Friday, October 23, 2009

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Book news, books-to-movies, and more!

* In the news this week *

Carol Denbow’s new marketing book A Book Inside

YA novel contest, with a twist Debbie’s World of Books

The war between WalMart and Amazon Straight From Hel

Benefits of attending the Muse Online Writer’s Conference Terry Lynn Johnson
Good stuff, Terry - congratulations!

Paul Krupin lists some of the biggest reviewers out there! Paul Krupin’s Trash Proof Marketing and Publicity Blog

A great book giveaway (plus a recipe!) Pudgy Penguins Perusals

And oodles more giveaways... Jo Jo Loves to Read

An awesome cookbook for us busy folks! Missy’s Book Nook

And the clearest example of how to use a while and awhile Crystal Clear Proofing

* Movie Corner *

Books-to-movies - the ones I DON'T want to see.

Where the Wild Things Are
Okay, first off, I must be the only one on the planet who didn't like this children's book. As a kid, I found it very creepy. And since they selected an 'odd' director, I bet the movie is even weirder. Ironically, while the critics have liked it, parents have voiced that their kids were either scared or bored with the film.

Full Moon
That's right, I am not a Twilight fan. For a vampire fix, I think I'd rather go see Cirque de Freak instead. I had a foster daughter who was hooked on those books and the storyline sounds more interesting.
At any rate, I've already seen the best horror-themed movie of the year - Zombieland!

A Christmas Carol
Yes, it looks visually amazing. But I still really like the 60's vesion. And in all honesty, I ADORE The Muppet's Christmas Carol! We watch it every Christmas Eve...

Books-to-movies - the ones I DO want to see.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader
It's not until next winter, but I can't wait for this book in the series to hit the screen. As long as they overcome the problems encountered in Prince Caspian, it should be really good. And it was always my favorite book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Hobbit
Okay, who's NOT excited for this one? With Peter Jackson writing the screenplay and Guillermo del Toro directing, it should be awesome. LOTR is the highest grossing trilogy ever for a reason and I'm sure The Hobbit will live up to the first three movies.

Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes? Okay, count me in! Same with Iron Man 2.

Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp - need I say more? I wonder what took them so long...

* Photo of the Day *


Since my husband and I will again be manning the rock wall at our church's fall fest, I thought I'd let you see Spunky scaling the wall as well!

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for the compliment and plug, Diane! I was so happy to see your comment that you "got it!"
:)

OMG my (sort of) fear of heights makes me nervous just looking at that picture! Sure looks like you're having fun, though!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I LOVE heights, so for me the experience is exhilarating! But the wall is only 30 feet tall, so it's not that big.
Next week I'll post photos of me on the bungee bounce!

The Old Silly said...

Ooooh, I wanna see the Hobbit, too!

Lotsa good shout outs here again, thanks Diane!

Marvin D Wilson

TerryLynnJohnson said...

Thanks for the shout out Diane!
I think the movie you're not wanting to see is New Moon? I'm with ya in Sherlock Holmes!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Thanks, Marvin!

Terry, I'm just not into Twilight, so I'll be skipping the New Moon movie. But gotta see Sherlock Holmes! It looks so quirky.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I'm definitely seeing Sherlock. Downey is fascinating to me--very flawed. As was Sherlock!

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Michelle (Red Headed Book Child) said...

I agree with you on the movies. Where the WIld Things are was not made for kids in mind. It was just made for some elitist "I want to be different" young director.

I am excited about Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland! Robert Downey Jr and Johnny Depp, you can't go wrong there!

Oh, thanks for following my blog. I am now following you!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Michelle, thanks for the follow! And your comment about Where The Wild Things Are nails it.

Karen, occasionally my body tries to remind me that I am not 20-something anymore, but I tend to ignore that warning. LOL!

Elizabeth, we'll have to compare Sherlock notes then!

Creative Chronicler said...

gReat takes on the upcoming movies. I'm with you on the Twilight ones. I love all things vampire but the last one was too slow, and unappealing. Besides I just can't get into a series that is a repeat of similar and better series that were published years before. The only non-similarities I have found so far is the sparkly skin of the vampires. I've never admired knock-offs. 9 Probably should run and hide so I don't get stoned by the millions of pre-teen girls who are hooked on them.

Definitely with you on the must see movies. On a sidenote, Syfy has an Alice mini-series coming on in December. Should be good.

And for those of you who love and can't get enough of our lovely, Crystal at Crystal Clear Proofing, I have an interview with her today on my blog. http://cc-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome-to-weekend-with-crystal-from.html

Helen Ginger said...

Look at you up there near the top! What strong arm muscles you have.

The movies you listed that you're looking forward to sound great. I don't keep up with movies, but they sound like ones I'd want to go see.

Thanks for mentioning my blog. Every day something seems to be happening with the book price war!

Helen
Straight From Hel

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Diane, I used to review movies for the Glendale News-Press. Still do twitter reviews (VERY short! Ha!) @frugalbookpromo, usually with lessons drawn from them for writers. So, there are very few movies I won't give a try. One I really didn't like was the Cohen brothers A Serious Man.

Best,
Blogging at Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites pick www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Allyn Evans said...

Muse It Online is a great event. Loved seeing you on the wall!

Tara McClendon said...

Great news for Terry Lynn. And the rest of it is interesting too.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

CC, what was the original series?

Thanks Helen and Tara! And Allyn, the Muse Conference was fun to do and a bit overwhelming!

Missy B. said...

Scale that wall, Girl! I have never tried it and I probably never will...scared of heights.

I loved Where The Wild Things Are as a kid, but have no desire to see the movie. I want to remember the book the way it was...movies sometime ruin the illusion.

Hope that you are having a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Diane,
The Hobbit was my favorite. I didn't know they were making a movie. Glad I dropped by & read your post.
Blessings,
Aday Kennedy

Creative Chronicler said...

I'm aging myself, but I started reading YA vampire series back in the late 80's. I'll have to go through my boxes to give you more specific ones, But off the top of my head LJ Smith is one. Even before her Vampire Diaries which are now becoming popular due to the CW's series. She wrote the Night World series. That ones sticks out for me because I posted a review of the first 9 books in that series a month or so ago to kick off BBAW. I'll look through my stuff and see if I can locate the names of the other series. The stories aren't identical but they have very similar themes and action.

Mike Douglas said...

As a Sherlock Holmes afficionado I wasn't sure whether to be appalled or elated then this movie was announced. Holmes as a comedic action figure? Robert Downey Jr.? Fans of The Great Detective looking for an accurate cinematic depiction of Doyle's work certainly won't find it here, but ... there's always the Granada series to fall back on for the purists. Heck, “Sherlock Holmes” looks like non-stop fun to me, so I'll err on the side of elation. Besides, to me Rachel McAdams will always be the woman.

I'm not at all interested in anything to do with “Twilight.” How dare they turn my beloved vampire mythos into a teenage soap opera? For modern vamps, give me a double shot of “True Blood” any day.

I always love reading your Movie Corner. I'm with you on everything here.