Category: Movies

Much Ado About Gifs

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Things I like: Shakespeare. Joss Whedon. Last night I got to see both combined in the latest Much Ado About Nothing movie. It was so much fun! I went with my friend, Hannah, with whom I also saw Joss Whedon in person. (Needless to say, we were both way excited.) Obviously the only way to share our excitement is through a Joss Whedon-based gif movie review.

Spoiler alerts–but seriously, guys, the play is a few hundred years old.

My feelings about the cast:

The set, aka Joss Whedon’s house:

All the banter:

Everyone after the big party:

Don John setting up Hero:

Beatrice asking Benedick to fight Claudio:

What I want to tell Hero:

And of course Nathan Fillion being hilarious:

How I felt after the movie:

In all seriousness, it was really cool being in a movie theater full of people laughing out loud at one of Shakespeare’s plays. It’s a great example of how stories can transcend time and location. Human drama and romance and comedy touch all of us. And if those stories can costar Nathan Fillion, bonus.

Links Galore

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Lots of cool links this week:

Links Galore

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Got a case of the Mondays? These links will help you power through:

Another YA-Inspired Movie to Love: Tiger Eyes

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Judy Blume was the queen of YA before YA was even a thing. So it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that this trailer for Tiger Eyes looks awesome. Blume co-wrote the script with her son, who’s also directing, so it seems like the project is in good hands.

Tiger Eyes – Trailer from Tashmoo Productions on Vimeo.

Apparently the movie opens nationally in early June, but so far I can’t find more info on specific release locations. Very much hoping that it’ll be playing in New England!

(via Jezebel)

An Excuse to Post About To Kill a Mockingbird and Gregory Peck

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Happy birthday to Gregory Peck, all-around cool guy and the man who brought Atticus Finch to the screen with so much sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books and movies. (Just hearing the score to the film gets me teary.) It’s a beautiful example of how an amazing text can be brought to life on the screen. So often we argue about whether a book is better than a movie. Why can’t we love both for different reasons?

Oddly enough, I was thinking about Gregory Peck last night and came across this video, in which Peck talks briefly about filming To Kill a Mockingbird with Harper Lee on set:

So cute! I would have freaking loved to be on that set. And while we’re at it, here are Atticus Finch’s closing arguments:

And after the trial:

Now I’m going to be all emotional thinking about To Kill a Mockingbird. May we all endeavor to be like Atticus Finch.

The Wise Man Knows Himself to Be a Fool

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Happy April Fool’s Day! I don’t like pranks so much, but I love Shakespeare’s fools. More than just a jester, these fools are witty and see beyond the status quo of the play’s world. For example, in this scene from Twelfth Night, Feste (my favorite fool!) asks Olivia why she mourns for her brother:

I love how Feste can address Olivia’s feelings of grief here while reminding her that it’s unhealthy to wallow in mourning.

Another cool part about the fool? They provide musical entertainment! This song is from the end of Twelfth Night. Spoiler alert, guys–happy endings (almost) all around:

So if you’re feeling especially foolish, check out Twelfth Night or another of Shakespeare’s plays featuring a fool.

And if pranks are your thing, there’s a great list of YA prankster books over at the Hub.

Stay Gold, Coppola

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In middle school, one of my favorite books was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I must have read it twenty times. Then I found a copy of the VHS and watched that repeatedly, too. There’s a lot of argument pitting books against their movie versions, and for The Outsiders I loved both. So it was awesome to see today’s Letters of Note, in which a school librarian and her students helped bring The Outsiders to Francis Ford Coppola, who ultimately directed the film. The first letter:

Click through to see the full exchange. It’s really heartwarming to see how one librarian aide’s letter helped create a fantastic movie. And it’s a great lesson in never doubting that your voice can make a difference. Maybe it won’t come to anything–but maybe it will.

(image via Letters of Note)

The Book Thief–Coming to a Theater Near You (I Hope!)

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There’s a Book Thief movie in the works? And it’s going to star Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann? So. Freaking. Excited.

Emily Watson (no, not Emma Watson, I had to read that twice) is slated to play Rosa Hubermann and Sophie Nelisse is Liesel. I haven’t seen either of them in films before, but I’m very hopeful for this cast.

The Book Thief is one of the perfect recommendations for someone who looks down on YA as a genre. I hope a movie version captures the complexity of the novel and introduces it to a wider audience. Also, really curious to see how they handle Death’s voice throughout.

(via School Library Journal)

Christmas with the Charleses: Holidays for Fictional Characters

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In case you’re feeling a little sick of the Christmas spirit at this point, Nora Charles from The Thin Man has your back:

I always forget that The Thin Man set around Christmas because it’s not a “Christmas” movie. I have to say, I really enjoy when holidays pop up in books and movies that aren’t about that particular holiday. It’s a chance to get your characters in a different setting or pressured in different ways. For example, I like that John Green’s Looking for Alaska includes a Thanksgiving scene, which gets the main characters away from boarding school and into the home of one character.

It’s also a nice reminder that your characters live in the same world we experience. A character doesn’t have to live in a Lifetime Christmas movie to share the holidays with their friends/family, just like we might not have the most dramatic/exciting holiday ever but still have meaningful experiences on that day. (Similarly, I like when characters get sick.)

Have you used holiday scenes in your novels?