The other night I went to Book Club, affectionately known as Wine Club by all of our husbands.
I will admit that I do not always read the book. And we don’t always talk about literary stuff. Sometimes we talk about sex, kids, husbands, jobs, sex, husbands… Our group is made up of busy and ambitious women, but we definitely know our limits. For example, we figured out early on that it was pretty much impossible to get a book read in December, much less gather everyone together for a “discussion.”
So we started a fun holiday tradition of December Movie Club.
Every December we try to get together to see a movie based on a book. This year we decided on Anna Karenina, based on the Tolstoy novel that I never managed to read during my college lit class.
The movie featured Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and (to my surprise) Jude Law as the hapless husband. While I really liked the film, I’m SO glad I went with girlfriends. We all agreed that our significant others would have given it a thumbs down… too much music, too many elaborate sets and costumes. I enjoyed all that, though, and it was fun to immerse myself in a heart-wrenching love story for a few hours.
Watching the Golden Globe nominations this week, I realized this has been a big year for popular books being made into films. Did you see The Hunger Games in the spring? How about Life of Pi this fall? And coming up, I’m looking forward to seeing Les Miserables, as well as The Hobbit.
The one upcoming film that I’m not so sure about is Jack Reacher, based on the fabulous suspense series by one of my favorite authors, Lee Child. I love these books and after reading every single one, the character of Jack Reacher looms large in my mind. Maybe that’s why I’m having such a difficult time getting excited to see Reacher portrayed by the diminutive Tom Cruise. Reacher’s remarkable height is such a part of his character, I just can’t imagine how Cruise is going to pull it off. But I like the books so much, I’ll probably give it a chance.
What movies are you looking forward to seeing this holiday season?
Platform shoes? 😀
They would have to be some tall platforms. 🙂 Jack Reacher is 6 foot 5 and Tom Cruise is about a foot short of that… Maybe some special effects.
I will see Jack Reacher when it hits HBO someday, but not putting a dime into the theater version. The first Lee Child I read was One Shot (the one the film is being made from). When I heard something on one of the trailers about Reacher being framed, I just shook my head. Maybe I need to go back and re-read, but it sounds like they’ve taken the initial perp entirely out of the film and just had Reacher take his place. I hope not. But I’m still kinda looking forward (in a sick way) to seeing how badly Hollywood can screw it up.
Hi Jake,
I really hope they don’t mess up the book, but like I said I’m worried about the casting. I read an interview with Lee Child, though, in which he pointed out that there aren’t a lot of 6-foot-5-inch tall Hollywood stars to choose from. I guess he has a point. ONE SHOT was one of my favorites in the series.
We’re absolutely years behind in ‘theater’ movies. The fact that there’s only one theater (2 screens, though) and it’s almost 15 miles away puts a damper on that. Plus, I’m totally fed up with all the ‘non-movie’ stuff you have to deal with. It got to the point where I was bringing my Nook Color with its back-light so I could read until the movie started. We’re Netflix all the way now, and it’s Movie Night every Friday. Tonight, we’re going for a repeat of something light: The Muppet Movie. (As for Cruise as Reacher–Lee Child said Tom Cruise was 90% perfect for the part–lacking only 10% in the height category.)
Terry
Terry’s Place
Hi Terry,
You can really get a lot of reading in on that Nook while waiting for the movie to start. The last children’s movie I went to had 8 previews. By the time the movie started many of the kids in the theater were ready for a nap.
i just saw Lincoln with my son, my dad and his wife. it was amazing – way beyond my expectations. I loved it so much i came home and started watching the AMC series Hell on Wheels.
I haven’t seen LINCOLN but it’s on my list for the holidays. I’m sure I can get my dad to go with me.
While I have mixed feelings about the casting, I’m seeing it opening week with my mom who is a huge Lee Child fan and has every one of his books in hardcover. I think the shit that Lee has gotten from fans about the casting — over which he has no control — is sad and ridiculous. People are giving him 1 and 2 star reviews on Amazon and citing the damn movie. He’s a big boy, he can handle it, but it makes me, both a fan and an admirer, sickened by some people’s bad behavior. I want to tell them all to grow up and get over it, but don’t denigrate a talented writer and a mentor to many, many new authors because of choices made by Hollywood. And whatever anyone wants to say about Tom Cruise, he is a franchise, his movies always do well, and maybe … just maybe … Jack Reacher will be like James Bond and in a few movies we’ll have another actor fill this choice.
As far as movies from books … we’re going to see The Hobbit.
I want to see THE HOBBIT, too. I was just reading about it and had not realized they made it into a trilogy. I bet it is beautifully filmed, like LOTR.
I haven’t watched a single film this year based on a book. In general, I find them disappointing except for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I read the books as a pre-teen and didn’t enjoy them at all (my brother read them, so I had to), I was very pleasantly surprised by the movies.
After hearing the early reviews, I don’t particularly want to see The Hobbit. I think I’ve gotten enough of them in the 4 1/2 hour extended versions I have of the trilogy.
I’m with you all the way on the Jack Reacher movie. I just finished Lee Child’s 2012 book, A Wanted Man, and I couldn’t help but think how frequently Reacher’s size played a role in the outcome. So Not Cruise Material! Why does Hollywood do that?
I’ve just recently started reading Lee Child’s books, and so far I’m hooked. I’m of two minds on the movie. Done well it could be amazing; but so rarely are book movies done really well. Besides the height issue for this role, I’m not a Tom Cruise fan. I just don’t think that he’s that dynamic of an actor anymore. His roles in recent years run together because the acting doesn’t make them stand on their own. That may be harder to overcome than the height problem for me.
Well, at least the trailer (seen when we went to see Skyfall) got my husband to read his first Reacher. He loved it so much he instructed me to tell people that his preferred present this year are ALL the Reacher novels.
I did see the Hunger Games, after reading the books – the books are better, duh. Not planning to see the movies, but I have read Life of Pi and The Hobbit.
I’m so behind on my movie watching! I’m with you, Laura, I’m wondering if Tom can pull it off.
Laura he’ll be wearing stilts! 🙂
in Tom’s defense, gah, can’t believe I’m even defending him, but there was a hue and cry when it was announced TC was going to play Lestat. I was part of the what-the-hell-were-you-thinking crowd? but, I think he did a fabulous job. So far the trailers look good…
Looking forward to sseeing Les Miserables!
First want to say how much I enjoyed Scorched. Loved it!
In general I am disappointed in movies and TV shows made from books I’ve read. Not sure why Hollywood bothers to buy the rights when the only thing they keep are the characters names. Love Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, but they are not Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles. Same is true of Bones and the Dr Brennan of the books. Not just in looks but more importantly in behavior. I have to mentally separate the books and the show. They are related only in the characters names and professions.
That said, I think the reason for the huge negative response to Tom Cruise is, as was said before, Jack Reacher’s size is as much a part of his character as his attitude. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Vin Deisel would have been better choices in my opinion. They can be imposing and that is part and parcel of the Reacher character.
Will probably watch it when it comes out on DVD, just to see how it turns out. We used to have a holiday tradition of going to the movies Christmast afternoon, but too many people that don’t know how to turn off their cell phones got the idea, so now we watch something at home on the big screen.
I just remember what they did with The Shining. They took out the motivation and just made him crazy. I went to the movie with a friend who loved the book. At the part where he used to the ax to break in the door, Here’s Johnny! and everyone laughed, my friend stood up and started yelling that they ruined her book.
There have been very few movies that were as good as the books.
Agree about The Shining. AND they changed the ending in the movie, which I hated. Grrr. Fantastic book still.
My book club just adopted the same December-movie tradition, for the same reason. Great minds. We’re going to see “Hyde Park on the Hudson” this week.