Top Ten: Books I’d Like to See on the Big Screen

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

Today I am sharing with you the top ten books that I would like to see adapted for tv or film. When done well, adaptations can be AWESOME and catapult a book into the forefront of the public’s minds.  

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan: I could have picked any of his novels that I’ve read. I chose BMB as the secondary characters were as good as the main ones, and I would make this into a tv series if I had the choice. 

The CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore: Again, an awesome idea for a TV series. Each episode or set of episodes a different mission. Done properly, this would make my LIFE. 

      

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson: Such an emotional summer read, this would make an excellent movie. 

                The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud: The start of a new adventure packed series, I can already picture it on the big screen! 

                 

Geek Girl by Holly Smale: Funny yet brutally honest, I need more geeky films in my life! Especially when they involve Harriet and Toby. (And Harriet’s dad, of course). 

Dust Lands series by Moira Young: An amazing dystopian / postapocalyptic series. I love the unique style of this one, and am dying to read the third book! 

          

          

  Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer: This book is GORGEOUS and the illustrations really make it come to life (the irony, I know!). A film would be epic. 

The Timeriders series by Alex Scarrow: Similar to Muchamore’s CHERUB series, I can only imagine the endless adventures the Timeriders team could embark on. 

           

 

 

 

 

 

The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter: While I haven’t read all the books in this series, I have really enjoyed it so far and the boarding school feel would make for perfect movie material.      

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel: MONKEYS. No other explanation is needed.  

Series are definitely my favourite choice! Can you think of anything I’m missing? Leave me some recommendations! Do you agree/disagree with my choices? Link me to your TTT below!   

Film Friday #5

Welcome to my new feature, Film Friday. Here I will recap the films I have watched this week, and ones that I have either discovered or talked about.

Watched:

Erin Brokovich

Made in 2000, this film stars Julia Roberts as an unemployed single mother of three. After hiring herself as a legal assistant, she creates a case against an American power company for polluting a city’s water supply.

I think one of the great things about this movie is that you know it is based on a true story. So every action has more meaning, because its not just some storyline concocted for the movies. When it was over, it left me thinking how similar things happen in society; companies covering things up. One example my friend came up with was the BP oil spill. But share with me if you know of any other films based on a true story (the only other I could think of is Pursuit of Happyness). I think it adds a certain edge to the film.

7/10 stars

The Internship

I have seen the trailer for this a gazillion times so I knew I had to see it. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson star as two middle aged men who lose their jobs and decide to apply for internships at Google. Once there, they are bundled in a team with other misfits, and have to try and succeed in order to secure a job at Google. 

Now, the plotline is pretty simple and predictable. One of those against-all-the-odds movies, they aren’t really any twists to make it interesting. Basically the reason to see this film is if you like Vince and Owen’s comedy (which seems to be pretty much the same no matter what film) or if you are intrigued what working at Google is really like. 

There are funny parts, bits that made me smile and laugh, but it isn’t really a lifechanger. The main bit that interested me was the challenges that they had to complete as part of the internship, and just the general environment. It made me wonder whether I’d really like to work somewhere like that, with free lunches and nap pods…. And it probably shows why Google is consistently rated the best place to work. An article here discusses life as an intern with Google employee Mark Hariz, and another one here discusses how accurate the film is. Certainly interesting, but not one I’d ever watch again. 

6/10 stars

Heard/Talked about:

Geography Club

A trailer has been released for this film, based on the bestseller by Brent Hartinger. Its on my summer to read pile and I hope to get to it soon. According to IMDB, the release date is set as April 2013 but I don’t know if it has been released or has a UK release date. If anyone knows more I’d be grateful to know! 

Check out the trailer here

That’s my film wrap up for this week. What are your opinions/thoughts? What other Julia Roberts films do I need to watch? Have any recommendations for me this week? 

Film Friday #4

Welcome to my new feature, Film Friday. Here I will recap the films I have watched this week, and ones that I have either discovered or talked about. 

Watched: 

Hairspray

One of my lovely musical-obsessed friends coerced me into watching this, and I was surprised by how good it actually was. Okay, it’s probably not going to change lives or anything. But it does everything it says on the tin; it’s colourful, fun and quirky, and above all else, a musical. Also, John Travolta is actually an excellent woman. Aside from the fact that when he/she dances, her bosom doesn’t move at all. MADE OF STEEL. 3 sofas

Side Effects

Starring Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta Jones, this psychological thriller sounded really intriguing. The premise is basically a girl who starts taking a new drug and turns a bit psycho (my impression from the trailer). I did not prepare myself for the mindgame that this film is! It does start off a bit slow, but after 15-20 minutes, I was hooked. There are a few twists that I didn’t expect, and Rooney Mara (the girl who takes the drug) is an amazing actress, and played the part brilliantly, if a bit too creepy! I also thought Jude Law was really good. I haven’t seen him in anything in a while, so I was impressed. I did think Zeta Jones’ performance was a bit linear, and Channing Tatum a little redundant, but you can’t win them all. Overall I was really impressed. While probably not the type of film I will watch again, I would recommend it! 4 sofas

Great minds must think alike, because Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts also went to see it this week, and you can check out her review here.

Heard/Talked about:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (link to Empire news article)

Yet another teen book to film adaptation, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, has been given a writer this week in the form of Stuart Beattie, who has previously worked on Pirates. I’m not sure how I feel in the explosion of these adaptations. If it gets more people to read it, then sure it is a good thing. But they have to do it right. I was disappointed with the Hunger Games, and it is frustrating when my idea of this world is ruined.

Marvel Universe Live (link to Empire news article)

While not strictly a movie, the news that the Avengers are turning into a stage show needs to be shared. Supposedly with a $10 million budget. Marvel owners Disney have signed an agreement for a tour of their best superheroes. Rumoured to include not just the Avengers but also Spiderman and the X-Men, this could be a wonderment to behold. 

That’s my film wrap up for this week. What are your opinions/thoughts? Do you think its a great idea that so many YA books are being adapted to film? Have any recommendations for me this week? 

Letterbox Love #15

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

Welcome to my 2-week haul post! Lots of exciting things happened in the last two weeks!

First my library/print book piles:

*Sigh* SO MUCH GOODNESS these last two weeks. First the library books! I ordered ‘If I Stay‘ by Gayle Forman because I stupidly picked up the second in the series a couple of weeks ago. Luckily this is only short, so should only be a day’s reading. This week I also collected ‘Delirium‘ by Lauren Oliver because she’s doing an event in London in a couple of weeks for Requiem, and I wanted to reread the series beforehand. 

Last week I went to a book signing for Nicholas Sparks as his latest book, ‘Safe Haven‘, is being released in the cinemas. The two stars from the film were also there, and they all answered questions before Nicholas signed books. 

    

I’m hoping to see this film next weekend so I’ll let you all know what it’s like! 

While I was in Waterstones I picked up ‘Attachments‘ by Rainbow Rowell. I absolutely ADORE her, and I have been after this for ages. Unfortunately all the copies I’ve seen in the bookshop are dirty, or have crumpled pages, and I’m a perfectionist! I’ll hopefully be rereading this soon, as I want to follow the playlist she has created for the book.

I also picked up ‘Between the Lines‘ by Tammara Webber, as I need more New Adult books in my life, and this looks really good. It also sparked a conversation with Laura from Bookish Treasures about where to shelve new adult books, as she is my NA guru!

I bought ‘The Vincent Boys‘ by Abbi Glines (who is coming to the UK soon!) and ‘Emailing Allie‘ by Julie Lawson because they both sound amazing. ‘Drowning Instinct‘ by Ilsa Bick was on special for only £3.50 so I thought I’d give it a whirl 🙂

Finally, my highlight from the past two weeks (and my year!) was the Geek Girl blogger party. My first blogger event, I got to meet lots of other bloggers, and everyone was super amazing and friendly and never complained that I kept plonking myself in their circles and eavesdropping! 

Holly Smale, authoress of Geek Girl, was so amazingly lovely. I like to stalk her on Twitter, but I was quite shocked when she invited me to the party. But she is such a doll 🙂 Look at the picture of all the goody bagness I received! I didn’t take any pictures, but please check out Kirsty’s post here and Luna’s here for their round ups of the day 🙂

 

 

 

In other book news, I also got a couple of ebooks:

‘The S-Word‘ by Chelsea Pitcher. I’ve heard lots of people talking about this bullying/suicide book, so I was really surprised to be approved! Thanks Simon & Schuster via Gallery books and Netgalley.

I received ‘Picture Perfect‘ buy Alessandra Thomas via Kelly of InkSlinger PR as I am talking part in the release day launch on March 26. When an ex-fashion designer takes to nude modelling after an accident, it causes all sorts of problems. This book sounds really good and I’m so pleased to be able to review it.

 

 ‘The Registry‘ by Shannon Stoker is actually an adult book, but a dystopian one at that, so I had to request it. Thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Collins via William Morrow Paperbacks for the approval!

I received a copy of ‘The Space Between‘ by the author Victoria Smith to review. New adult contemporary romance? Yes please!

 

‘Escape Theory‘ by Margaux Froley is a book I’ve been hearing good things about on the blogosphere. Thanks to Soho Teen and Edelweiss for this copy! I haven’t heard a lot about Soho Teen before, but they’ve got some interesting books coming up so I’ll be keeping my eye out!

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? I’d love to hear from you! 

Film Review: Breaking Dawn Part TWO

This film has been muchly anticipated by me, and indeed the whole world! Obviously I’ve read the books and I did enjoy them. I have seen the other films; I think Twilight or Eclipse is my favourite. I wasn’t a huge fan of Breaking Dawn Part One. I know it is a big-ish book and by splitting it into two parts, we should get more detail. But I just don’t feel there was enough action in either part to captivate the audience. 

Firstly, I will just say that I did enjoy the film. I have seen it twice now, and will probably get the dvd when it comes out. However, there were just a couple of things that irritated me, thus preventing it from being amazing, in my opinion. 

Firstly, the intro scene is soooooooooo long. Like, seriously. I thought ‘Skyfall’ was bad; at least we had some action before. This one jumps straight into the credits, most of whom I haven’t heard of; ‘Boo boo Stewart?!’ Five minutes later when the film starts, I’m already asleep. 

Luckily the film starts just as the last one left off. Eyes open, and boom! She’s a vampire. Now this is my first irritation; this is the first scene with vamp-Bells, and therefore it is very important. So I don’t see why the film guys thought it necessary to alter the entire setup. Just not how I pictured it at all! And the bit in the book where Bella jumps out the window, and rips her dress and stuff. All gone. 

There just seemed to be bits missing from the book to really piece the story together. Obviously the Jacob/Reneesmee thing is gonna be a bit weird anyways, given that she’s a baby. This is kinda glossed over (as is the bit where he gets naked in front of Bella’s dad (!)) , and is fine, up until the bit where he asks Edward if he should call him dad. Funny, but a bit too paedophilia-like, in my opinion. 

Also the fact that Jacob tells Charlie as a way to get Bella and co to stay. Why doesn’t Jacob just go with them? And surely they have to leave soon anyways due to the non-aging thing? Why is this never discussed? Nor how they are going to explain Renesmee to anyone, given that she will hit puberty/adulthood in 7 years! 

I thought the fight scene was done very cleverly, without giving too much away, and it added a much needed suspense to the film. I think I have to give it 4 sofas, as I love the series, and I’m glad this wraps it up nicely, but it’s probably more of a 3.5 for standalone quality. 

Do you agree/disagree? Have you seen it? Can you explain the gaping holes in the storyline? Let me know in the comments!