From One Series Comes Another

This post is going to be dedicated to not a book that inspired a movie, but a book series that inspired an entire television series. The gossip girl series written by Cecily von Ziegesar check out her site here, gave birth to the popular show currently running on The CW. Visit The CW’s website here. The stories encompass the world of teenagers on the upper east side of New York City, in other words the rich private school children in the city. Obviously it is a drama. There are about six main characters to follow Serena, Blair, Chuck, Dan, Nate and Jenny. The TV series began with the kids in high school but they are now graduated and gone off to college and still the show is going strong.


I began watching Gossip Girl after its first season because my sister bought the DVDs for me as a birthday present. Till then I had heard of it but not really ever paid attention to it. Needless to say I saw the TV show before I looked into the books. After I enjoyed the show I figured I should look into the books and see if they were just as good. To me I found they really weren’t, I tried to read the first but didn’t really get into it. A lot of reviews claim the story lines are very similar to the books with a few tweaks. One of the things I noticed first that was different was the portrayal of the characters. Some were exactly like their television character while the others were drastically different. These small changes that happened going from books to screen are what turned me off of the books and sad to say I haven’t gone back and tried to read them again.

This just goes to show that characters are extremely important. When reading a book or watching a show or movie you make a connection to the characters in some way, it is what draws you back to the story time and again to see what will end up happening to them. So I had made the connection with the show character first then going back to the book where many of them were different just put me off and I’m sure those who read the books first were a little put off by the show.

Like I said the show is still currently running so here is a trailer for the episode scheduled to air tonight:



Enjoy!

An Ending that should have been a Keeper

Jodi Picoult published her hit novel My Sister’s Keeper in April 2004 through Atria Books. To see the author’s official site click here. In June 2009, New Line Cinema released the film version, to go to its' official site click here. The story introduces us to Anna Fitzgerald who is 13 years old in the novel, and 11 years old in the film. Anna’s big sister Kate has acute promyelocytic leukemia. Anna’s Parents genetically conceived Anna to be a donor for Kate when neither they nor their eldest child Jesse matched her. When it reaches the point that Kate needs Anna to donate a kidney, Anna files a lawsuit against her parents for the rights to her own body. The story follows the family’s struggle dealing with Kate fighting for her life and Anna fighting to make her own choices.

In the novel, the reader hears the perspective of each character due to the clever way Picoult changes view points at every chapter. I think it was this style of writing that helped the film be as artistic as it was. I think it was the artistic style in which the film was made that kept me liking it even though the story was drastically altered. Many of the scenes don’t even involve the characters talking they are just images with music playing. Sometimes they added voice over’s during the music for the characters to share their thoughts and feelings and a lot of the story gets told from flashbacks as well. It is honestly a beautiful film. The main controversy over this film was the major change to the ending. A lot of readers were angered by the change because Picoult did have the perfect ending to the story. One thing people know who read Picoult books is that there is almost always a twist. The film took this away. In my opinion, standing alone they are both good; but putting them together the change in the ending seriously hurts the movie’s fan club.

Here is the film’s trailer:


Enjoy!

A Princess Rich in Film Adaptations

I thought it would be best to begin with a story that everyone will know and recognize. This folk tale is one that still inspires new variations of its’ classic form to this day. There are so many variations of the tale that it has become difficult to nail down just exactly what the original story encompassed in every detail. There are several things that will pop into ones head though no matter how many times the story is adapted when one hears the well known title. There is a girl of low stature, who is left in the hands of an evil step mother and two evil step sisters, a prince, a glass slipper, and the possibility of a life that one has always dreamed of having.




Cinderella has been around longer than many would think. The oldest version of the tale has been traced back to the first century BC. This work of literature is believed to have the most film adaptations attributed to it. Its' main rival would be Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The very first film adaptation was made in France in 1899. Then finally in 1950 Disney produced its’ version of Cinderella leaving us with a classic fairytale princess. After this there were several other versions like Ever After, Ella Enchanted, A Cinderella Story, and even Another Cinderella Story. While the story becomes more modern and as a result more altered it still remains interesting to see just how the screen writers can change the same ole’ story and once again get people out to the theaters purchasing tickets. The newest version’s released date is said to be in 2013 potentially starring Amanda Seyfried.

The Commencing Thoughts

For a long time screen writers have taken the incredible novels cooked up by authors and transformed them into works that can be made into movies. Many different perspectives come into play in situations like this. There is the reader, the watcher or maybe the one who experiences both versions of the story. But no matter which way one experiences the stories there is something to be said from each perspective.

Many claim that the book is always better than the movie, this is often a true statement simply because it is very difficult for movies to live up to the images inside one's imagination while reading a good book . Every once in a while though it is possible see a movie and admit that it really did encompass the essence of the book very well. There are also times though when one will go and see a movie and not really even realize that this story was a work of art before it even reached the screen and that is in fact why it even is a movie today.

It is my hope that this blog will give some praise to the movies that do their best to compete with every readers imagination, give some praise to the novels that originally captured enough readers hearts to get screen writers attention, but most of all praise the authors of the novels who without them and their imagination neither book nor movie would be possible.