“The Lovely Bones” Trailer and More!

more about "The Lovely Bones trailer ", posted with vodpod. Video courtesy of Comingsoon.net

“The Lovely Bones” is the movie adaptation of the book by Best-Selling author Alice Sebold, and the movie is directed by Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings Trilogy”). I thought this book was amazing! If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend reading it! I know this is going to sound like an adjective fest but truly this book was beautiful, chilling, haunting, heart breaking, and uplifting.

Here is a brief synopsis of the novel:
Fourteen year old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”) becomes a victim of rape and murder. As she copes with her own death from heaven, she watches her family and friends grieve while the police search for her killer.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

Twilight – Manga Style

Source: EW.com

“Twilight” with a graphic flair. Yen Press has announced their plans to make the popular vampire novel, “Twilight” into a graphic novel. According to EW.com, “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer is heavily involved with the project. Read the full article on EW.com and see the first illustration of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.

Legend of the Seeker – Book vs. Show

Season 1 of “Legend of the Seeker” has come to a close and summer reruns has commenced. Before the 2nd season starts, I thought this would be a good time to go through the season as a whole and how it relates to the book. Season One is based upon the first book, “Wizard’s First Rule”, of the “Sword of Truth” series by Terry Goodkind. While the show has taken some creative liberties, for the most part…I feel the core of the book is well adapted to the small screen. For those who haven’t read “Wizard’s First Rule”, this post is chock full of spoilers. I am going to try to relate the book to the relevant episodes on the show. Some of the questions that I will answer in this Book vs. Show rundown are: Is Darken Rahl really dead? Are Darken Rahl and Richard Cypher brothers? Finally…my thoughts on what to expect for Season 2 of “Legend of the Seeker”.

The Magic of “Merlin” was not quite magical

Colin Morgan as "Merlin" - Image courtesy of NBC.com

Yesterday, June 21, 2009, was the series premiere of “Merlin” on NBC and I have to say…I wasn’t quite impressed. The trailers and clips made the show seem “magical” so I was a bit underwhelmed after watching the premiere. Coupled with the premiere of “Merlin” was the promise of showing an exclusive clip of the upcoming movie, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. Unfortunately, this was not exactly a “new” clip – it was just an extended clip of a scene from the movie’s many trailers that was shown at the MTV Movie awards recently. The scene is the memory of Dumbledore’s first meeting with the young Tom Riddle for which he wants Harry to see. For those who missed the clip; it can be seen here.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

Cyrus on board for “The Last Song”

Nicholas Sparks is writing the script for the big screen adaptation of his book, “The Last Song”, which will star Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”), Greg Kinnear (“Baby Mama”), and Kelly Preston (“The Cat in the Hat”). According to an article from Variety.com, this latest book by Sparks will be released this Fall. I find it interesting that this book is being made into a movie when it hasn’t even been published yet.

Here is the plot outline (of the book) from Amazon.com:
Seventeen year old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father…until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels–first love, love between parents and children — that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts…and heal them.

I’m starting to see a trend in Hollywood now. Plenty of films are based upon books, but it seems like film companies are trying to turn a “Best Selling” Author into a “Best Selling” Movie. I can understand the appeal because in theory tapping into the fans of the author and/or books “should” attract more box office numbers. The “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” franchises have had tremendous success in both the box office and the bestselling book charts but not all bestselling books can be great movies. In fact the box office numbers for movies based upon Nicholas Sparks’ books are not that promising with the exception of “The Notebook”. The numbers don’t seem to deter film companies from making these films. It seems like when a best selling author’s name is attached – the film is just green lit. Perhaps we should all be inspired to get a computer and start writing a book.

Legend of the Seeker is “LOTS” of fun!

Image via Hulu.com

If you haven’t started watching Legend of the Seeker…I think you should start!  Legend of the Seeker is based on Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” book series.  The show stars Craig Horner as Richard Cypher, and Bridget Regan as Kahlan Amnell.  The show premiered on November 1, 2008 and it has been compelling from the start.  The creative minds of Sam Raimi (Spider-man) and Rob Tabert (Xena: Warrior Princess) have teamed up again and have adapted these books for television.  Season One revolves around “Wizard’s First Rule”, which is the first book of the “Sword of Truth” series.  After watching the series premiere, I immediately started reading the 1st book and was plesantly surprised that the show followed the book for the most part.  The show is an adaptation, so the show has taken some creative liberties which does not deter but yet enhances the development of the characters while telling the story .  This show has something for everyone.  It has action, romance, magic, mystical creatures, and features the gorgeous scenery of New Zealand.  Legend of the Seeker has already been greenlit for Season 2, so I couldn’t be more excited!  You can catch up on previous episodes on Hulu.com.  There are 5 more episodes left this season…so no time like the present to tune in!