Tuesday Ten: Books I Want Movies From

This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is books you'd like to see as movies. This is a hard list for me to make because books are so much better than movies and the last movie I saw was The Muppets when it came out on DVD, and I probably go to the actual theaters like two or three times a year mayyybe, so I am not the best person to ask about movies. But okay, I'll give it a try. Because I do love movies like A Walk to Remember and Geek Charming and The Hunger Games and sometimes books make really good movies. Also, I only have six books because of whatever.

1. The List

Siobhan Vivian

It's sad, but I'm pretty sure the only way this would make it to any sort of screen is if Lifetime decided to make it into a totally salacious "teenage girl problems" movie. Which is, like I said, sad. But that aside, the many different characters and POVs here would be a great fit for a movie along the lines of He's Just Not That Into You. Except, you know, different.

2. Jessie <3 NYC

Keris Stainton

This was the first book I thought of for this topic because even in my review I mentioned how I wished this book were a movie. The characters, storyline, and little surprises along the way are the sort of things that work so great in movies. YOU HEAR ME, MOVIE PEOPLE? Make it happen.

3. Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin

How meta would a movie about teen starlets in a fake romance be? SO META. And also, pretty awesome.

4. The Mockingbirds

Daisy Whitney

There's something about this book -- the subject matter, the well-drawn characters, the underground justice system, that I would love to see on screen. It's got the right mix of interesting, unexpected, and tried-and-true to be a really awesome, if slightly understated, movie. 

5. Two-Way Street

Lauren Barnholdt

This one came out five years ago, so it's probably not exactly on your radar, but from what I remember it definitely should be. Exes on a road trip together, on the way to the same college? Unresolved feelings and too much ambiguity? I love this book and I want it to be a movie that I will also love. 

6. Cheating At Solitaire

Ally Carter

This is another older book (it came out in 2005 and isn't even YA), and is one of the few straight-up "chick lit" (ugh, can't we rename that genre?) that I've flat-out loved. The love story is meet-cute perfect for a movie.

QUICK QUESTION

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK ABOUT GARY ROSS NOT DIRECTING CATCHING FIRE?

Thoughts??

What I Thought of The Hunger Games (Movie Review)

SPOILER ALERT: You've been warned. I don't discuss the plot in depth, but key points are mentioned as well as a few movie moments.

You guys, I saw The Hunger Games movie twice. Me and my sister went to the midnight opening, then the next day went again with my mom. I tried sort of half-heartedly to avoid reading any actual reviews of the film before seeing it because I wanted to form my own opinion as much as I could. If you want your movie-seeing experience unspoiled by reviews, maybe don't read this post. Otherwise, here's my "review" of The Hunger Games movie. (Bear with me, please, as I'm really not used to writing movie reviews.)

First off, the movie follows the book really incredibly well. There are definitely some changes in small things (like how Katniss gets the Mockingjay pin and whose idea it is for her and Peeta to hold hands during the parade in the Capitol) and certain scenes/lines that I loved didn't make it to the movie. But that's to be expected, really, and what the movie gets right is so huge. It gets the important parts, the pivotal scenes and events that happen. Certain scenes are added to the movie that lay the groundwork for the rest of the series really well, without it being exactly as it was in the book. Because we're outside of Katniss' mind and don't know exactly what she's thinking/feeling at all times (although Jennifer Lawrence does an amazing job of just totally becoming Katniss and showing her emotions through facial expressions and movement) the scope of the movie was broader, but also certain things had to play out differently. The "seeds" for things that will be important later are planted well in the movie.

The essence of the book is carried over into the movie. It gives you basically the same feeling as the book did and director Gary Ross does an amazing job of showing just enough glamor and spectacle of the Capitol to suck you in before reminding you in startling ways that this is a terrible, horrible, gruesome "game" that everyone is caught up in. Caeser Flickerman in particular is a pivotal part of the movie in this regard and his talk-show-style segments throughout the movie really help to explain what's happening, I think, especially if you're someone who hasn't read the books and might not know, for instance, how deadly the tracker jackers are.

And the cast of this movie? You guys, they nailed it. Seriously. Jennifer Lawrence was amazing, as was Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Everyone was just stellar. I wished there had been a bit more Gale in the movie, but Liam Whatshisface (I'm too lazy to look up his last name) did such a good job with the few scenes he had. However, apart from the acting itself there were a few issues I had with the characters, specifically Gale and Peeta. Gale I actually liked more in the movie, and I think it's because his overwhelming anger was really downplayed. He was portrayed instead as Katniss' best friend and the person who was looking after Prim once she was gone. It was very much a protector role, stripped of the angry undertones that are there throughout the books. And about Peeta. You guys, I love Peeta. He's one of my all-time favorite characters. And I really like the actor who plays him in the movie; I think he did an awesome, awesome job. He nailed it. But Peeta's character was missing a bit of his Peeta-ness here. His humor and toughness is downplayed, making him seem a little bit generic. (And, if I'm going to be totally honest and a little nit-picky, there was that one line that made him legit sound like a stalker.)

The atmosphere of the movie -- the Capitol, District 12, the arena -- were all so great. The reaping scene in particular -- which was one of my favorites in the book -- is just perfect. The movie did such a good job capturing the fear, desperation, and agony of what's happening. Other important scenes, like Peeta's interview, are also done really well but for me nothing in the movie beats that reaping scene. It's incredible.

As I said, there were some things (certain lines and scenes) that I loved in the book and wish had made it into the movie. The ending in particular seems to speed by really quickly and I wish there'd been just a little more meat to what happens after, but at already nearly two and a half hours long, I can imagine how hard it must have been to keep everything that was great in the books. It's just impossible and the movie does a remarkable job of capturing the things that are most important to the overall story and plot. I'm honestly amazed at how true to the story and characters, especially Katniss, the movie remained. The movie is not the book. It approaches the story from a slightly different angle, a broader scope since we're no longer in Katniss' head. This is an adaptation of the book but even more so, I think, a widening of the story's world. Nothing will replace the book and, really, nothing can touch it, but the movie comes close. The movie really is one of the strongest book-to-movie translations I've seen and while bits of it are disappointing, it's definitely a worthy movie version of one of my favorite books.

Ten: Hunger Games Scenes/Moments I'm Looking Forward To

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ/FINISHED THE HUNGER GAMES YET, DON'T READ THIS POST. SPOILERS, AHOY!

These aren't exactly my favorite things/moments/scenes from the book, but instead the top ten things I'm looking forward to seeing interpreted in the movie. (But yeah, there's definitely lots of overlap between this list and my favorite book moments.)

1. The Reaping:

In the books, it was the moment that Katniss volunteered in place of her sister that really got me hooked. The emotions she has in that moment, the oh god not my little sister, not her, anyone but her, were so authentic and painful and real that it just immediately sucked me in.

2. Peeta's Interview:

There are a couple of things I love in stories and one of them is when a key character is missing out on a key piece of information. This is probably part of why I love Katniss and Peeta's early relationship so much. The scene where Peeta gives his pre-Games interview is also so full of emotion, but also the rippling effects of shock. It's a total game changer for Katniss and everyone else.

3. The Muttations:

Alright, these things terrify me. It's not so much that I want to see them as that I'm completely intrigued about how the movie is going to pull this off. If they're half as scary as the mutts in my mind I'll have nightmares for weeks, so I hope they're not.

4. The Clothes:
I can't believe I just wrote that. I usually don't pay much/any attention to clothes in movies and television (and life!), but the outfits Cinna designs for Katniss play such a big role in how she's perceived and are described so incredibly well that I can't wait to see the interpretation.

5. The Nightlock:
The end of the Games, with the nightlock berries, is definitely one of the biggest scenes in the book and I can't wait to see how it plays out onscreen.

6. The End:
Until I reread The Hunger Games recently, I'd forgotten just how much happens in that brief time between the end of the Games and the end of the book. It ends with Katniss and Peeta very much at odds and Katniss' safety very much at stake. I'm wondering how the movie is going to play this; if they'll end it at the same place that the book does, or if it'll end with at some other place, like with the nightlock scene.

7. The Setting(s):
I'm really looking forward to seeing the filmmakers' interpretation of the settings of this book, especially District 12 and the Capitol (less so the arena, because I figure that pretty much just looks like outdoors and wilderness).

8. People Watching The Games:
Gale and Prim especially. In the book we don't get much in the way of what the viewers think except for what Katniss imagines others might be thinking/feeling about the situation, but from everything I've heard the movie's going to be a bit different in this regard. I'm really looking forward to seeing the reactions of those Katniss loves most as they see what plays out onscreen.

9. Effie:
Okay, I know. She's part of the Capitol -- a willing helper in the tragedy of the Games. And yet... and yet I can't help but like Effie. She can't really be so oblivious, but she often seems like she is and like, in spite of the part she plays, she really does care for Katniss and Peeta. I'm looking forward to everything that includes her.

10. How the Violence is Handled:
I'm really not a fan of violence. It's part of the reason I resisted reading this series for so long. I'm looking forward to seeing how this violence plays out onscreen, especially considering how dedicated the director and others involved were to keeping it as a PG-13 movie.

So, what are you most looking forward to seeing in the movie?

Crazy Shenanigans in Books vs. Movies and Television

Last month I read Susanne Colasanti's latest novel, So Much Closer. In it, a girl finds out her longtime crush is moving to New York City, so she follows him there and enrolls at his new school in the hopes that he'll notice, and fall in love with, her. It's not a bad book, but the entire time I found myself thinking about how unbelievably unrealistic the whole thing was. I mean, really? It just seems crazy. The whole time I was thinking about how insane this character is and how I couldn't believe what she was doing.

It just wasn't very believable.

And then Saturday night I watched television. More specifically, I watched iCarly and then Legally Blonde, both of which I love. In the first, a girl checked herself into a mental institution because she likes a boy. And I assume everyone has seen Legally Blonde, but on the off chance you haven't, she follows her ex-boyfriend to law school in order to become a lawyer so that he'll go out with her again and ask her to marry him. Now, these things are equally as unbelievable as the plot of So Much Closer, but I accepted them so much easier. A mental hospital? From vapid sorority girl to law school student? No problem.


And the craziness doesn't stop there.  In Pushing Daisies, a character joins a convent to get away from the guy she's in love with (and also there's a dead girl who's never recognized by her family, but that's another type of crazy); Lizzie McGuire passed for an Italian pop star for, like, a long time. And I easily went along with those things.

So why is it that the most unbelievable (and, let's face it, usually pretty stupid) things happen in a TV show or movie, but when similar things happen in books it's so difficult to get past? All of the shows and movies I mentioned? Love them. The book? Well, the idea that The Office references were so obscure people wouldn't get them was my breaking point.

There is something wrong here, some disconnect between the fictional stories we see on television and the ones we read in books. Is it because the on-screen stories are comedies while most books aren't? Maybe, but even those books that are comedies couldn't get away with the type of storylines and character choices we see here. There are some things not even Scarlett and Spencer Martin can make believable and realistic.

And if it's not comedy, what is it? Is it easier to accept that worlds, though they look like our own, are their own universes when those worlds are shown on screen instead of in pages? Is it easier, somehow, to nitpick books? Are story mediums like television and movies more about escapism, whereas books are about relating? I don't know, but the more I think about it the more interesting the question becomes.

What do you think? Is it easier for you to accept the crazy things characters do if those characters are in TV/movies instead of books? And why?