David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas seems like a lovely read. It really does. And maybe someday I'll get to experience it.
Instead, I watched this:
A truly confusing 2 hours and 52 minutes (WHAT!) of my life, it was a film that chronicled stories from six different periods of time in which the same actors appear and reappear as different characters who are connected in various ways. In spite of some admirable efforts by actors like Tom Hanks and Jim Broadbent, I couldn't bring myself to be emotionally invested in most of the six plotlines because we weren't allowed more than TWO SECONDS at a time with any of them. This film does get props for being an ambitious and unique voice in a Hollywood that is currently producing such treasures as The Smurfs 2 (please direct your attention to www.smurfhappens.com). But I'm still pretty sure this is just one more case to add to the already extensive the Book Was Better file.
I'm sorry, David Mitchell. I'm sorry, bloggers. My penance?
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| I had to stare at all of these Hugo Weavings. Especially that one on the top right. |
And now so did you.
-Meg
Don't apologize! I am a firm believer in movies before books now. If I read the book first, I'll never like the movie. But as with Stardust, Princess Bride, and Memoirs of a Geisha, if I see the MOVIE first then I might like both! (Unless it's truly terrible. Like A Wrinkle in Time)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, what a genius thing to say! I never thought of it that way before, but you're right, when I read the book first, I DO tend to be more snobby about whether the movie stays canon. Thanks for helping me look on the bright side! :)
DeleteI do this alot - mostly because often I don't even realize the movie I'm seeing was based on a book.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Cloud Atlas is just as confusing in book form. And if not - then that is one of my pet peeves. I can't stand movies that assume you've read the book.
Love all the creepy Hugo Weavings!
Book to movie adaptations are SO hard to get right. But it seems like Hollywood has been running out of good, original ideas for movies so they just keep doing it! Haha glad you enjoyed the Hugos. The bottom right one has been haunting my nightmares...
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