Classic books and films

Just a quick post today..

Two of my favourite Classic books and films - (you just can't beat some of the classics)

A Tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith *Book *Movie

To Kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee *Book *Movie

There are some interesting blogs and sites available online about Classic book titles adapted into film.. here is one to try out

Classic books on film

The Time Traveler's wife (or Traveller's)

The Time Traveler's Wife - Trailer
Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana Star

This film is based on the book of the same title by Audrey Niffenegger. This is a wonderful book and I am looking forward to the release of the movie later this year.

The Time Traveler's Wife Rachel McAdams Eric Bana | Movie Trailers

Harry Potter

While we eagerly await the next release of the Harry Potter movie, (Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince) which is based on book 6 of the series, I thought I would list the first book (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and movie which were amazing.

The film did closely follow the storyline of the book. The film(s) are based on the fantasy series by British author J. K. Rowling.

Harry Potter is an eleven-year-old boy. As a baby, he had been attacked by evil wizard Lord Voldemort who killed his parents. He went live with his aunt and uncle. Eleven years later, when his powers are developing Harry attends his first year of Hogwarts, the School for wizards and witches.

Marley and me!

Continuing on from my previous post..

Marley & Me by John Grogan

The Book

I loved this book. It was heart warming, heart wrenching and funny all rolled up in one story.
The book portrays Grogan and his family's life during the thirteen years that they lived with their dog Marley. Marley is a yellow Labrador Retriever, is described as a highly strung, boisterous, and somewhat uncontrollable dog. Like all puppies, Marley is powerful, endlessly hungry, very active and playfully destructive. His acts and behaviors are usually forgiven, as it is clear that he has a heart of gold and is just adorable.

The Movie

Crew List

Directed By: David Frankel
Screenplay By: Scott Frank and Don Roos
Based on the Book By: John Grogan
Producers: Karen Rosenfelt and Gil Netter
Executive Producers: Arnon Milchan and Joe Caracciolo Jr
Director of Photography: Florian Ballhaus
Production Designer: Stuart Wurtzel
Editor: Mark Livolsi
Music By: Theodore Shapiro

Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2008
Genres: Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language

Studio: 20th Century Fox

20th Jun 09: I have just finished watching this on Dvd. A not bad representation of the novel, but I did get a lot more out of reading the book than seeing the movie. More laughs and more tears. The loss of Marley was the tear jerking part of the movie.

Books and Movies lists

Selected list of books turned into movies during 2008:

1. 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink *

The book:

'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink was first published in Germany in 1995 and the United States in 1997.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is the story of 15-year-old Michael Berg, who has an affair with Hanna, a woman more than twice his age. One day she disappears, and he expects to never see her again. Years later, he runs into her at a trial where she is accused of a Nazi crime.

The movie:
The Cast:
Kate Winslet - 'Hanna Schmitz'
David Kross - 'Young Michael Berg'
Ralph Fiennes - 'Michael Berg'
Lena Olin - 'Rose Mather/Ilana Mather
Bruno Ganz - 'Professor Rohl'

The Crew List:
Directed By: Stephen Daldry
Written By: David Hare
Based on the Book By: Bernhard Schlink
Producers: Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris
Executive Producers: Bob and Harvey Weinstein
*yet to read the book or see the movie.
Please leave a comment if you have seen the movie or read the book!

2. 'Slumdog Millionaire' by Vikas Swarup
3. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer
5. 'Marley & Me' by John Grogan
6. 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd
7. 'Nights in Rodanthe' by Nicholas Sparks
8. 'Prince Caspian' by C.S. Lewis
9. 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Philippa Gregory
10. 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace

Folksonomies & Tagging

Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is a great site that lets you save bookmarks to a central location. This makes it so easy when working or moving around on multiple pcs. Tagging your bookmarks make it a social event and easy for others to find similar bookmarks.


LibraryThing

I have been a member of Library Thing for some time now and love the reading community there. Library Thing is an online catalogue of your own book collection and that of others.

Books can be given tags that allow you to link to other members with the same books. Also link to similar type book titles and authors. It is great to discuss with others what they are reading and find other reading suggestions. You can find me as member name leany17.

As you will see from my Library Thing widget, I am a Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan. One of my favourite Stephen King stories adpated into a movie is : The Shawshank Redemption. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins were excellent in their portrayals in the film. This film was taken from Different Seasons which is a collection of novellas.

Different Seasons contains four stories: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, The Body, and The Breathing Method. Each story is given a subtitle, one for each season of the year. Three movies, The Shawshank Redemption (based on Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption), Apt Pupil, and Stand By Me (based on The Body), were made based on the stories from this book.

I am also listed under Shelfari also as leany17.

While I don't get on both of these sites as often as I would like, I really enjoy being part of both. I have made friends with people across the globe who enjoy reading.

Another site for sharing books is Bookcrossing. The world's biggest free bookclub - Put simply this is where members, can exchange, pass on or give away books that they have read and no longer wish to keep or perhaps want returned to them after others have finished reading the book.

RSS feeds

RSS feeds and newsreaders.
Why should I use it?
It puts you in control of the information you receive - you only need visit one website as opposed to several that you want to follow. You can subscribe and unsubscribe easily. It helps eliminate spam emails, and being overwhelmed with extra emails.

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually.

What sites did you select for your RSS reader:

The annoyed librarian

Digital trends

Furious horses

Opal Training

Quit your day job

Libraries Interact

Books, Blogs, and Beyond

books-made-into-movies

The movie blog

Twittercism

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work?
A few ways Libraries may use RSS

1. Create an RSS feed for new additions to the online catalog.

2. Create an RSS feed for new programs and events posted on the library website.

3. Create an RSS feed for press releases and other media advisories.

4. Create an RSS feed for library job openings.

5. Subscribe to a few professional RSS feeds and share with library staff on the library intranet.


How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
I found this great little clip...

http://www.slideshare.net/sukhi/rss-and-its-use-in-libraries

Did you find any good examples of other library blogs?

Mosman Library

Adelaide City Library

Test Drive #4 Social networking

This is a fun way to catch up with family and friends, old and new. I recently made contact with an friend from high school that I had lost contact with., through Facebook. Now trying to put this into the theme of my blog has made me think hard. (plus over the last couple of weeks have been waylaid with no PC and the flu).

I love Facebook - it is a great way to keep in contact with family that is a distance away to prevent regular catchups. Twitter is a quick enjoyable way to know what is happening now.

Both of these social networking avenues provide contact with just about anyone and anything that have influence in your life. I have a condition called neurofibromatosis and have made contact with many people worldwide that have the same condition.

I also am friends or a fan or booksites and authors on Facebook and Twitter. This provides me with current information on what is new and exiciting in new books. Authors on Twitter is great entertainment as well as letting us know what they are currently doing or working on.


Now for my book and movie: Something a bit different. Running with Scissors with Augesten Burroughs. I have chosen this because Augusten Burroughs has a profile on Facebook and regularly using Twitter @augusten.

Running with Scissors is a memoir from Augesten Burroughs. It is an story that will make you weep, laugh and draw on almost every human emotion.

Find out more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_with_Scissors_(memoir)



For information on the movie go to http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/runningwithscissors/

Test drive #3 Wikis

I am trying to keep to my theme on Books and Movies. I have chosen a more recent series of book that has become a bit of a phenomenon similar to the Harry Potter series. Twilight while orginally seen as a teenage readers book, has become widely read by all age groups. The book is based around a young teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. Is this love doomed? You need to read the series to find that out!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

For information on the books try

Twilight (series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and for something more fan based

Twilight Saga Wiki

Twilight the movie

Test drive #2 Photo sharing

Vivien Leigh & Thomas Mitchell in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Originally uploaded by cinema_lasuperlativ2

GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
Synopsis: Published in 1936, GONE WITH THE WIND sold 50,000 copies on its first day, and two million after a year. GONE WITH THE WIND is a sweeping account of how the Civil War tore apart an entire way of life, and Scarlett O'Hara is one of the most enduring characters in American fiction.

See the Story behind "Gone with the wind"

I personally love this movie, and still cry everytime I watch it, which isn't often due to its long length. The costumes are amazing.


Searching for photos on Flickr can lead you on different avenues. I searched orginally for Gone with the wind and found some amazing photos which have nothing to do with the movie. Some of the images available for viewing and sharing on Flickr are incredible.

April 2009 Test drive #1 Blogs

It has been a while since I logged on and did anything to this blog.



Work and family keeps me fairly busy but i thought I would try and incorporate a bit of my original blog I wanted to setup and this one.



I love reading and going to the movies, so naturally this brings me to movies based on books. How do they rate??

One of the best portrayals I have seen is "The Kite Runner" Khaled Hosseini.


"In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It's a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day's victory, one boy's fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. Now, after twenty years of living in America, Amir returns to a perilous Afghanistan under the Taliban's iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right."

This is an amazing story and a very good adaption to the big screen (2007).