Features in this section will include mentionable reads, past and present. I may also compare books to their corresponding movies. I may write about books from local/lesser known/up and coming authors. This section will include anything I think is interesting in the world of books. I'd love suggestions for this!
Twilight Books vs. Twilight Movies
I’m just going to get this out of the way. Just about everyone and their mothers and daughters have read these books. I almost got away with not reading them, but a few coworkers at two different jobs convinced me to finally read this series. Not wanting to see the characters from the movie so it didn’t spoil the images in my head, I finished all four books before seeing the first movie in theaters. It’s only natural to see the movies after that. And let me just say that the first Twilight movie was NO good. The book had some classic parts in it, and the movie either changed them so much they were barely recognizable or left them out completely. Then the movie had parts that weren’t in the book and parts that didn’t make sense if you hadn’t read the book first. The acting is shoddy, and that “spider monkey” part – don’t even get me started! The movie was not up to any well-set standards, and basically it left much to be desired. That’s a shame because the first book was my favorite of the series. Charlie is one of my favorite characters in this one, and it stays that way throughout the series of movies.
The second book, New Moon, was whiny and almost unbearable. At least I thought so until my own boyfriend went away for a few days and found myself to feel the same way Bella did for a while. Either way, I did think the blank pages with the months were a clever idea. And the movie used the same design spinning around the chair while Bella was in it. That was pretty neat. And the rest of the movie was put together so much better than the first one. Granted, they had more money to work with since the first one was such a hit. This time there weren’t so many differences or mistakes. New Moon followed the book much closer than the original did. Jessica was amusing in this installation, too! This one also introduced the Volturi and the werewolves, and the werewolves looked pretty remarkable. I generally enjoyed this movie much more than the first one.
Eclipse brought back the Volturi in both the book and the movie, and the evil Victoria returned as well to kill off Bella with her army of crazed newborn minions. Of course the plan doesn’t work, but this movie has a different actress playing Victoria. It’s silly when contracts and time get in the way of making a movie consistent. No matter what, this book was much better than New Moon, and I enjoyed the movie even more. I loved the parts, especially the tent scene, when Jacob and Edward bicker over Bella. The tent scene was hilarious. Did I mention the tent scene? Haha. Anyway, these also find the army, which in turn brings Bree Tanner about. Anyone think there will be a Bree movie? I haven’t heard anything like that, but it would be interesting. I found that this movie followed the book pretty well, but a lot was left out. I’m assuming that this was in the interest of time, which is why the fourth book will be split into two movies. Great idea!
So I don’t know about you all, but I am thrilled with their decision – two movies for Breaking Dawn! It is a long, drawn-out novel, and a LOT of action goes down. There are some parts that I know we're all super curious about, and I hope they don't make it cheesy! It’s still a while before the first installment comes out, so.. any predictions? Anyone know where it’s going to split off? Either way, I know I will be seeing both in theaters. And if you want to check out more differences between the movies and the books, check this out.
So there was my rant for Friday. If anyone has anything in particular they would like me to rave about, write about, comment on, compare, etc., please comment here! Catch everyone on Monday!
I'm very excited to see how they capture Breaking Dawn into a movie, though I must say that I'm a little disappointed with its rating. They are making it PG-13 so its usual crowd can attend, which is understandable, but the book was pretty graphic. I'll be sad if they have to cut all that out for the movie.
ReplyDeleteThey've also gotten a lot better at sticking more to the book. Eclipse did a pretty good job. But overall, I think the books are way better than the movies. We'll see what happens with Breaking Dawn part 1 in November! =]