Movies and children's books
I just finished watching "Bridge to Terabithia" which was one of my favorite books as a kid, though it's been years and years since I read it. I thought it was wonderfully well done and true, in spirit anyway, to the book. The ending seemed not quite right, though, and I'm not sure if it's because it didn't jive with my very vague memory of how the book ended, or for some other reason.
Anyway, what got me was the reviews on Netflix. Yes, the trailer is very, very, very misleading; when I saw it I figured Disney'd managed to mangle yet another of my childhood memories, but seriously, people are stupid. It was advertised as being based on a classic children's book, yet there's all sorts of people going "OMG, I didn't know what would happen, my kids are traumatized! The horror!" Dude, 1. You didn't read it when you were a kid? 1a. It's a children's book. and 2. It's a really short book, maybe you should've picked it up before you let your kid watch the movie. At the very least have checked out the premise. And just because your kid cried, doesn't mean they're scared for life, I cried, as I did every time I read the book. It's sad, but there's a point to it.
I also watched "Charlotte's Web" the other day. Less thrilled with the adaptation, still cried, still dumbfounded by the dumbass comments in the reviews.
Made up for the 'heavy' movies by watching "Tommy", and thus having 'Pinball Wizard' and the image of Elton John in absurd glasses and ridiculous shoes stuck in my head all day today. And a Bruce Campbell movie called "The Man with the Screaming Brain!" Classic Bruce Campbell B-movie, with Ted Raimi who will forever in my mind be Lt. Tim O'Neil from Seaquest, thus making watching him camp it up almost surreal.
I've been hearing at work that the new Harry Potter movie is great, so I should drag myself off to the movies one night. And how cool is it to work someplace where people are not only talking about the movie, but a bunch of them have the new book on pre-order? I probably won't get it until next Friday evening so that I have a full weekend to read it, but there's also a good chance of spoilers if I don't get it Saturday. Tough decision.
Anyway, what got me was the reviews on Netflix. Yes, the trailer is very, very, very misleading; when I saw it I figured Disney'd managed to mangle yet another of my childhood memories, but seriously, people are stupid. It was advertised as being based on a classic children's book, yet there's all sorts of people going "OMG, I didn't know what would happen, my kids are traumatized! The horror!" Dude, 1. You didn't read it when you were a kid? 1a. It's a children's book. and 2. It's a really short book, maybe you should've picked it up before you let your kid watch the movie. At the very least have checked out the premise. And just because your kid cried, doesn't mean they're scared for life, I cried, as I did every time I read the book. It's sad, but there's a point to it.
I also watched "Charlotte's Web" the other day. Less thrilled with the adaptation, still cried, still dumbfounded by the dumbass comments in the reviews.
Made up for the 'heavy' movies by watching "Tommy", and thus having 'Pinball Wizard' and the image of Elton John in absurd glasses and ridiculous shoes stuck in my head all day today. And a Bruce Campbell movie called "The Man with the Screaming Brain!" Classic Bruce Campbell B-movie, with Ted Raimi who will forever in my mind be Lt. Tim O'Neil from Seaquest, thus making watching him camp it up almost surreal.
I've been hearing at work that the new Harry Potter movie is great, so I should drag myself off to the movies one night. And how cool is it to work someplace where people are not only talking about the movie, but a bunch of them have the new book on pre-order? I probably won't get it until next Friday evening so that I have a full weekend to read it, but there's also a good chance of spoilers if I don't get it Saturday. Tough decision.