Max and the Wild Things stomp into cinemas

One of the coolest and most popular picture books of all time, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are makes it’s big screen debut today.  You probably couldn’t miss the huge cutouts promoting the movie in cinemas and some of us have had their photos taken pretending to be Max.  I’m really excited about seeing the movie tonight, even though there have been mixed reviews of it.  It’s one of those movies where you just have to leave the original story behind and enjoy the movie in its own right.  Everything I’ve read about it and all the trailers I’ve seen make it look and sound fantastic.

If you’d prefer to read the original picture book or just want to revisit the story before you see the movie we have plenty of copies in the library.  You can also watch the trailer for the movie here.

After seeing the movie…

It lived up to all my expectations and I came out of the cinema with a huge grin on my face, wanting to see it again right away.  The Wild Things look very much like the original ones from the book and I wanted to be Max, hanging out with the Wild Things and sleeping in a big pile with them.  Each of the Wild Things is quite different in personality and their clashes in personality make it difficult for them all to live together.  As Spike Jonze (the director) explained, it is not a children’s movie but a movie about childhood and you see childhood emotions coming out in the Wild Things, such as worry, fear, anger, and the feeling that nobody ever listens to you.  It wasn’t a scary movie so younger children would cope, unless they’re scared of monsters.  I thoroughly recommend it!

 

Are you sick of Twilight fever?

The new Twilight movie New Moon seems to be the thing that everybody is talking about at the moment.  Record-breaking movie takings are being reported on the TV, radio and blogs everywhere, the cast are being interviewed left, right and center, and all of the Twi-hards are coming out of the woodwork.  You can probably tell I’m not a fan and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is sick of all the attention that these books and movies are getting.  I can just see the publishers and movie producers rubbing their hands with glee.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that people are reading the books, but it’s all the publicity that goes into making the whole thing so huge that I’m really against.  There are so many great books out there, but publishers think they’re onto a good thing with books such as Twilight and Harry Potter, and they milk them to death, putting all their marketing on one particular book or series.  There are plenty of books I can think of that are so much better written and are far greater stories than these blockbusters but they don’t get the attention that they should.

If you’re sick of the Twilight Saga and want to try something new, you could try some of these which we think are the best reads of the year for young adults:

• Catching Fire  -  Suzanne Collins (sequel to The Hunger Games)
• Brainjack  -  Brian Falkner
• Paper Towns  -  John Green
• Butterfly -  Sonya Hartnett
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth  -  Carrie Ryan
• Beatle Meets Destiny -  Gabrielle Williams

You can find some more great reads in our Holiday Reading 2009 guide and don’t forget you can vote for your favourite book of the year here and go into the draw to win book vouchers.

 

What’s your favourite musical?

Some people love them and some people hate them.  I’m definitely in the first group.  I’ve grown up with Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wizard of Oz and, thanks to my girlfriend I now know the wonders of other great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals such as Oklahoma and Carousel.  I love them because they’re great stories with some very memorable tunes thrown in to liven it all up.  On Friday night I went to the Broadway Broads concert that the Christchurch Symphony presented, featuring the amazing voices of Naomi Ferguson and Ali Harper, among others.  They sung some fantastic renditions of songs from Broadway musicals, including I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, Somewhere Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz, and The Worst Pies in London from Sweeney Todd.  I was smiling the whole way through because I knew most of the songs and was very tempted to sing along myself. 

My top five are:

1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

2. Mary Poppins

3. Annie

4. Bugsy Malone

5. Oklahoma

Do you have a favourite musical or do you absolutely loathe them?

 

Be inspired by The Soloist

Last night I went to a preview of an inspirational new movie called The Soloist starring Robert Downey Jnr. and Jamie Foxx.  The movie is based on the true story of a chance encounter between Los Angeles Times reporter, Steve Lopez and a homeless musician, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, on the streets of Los Angeles.  Lopez hears Ayers playing his violin while walking the streets and is so fascinated by this man’s ability that he has to find out more about him and why he is now living on the streets.  Being the reporter that he is, he discovers that Ayers was once a student at the prestigous Juilliard School of Performing Arts.  There is a strong focus on the thousands of homeless people (90,000 in Greater Los Angeles!) and the conditions in which they live.  Alot of the movie was actually filmed Los Angeles Skid Row. 

Nathaniel’s story is fascinating and Jamie Foxx does an excellent job of portraying this haunted, talented man.  If you would like some background information on Nathaniel you should visit the website of the Los Angeles Times where you can read all of Steve Lopez’ articles about Nathaniel Ayers and watch an interview with them from 60 Minutes in America.  We also have Lopez’ book about his friendship with Ayers in the library, called The soloist : a lost dream, an unlikely friendship, and the redemptive power of music.  I thoroughly recommend The Soloist, particularly for those that prefer their movies to be based on reality.

 

Trash to treasure – bestsellers from decades past

Following on from our recent displays of classic and vintage science fiction and adventure thriller, the Popular team is once again taking us on a trip down memory lane (this time the slightly risque shaded reaches of Lovers Lane, perhaps?).

Wendy says:

Pop into Popular and have a look at our display of “sizzling” books from the past – books that defined a generation, made a difference, turned heads and pages.

For the post-war generation, it was little beauties like On the Beach, Room at the Top, or The Sun Also Rises. In the 60’s and 70’s, many of us remember most fondly the books we weren’t meant to read: for some it was Angelique and the Sultan, or Valley of the Dolls; for others, Lolita and Portnoy’s Complaint.

Trash or treasure?
Movies from the books became classics themselves – think Gone With the Wind, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Doctor Zhivago. The scene of Alan Bates and Oliver Reed’s naked wrestling in Ken Russell’s Women in Love is forever etched in my mind …

So if you would like a little stroll down popular fiction’s Memory Lane, come and have a browse here at Central, or leave a comment with any books that “sizzled” for you.

 

Cool new adaptations of children’s books

There seem to  be quite a few movie adaptations of children’s books coming out in the next 6 months or so and I just thought I’d put up the links to some of them up here so you can have a look.  I’m looking foward to seeing all of them because they all look fantastic!

Alice in Wonderland - directed by Tim Burton and starring Jonny Depp as the Mad Hatter

Where the Wild Things Are – the classic picture book by Maurice Sendak

Cirque du Freak - first in a series of vampire books by Darren Shan (particularly for boys – no icky love story here!)

 

Tell us your favourite movie and win win win – Coraline movie passes

Coraline

The movie Coraline based on the children’s book by Neil Gaiman is released on the 6th of August in NZ. Bronnypop posted about this earlier in the year.

It’s the first stop-animation movie to be shot in 3D. In the film, Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But then this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous … Get a taster by viewing the trailer.

If  you live in Christchurch, you can win a double pass courtesy of Paramount Pictures – flick us an email with your name, address and phone number to  libwebteam@ccc.govt.nz and tell us about your favourite movie, and why you like it …  We’ll pick 5 lucky winners to go to the preview screening on Wednesday August 5. (P.S. This competition is now closed – but feel free to comment on your favourite movie!)

I’ll kick off . My all time favourite movie is Excalibur. Directed by John Boorman, this unholy gorgeous mashup blends the medieval and the soft focus glitzy 1980s. Stars – Gabriel Byrne. Liam Neeson. Helen Mirren. And Nicol Williamson as Merlin doesn’t just eat up the scenery, he eats it and builds it again and eats it. All the Arthurian characters are here – Arthur. Mordred. Percival. Lancelot. Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi plays her a bit simpery but you can’t have it all). Gorgeous gold armour, battles, riding horses, magic. Copious use of O Fortuna (probably the best soundtrack music ever) …ahhh….

*Scarlett has given us her fave:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is closer to the book than most of the movies in the series, and the sets are great, especially Sirius’ house. I like Kretcher…he’s funny

Zac:  “My favourite movies all seem to be kids/family movies (I’m just a big kid at heart). My favourite though is Princess Bride. It’s got everything that a good movie should have; humour, sword fights, villians and a happy ending.”

Isabelle: “The Lion King because it was one of the first movies I ever saw that left an impression.”

Rachel: “My favourite movie of all time would have to be Sleepy Hollow. Other movies come and go, but I think that Tim Burton is a fantastic director, and having Johnny Depp in the lead role just makes it better. I normally hate horror movies, and hide under the sofa most of the movie, but something about this film, the music, the scenery, the amazing acting or the twisted plot always holds me spellbound. Coraline looks like it has a similarly engaging storyline, I can’t wait for it to come out!”

Ariana: My favourite movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas. My favourite character is Jack the skeleton and his loyal companion the ghost dog.  I like the movie because it’s got loads of catchy songs and  really sweet story. Though a bit spooky all the while. The story shifts from Jack  to the rag doll, who admires Jack just for being himself.  It’s a bit sad for Jack when he tries to create the perfect Christmas and no-one appreciates his work. I also love The Corpse Bride but it’s not quite as good.

 

The Vintner’s Luck: The movie, the sequel

The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox is one of the great works of the imagination in New Zealand literature. Set in 19th century Burgundy, at the heart of the novel is the love between winemaker Sobran Jodeau and the angel Xas. It’s an utterly sumptuous read and there are TWO exciting pieces of news to report:

The sequel The Angel’s Cut is out now. Sexy angel Xas is back, and this time the setting is old Hollywood, 1929. Get your hold on a library copy, buy one, whatever it takes. And if you’ve read it already, let us know what you think.

And the NZ Film Commission has just released a trailer for the upcoming movie version of The Vintner’s Luck. The movie retains NZ roots - it’s directed by Niki Caro and stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Celeste. It looks to have a coolly lush style -and Gaspard Ulliel as  Xas looks startlingly handsome.

 

Nuclear Wintour – Film Festival choice

The New Zealand International Film Festival starts on July 30 giving Christchurch movie fans of all persuasions two weeks of fantastic film going. I was lucky go to the festival launch where the feature film was the documentary The September Issue.

Don’t miss this – you don’t need to be a fashionista to appreciate this behind the scenes look at the making of 2007 September issue of American Vogue. This is traditionally the fashion bible of the year with literally hundreds of pages. A whole fashion design and retail industry waits with bated breath to see what has been decreed by Anna Wintour (a.k.a Nuclear Wintour) the famously intimidating editor who was supposedly the inspiration for Meryl Streep’s performance in The Devil Wears Prada. The other leading player in the documentary is the former model Grace Coddington who is the creative editor of American Vogue. The dynamic between these two women is worth seeing.

Anna famously hides behind dark glasses and a poker face and sometimes only the most subtle flicker on her face or slight change of body language gives you a clue as to what she is thinking. Needless to say her employees are highly tuned to watch for these signs. Anna does reveal – either deliberately or unwittingly a bit about herself. The intimidating personna is definitely how she keeps herself at the top of the tree – defying the world to question her judgement – but how much it is genuinely her or how much she has changed and come to be the persona she created I don’t know. Anyway a great night out at the movies.

 

What’s your favourite children’s movie?

Being a big kid at heart I love children’s movies.  I have to say I’m definitely more of a fan of the old school style of movie making rather than the computer animated variety which seems to have taken over our movie screens.  To my way of thinking you really can’t beat Dick Van Dyke leaping around singing away cheerfully.  I grew up on classics such as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and nothing made in recent times seems to even come close to those musical masterpieces.  My parents got some really strange children’s movies out from the library and video stores for me when I was a kid – sci-fi classics such as The Last Starfighter and Flight of the Navigator – but I loved them and still do to this day.

My all-time favourite children’s movie has to be The Princess Bride.  I’ve actually lost count of how many times I’ve seen this movie and can quote it verbatim.  I even own a t-shirt with Inigo Montoya on it quoting one of my favourite lines from the movie ‘My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father. Prepare to die.’

My top 5 are:

1. The Princess Bride

2. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

3. Mary Poppins

4. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original musical version)

5. The Goonies

I’d really like to get other people’s opinions on what their favourite children’s movies are so please post a comment and let me know.