As you know, the Kid read the first Percy Jackson book last week as a school assignment, so we could see the movie as a family this weekend. We went to the movies last night to see it (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief). Boy howdy... what a disappointment.
Having read the book then seeing the trailers for it, once we saw that the "this is a pen" clip was different from the book, we should have known that the movie would deviate from the book. It did, but we just didn't realize how much.
Look at it this way: the first Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling was quite long but the movie captured almost all of it, including secondary and tertiary characters. Events happened as written. Plot points incorporated. Themes and symbols continued throughout. They didn't let the length and scope of the book make the movie suffer.
This Percy book was a great deal shorter, and didn't have the subtleties and subplots that the Harry Potter series did. But how curious ... even tho the book was short, most of the characters from the book made no appearance or even mention in the movie. Where was grumpy Mr. D? Echidna and chihuahua. The furies on the bus. Clarisse the bully and the toilet bowl incident. Cerebus the 3-headed dog. Not even the god Ares on his motorcycle made an appearance! Or the Mist! The path the 3 adventurers took to Los Angeles was pretty much nothing like the book... even using different cities and completely cutting out the St. Louis arch and the chihuahua scenes.
Guess the producer and director thought the book wasn't "hollywood" enough and thought THEY could do a better job bringing in the dough. Even tho the book was on the bestseller's list for more than 130 weeks.
Yes, there were some spectacular special effects, like Percy making water converge and practically drown an antagonist, but I was so upset about the movie deviating from the book, that I barely noticed them.
A big THUMBS DOWN for this movie. Don't waste your money. If you really want to see it, don't read the book first. Or wait for the movie to come out on regular free TV in a couple of years.
Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts
Julie and Julia movie
I just watched the movie "Julie and Julia" - the one about Julie the blogger who cooked Julia Childs' 524 recipes in 365 days. It was delightlful and quite inspiring.
Believe me, I have no delusions about being a great author. I mean, I write non-fiction, and way back when, I wrote fiction and published too. But I'm not Mark Twain (my Great-Times-5 Uncle). I write the way I think, which can be quite scattered and ADHD-like. I meander, moving from cooking to gardening to politics and so much more. But I tried, with separate blogs, to separate my thoughts into the categories and thus the blogs where they belonged, and it just didn't work.
So while I very much enjoyed the movie, and quite admired the dedication of Julie Powell, it's just not me.
Do you want to hear all of my thoughts? I have so many that never make it to the "page". I edit what I speak to people, and even more what I type. I mean, who wants to read about every frustration about this buying-of-the-mini-farm process? Or that I did a load of laundry at 5:30 this morning, after which I did a load of dishes? Or that more paperwork required by our loan processor didn't make it through last night and I had to re-email all of it first thing this morning (incidentally, while the load of laundry was going)? Maybe you want to read about my frustration with Hubby for not helping more with the cooking and other chores? Or that I really appreciate the things that Hubby does? Or that the Kid failed the quiz I gave him yesterday on Watership Down and am giving him a re-do today after he re-reads the book? (The book bored him ... oh mom, why can't I read something I want to read?).
Would you prefer that I stick with the topics of gardening, animal husbandry, self-sufficiency living, small homesteading and cooking? Perhaps a little "survival" and homeschooling thrown in? Or do you want me to just write what's on my mind?
I'm listening. Er, reading.
Believe me, I have no delusions about being a great author. I mean, I write non-fiction, and way back when, I wrote fiction and published too. But I'm not Mark Twain (my Great-Times-5 Uncle). I write the way I think, which can be quite scattered and ADHD-like. I meander, moving from cooking to gardening to politics and so much more. But I tried, with separate blogs, to separate my thoughts into the categories and thus the blogs where they belonged, and it just didn't work.
So while I very much enjoyed the movie, and quite admired the dedication of Julie Powell, it's just not me.
Do you want to hear all of my thoughts? I have so many that never make it to the "page". I edit what I speak to people, and even more what I type. I mean, who wants to read about every frustration about this buying-of-the-mini-farm process? Or that I did a load of laundry at 5:30 this morning, after which I did a load of dishes? Or that more paperwork required by our loan processor didn't make it through last night and I had to re-email all of it first thing this morning (incidentally, while the load of laundry was going)? Maybe you want to read about my frustration with Hubby for not helping more with the cooking and other chores? Or that I really appreciate the things that Hubby does? Or that the Kid failed the quiz I gave him yesterday on Watership Down and am giving him a re-do today after he re-reads the book? (The book bored him ... oh mom, why can't I read something I want to read?).
Would you prefer that I stick with the topics of gardening, animal husbandry, self-sufficiency living, small homesteading and cooking? Perhaps a little "survival" and homeschooling thrown in? Or do you want me to just write what's on my mind?
I'm listening. Er, reading.
My Kid's Thoughts for the movie Ice Age 3
Although my Kid is 13, he loves cartoon movies. He spends a lot of time thinking about plots for the next ones. And even tho Ice Age 3 is more than in the works (looks like it's almost completed!), the Kid wrote a letter and asked that it be sent to the producers so that can make some changes he thought of. Here's an excerpt of the letter we mailed out Monday, December 22 2009:
= = = =
T0: 20th Century Fox Studios
Attn: Director Carlos Saldanha
I have a few ideas for your new Ice Age movie. I think that you should change the name from The Thaw to Past in the Present, because "thaw" is the same as "meltdown", sort of. Also, I think Scrat should finally eat up his acorn, and have a relationship with Scratte (put her in the movie, too). Let them have a family of their own!
Let Peaches get kidnapped by humans. Let human kids help the herd. Let Manny tell his life story about how he met Emily (who I'm calling Manny's first wife), them growing up together, Emily having Pan (who I'm calling Manny's son), and finally, how they died. Let Ellie sing a song or two. Finally, let them get into a spaceship, travel to a wormhole, travel to the Ice Age, and let them get out and have the ship blown to smithereans (sic). Oh, also, I want to see Manny and Ellie tip over a truck by accident when they leavve the museum for the first time.
From: Weslee
= = = =
Ice Age 3 / Cast:
Ray Romano - (Manny)
John Leguizamo - (Sid)
Denis Leary - (Diego)
Simon Pegg - (Buck)
Queen Latifah - (Ellie)
There's more to his letter, including drawings on the back of the hand-written letter. You get the gist. He loves thinking up plots, and even has ideas for the next Dr. Seuss movie (attention Mike Myers and Jim Carey!!!)
= = = =
Hey, actors and other people associated with Ice Age 3! Would you like to write my Kid and give your thoughts about his ideas? He'd love to hear from all of you, especially Queen Latifah (I think he has a crush on you - but don't you dare tell him I wrote this!). E-Mail me and Weslee (the Kid): vikkibooks at yahoo . com . He would love to make movies or video games, and although we can't afford the software and equipment at this time, we hope perhaps next Christmas?!?!
Ok...
Done! Vikki
= = = =
T0: 20th Century Fox Studios
Attn: Director Carlos Saldanha
I have a few ideas for your new Ice Age movie. I think that you should change the name from The Thaw to Past in the Present, because "thaw" is the same as "meltdown", sort of. Also, I think Scrat should finally eat up his acorn, and have a relationship with Scratte (put her in the movie, too). Let them have a family of their own!
Let Peaches get kidnapped by humans. Let human kids help the herd. Let Manny tell his life story about how he met Emily (who I'm calling Manny's first wife), them growing up together, Emily having Pan (who I'm calling Manny's son), and finally, how they died. Let Ellie sing a song or two. Finally, let them get into a spaceship, travel to a wormhole, travel to the Ice Age, and let them get out and have the ship blown to smithereans (sic). Oh, also, I want to see Manny and Ellie tip over a truck by accident when they leavve the museum for the first time.
From: Weslee
= = = =
Ice Age 3 / Cast:
Ray Romano - (Manny)
John Leguizamo - (Sid)
Denis Leary - (Diego)
Simon Pegg - (Buck)
Queen Latifah - (Ellie)
There's more to his letter, including drawings on the back of the hand-written letter. You get the gist. He loves thinking up plots, and even has ideas for the next Dr. Seuss movie (attention Mike Myers and Jim Carey!!!)
= = = =
Hey, actors and other people associated with Ice Age 3! Would you like to write my Kid and give your thoughts about his ideas? He'd love to hear from all of you, especially Queen Latifah (I think he has a crush on you - but don't you dare tell him I wrote this!). E-Mail me and Weslee (the Kid): vikkibooks at yahoo . com . He would love to make movies or video games, and although we can't afford the software and equipment at this time, we hope perhaps next Christmas?!?!
Ok...
Done! Vikki
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