Movie Adaptions of Books

As much as I love movies, I have to admit something. Whenever a movie is made that is based on a book, it is never as good as the book. Sometimes the movie is downright awful and a humiliation to the book and sometimes the movie is great, but still does not land on par with the book.

Here are what I think are the best movie adaptations:

1.The  Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Gone With the Wind
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
5. Silence of the Lambs

Here are the worst:
1. Gulliver's Travels
2. The Time Traveler's Wife
3. The Scarlet Letter
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. My Sister's Keeper

Westerns

Although western films were in their prime during the 1950s and 60s, they are still around today. They are not as popular now as they were when actors such as John Wayne were alive, but nevertheless westerns, in many ways have influenced the American cinema.

I am going to talk about two westerns; The Searchers, which is one of the most classic westerns ever made which influenced many directors in the making of their movies, and Django Unchained, the most recent popular western in America.

The Searchers directed by John Ford (1956) has all the aspects of a great western; the wild west, a young girl getting captured by Indians, and of course a gallant cowboy played by none other than John Wayne. The film is about a civil war veteran, Ethan Edwards (Wayne) who comes home to Texas after fighting for the confederacy. He believes he will settle down with his family until his young niece, Debbie, is captured by Indians. Edwards, who has a prejudice toward the Indians, spends years and years using his logic, skills, instinct and incredible bravery searching for Debbie. However his reasons for finding her soon become jaded as his prejudice for the Indian tribe begins to pass to Debbie as well.

The Searchers set the tone for what is expected in a western. The film did not lack action, drama, or violence which many westerns have followed. Directors have been influenced by the story, drama and filmmaking techniques in the film, including Martin Scorsese and the making of his film Taxi Driver. 

Django Unchained is a 2012 western directed by Quentin Tarantino.While the film is extremely different from The Searchers, it has some similar characteristics, and has the same dynamics of a classic western.

Django takes place before the civil war. The story involves a freed slave, Django,  (Jamie Foxx) who allies with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) all in an attempt to find his wife, who he was separated from when they were sold to different owners.

Django, although different from The Searchers and any other classic western, shares many of the same characteristics. There is a gallant hero who fights through trials and tribulations for a noble cause. He encounters enemy after enemy and beats them all. There is violence (much more violence than any other western I have ever seen) that sets the drama, tone and dynamic of the film. In many ways, Django was influenced by The Searchers. 

A western captures the spirit and the struggle of the time. Western heroes are cowboys, bounty hunters, or gunslingers. Both The Searchers and Django Unchained meet this criteria, but come across in two extremely different lights. The experience of watching the films contrast, but that is only indicative of the era they were made.

Overall The Searchers is a better western than Django. While the latter may be considered more entertaining to watch, the former is a masterpiece. It was the first of its kind to create a film with such a profound influence on future movies.

Westerns have influenced the American cinema from the beginning. The difference between two western films from two different eras show how much the genre has changed, but also how much they have stayed the same.

R.I.P Roger Ebert

This week the world said goodbye to one of the greatest film critics of our time, Roger Ebert. 

After a 46 year career at the Chicago-Sun Times, hundreds of movie reviews and a 10 year battle with cancer Ebert passed away on Thursday April 4 at the age of 70. 

His death marks the end of a generation. Ebert changed the way of film journalism. He brought his whit of movies into our homes. 

Although he lost his lower jaw and his voice to cancer, he still managed to keep his voice present on social media, blogs and of course his movie reviews up until the very end.

Roger Ebert will be missed by all movie buffs including me.

A lot can be learned from someone who lived his life with two thumbs up. 

R.I.P

The Wonderful World of Disney Cartoons

If one thing can be said of Disney, it is that its cartoon movies have not lost a hint of charm since its beginning to today. From Mickey Mouse, to Toy Story, and everything in between Disney has not failed to keep audiences of all ages in love with the magical movies and characters it creates.

The first full length motion picture that Disney released was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Although this was before most of our parents were born, young girls have most likely seen and fallen in love with this movie today along with other Disney princess movies like Cinderella (1950) and The Little Mermaid (1989). However these same kids may have gone to see the newest DisneThe Princess and the Frog (2009) and loved it just as much.
y princess movie

Critic John C. Flinn Sr. from Variety said about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: “So perfect is the illusion, so tender the romance and fantasy, so emotional are certain portions when the acting of the characters strikes a depth comparable to the sincerity of human players, that the film approaches real greatness.”

76 years later critic Eric D. Snider said of The Princess and the Frog “Somehow, the result is both magically old-fashioned and wonderfully modern, the natural evolution of the heartwarming, rib-tickling, toe-tapping Disney treasures of yesteryear.”

With Disney, the age of the film simply does not matter. Although the effects and technology may be improved from movie to movie, the experience of each movie remains the same. Kids enjoy each film as much as the generation before them.

Movies like Lady and the Tramp (1955) and The Lion King (1994) remain as some kids favorite movies today in 2013. In fact Lady and the Tramp made AFIs top 100 love stories of all-time list along with one other animated movie, Beauty and the Beast, another Disney movie!

While these older cartoons remain as kids favorite films today, that does not mean that Disney has slowed down in their new films. Not at all. Disney is still going strong, especially with its Pixar movies. Films like Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Up, Tangled and Brave have all received positive reviews with audiences. In fact just won the Oscar for best animated film in February.
Brave

Disney has not lost its magic, or its achievement to create children’s and critics favorite movies. After decades of creating hundreds of films, Disney cartoons are still the best cartoons.

To see the full list of Disney movies organized by release date click here.
Which ones are your favorites?