The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - It's a very "in" book right now and I do love me some, post-apocalyptic teen fiction. I've heard some rave reviews about it and my colleague let me borrow her copy, so I should be getting started fairly soon.
Fifth Avenue., 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson - I usually stay away from exposes, but I love Breakfast at Tiffany's the movie, though Capote's story was not my favorite.
The Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip - My supervisor recommended the series to me and the cover blurb was intriguing. However, the GoodReads reviews are mixed, so I will proceed with caution.
Check out my GoodReads for future updates! (I hit the 200 book limit for LibraryThing so I have to decide how much to pay for a membership). And look for a post towards the end of the summer where I will discuss the various reading social networking sites.
I recently saw the trailer to the newest rom-com that will be hitting theaters this May. It's Something Borrowed starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Colin Egglesfield, and John Krasinski (aka Jim from The Office) and directed by Luke Greenfield. I am a fan of Ginnifer Goodwin having seen her in He's Just Not That into You, Mona Lisa Smile, and a the few episodes of Big Love I watched. She usually plays a sweet, somewhat naive best friend (seems to be the standard for brunette actresses), so I am excited to see her with a leading role, though I will admit the role is still in her 'type.'
The film is based on Emily Giffin's novel by the same title, and because the trailer was so intriguing I checked it out from the local library. It was a quick read, as is most chick lit, but I'm kind of ambivalent about the premise. Basically, on her thirtieth birthday, Rachel has semi-drunken sex with her best friend's fiancé, Dex, and then proceeds to have a summer affair with him before his September wedding date. As much as I was rooting for Rachel and Dex, I was almost hoping that Dex's continuous avoidance of calling off the wedding would spur Rachel into dumping his a** and finding someone who deserves her. Also, ruining your best friend's wedding is a huge no-no in my book, though Darcy, Rachel's bff, is not a prime candidate for bff of the year. Really, I just wanted Rachel to grow a spine and dump both Darcy and Dex and find some other way to fulfill her life. So I give the book a B, and I plan to see the film, probably as a matinée.
Since my spate as an undergraduate student has come to a close, I can no longer hold an undergrad position at the UGL. Besides significantly trimming down my income, not being an SA has also curtailed my browsing of the UGL's media collection, which is very impressive. You never know what goodies you'll find whilst shelving.
"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. Your mother will never see you again if you don not Marry Mr. Collins. And I will never see you again if you do."
and Mr. Darcy's:
"You must allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you."
The characterization was also done very well. Mrs. Bennet, played by Mary Boland, is exquisite in her overly conniving and blatant attempts to marry off her daughters and Edna May Oliver, as Lady Catherine de Bourgh is wonderful, though I still prefer Barbara Leigh-Hunt. The one horrible job was Olivier as Darcy. He was just too wishy-washy and definitely not nearly as socially awkward as he should be.
From there, the adaptation starts to deteriorate. Though the plot deviates from the original in some small ways toward the beginning of the film, the major divergences happen after Elizabeth's rejection of Mr. Collins. Let's hit the highlights and, by the way, SPOILER ALERT!
Mr. Collins is Lady Catherine's librarian, not a clergy man.
The Bingley's throw a garden party instead of a ball.
The Gardners, the visit to Pemberly, and actually seeing Georgiana were completely cut.
Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth about Wickham in person, not by letter.
Lydia and Wickham elope from Meryton, not Brighton.
Darcy doesn't just find the love birds and get Wickham a commission; instead, he finds them and gives them a fortune. (How unjust is that! I prefer the ending in which they are miserable and poor for the rest of their lives.)
Mary and Kitty find men during the very last scene.
And perhaps the biggest twist: Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth as Darcy's "ambassador" aka MATCHMAKER! (It was a shock to me too.)
Also, the film just comes off as very abrupt and lacks the subtlety of the Regency customs and manners. Everything, like how ruinous Lydia's actions and how "inferior" the Bennets are to Darcy, is either explained outright or so completely over-acted that it is impossible not to see how horrible the situation actually is.
Besides these errors (and some would same calamitous transgressions by Mr. Huxley), I found the most distracting part was the costuming. Even though Mrs. Bennet mentions the Battle of Waterloo at one point, the dresses seem more mid-century (see photo to the right), as in Gone With the Wind. It's just not right.
The end of an era has begun. That's right Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was released two weeksago to mixed reception by fans and critics alike (see the related articles at the bottom of this post for reviews). I was at the midnight showing with a group of like-minded Potter-fans (excluding the two boyfriends who got dragged along). I have to say I was impressed with the accuracy of the movie as compared to the book; they even kept the George's "holey" joke.
The downside of following the book so closely was that the film inherited the problems of the book as well. First of all, the cast was really lacking. Very little Snape and Hagrid, no Dame Maggie Smith aka Prof. McGonagall, and a whole lot of Harry and Hermione moping in the woods, though I must admit that I loved seeing all the landscapes of Britain. Second, plot is sparse with explanations (how does Ron actually find them) and the extended camping trip does not lend itself to excitement. Finally, there is no recap, so if you haven't read the books or haven't seen the movies in awhile then it's hard to remember what happened. Now the last is a bit of a double edged sword because by not re-reading the seventh book before seeing the film, it gets rid of all the plot-spoilers so I was able to enjoy the movie more.
Now granted there were a few gratuitous cinematic liberties (why Ginny couldn't have asked Hermione to zip her dress up upstairs I will never know) and some missing info (I had no idea what the mirror shard was until I started re-reading), but overall the films have matured just as the books have.
And that's what I love about the series; we grew up with it. When the first book was published in 1998 (U.S. date) I was 9 and when Pottermania really took off I was about 12, the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. With each successive book the material got darker and more serious, in effect we grew up with the characters (though Harry is actually close to 30, you can figure it out with the second book and the date on Nearly Headless Nick's death-day cake - yes, I'm a dork, deal with it) and then the actors, who are my age. We waited through midnight book releases and movie showings just to continue on with the story. We embraced that magical world buying into all the commercialization and trying to recreate that world in this one. We've even made it our own through parody (for laughs watch the two clips at the end of this post) and fanfic. We are truly the Potter generation.
The theater, the theater, what happened to the theater? I wish that for at least one day, my life would be like a Broadway musical. I know that I already expressed this wish in a previous post, but I have renewed the idea because I have found the perfect staging scene: The Hallene Gateway Plaza. It's this great landscaped area on the edge of campus by the alumni center. Follow me on a quick sketch of my vision:
So this is the proper entrance for the Plaza:
Nice, right? Kind of park-y but with some great architecture.
Speaking of architecture, here is the building, the Alica Campbell Alumni Center, behind the arch. Notice the great second story balcony; perfect for dramatic scenes or dimensionality.
This shot was taken from the Alumni Center's patio. The fountain is a nice touch right?
Here's a panoramic shot of the fountain with the Alumni Center in the back. Notice the nice short, wide stairs in the background that would be great for a dance routine.
Okay, did you notice the nice curve of the fountain/planter rim? It's really wide and flat, so another great spot for dancers. There is also a secondary ledge around the outside, so even more stage area!
There are even picnic tables ... Think High School Musical "Status Quo"number.
Now, I realize that my dream will most likely never come true, but I have the set and am on the lookout for the signs that a big song-and-dance showstopper is about to occur.
1. The clothing of people around you is all in the same color scheme or similar in some way. The people also have to be diverse: ethnically, professionally, and physically. It's a sure sign that the chorus has gathered and is about to let it rip.
2. The people around you start walking or moving in formations. I'm talking about dance formations, with people equal distances from each other, or an attempt to look randomly placed but they leave enough of a personal bubble that it's not quite normal.
3. This is possibly the most obvious sign: music begins to blare over hidden speakers and everyone knows the song, even if you have never heard it before. This phenomenon is explored in Disney's Enchanted.
4. If you haven't caught on after those signs, meaning you are incredibly dense, when everyone around you begins to dance and you have the uncontrollable urge to join in, you are there.
Other giveaways:
The marching band that arrives for some unexplained reason I'm sure that the Marching Illini would help me out.
The fountain (a la Sound of Music) How great is the Hallene Fountain?
An open space where lots of choreography can happen Notice the patio, the broad walkways, and the grassy spots
Here's another example that meets all the above requirements.
Image via Wikipedia
