Books on Film | Age of Ultron & Far From The Madding Crowd

     

The Age of Ultron is upon us! Avengers: Age of Ultron will be released this weekend. It's based on the 2013 limited crossover Age of Ultron. Of course, don't go expecting any of the X-Men (except Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) or Fantastic Four to show up in the movie they way they do in the book. The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Marvel Comics are two different beasts due to rights issues. 

The artificial intelligence known as Ultron as fought for years to eradicate mankind- and now, it has all but succeeded. The few remaining heroes are battered, broken, almost beat and left considering desperate measures- some more desperate than others. but when Wolverine breaks ranks and pursues his own plan to defeat Ultron, will his drastic action cause more problems than it solves?

If you are interest in English period dramas instead of superheroes, then you may want to check out the adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel Far From The Madding Crowd which will also be released this weekend.

When the beautiful and spirited Bathsheba Everdene inherits her own farm, she attracts three very different suitors: the seemingly commonplace man-of-the-soil Gabriel Oak, the dashing young soldier Francis Troy, and the respectable, middle-aged Farmer Boldwood. Her choice, and the tragedy it provokes, lie at the center of this novel.  

Books on Film | iZombie

The 2010-12 comic book iZombie by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred has was recently adapted into a television show by The CW. The comic follows Gwen, a grave-digging Oregonian zombie, as she solves mysteries. Joining her are her ghostly best friend, a weredog, and a several other creatures that go bump in the night. 

Every time Gwen, a zombie, eats someone's brains she also inherits some of their memories and the latest morsel she devoured gives her memories of a murder she and her friends need to solve.

Note: Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4

Books On Film | The True Meaning of Smekday & Serena

     

Two book to film adaptations come out this weekend. One is an animated feature for kids and the other is a live-action movie for adults.

The first is an adaptation of Adam Rex's The True Meaning of Smekday into the animated film Home with voice work by Rihanna and Jim Parsons.

When her mother is abducted by aliens on Christmas Eve (or "Smekday" Eve since the Boov invasion), 11 year-old Tip hops in the family car and heads south to find her and meets an alien Boov mechanic who agrees to help her and save the planet from disaster.

The second is an adaptation of Ron Rash's novel Serena into a film of the same name starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

This is a violent story about ambition, privilege, and ruthlessness played out in an Appalachian timber camp in North Carolina during the Depression. The novel opens with the camp's wealthy owner, George Pemberton, returning from Boston with his new bride, Serena.

Books On Film | Insurgent & The Prone Gunman

 

This weekend the film adaptation of Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the second book in the Divergent trilogy, will be released. The film adaptation of the first book, Divergent, was released last year and I fully expect the third film to be adapted next year.

As war surges in the dystopian society around her, sixteen-year-old Divergent Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

The film adaption of French crime novelist's Jean-Patrick Manchette's book The Prone Gunman, titled The Gunman and starring Sean Penn, will also be released this weekend.

Martin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. After all, that's why he took up this profession! But "the company" won't let him go: they have other plans. Once again, the gunman must assume the prone firing position. A tour de force, this violent tale shatters as many illusions about life and politics as it does bodies.

Books On Film | These Foolish Things

The sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), titled The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is coming out this weekend as a limited release. The original film is based on the novel There Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach (later re-released under the movie title).

When Dr. Ravi Kapoor's cousin sets up a retirement home in India, Ravi's father-in-law is one of its first guests, but what the renovation lacks in promised amenities and luxury, it makes up for in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love.

Books On Film | Fifty Shades of Grey & Kingsman: The Secret Service

There are two book adaptations being released this Valentine's Day weekend. 

The first, a film adaptation of the erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which was expanded into a trilogy, about a woman who enters into a BDSM relationship with her wealthy, handsome love interest.

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 

The second, a film adaptation Mark Millar's graphic novel Kingsman: The Secret Service about a newly trained spy and his trainer discovering a conspiracy when investigating missing actors and a mass murder.

The world's greatest secret agent is on the most exciting case of his career. But will the end of the world as know it take a back seat to training his street-punk nephew to be the next James Bond?

Books On Film | The Paradise

This one comes from a patron at the Tracy Library. 

The Paradise, originally titled Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies' Paradise), by Emily Zola was published in English 1883. It tells the story of a young woman, Denise Baudu, who moves to Paris with her younger brothers to become a salesperson at a department store. The reader is given a view into the working conditions of female workers during the mid-nineteenth century as well as being treated to good dose of backstabbing and intrique.

A two season television series based on the novel was recently produced by the BBC and Masterprice (previously Masterpiece Theater). It aired in the UK and the US. If you are a fan of BBC period dramas, like Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge, this might be a show and book for you.

Cover courtesy of LibraryThing.

Books On Film | Hemlock Grove

The second season of the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove will premiere Friday, July 11th. The series is based on the 2012 horror-mystery novel Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy. 

The novel takes place in the fictional town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania where a young girl was brutally murdered on the full moon. The town rumor mill places the blame on Peter Rumanchek, a Romani teenager who recently moved to town with his mother, whom they believe to be a werewolf. As more murders pile up, Peter forms an unlikely friendship with Roman Godfrey, the only son of the powerful Godfrey family, to investigate the murders and clear his name.

Cover courtesy of LibraryThing.

Books On Film | Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black is a popular Netflix original series which started it's second season earlier this month. It's based on the memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman. The book details the author's time in a minimum security women's prison after she was convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering more for a scheme she was involved in more than ten years earlier during college. Kerman, an engaged career woman, learns to navigate prison life and becomes friends with many of her fellow inmates.

Cover courtesy of LibraryThing.

Books On Film | The Great Gatsby

The newest film adaptation of the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby was released this past Friday. The novel details the extravagant life of a fictional millionaire during the roaring 20s.

I think just about everyone was assigned The Great Gatsy as required reading in high school, but how many of you actually read it? Be honest!

For those who didn't, now is the time! And for those who did, you can re-read it and picture Leonardo DiCaprio as your main character in preparation for the movie.

Of course, this isn't the first adaptation of the book. It is considered a classic tale and has been adapted several times for television and for the big screen. The most famous previous adaptation would be the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. 

Watch the trailer!

Cover courtesy of LibraryThing

Books On Film | Iron Man 3

Are you ready for the new superhero movie?

Marvel's Iron Man 3 came out this past Friday. If you are an Iron Man movie fan, who wants to become an Iron Man comic fan than this is the post for you. With 50 years of Iron Man comics it's confusing for new a new reader to know where to start. Lucky for us comic book fans know their business.

A good place for movie fans to start their journey is The Invincible Iron Man: Extremis. The comic is a great reboot of his origin story and has an Iron Man that will be recognizable to movie fans. If you are interested in Golden Age Iron Man, then track down the Iron Man Omnibus for some of the original Iron Man stories.

The villain of Iron Man 3 is The Mandarin. If you are interested in Golden Age Mandarin, then pick up a copy of Essential Iron Man, Vol. 1. However, the best place to read up on the modern Mandarin is in the comic conveniently called Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin.

If you haven't seen any of the Iron Man movies yet you can have a mini movie marathon by picking them up at the library before you head out too see the latest one.  

See the Iron Man 3 movie trailer below:

Books On Film | The Social Network

The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, written in a narrative style, details the founding and evolution of Facebook. In particular, it focuses on the relationships between the founding members of the company.

The book is based on conversations Mezrich hadwith Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and information he gained from reading the court documents of the, then on-going, lawsuit between the two. Mark Zuckerberg refused to be interviewed for the book.

The award winning film The Social Network (2010) was based on this book, but the film should not be considered a biopic. While it follows a lot of the story laid out by Mezrich some parts of the story are heavily fictionalized for the sake of drama and storytelling. Nevertheless, the film is a very good film and if you enjoyed it you may want to take a peak at the book for the less fictionalized, but no less dramatic, version of the story.

Covers Courtesy of LibraryThing

Books On Film | War of The Worlds

The Martians are coming! Run for your life!


The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells is one the most famous alien invasion stories in history. The science fiction novel is a first person narrative of a Martian invasion of Earth set in late 17th century England. Two book is split into two parts after a significant introduction, Book One: The Coming of the Martians and Book Two: The Earth under the Martians.

The book has been adapted into a motion picture twice. The first time in 1953 (LINK+) and the second time in 2005 (starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning). Both films are fairly loose adaptations of the novels. They use some themes from the book, but veer very far from the source material on many of the main plot points.

The most famous adaptation of the novel was as a radio play for CBS Radio which aired on October 30, 1938. Howard Koch, co-writer of the famous film Casablanca, and Anne Froelich adapted Wells' novel for radio as part of the Mercury Theatre On Air program series. Wells narrated and directed the radio drama.

The radio play caused a huge uproar during and after it's broadcast, because a good number of people who listened to the program thought it was either a real attack by aliens or a attack by German soldiers due to the US involvement in World War II. The radio drama was designed to tell the story by emulating new bulletins frequently put on the during the war. It was enough to send some of the public into a panic.

Despite having been an internationally known event, repeated performances by radio stations in Equador (1949) and New York (1968) also produced panic among the public. To hear more about the original broadcast, as well as subsequent broadcasts, and the public reaction consider listening NPR's Radiolab broadcast on The War of the Worlds below.

Radiolab: Season 4 Episode 3