The Jane Austen Book Club

There are constantly news of books being adapted for film, and some are great ideas while others make me wary. There are loads of bad adaptations (remember Suburban Girl based on Melissa Bank's The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Yeah, most people don't.) and a few examples of the opposite (The Jane Austen Book Club made for a better movie than book, in my opinion).

So while the risks are high, the results hit-or-miss, Hollywood consistently turns to the bookshelf for new ideas. What stories have you been able to easily envision on the big screen? I have always thought the epic page-turner I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb would make a great movie (and apparently there's one in development, but details are vague). Also, earth to Hollywood: Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed would make a great movie with a relatable protagonist — and it already has a fan base to boot. So what is the hold up? I know Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper is being adapted, though I also think Vanishing Acts would translate well to screen. Finally, the whole time I was reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I could see it played out as a movie — though it would need a director with a brilliant, artful eye.

What books do you think would do well on the silver screen?

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Since we now have an outline of the main characters for the rumored 90210 spinoff, my brain can't stop thinking about who might be cast in these roles. While these new characters have updated traits and hobbies (emo! YouTube!) they are, as some have pointed out, more or less the new versions of the original cast. While we all have our old favorites, I think it's really fun imagining the young stars who could play these updated versions of the original Kelly, Brenda, Donna, etc. Also, some of the original 90210 actors were, like, 30 years old when they played teenagers so I'm going to expand my own fictional casting reach as such.

For example, I could totally see Kristen Stewart (In the Land of Women, Into the Wild) as Annie, the emo girl looking to get popular, and Victor Razuk (Lords of Dogtown, upcoming Stop-Loss) as her adopted bad-boy brother, Dixon. I loved Kevin Zegers in The Jane Austen Book Club and could see him as the jock. Also, this Nickelodeon actress screams Daphne Silver to me. What do you think? Any hot young stars come to mind to fill these slots?

For a reminder of all the new characters and their descriptions, and to tell me who you're thinking could play them, read more

I was totally right about The Jane Austen Book Club: It makes a far better movie than it did a book — though yes, I'm aware that Austen herself would blanch at my saying that about any written work. In this situation, however, we don't particularly need to know the inner workings of these characters' emotional lives. We don't need to read their thoughts. The intersecting stories of five women — and one man — who make up the Jane Austen Book Club are interesting enough on the surface to sustain a movie. All told, The Jane Austen Book Club is now one of my favorite movies of 2007.

The film's premise keeps it going at a nice steady clip: six people form a book club devoted to reading Austen's six novels over the course of six months. Bernadette (Kathy Baker) is a boisterous, life-loving older woman who has been married several times and has a warm way of making friends with everyone. Her friend Jocelyn (Maria Bello) is an unmarried successful dog breeder, and Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) is struggling to understand the unraveling of her marriage. Sylvia's daughter is the adventurous Allegra (Maggie Grace), a lesbian jewelery-maker. Rounding out the club is the controlling high school French teacher Prudie (Emily Blunt) and the lone male of the group: the sweet and energetic Grigg (Hugh Dancy).

How (and why) do I love thee, Jane Austen Book Club? I will count the ways (wrong writer, I know, just go with it) if you read more

Well it's September, folks, and the summertime movie season is officially over. Now we have a whole new crop of films to check out in the coming chillier months, so in preparation for that, I'm giving you little glimpses of this fall and winter's must-see movies with my Fall Movie Preview series. Today's roundup: films for and about the ladies.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This absolutely luscious-looking film brings together two gorgeous actors, Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen, for the follow-up to the 1998 period piece Elizabeth. This story follows the Queen Elizabeth's (Blanchett) relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen). Check out the beautiful trailer before The Golden Age hits theaters October 12.

More lady stuff if you read more

First off, I got through this entire trailer for The Jane Austen Book Club, which opens in limited release September 21, without realizing Emily Blunt is playing the lead with the bobbed haircut. With her American accent and lack of pretense she is simply transformed. Secondly, she has this exchange which made me laugh out loud:

Man: High school is over.
Emily Blunt, tearfully: High school is never over!

Finally, this is one case in which the movie looks more intriguing than the book was. I'm not sure what it was about the book, exactly, I just found it to be a little on the bland side — though I enjoyed the way author Karen Joy Fowler structured the novel around Jane Austen's works. That aspect worked quite nicely.

This looks like it just might successfully accomplish what Evening failed to do: Make a rich, compelling and entertaining woman-led movie based on a novel. My high hopes from Evening have officially been transferred to The Jane Austen Book Club, so to see what I'm talking about, read more