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‘Based on the Book’ Category

  1. World War Z Review

    May 20, 2013 by tiffany

    World War Z by Max Brooks will be hitting theatres this June as a film adaptation. By the looks of the trailer, the movie will be much different from the book, but since it stars Brad Pitt, we’ll give it extra points anyway ;-)

    World War Z approaches the event of a Zombie outbreak from a global standpoint through a series of interviews with survivors 10 years after the “war.” It presents the interviews in a chronological order, from those who witnessed the first outbreaks, to the spread of the infection, to the “Great Panic”, to government response, and eventually to the fight to eradicate the zombies and reclaim the planet. The types of people and their involvement vary greatly, which made it interesting, added a sense of humanity, and gave a thorough overview of what it would be like if a Zombie outbreak were to occur. Some of the cases I found most interesting include a “feral child” who presents a dramatic and moving re-enactment of her heartbreaking childhood experience, an old and blind Japanese man who survived by retreating to the mountains, a smuggler who worked to smuggle the infected out of China and aided in the disease’s spread, and a sharp shooter hired by a wealthy man to protect a mansion full of celebrities.

    So, if you like The Walking Dead and need that Zombie fix to tide you over until next season, give World War Z a try. You won’t be disappointed. Also recommended for those who like to read strong narratives, science fiction, horror stories, or apocalyptic fiction.


  2. Based on the Book

    April 11, 2013 by tiffany

    Well, after a few days of ice and snow, we’re back in business. I thought I would share a based on the book post today. The award winning movie Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Fields is based in part on the book Team of Rivals: the political genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The film focuses on the 16th president’s tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country, and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

    The DVD has recently been added to our collection and is available for checkout in addition to the Team of Rivals book by Goodwin.

     

     


  3. Based on the Book

    March 27, 2013 by tiffany

    A new adaptation of the classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is slated for release in May. It looks to be a visually stunning films, and we can only hope it will do this great novel justice! Copies of the novel are available here in the library and on Overdrive, if you’d like to refresh your memory of the story before you see the film. If you’ve never read this gem, I highly recommend it!

    Overview:

    In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write “something new–something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.” That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald’s finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author’s generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald’s–and his country’s–most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter–tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning–” Gatsby’s rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

    It’s also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby’s quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means–and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. “Her voice is full of money,” Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel’s more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy’s patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.


  4. Friday Matinee

    February 21, 2013 by tiffany

    This Friday’s matinee, showing at 1:00 p.m. is the Academy Award winning film The Help, based on the bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett. This will bring to a close our chronological journey through black history in celebration of Black History Month.

     


  5. Based on the Book

    January 30, 2013 by tiffany

    Safe Haven releases Valentine’s Day and is absed on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. Get yourself in the Valentine mind set by reading the book before catching the flick with your significant other or a group of your girl pals! Available in our collection under FIC SPA and on Overdrive as an ebook and audio book.

    “When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.”


  6. Based on the Book

    January 23, 2013 by tiffany

    The movie Lincoln has been making headlines with numerous Academy Award nominations. This movie was based on the books “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is available in our collection at call number 973.7092 GOO.

    We have also recently received a wonderful donation of books in memory of Judith Wilkie, many of which are about Abraham Lincolns and his life, most of which can be found at 973.7 in the history section.


  7. Based on the Book

    January 15, 2013 by tiffany

    The Gangster Squad is being released in theatres and is a harrowing narrative of murder and secrets, revenge and heroism in the City of Angels. It is based on the investigative reporting in Paul Lieberman’s book The Gangster Squad: covert cops, the mob and the battle for Los Angeles, and chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII.

    This book is available in our collection at 363.2595 LIE

     


  8. Based on the Book

    December 19, 2012 by tiffany

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is likely the most adapted books to screen story to hit the theatres and TV. Mr. Magoo, Bill Murray in Scrooged, Michael Caine in a Muppet’s Christmas Carol, and recently Jim Carrey in Disney’s A Christmas Carol, have all played the infamous miser Ebeneezer. We have three different movie versions available for checkout: Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, Disney’s a Christmas Carol, and the classic 1938 version.

    In addition to movies, we of course have the original classic as well as adaptations. Copies are available on audio, both on CD and on Overdrive, for your holiday travelling enjoyment as well!

    Here’s a clip from the newer Disney version, which is true original story.


  9. Based on the Book

    December 13, 2012 by tiffany

    As a fan of fantasy, especially The Hobbit, I am very excited about this weekend’s release of the first Hobbit movie. At first I was a little skeptical of the book, intended as a story for children, being broken up into three parts, but after doing a bit of reading as to why they chose to do this, I am even more excited te see the films! J.R.R. Tolkien had more material pertaining to the Hobbit and the story of the ring in Appendices in the Lord of the Rings. This material is to be added to the movies.

    The Hobbit releases this Friday. Copies of the book are available here in the library and on Overdrive.


  10. Based on the Book

    November 14, 2012 by tiffany

    This Friday, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga will come to a dramatic end as Breaking Dawn Part 2 hits theatres.

    If the movie isn’t enough to satisfy your Twilight cravings, try revisiting the series. We have multiple copies available!