BuzzSugar

What Book-to-Movie Changes Have Bugged You?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:30:07 -0700

In adapting a book for the big screen, adjustments are obviously necessary and often understandable - except when they're quite frustrating. Earlier this year the news came out that the My Sister's Keeper filmmakers were changing the end of the story for the film version, causing a bit of apprehension for fans of the Jodi Picoult novel. In my opinion, the change made sense for the film, but I also understand the loyalty people feel toward the source material.

Today there's more casting news for the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love (Billy Crudup will play Gilbert's husband) and the description of this character doesn't quite mesh with my memory of the book. Here's more:

Crudup will play Steven, who is married to Gilbert ([Julia] Roberts). His hopes to have children are dashed when her quest to get pregnant leaves her feeling she is not living the life she wants. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery around the world.

Granted, it's been a while since I read Eat Pray Love, but that's not how I remember her husband. I'd wondered if they'd include much of Gilbert's husband at all in the film, and I certainly didn't think he'd be painted as such a heartbroken victim. From reading the book, I didn't get the sense that he was much of a victim at all and it seems more than a little unfair to say that Gilbert "dashed his hopes" by wanting to do something for herself. Perhaps it's just an issue of wording within the news article, but it annoys me nonetheless.

Are there changes in film adaptations that have irritated you?

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Buzz News Roundup, 7/20

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:30:30 -0700

Jorja Fox will reprise her role as Sara Sidle on multiple episodes of CSI this Fall. - The Futon Critic
Angela's Ashes author Frank McCourt died Sunday at age 78. - AP
Viola Davis could play Julia Roberts' best friend in Eat, Pray, Love. - The Hollywood Reporter
Shaquille O'Neal will take on other top athletes in an ABC reality series called Shaq Vs. - USA Today
Life creator Rand Ravich will write the script for the new Twilight Zone movie. - Variety
Erika Christensen will guest star on the season premiere of Lie to Me. - Entertainment Weekly
Sony has bid $50 million for rights to distribute a film using footage of Michael Jackson's final rehearsals. - AP
Walter Cronkite's voice will keep introducing the CBS Evening News. - New York Times
Voltron could be the latest '80s TV show to be remade for the big screen. - ComingSoon

Javier Bardem Makes Me Interested to See Eat, Pray, Love

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:30:25 -0700

I'll admit I wasn't totally on board for the film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love when it was announced that Julia Roberts would play the lead role, memoir writer Elizabeth Gilbert. I like Roberts, but this seemed like some odd casting. Gradually, however, I've been warming to the project, as director Ryan Murphy (creator of Popular and Nip/Tuck, director of Running With Scissors) signed on, and Richard Jenkins was cast. Now that Javier Bardem is in talks to join the project, I'm full-on interested.

Bardem would play "Felipe, the man Gilbert meets and falls in love with on the final leg of a journey of self-discovery that began with the end of her marriage." In my opinion, Javier Bardem is sex on legs. I will watch pretty much anything he's in, and I look forward to seeing how he and Roberts play off one another. What do you think?

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Eat, Pray, Love Movie Gets Going With Richard Jenkins

BuzzSugar — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:30:25 -0700

Ryan Murphy is the creator of Popular and Nip/Tuck, writer/director of Running With Scissors and most recently the creator of Fox's high school chorus comedy Glee - and now he can add "director of Eat, Pray, Love" to his resume. And he won't just be working with Julia Roberts in the main role (as was announced back in 2006), he's got Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins to boss around as well. Here's more:

Based on the international bestseller by Elizabeth Gilbert, story centers on a married woman who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after trying to get pregnant and realizing that she's not living the life she wants. Murphy adapted the screenplay.

Jenkins will play a Texan whom Roberts' character befriends at an Indian ashram.

After at least two-and-a-half years of talking about this book-to-film adaptation, the ball is finally rolling. Say what you will about the book, it will probably make for an interesting story onscreen. Any thoughts on who should play the other "characters" from Gilbert's book? Do you think Roberts is a good pick to lead the show?

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Buzz In: Where Do You Want to Travel Because of a Book?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:30:31 -0700

There's been a serious tourism boom in a small town on the Washington State peninsula, Forks, because the popular young adult saga Twilight is set there. The "vampire tourism," as it's called, has given the "timber town where logging's decline left a graveyard of rusting timber mills and unemployment" a bit of a renaissance, thanks to the nearly 100 Twilight fans per day who come to see the real-life city where the spooky tale takes place. Tourists can pick up vampire-related souvenirs and even eat a "Bella Burger" at a local drive-in.

Although I'm not planning a trip to Forks anytime soon (though I've been camping in the Washington State rainforest and would highly recommend it), I have always had a funny urge to visit Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West. I've also heard about some folks putting together their own adventure abroad based on Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love. And does anyone else recall the fate that befell a group of Da Vinci Code fans at the hands of Adam Goldberg's character in 2 Days in Paris?

I'm curious: What places that you'd like to visit have you discovered through a book? Anyone headed to Forks?

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Buzz In: What Books Capture the Lives of Women in 2008?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:30:49 -0700

I saw a great Charlie Rose interview of Matthew Weiner (creator of Mad Men) and I learned some fascinating tidbits. My favorite is the fact that Weiner defers to two books as his guide to what women's lives in the 1960s must have been like: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown.

I can easily see the influence of Friedan's book in Betty's identity crises as a housewife, and Joan practically embodies the financially independent, swinging city gal that Gurley Brown so emphatically describes in her book.

In 40 years or so, if someone wanted to make an authentic TV series about the lives of women in 2008, what books should they read? They could, of course, include descriptions of the fashions of the time like gladiator sandals, tent dresses and apparently pegged jeans (?!). Or not.

One thought I had was Eat, Pray, Love, since I can't seem to ride a bus these days without spotting a woman with it on her lap. I know plenty of women don't like it, but it certainly resonates with enough of us. Fiction, memoir, guides to life - what books do you think capture the lives of American women in 2008?

Mad Men photos courtesy of AMC, source

Is Eat, Pray, Love Enlightening or Annoying?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:30:36 -0800

Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love has been a smash success, especially among women. Some readers have even embraced it as more of a self-help guide than one woman sharing her personal thoughts on life, love, and spirituality.

However, this kind of success often comes with a backlash, and some critics are claiming Gilbert ought to "get over herself." That strikes me as odd considering that a writer is, well, required to be a little self-absorbed when writing a memoir.

What do you think? Do you like Gilbert's book, or is it just a lot of navel-gazing nonsense?

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What's Buzzworthy: Great Travel Writing

BuzzSugar — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:30:00 -0700

In my last Buzzworthy challenge, I asked you to bookmark some of the best travel writing that could transport readers to cities and countries they might only dream of visiting. You responded with some great picks for places from Paris to Portland. Here are a few that I'm putting on my reading list:

Fugitives and Refugees by Chuck Palahniuk
Tagged by StefaPie, who said: "He's one of my absolute favorite authors, and this memoir/guidebook makes you want to go live in the world he's describing to the masses.
A memoir of his time in Portland that includes places to go, things to see, ways to get laid, and recipes from his favorite restaurants."

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light by David Downie
Demily tagged this book, calling it: "A really fresh, literary perspective of Paris from an American who lives there. Not at all the typical touristy-cliche travel writing that stereotypes Paris. It's great for anyone thinking of living there or visiting and wanting to see a different (local) perspective. Also, Downie is much more intellectual and sensual than most travel writers I have read. There is a good dose of history and many literary references. Over all, a really unique and sophisticated view of the city so many writers have generically romaniticized."

Three more great reads, plus a cool widget with all the picks, so read more

The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
Bookmarked by Advah, who wrote: "I stopped counting how many friends of mine thought of buying a motorcycle after reading that book. A classic."

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Lindsb had this to say about this book, which is also a favorite of mine: "This is such a great read. Very motivating. I wanted to travel to Bali as soon as I was done reading. It's definitely on my 'recommend' list."

The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian by Phil Doran
Chosen by Linda McP, who said: "For anyone traveling to Italy, especially to Tuscany, Doran's book is a must read. Moving from L.A. to a small Tuscan village challenges him to learn new customs and accept his new culture. In retelling his (mis)adventures, he provides an insider's view of Italy that can't be found in Fodor's."

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