Adaptation: Game of Thrones

Dragons! Dragons!

I really enjoyed season one of Game of Thrones; I looked forward to watching a new episode every Sunday night. The second season, well, came and went and I don't believe I watched more than maybe 30 minutes...tops. I blame the lack of Sean Bean for my disinterest.

This trailer has my interest returning, as it looks like Jon Snow is going to get more involved. Maybe?? I'd probably know if I read the books but that is just not going to happen. Guess I'll just have to tune and find out on March 31!

Adaptation: No Place On Earth

This looks like a powerful documentary, providing a new twist to the Holocaust narratives. Can you imagine living in a cave for a year and half?

"And I look up, and I see a star." Ahhh, incredible.

Adaptation: World War Z

I've heard really great comments about Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War so was intrigued where this would hit with the recent surgence in zombie-based films and television shows. Based on this trailer, I'm not too intrigued anymore. I haven't read the book but is it as trite as this trailer makes it seem?

Adaptation: "Just the facts, Ma'am": L.A. Confidential on Screen

When it was announced that a film would be made of James Ellroy’s fantastic novel of crime and corruption in Los Angeles during the 1950’s, it seemed a ridiculous undertaking. The novel is huge in scope and it seemed heresy to cut any storyline for a two hour film. With a plot so intricately wound around its characters it would certainly fall apart within the Hollywood machinery. However, this was not to be the case in the hands of screenwriter Brian Hegleland and the eyes of director Curtis Hanson. What was to be a disaster turned out to be perhaps one of the greatest noir crime dramas ever put on celluloid in the past fifty years.

L.A.Confidential is a hard-hitting, spare-no-mercy exploration of the crime and corruption dogging the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), where framing suspects, destroying and creating evidence, and banking some on the side is all in a day’s work.

The story begins with the murder of crime lord Mickey Cohen and the subsequent theft of a sizeable amount of his heroin (25 lbs to be exact). Through this initial story turn, the audience is introduced to the three main characters: Wendell “Bud” White, Edmund Exley, and Jack Vincennes. From here the story spirals into the Night Owl Murders, an event bringing all three officers into contact with each through a web of side plots and independent investigations. Out of this tangled web we become aware of large-scale corruption in the District Attorney’s office and the police department, a prostitution ring, and a racially motivated framing of suspects.

What really makes this tale exhilarating are the performances, in particular those of the three lead characters. Bud White (played by the always astonishing Russell Crowe) is all muscle and no brain, at least in the eyes of his superior officer, Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell). Beyond his rough exterior, the audience gets glimpses of White’s unabashed instinct to protect women. This instinct leads him to Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger in a role tailor-made for her), a high-class call-girl who pushes all White’s protector buttons and who believes in his ability to follow his hunches regarding the resolution of the Night Owl Murders.



Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a career cop also serving out the Hollywood dream by being a consultant for a popular cop television show. He is all flash and charm, working with a low-time paparazzi Sid Hutchins (Danny Devito) to setup actors and actresses for good copy and a fifty dollar pay off. Involved in a police station brawl, Vincennes is demoted to vice squad and taken off the television show as punishment. In vice he comes across a folder of pornographic materials with a fleur de lys (‘whatever you desire’) logo embossed on the cover. This symbol matches a business card he found during one of his busts and he sets out to find out what is behind the symbol.

Also involved in the police station brawl is Ed Exley (Guy Pierce), an idealistic young officer looking to move beyond the shadow of his father’s legacy. He finesses his involvement in the brawl to secure a position in the detective unit, a shrewd move not well-received by his fellow colleagues. Exley’s first night on the job has him tagged to investigate the Night Owl Murders.

Moral confusion is the centerpiece of this story, played out through the subtle adjustments each of these characters must make to their individual moral codes as the investigations unfold. White walks a fine line of brutality and sensitivity, with the former strangling him from the inside out in his role as Captain Smith’s enforcer and the latter fueling his attraction to Lynn. Vincennes sold-out a long time ago to be part of the cult of celebrity but ultimately finds a path of redemption, a path he unfortunately only discovers at the moment of his dying breath. It is his voicing of the cue “Rollo Tamasi” which triggers the collision of the moral codes of these three characters narratively and sets into motion the physical and psychological showdown at the Victory Motel.

And it is at the Victory Motel where Exley’s struggles with doing what appears to be morally right in contrast to those around him sharply resolves into an acceptance that the only way to do what is right in the long term or big picture is to sometimes do what is potentially wrong in the present. The result of this resolution is evident in how he handles the aftermath of the gripping and explosive showdown. The lesson learned here—for him and for the audience—is ideal justice is not always so ideal or just when the heroes and villains are indistinguishable.

Attempting to visualize morality and all its complications may seem an easy feat when couched in extremes such as violence. The audience “knows” it is wrong to hang someone out an open window or setup drug busts for money. But the audience has to feel it is wrong and also somewhat right for a particular character to take such actions. It is in navigating this sketchy terrain where a clever script must be equaled or bettered by clever casting and clever directing, as is the case here.

Crowe is as good as it gets by infusing a winning combination of roughness and vulnerability to flesh out White’s demons and angels. It is still stunning he was overlooked for awards glory with this performance. Pierce is brilliant as the ambitious yet skittish Exley. Kevin Spacey nails the self-loathing and self-satisfaction of Vincennes. Not surprisingly, the film crackles with intensity whenever there is interaction between any of the three leads.



Basinger was the sole actor in the film singled out for their work and rightfully so. The character could have easily turned into just another bombshell caricature but Basinger keeps Lynn bruised but not broken. Basinger’s approach plays beautifully into the relationship between Lynn and Bud, a relationship rendered as a delicate dance between two emotionally and physically damaged people learning to expose their wounds and vulnerabilities.

All of the actors are grandly assisted by the commanding yet unintrusive presence of Hanson. This skill is best displayed in the quieter moments, the moments that come to signify the turning points for each of the lead characters. Vincennes decision to leave a payoff on the bar is powerful in its simplicity without being maudlin. But Hanson is equally deft at capturing the bombastic as is evident in the scenes at the Victory Motel. Flashes of body parts, slippery figures in shadow and reflections, punctuations of gunfire come together to compose an artistic experience like no other.

L.A. Confidential is a study in moral complexity, emotional ambiguity, psychological depth. It is a classic tale of brains vs. brawn and the achievements and destruction to be wrought when the two clash. It is a narrative requiring an audience to pay attention to the details, to think through what is and what isn’t being presented, and to determine what they would do in these situations. It is an anything but basic Hollywood film that is still highly entertaining and invigorating after repeated viewings.

"And," in the words of Lynn Bracken, “that’s all the news that’s fit to print.”

Adaptation: The Impossible

Based on a true story....let the tears begin!

Adaptation: The Hobbit

"I'm going on an adventure."

"And he gives me courage"

"Your home is now behind you. The world is ahead."

I've never read The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings. But I was mightily drawn into the films for the latter, so have somewhat high hopes for this one.

Adaptation: Rise of the Guardians

Although based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood series, this story takes place about 200 years after that series. The focus of the film is on the Guardians (Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman) enlisting the help of Jack Frost to stop the Bogeyman.

Hahaha - I laughed just reading the basic plot though I know it is meant as a darker tale. Looks to be good entertainment for the holiday season!

Adaptation: The Central Park Five

Documentary Synopsis:
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers were arrested and charged for brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling it “the crime of the century.” But the truth about what really happened didn’t become clear until after the five had spent years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. With THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE, this story of injustice finally gets the telling it deserves. Based on Sara Burns best-selling book and co-directed by her husband David McMahon and father, filmmaker Ken Burns, this incendiary film traces tells the riveting tale of innocent young men scapegoated for a heinous crime, and serves as a mirror for our times.

Adaptation: Zero Dark Thirty

I've been trying to decide how I feel about this film. I enjoy the director and her storytelling abilities, but the story itself is not really all that appealing. I understand why it is for so many, but I get hung up on political machinations of it all. I do admire the hell out of the people who actually executed the mission. And if they feel the film is 'accurate' then who am I to disagree?

Adaptation: Life of Pi

Really curious about this one, though am confident Ang Lee will have it well in hand.

Adaptation: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, and with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, and Bill Nighy heading the cast it looks like a winner!

Adaptation: Payback

A new documentary based on Margaret Atwood's bestselling book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. The documentary offers a look at debt as a mental construct and traces how it influences relationships, societies, governing structures and the fate of the planet. Will definitely check this out once released. Though, Atwood's emphasis on over-enunciating 's' drives me crazy!

Adaptation: What To Expect When You're Expecting

I have no interest in this movie, but know more than a few people that are so thought I'd post the trailer. I don't see the appeal but sure it will pull in millions and millions!

Adaptation: Mirror Mirror

This adaptation holds zero interest for me but perhaps there is an audience out there for it...somewhere.

Adaptation: The Deep Blue Sea

Based on British playwright Terence Rattigan's 1952 play, "The Deep Blue Sea" centres on the wife of a British Judge who is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot. This doesn't sound very appealing (and the trailer is not that great), I suppose, but the role of Hester Collyer is considered one of the greatest in theatre. It will be curious to see how well the character translates to the screen, and how well Rachael Weisz can inhibit her.

Adaptation: Jack the Giant Killer

This looks kind of nifty!

Adaptation: Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

This aired opposite The Grammy's this past Sunday, so thinking a lot of people missed it. Not a bad production of a great Canadian novel (hard to believe it was published 100 hundred years; still relevant today!).

Adaptation: John Carter

"You are ugly, but you are beautiful."

In the film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' pulp series, former Confederate captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is transported to Mars ("Barsoom"). There he becomes part of a conflict between the various nations of the planet, whose leaders include Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). Carter takes it upon himself to save Barsoom and its people.

Adaptation: Salmon Fishing in Yemen

A fisheries scientist finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the wadis of the Highlands of Yemen, and change British political history and the course of his life.

Mmmmm.....Lasse Hallstrom and Ewan McGregor. Seems like an irresistible combination!

Adaptation: We Need To Talk About Kevin

This novel still haunts me. I don't necessarily want to see this adaptation because the visuals and narrative I created in my own mind are so powerful and disturbing. To see them potentially rendered on widescreen scares me. And yet, I am comforted by Tilda Swinton playing the lead character as that is exactly who it should be. This is going to be tough and perhaps I need to ensure ample distance between the time of novel reading and that of the film watching.