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Movie adaptations of books. Hit or Miss? Let’s talk about it

 


Movie adaptations of books. Hmm. Don’t judge me but I have both read and watched Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a trilogy. I read all the books and watched all three movies. Now, A for effort but like a C- for effectiveness it had on my heart. I said it in my last book review and I’ll say it again – expecting some differences from book to movie is normal but expecting it to be exactly pitch perfect is just silly. She says whilst expecting the movie to be exactly like the book word to word, scene to scene. Talk about hypocrisy.

Movies will never match the mind of a reader hence why I’m a little apprehensive – but still totally watching – It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. I know. Three posts around the same author in one week – sue me. Justin Baldoni is the director of it as well as the one who will be portraying Ryle in the movie. I’ve seen a lot of behind the scenes thanks to things like Instagram and TikTok. It looks great and whilst I’m thankful for social media that gives us sneak peaks, it sets unreasonably high expectations. The feelings I had when the release date moved was unexplainable. Fingers crossed it just means a better movie than expected and if not, then who cares; Blake freaking Lively is in it!

Justin Baldoni. Why can I not get him out of my head? Because I’ve been seeing the blinking behind the scenes snippets all over Instagram and though I hate like hate! Mr Neurosurgeon Ryle with every fibre in my body, the punk was splendid in the first half of It Ends with Us so now I can’t stop picturing Lily Bloom and Ryle and all the cute moments they had because someone’s anger – name starts with an R and rhymes with pile – ruined it all; cue music It all fell down, it all fell down, it all fell do-o-ownn.

I didn’t even pay attention to Justin Baldoni that much before the sneak peaks. That movie probably will never hit the spot like the book but my biased ass will say that it does. I don’t care what anyone says, that casting is making more and more sense. I don’t know how the one who directs it can also play a main lead in the movie because like who is going to criticise your acting? No one. I like how we think Justin. It’s an obsession when the story really pulls at my heart strings. Ask me in a week. It will be null and void.

*No, it won’t*

Fox Thornton written by none other than Tessa Bailey had me in my feelings for so long I forgot my own name. When the news broke that It Happened One Summer was set to come to the big screen, I wasn’t overly excited but then I was like oh so there’s a possibility that Hook, Line & Sinker aka Fox and Hannah could come to the big screens and that got me overstimulated. Although I loved both love-stories from the series, I bonded more to the second one. Not to say I am not itching to see It Happened One Summer. I still expect it to be an astonishing movie making sure to capture the small-town romance with the right amount of rich girl socialite to burly bearded fisherman. It’s not easy to capture a hyped staple. I will be looking for all those small things but if they mess us Hannah Bellinger, Fox Thornton and those swooning little records, I will be writing letters. Long, detailed letters to make sure they know what they did to the BookTok, Bookstagram or whatever else we romance fiction readers spread words and love around on.

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas. Now you’re getting personal. Aaron Blackford cannot be portrayed wrong in any way, shape or form. If he is, we are going to have problems. Slow-burn reads always have you kicking your feet up and I have seen some great recreations of them in movies. I have this gut feeling that this movie is going to be a let-down before it even comes out. My goal is to become a Literary Agent not a director so you know my gut could be very messed up and wrong. Catalina Martin and Aaron Blackford are the office romance and way better than The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. The movie was just the cherry on top *note the sarcasm*. Capturing a slow-burn romance in a 1 hour something is just a means for a disaster. Especially, when that said book doesn’t get something right and that something is what I’m going to talk about soon.

Now something like Haunting Adeline & Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is what I would watch. Eventually, it’ll be made into a movie or a series. H.D. Carlton is a very thorough author. I don’t doubt her for a second. She will not let that movies release until it is exactly how Zade Meadows and Adeline should be. Even on her Instagram Q & A, when asked who should portray the characters, it’s a bang on representation. I’m not telling you who those actors are though. I’m sorry. You have to be a full on stan of her and follow her accounts to get the juicy information.

Ana Huang has written some of the greatest interconnected series of our times; The Twisted Series and The King of Sins Series. I don’t want these to come to the big screens. Somethings don’t need to be ruined. If it’s made into a series or a movie, it’s going to ruin it. There should be an unwritten rule that if the series has more than one book, don’t produce it. The same goes for Lauren Asher. No need to take the extra leap of faith. We finished on a good note. Let’s just leave it there.

Right let’s get onto the final segment within this post which is what do casting director sometimes get terribly wrong. The proof is in the pudding.

Casting. Why does everyone forget about getting the right? They get the location, the music, the outfits – sometimes – and every other little detail but the cast? Yeah, sometimes they get it wrong. Not like I put a little too much salt into the pasta sauce wrong. No. That is amendable. More like I dropped bleach in the sauce wrong. Like disastrous. Not amendable. There are times where it makes sense once the movie is done and released. Other times, it still doesn’t make sense after watching it twice or in some extreme cases just once.

Anastasia Steel was portrayed by Dakota Johnson and that was one of the most spot-on castings I have seen in such a long time. The wittiness of the character alongside the innocence was carried so beautifully by Dakota. Jamie Dornan did a grand job to but Dakota made you forget she was acting. Production of the movie aside, the casting was lovely throughout even down to that crazy lady in it who’s name I don’t care to remember much less search to find out.

All this movie talk got me thinking, I could never be an actress because I’d fall in love with whoever the male lead would be. Anyone remember Scandal? Yes, both Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington have significant others – hell Kerry was even pregnant one time throughout – and hats off to those significant others because what the hell? Where did that chemistry even come from? How did they depart on a daily basis without flirting? I am loyal to a fault. It’s not about loyalty it’s just like, how? For me, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. No cheating. We – including me – don’t cheat at games let alone on people. Watching my significant another kiss someone on screen or vice versa? Please. My inner child needs healing and that is not approved.

Light. I feel light getting all that off my chest.

What I’ve been trying to say this whole post is that words encapsulate love in a way that the eye very rarely is able to catch on too, much less experience. One mode allows you to create a world in your mind, free of judgments and despairs whilst the other leaves a marginally small but still existing view of it.

The end. From Vivian who is waiting for June to come along.

Read some paper pages but watch some to. Could be fun.

Vivian.

 Don’t forget to keep reading, because as long as you do, it’s making a struggling authors day that much better. Reach for the starts of success.

 


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