Monday Madness: Ode to Movies

I tend to like my movies like I like my novels: full of fluff and good feeling. I gobble up romantic comedies and Disney movies like dark chocolate and have gotten to the point where I don't even try to hide it anymore. But thanks to Netflix and Red Box (and weather that has you spontaneously bursting into flames when you dare to venture outside) I've been catching up on some "less fluffy" movies. Much to my amazement, I'm actually enjoying them.

Here is a list of movies that I've watched that I didn't think I would like, but actually did:

Winter's Bone — This movie made me so uncomfortable. First, it was made in my backyard (not literally), and the familiar setting, along with the rough and scary characters (who could be related to me) really set me on edge. This movie haunted me. Freaked me out. And while I resented being reminded of the people that I come from (yes, I have relatives a lot like the people in this movie), it was definitely worth watching.

Million Dollar Baby — I kept putting off watching this one because someone had told me the gist of it once, and that it wasn't a happy movie. They were right; it's not a happy movie. But it's not really a sad or depressing movie either. There's a lot of hope in this film. And I know that I'm not a movie critic by any means, but I thought this was an excellent movie because of just how emotive it was. Again, some of Maggie's family reminded me of people I know, and so it might have hit closer to home for me than someone else, but if you do not feel some little ping in your heart at the end of this movie,  then you are dead inside. Seriously.

Love & Other Drugs — I didn't want to watch this movie because I thought it was about DOING drugs. And not the prescription kind. My husband finally convinced me to watch it, and it rocked my world (and not just because of the many, many, many sex scenes). It was such a gritty take on love—no romantic comedy here. I cried and laughed many times during this movie, and it led to a serious discussion about what love is between me and my husband. (Good news: We think we have it figured out. Our version, anyway.)

The Prestige — A whole different can of worms here, but I found myself engrossed in this movie. This movie is a prime example of love-to-hate characters. Throughout the movie, I did not like either one of the main characters. Neither Angier or Borden were "good". What they were, instead, were very mortal. Prone to mistakes and jealousy and stupidity and vanity. And the end . . .man, the end. So twisted. I loved it.

Next on the list: The Black Swan and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

But first, Suckerpunch. :)

Liking these movies was a good reminder to me that there are great things outside our comfort zone, if we just give them a chance. Now that I've branched out my movies, I think the next step is my literature (and not just because I'm being forced to, like in school.)

What about you? See any movies you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving? What about books?

The Selling Point

As some of you may have guessed, I have been on a Harry Potter reading spree lately. Well, naturally after reading all of the seven books, I decided to move on to watching the movies. I'd seen bits and pieces of 1-4 before, but they were disappointing. These past few days, however, I forced myself to sit down and watch all of them.

I was still disappointed. 

The movie critic in me will admit that the movies have gotten progressively better, but they're still lackluster compared to the books. And that's my problem: I can't separate the books from the movies. Which means instead of enjoying the special effects or the quality of acting, I'm muttering about how this and that is missing.

Which brings me to the point: Movies and books have different selling points. 

For example: If I wrote a book based completely on the Harry Potter movie (let's say the Goblet of Fire), I would have a pretty pathetic book. There is no Winky, no hints of dark things to come, and everything would seem to happen by luck rather than any sort of premeditation or foreshadowing. The reader would miss out on that "Ah-ha!" moment that I absolutely reveled in while reading. I would never sell the movie-book, that's for sure.

Which makes me wonder how low we've stooped to find something so one-dimensional entertaining. And that's what the movies are: one-dimensional. 

I will admit it's impossible to incorporate all the elements of  a book into a movie (it would be extremely long) but when you completely warp the plot it just pisses me off. That's why I can't stand the movie Eragon. It made me want to pull my hair out. Another movie where I was muttering the whole way through.

So, really, is it inconceivable to follow the same basic plot of a book in its film adaption?