Tag: movies

Jane Eyre, 1996 movie

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Jane EyreJane Eyre has always been one of my favorite books.  I think it may have been the first classic I read by choice.  I love the independent Jane Eyre and the mysterious Edward Rochester and the spookiness of Thornfield.  About 5 years ago they opened the musical on Broadway and I loved it.  The music and cast were wonderful.  I think I actually preferred the casting of the Broadway musical to that of this movie.

Anna Paquin plays young Jane Eyre who is orphaned, rejected by her aunt, and mistreated at the school for girls she is sent to live.  After she is old enough she accepts the position of governess at Thornfield and is immediately drawn in by the manor, her ward, Adele, and the master of the house, Edward Rochester.  Edward makes Jane jealous by bringing home a girlfriend, Blanche played by Elle McPhearson.  Jane doesn’t want to believe that Edward loves her and when she does she is crushed by betrayal.

I like the setting of Thornfield in the movie.  It is real and eerie.  William Hurt is Edward Rochester and Charlotte Gainsbourg is Jane Eyre.  They are both adequate, but not great.  I do not think that William Hurt captured the brooding Mr. Rochester.  Although the movie hits the major plot points of the book I think it neglected to show how Jane and Edward fell in love which is the whole point of the book!

This is the first movie adaptation of the book I’ve watched and cannot recommend it.  It does make me curious to check out the other adaptations and see if they did it better.

Capote, 2005 movie

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I’ve never read In Cold Blood, but it is in my ‘to read’ pile, so I thought I’d see this movie about Truman Capote during the 4 1/2 years it took him to reasearch and write the book.  In Kansas, two young men murder a family of four and Capote asks his childhood friend, Haprer Lee, to help him research in Kansas.  Once he meets the prisoners he becomes very attached to one of them.  He was there when the two were hanged for their crimes.  An interesting note – it was during this period that Lee had To Kill A Mockingbird published.

Okay, I thought Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent as Capote and Catherine Keener did an outstanding job as Harper Lee, but I did not care for the movie.  It was slow and a little erratic.  Some parts were interesting, like that Capote never wrote another book after this one and he never took notes from interviews, but on the whole I thought it was a yawner.  I do think it will make In Cold Blood more interesting when I get around to reading it.

I would only recommend this movie if you are a fan of Truman Capote or In Cold Blood.

The Other Boleyn Girl, dvd

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Cover ImageThis movie is based on the the successful Phillipa Gregory series of books.  I have never read this book, but the cast intrigued me, so Jason and I watched it yesterday.  I enjoyed this movie and the cast.  I thought Natalie Portman was wonderful as the conniving Anne and Eric Bana was a great King VIII.  It was fast paced and there was never a dull moment. 

This is the twisted story of ambition and betrayal during the reign of Henry VIII.  Anne and Mary Boleyn were both sold out by the men in their lives in order to catch the King’s eye and move into his bed.  The story’s only real sympathetic character was Mary (played by Scarlet Johansen), as everyone else was a backstabber with a motive.

I liked the movie, but was curious about its accuracy, so I looked around on the internet yesterday and found that it is not all that accurate.  If you already know the story of Anne Boleyn then you might enjoy this fictional story, but for me, who has very little knowledge of the truth, the story can leave a distorted view of reality.  But, since most of us watch tv and movies specifically for a distorted view of the real world maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Pride & Prejudice, BBC 5 hour miniseries

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Cover ImageI should start by confessing that I have never read a Jane Austen novel.  I have a stack of her titles waiting to be read and I think I’ve seen all of the movie adaptations, but I have never sat down and read one.  I have no excuse.  I’ll make it my goal to get one read before the end of the year. 

I saw the most recent Pride & Prejudice with Kiera Knightly and liked it very much, but I had heard and read from many that the BBC miniseries was the very best adaptation to date.  So, as my husband has been out of town for a few days, I thought there would be no better time to check out the dvd set from the library.

It was wonderful and I highly recommend it.  I have a soft spot for Colin Firth (not sure why, but it can’t be helped) and I thought he was a perfect Mr. Darcy.  I thought a few of the dancing scenes in the beginning were a little too long, but that is my only slight complaint.  If you have only seen the 2 hour movie you really should rent this version.  I understand the story so much better after having seen it.  The characters that were only mildly annoying in the film became only more stridently so in the miniseries, but in a mostly entertaining way.  The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy  became much more clear.  The actors were great and it was a much less ‘hollywood-ish’ movie. 

Great miniseries, but don’t expect your husband or boyfriend to sit through it, unless he really, really loves you.  But, beware, you never know what he may expect you to watch.

The Hoax, 2006

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DVD CoverRichard Gere stars as Clifford Irving, a failed writer, who writes a fake biography of the mysterious and crazy Howard Hughes.  Alfred Molina is his friend and research partner and they sell this ‘book’ to McGraw Hill using forged documents for a six figure deal.  Marcia Gay Harden is his long suffering wife who will do what she can to help, even if it is dangerous and illegal.

This is based on a true story, although as Jason and I watched it we often asked ‘how true is it?’.  The connection between Hughes and President Nixon was an interesting one that I hadn’t heard before.  Clifford Irving was bold, reckless, delusional and also a world class liar.  I find it hard to root for liars and this was no exception.  I like Richard Gere and I hated hoping for his demise.

I thought the acting was good and the story was interesting.  I won’t give away what happens at the end, but there is a nice wrap-up to satisfy your curiousity.

Becoming Jane

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Becoming Jane was released in 2007 and stars Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen (yes the Jane Austen of Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, etc.) and James McAvoy as Thomas Lefroy.  It is inspired by the real relationship between Jane and Thomas.  They meet, sparks fly, numerous marriage proposals are offered by more than one man, and obstacles to true love abound.  It was a fun movie, especially for those who like Jane Austen or 20th century English tales.

Hathaway and McAvoy were great.  James Cromwell and Maggie Smith also make appearances.  If you want to punish your husband for not taking out the trash or some other such thing, make him watch too.  Otherwise, open up a bottle of wine, invite your book club over and have a girls night.

Harlan Coben’s Latest E-Letter

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Tell No One is my favorite Harlan Coben book, so I thought I’d pass this along.

 

TELL NO ONE Movie Opens in USA! 

Hey, gang —

The multi-award winning TELL NO ONE movie opens today in the USA!

TELL NO ONE, directed by Guillaume Canet, starring Francois Cluzet and Kristin Scott Thomas, and based on the novel by uh Harlan Coben, debuts in NYC and Los Angeles on July 2nd and then starts making it way around to select heaters all over the country. 

Stephen Holden raved in today’s NEW YORK TIMES: “Guillaume Canet’s delicious contemporary thriller TELL NO ONE  is Vertigo meets The Fugitive by way of The Big Sleep. That is meant as high praise… Tell No One is pure, nasty fun. I watched it twice. It was even better the second time.” 
(Read the whole review at http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/movies/02tell.html)

And in today’s LOS ANGELES TIMES Kenneth Turren wrote: “Tell everyone about TELL NO ONE…. Author Coben, who says he is a fan of ‘stories that move you, that grab hold of your heart and do not let it go,’ has gotten a film that does exactly that.”
(Read the whole review at www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-tell2-2008jul02,0,2639849.story)

To see the trailer – and for those who are observant, can you spot me in it? – visit HarlanCoben.com.

For a full listing of where it will be playing, click TellNoOneMovie.com and then click Screenings. That’s all I know about screenings now.  No word on DVD release or any of that.

Nominated for 9 Cesar Awards (French Oscan) and winning four as well as winning the Lumiere Award (French Golden Globe) for Best Movie, TELL NO ONE was one of the top grossing films in Europe and the UK and now after debuting in New York and Los Angeles on July 2nd, it finally comes here!

That’s all the news for now.  Keep reading and have a wonderful summer.

Best,

Harlan