Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Oscars Are Coming! The Oscars Are Coming!

I am by trade, a writer. In my lifetime I have written well, I have written badly, and then there are those stories that are, as Chris Baty puts it, only good for doorstops or table stabilizers. My last NaNo was like that lol. A million starts. Zero finishes. I was a bloody mess. But I got the point. I needed to rewrite my last book before I went on to the next. Thanks Julie! :)

But I am as in love with the movies as I am with books. And while some will always say the book was better than the movie I say this and I will always say this: after being on both sides of the coin a movie is simply a different experience than a book. And the movie that captures the SPIRIT and not the LETTER of the book is the movie that makes even the greatest critic say WOW that was awesome. Apples & oranges.

In the spirit of storytelling and all its forms I am here to help celebrate the movies on its biggest night.--the OSCARS!

The nominee I wish to highlight as my favorite, but definitely the dark horse of the night is Winter's Bone. A thrilling yet harrowing tale of one teen's efforts to find her father so that the land she and her family depend on is not confiscated by the local law takes you into the dark world of the meth underbelly of the Ozarks. It's chilling, breathtaking, with stark directing. Brilliant acting by all, especially the revelation of local Louisville girl Jennifer Lawrence, and her co-star John Hawkes, who not only the local sheriff fears, but even the drug ring wants no part of. The writing is tight, clean, and unfettered. They all deserve awards Sunday night. Here's hoping  :)

And not to mention there is a wonderful book that the movie is based upon. Warning, this reading and viewing isn't for the feint of heart. But it is highly rewarding. Leave your picks for Best whatever or just chat about your favorites of the year. Storytelling is storytelling.

2 comments:

Kim Bowman Author said...

Love this post. I feel the same way about The Horse Whisperer. (First let me explain that my all-time-I-would-leave-my-husband-in-a-heartbeat-for-him guy is Robert Redford). Everyone cried foul when they changed the movie ending. Me, not so much. Like you said - apples and oranges.

There are rare occasions when the movie's ending should NEVER deviate from the books or it changes the whole dynamics. Case in point - Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. Great cast of characters, but as the credits rolled, too many people looked at each other afand were like "I don't get it? What was the point?" (I even saw a similar comment in a review). Had the ending been the same - the movie would have soared and had a MUCH stronger impact.

Unknown said...

I didn't get a chance to see it. But in Forest Gump Bubba is a white redneck racist and Jenny isn't sexually abused, she simply 'a free spirit' who likes to sleep with Forest because of the size of his genitalia. Personally I loved Pulp Fiction more than Forest Gump that year, but it was an original story. Adaptation is a tricky business, my fav adaptation is A Beautiful Mind.