Sunday, February 10, 2013

The Teen Menu

Welcome to the February edition of The Teen Menu.

YA News

Indiewire recently reported that Kate Winslet is the latest addition to the cast of next year's Divergent, based on the novel by Veronica Roth. Shailene Woodley had already been cast as the film's lead.

Lauren Kate's Fallen is being made into a movie, and though there is no information about release date or even when filming will begin there is news on a director. That spot goes to Scott Hicks, director of Shine.

Fox has ordered a television pilot based on Lauren Oliver's YA novel, Delirium.

Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson have been cast to star in the film adaptation of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. And French-Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse has won the lead role as Liesel. This was a marvelous book with incredibly beautiful writing, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the movie compares.

It's only four days until the premiere of Beautiful Creatures, based on the YA novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The trailers have looked awesome, and I plan to treat myself to seeing the movie as soon as I meet my book deadline this month.

YA Reviews

And speaking of my book deadline, that's one of the reasons I haven't had time to read a YA novel this month. Instead, I'm going to share my thoughts on the movie adaptation of Warm Bodies. In three words, I loved it! They have made some changes from the book, but I actually like the changes. And I can see where the changes would make sense for a movie versus a book, making it perhaps more marketable to the huge audiences that have flocked to movie theaters for other movies based on YA novels such as Twilight and The Hunger Games. Because, let's face it, that's why movie studios are snatching up rights to popular YA books -- they're hoping to replicate the success seen by those other YA properties.

The test for how much I love a movie is whether I'm willing to buy the DVD when it comes out. I only do so if I love and adore the movie and plan to watch it repeatedly. I will be buying Warm Bodies. I like the different take on zombies, the deeper messages that are there for everyone's own interpretation, the sweet rom-com aspect to the film, and most especially the performance by Nicholas Hoult as R. Especially early in the movie, he doesn't say much except in voiceovers. But he is able to convey so much emotion with just facial expressions and his eyes. That's the mark of a very good actor. So if you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to do so even if you haven't read the book.

6 comments:

  1. THE BOOK THIEF was a remarkable read. Keen to see how this adapts.

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  2. Thanks, Trish! Sharing all of your info with the 17 yr old visiting this weekend. Much excitement! :)

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  3. I'm always of two minds about a movie of a book I have especially loved. On the one hand, it's exciting to see the story adapted for another medium. On the other, I've been disappointed with film adaptations so often that I'm leery. Even so, I'll be there when The Book Thief opens, hopeful that the movie will prove to be as extraordinary as the book.

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  4. Lots of good stuff to look forward to! I'm not really a zombie girl, but I have to admit Warm Bodies looks good.

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  5. Hi, Trish! I am so glad to hear Geoffrey Rush is cast in THE BOOK THIEF. I love him!

    Thanks for your review on Warm Bodies. I smile every time I see a commercial for it because it looks really cute! I look forward to seeing it. :)

    P.S. WALKING DEAD returns tonight!!!!!

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  6. Hey, everyone. Sorry I was absent during the day. I was working and then went to a Lacuna Coil concert with a friend last night. Thanks for all the comments.

    Janga, I know what you mean. I just go into movies based on books knowing that it's a different medium, and what works well in a book doesn't always work well on screen if changes aren't made. So I'm usually happy unless they just totally butcher something.

    Andrea, I just watched The Walking Dead after I got home from the concert. Going to watch Talking Dead now.

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