye candy, count me out—I much prefer movies that make you think and there are plenty of those with attractive guys in them.
As for the numbers, well, they don’t bode as well as those on the book. Internet Movie Database gave New Moon a 4.5/10 (ouch), and Rotten Tomatoes says 1.5/5 (even worse). An interesting point to take in is that those who are huge fans would rate the movie higher than those who aren’t. Tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news says “Twihards” give the movie a 9/10 while “Non-Twihards” give it a 6/10.
So basically, if you liked the first movie, you’ll like this one. If not, find a better way to occupy your time—this is not the film for you.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Bound Page Collection #1: New Moon
Release date: September 6th, 2006
Since New Moon was the only Twilight movie I saw, New Moon is the book I’ll cover. As I remember it (because it has been some time), New Moon was a good book. The first time I read it, it took me all of a day because I wanted to hurry up and get Edward and Bella back together (because we all knew he wasn’t going to stay away). The second time I read the book was much slower, and it was still a good book, but not as good as I remembered it being the first time. For the most part this series in general is very “fluffy” and so you have to be in the mood for something light to enjoy it. If you’re looking for a complex, thought-provoking book, New Moon is not for you. In fact the protagonist, Bella, spends the majority of this book in a fit of depression because her boyfriend broke up with her. While this may sound ridiculous for those of us who are college students and up, I’d like you to take a moment and think back to your high school days. Relationships are life and death to the average teenager and Stephanie Meyer does a great job portraying this in New Moon through Bella’s repeated attempts to remember Edward’s voice and face by exposing herself to varying degrees of danger—everything from riding a motorcycle to cliff diving. Just like the first book, this one also begins with a “premonition” or “foretelling” piece which describes a climax that will occur later on in the book. Also like the first book, the build up for this climax doesn’t start until over half-way through the story.
The basic summary of New Moon is that Edward decides he is endangering Bella far too much and so leaves her. She spirals into a depression Jacob helps her get through by being her friend, and eventually she discovers a secret that makes Jacob and his friends just as dangerous as Edward. I don’t know for sure how many people were surprised by Jacob’s secret because I had it spoiled by my friends before I’d even started the first book, let alone the second. I don’t, however, think knowing what was coming ruined the book for me—I still really enjoyed it, and I think knowing what was happening to Jacob and his friends before Bella was nice because I wasn’t as frustrated with them as I might have been. The amount of action in the book is minimal, but that’s to be expected from a romance novel. I also feel the climax of this book wasn’t as intense as the one presented in the first book (partially because it involved more sparkling vampires) so that was a bit of a disappointment, but the scene that followed between Edward and Bella was rather funny.
For those who like numbers, here’s the google run-down: About.com gives it a 3.5/5, Amazon gives it a 4/5, Commonsensemedia.org gives it a 4/5 and Goodreads.com gives it a 4/5. So the general consensus is that it’s a pretty good book.
Something readers should beware, however, is that this is a book for young teens—Commonsense rates the reader age at about 13. So those of you who are older should probably take it with a grain of salt—New Moon wasn’t meant to be perfect because what teenage romance is?
Since New Moon was the only Twilight movie I saw, New Moon is the book I’ll cover. As I remember it (because it has been some time), New Moon was a good book. The first time I read it, it took me all of a day because I wanted to hurry up and get Edward and Bella back together (because we all knew he wasn’t going to stay away). The second time I read the book was much slower, and it was still a good book, but not as good as I remembered it being the first time. For the most part this series in general is very “fluffy” and so you have to be in the mood for something light to enjoy it. If you’re looking for a complex, thought-provoking book, New Moon is not for you. In fact the protagonist, Bella, spends the majority of this book in a fit of depression because her boyfriend broke up with her. While this may sound ridiculous for those of us who are college students and up, I’d like you to take a moment and think back to your high school days. Relationships are life and death to the average teenager and Stephanie Meyer does a great job portraying this in New Moon through Bella’s repeated attempts to remember Edward’s voice and face by exposing herself to varying degrees of danger—everything from riding a motorcycle to cliff diving. Just like the first book, this one also begins with a “premonition” or “foretelling” piece which describes a climax that will occur later on in the book. Also like the first book, the build up for this climax doesn’t start until over half-way through the story.
The basic summary of New Moon is that Edward decides he is endangering Bella far too much and so leaves her. She spirals into a depression Jacob helps her get through by being her friend, and eventually she discovers a secret that makes Jacob and his friends just as dangerous as Edward. I don’t know for sure how many people were surprised by Jacob’s secret because I had it spoiled by my friends before I’d even started the first book, let alone the second. I don’t, however, think knowing what was coming ruined the book for me—I still really enjoyed it, and I think knowing what was happening to Jacob and his friends before Bella was nice because I wasn’t as frustrated with them as I might have been. The amount of action in the book is minimal, but that’s to be expected from a romance novel. I also feel the climax of this book wasn’t as intense as the one presented in the first book (partially because it involved more sparkling vampires) so that was a bit of a disappointment, but the scene that followed between Edward and Bella was rather funny.
For those who like numbers, here’s the google run-down: About.com gives it a 3.5/5, Amazon gives it a 4/5, Commonsensemedia.org gives it a 4/5 and Goodreads.com gives it a 4/5. So the general consensus is that it’s a pretty good book.
Something readers should beware, however, is that this is a book for young teens—Commonsense rates the reader age at about 13. So those of you who are older should probably take it with a grain of salt—New Moon wasn’t meant to be perfect because what teenage romance is?
On-going Poll
I added a poll at the bottom of the page that I'd like to keep going as long as this blog's alive. Just ignore the number of days left, as I'll extend it whenever needed. I thought it'd be nice to get everyone's opinion on the entire premise of the blog which is a comparison of books and movies, so feel free to vote when you have the time. You can only vote once so vote truthfully!
Film Reel #1: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Released to Theatres November 19th, 2010
We all knew it was coming, as the Harry Potter series has been being turned into movies for about six years now. The final installment is here at last, but the twist is that it had to be broken into two movies because the book is so full of events. Length, despite what people might think, isn’t usually a factor in the breaking of a book into two parts because more often than not most of the length in a book is the filler of the journey, or in this case daily school life. The seventh Harry Potter book however, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a cross-country journey searching for the Horcruxes that could help in their quest to defeat Voldemort. Along the way he learns of a group of items that are incredibly powerful in the wizarding world—the Deathly Hallows.
Enough about the book, though, let’s take a look at the first half of the finale movie. All the old actors and actresses are in, as well as a few new additions and all involved play their parts brilliantly. The script is clever, funny, dark, and well executed. I have yet to be disappointed by the efforts of the cast, crew, and directors behind the Harry Potter movie series. Something some of you may not know that I found quite interesting is that the directors have varied throughout the series. The first two were directed by Chris Columbus, the third by Alfonso Cuaron, the fourth by Mike Newell, and the fifth, sixth and now the seventh by David Yates. I’m not entirely sure I would’ve noticed without knowing, but I have noticed that the lighting in the past few movies has been a bit darker than what it was in the first four. This hasn’t changed in the seventh movie either and I actually think the lighting move lends well to the darker themes the later books carry.
In all honesty the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was quite good. It was, for better or worse, exactly what I was expecting it to be. The ending also left me wanting more and made several people who haven’t read the book quite upset (one guy in the theatre when my dad went to see it yelled, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”) So be forewarned that the ending is a cliff-hanger. If you’re into numbers, the Internet Movie Database gave it an 8.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7.1/10, Metacritic gave it a 69/100, Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5, Daily Express gave it 5/5, and the Guardian gave it a 3/5 (all this information found in a google search or two). The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, and the Guardian are all European papers, so the movie was as well received in its homeland as it was in North America.
In short: it was good so I give it a thumbs up! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you’ve seen it.
We all knew it was coming, as the Harry Potter series has been being turned into movies for about six years now. The final installment is here at last, but the twist is that it had to be broken into two movies because the book is so full of events. Length, despite what people might think, isn’t usually a factor in the breaking of a book into two parts because more often than not most of the length in a book is the filler of the journey, or in this case daily school life. The seventh Harry Potter book however, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a cross-country journey searching for the Horcruxes that could help in their quest to defeat Voldemort. Along the way he learns of a group of items that are incredibly powerful in the wizarding world—the Deathly Hallows.
Enough about the book, though, let’s take a look at the first half of the finale movie. All the old actors and actresses are in, as well as a few new additions and all involved play their parts brilliantly. The script is clever, funny, dark, and well executed. I have yet to be disappointed by the efforts of the cast, crew, and directors behind the Harry Potter movie series. Something some of you may not know that I found quite interesting is that the directors have varied throughout the series. The first two were directed by Chris Columbus, the third by Alfonso Cuaron, the fourth by Mike Newell, and the fifth, sixth and now the seventh by David Yates. I’m not entirely sure I would’ve noticed without knowing, but I have noticed that the lighting in the past few movies has been a bit darker than what it was in the first four. This hasn’t changed in the seventh movie either and I actually think the lighting move lends well to the darker themes the later books carry.
In all honesty the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was quite good. It was, for better or worse, exactly what I was expecting it to be. The ending also left me wanting more and made several people who haven’t read the book quite upset (one guy in the theatre when my dad went to see it yelled, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”) So be forewarned that the ending is a cliff-hanger. If you’re into numbers, the Internet Movie Database gave it an 8.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7.1/10, Metacritic gave it a 69/100, Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5, Daily Express gave it 5/5, and the Guardian gave it a 3/5 (all this information found in a google search or two). The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express, and the Guardian are all European papers, so the movie was as well received in its homeland as it was in North America.
In short: it was good so I give it a thumbs up! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you’ve seen it.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Forgot One!
I forgot Holes! If anybody wants me to do that book/movie combo, let me know. I'm tallying up the votes so far to figure out which ones I'll do first.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Infamous Sparkly Vampires...
This isn't a formal piece on it yet, but a lot of you commented that you either want or don't want me to do a piece on Twilight so I might. If I do it will be on the one movie I've seen as I really don't care to see more of them.
First off let me say that yes, I liked the books. I miss the days when you could go up to someone and ask "Have you read Twilight?" and they would answer, "No, what's that?" (And yes, there was a point where you could do that. It was nice.) I truly think the movies have destroyed the books' reputations as they've brought out all the crazies, mainly teenage girls (and a couple of middle aged women.) This is not to say the Twilight series are among my favorite novels. In fact, Stephanie Meyers completely overlooked book, The Host, was my favorite work by her, not any of the vampire nonsense. Which is nonsense, I've never understood the vampire thing (always been a fan of dragons personally.)
Which brings me to my second bash: sparkle. We all know what I'm talking about there. For those who somehow missed one of the most picked on novel moves of its time, in the book and film Twilight the main male character Edward Cullen leads the main female character Bella deep into the woods to show her the secret of what happens to him in sunlight. I, as I am reading the scene (haven't seen it--I watched New Moon, or rather was forced to by my mother which is a much longer story) am thinking Edward is now going to turn into some dark, twisted, awesome creature or something and then... ...and then... ...he sparkles. I cannot express how utterly disappointed and infuriated I was with that. I wholly embrace the idea of taking old ideas (vampires) and giving them new twists, but sparkles? This is a creature of the night, a dark, demonic force. Demons do not sparkle, darkness does not sparkle, NIGHT DOES NOT SPARKLE. Sorry, but I'm not the only one bothered by this.
However, to not entirely bash Twilight allow me to make this point to people: it's not all bad. There are a few exciting twists to the story, and the characters are a bit interesting (if not occasionally infuriating, but real people can be too). The problem with Twilight is not what it is, it's what it has become: a huge, obnoxiously funded cult. Admit it: if we were still at the point where someone could say "You read Twilight?" and you answered honestly, "No, what is it?" you'd like it more. Fame can make something famous...
...and it can make something infamous.
First off let me say that yes, I liked the books. I miss the days when you could go up to someone and ask "Have you read Twilight?" and they would answer, "No, what's that?" (And yes, there was a point where you could do that. It was nice.) I truly think the movies have destroyed the books' reputations as they've brought out all the crazies, mainly teenage girls (and a couple of middle aged women.) This is not to say the Twilight series are among my favorite novels. In fact, Stephanie Meyers completely overlooked book, The Host, was my favorite work by her, not any of the vampire nonsense. Which is nonsense, I've never understood the vampire thing (always been a fan of dragons personally.)
Which brings me to my second bash: sparkle. We all know what I'm talking about there. For those who somehow missed one of the most picked on novel moves of its time, in the book and film Twilight the main male character Edward Cullen leads the main female character Bella deep into the woods to show her the secret of what happens to him in sunlight. I, as I am reading the scene (haven't seen it--I watched New Moon, or rather was forced to by my mother which is a much longer story) am thinking Edward is now going to turn into some dark, twisted, awesome creature or something and then... ...and then... ...he sparkles. I cannot express how utterly disappointed and infuriated I was with that. I wholly embrace the idea of taking old ideas (vampires) and giving them new twists, but sparkles? This is a creature of the night, a dark, demonic force. Demons do not sparkle, darkness does not sparkle, NIGHT DOES NOT SPARKLE. Sorry, but I'm not the only one bothered by this.
However, to not entirely bash Twilight allow me to make this point to people: it's not all bad. There are a few exciting twists to the story, and the characters are a bit interesting (if not occasionally infuriating, but real people can be too). The problem with Twilight is not what it is, it's what it has become: a huge, obnoxiously funded cult. Admit it: if we were still at the point where someone could say "You read Twilight?" and you answered honestly, "No, what is it?" you'd like it more. Fame can make something famous...
...and it can make something infamous.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Spoiler Issue Solved
So I've been struggling with how to approach this blog's topic without giving spoilers to those who don't want them and I've finally got my solution: two different post types. If you're looking to just hear what people thought about a movie (or book), you'll read the "Review" post, in which I'll post my opinion and others can post theirs. These posts will be spoiler-free. The second type will be the "Comparison" posts which will examine the differences between the book and movie versions of a story. These will be chock full of spoilers as they will examine specific plot details. The Comparison posts will also be for discussing which version of the story was more preferred--or which version of specific plot points was better handled.
Hopefully this solution will make it easier for everyone involved to enjoy this blog.
Hopefully this solution will make it easier for everyone involved to enjoy this blog.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Books and Movies
I'd like to list a few of the books/movies I may write on and get your inputs on any you'd like to add or remove. Here are some of the ones I was thinking of examining:
-Guardians of GaHoole
-Lord of the Rings
-The Harry Potter Series
-Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
-The Notebook
-The Last Unicorn
-Eragon
-The Twilight Series
-Ella Enchanted
-Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
-City of Ember
-The DaVinci Code
-Charlotte's Web
-The Chronicles of Narnia
-Shrek
-How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-The Shrew (book title)/ 10 Things I Hate About You (movie title)
The entries I end up doing will be half based on majority votes and half based on what I've already seen or read.
-Guardians of GaHoole
-Lord of the Rings
-The Harry Potter Series
-Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
-The Notebook
-The Last Unicorn
-Eragon
-The Twilight Series
-Ella Enchanted
-Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
-City of Ember
-The DaVinci Code
-Charlotte's Web
-The Chronicles of Narnia
-Shrek
-How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-The Shrew (book title)/ 10 Things I Hate About You (movie title)
The entries I end up doing will be half based on majority votes and half based on what I've already seen or read.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Foreword or Opening Credits
This post is just to get my feet wet, check out how this blog works, and get it started. The email address I can be reached at is a little odd sounding because I made it in middle school, but it's the one I check most frequently so at least I know any emails sent there will get to me. If you need to contact me for anything, or just want to say "hi," that email address is: sora_megami2210@yahoo.com.
Also, for those who are wondering, this is going to be a blog on books that have been or will be turned into movies. Changes made, people's opinions, and which version you liked better are a few examples of the kind of things you can read about and comment on.
Here's hoping you'll enjoy it!
Also, for those who are wondering, this is going to be a blog on books that have been or will be turned into movies. Changes made, people's opinions, and which version you liked better are a few examples of the kind of things you can read about and comment on.
Here's hoping you'll enjoy it!
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