I ran across this movie on digital cable as well, so I thought it would be a good choice for my final book into feature film selection. As with the other two selections, I read the book first.
This was an interesting book - much darker than I thought it would be when I checked it out. The story is about a girl named Annabel and her family. The story begins with Annabel waking up in her mother's body. She isn't nearly as shocked or alarmed by it as I thought she should be. She goes through a day as her mother and learns a lot about herself in the process. She has to be responsible for her annoying kid brother Ben (aka Ape Face) and learns that he doesn't hate her. She also attends a parent-teacher conference and finds out what her teachers really think about her. At the end of the book, we learn that Annabel's mother is responsible for the switch and they trade identities. Annabel decides to change her ways.
Believe it or not, I actually preferred the movie to the book on this one! I watched the modern version with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. The writers made the story much more interesting because they explored the reactions of both Anna and her mother. The movie is really funny and they tie everything together nicely. I did notice that there are several subtle references to the book, such as the boy falling for the mother, Ben actually liking Anna, and Anna's realization that she needs to change her ways. The movie stuck to the general story but made it better, in my opinion.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Bridge to Terabithia
I noticed that this movie was on one of my digital cable channels a couple of weeks ago, so I recorded it so I could watch it for this course. I had never read the book before, so I was hoping our school library would have it. Luckily for me, it did.
Just like the last entry, I read the book before watching the movie. This book by Katherine Paterson won the 1978 Newbery Award. In the book, a young boy named Jess makes friends with his new neighbor named Leslie. Both children are picked on and they don't have many other friends. Together they discover a secret place in the forest, accessible by a swinging rope over a creek. Leslie encourages Jess to use his imagination and they create the magical land of Terabithia. One day, Jess doesn't go to Terabithia with Leslie and a terrible tragedy occurs. Jess has to figure out how to move on using the inner strength his friend helped him find.
The movie was actually quite similar to the book. A few details were changed but not enough to alter the main points of the story. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the computer animation of the creatures of Terabithia, but it did make the movie interesting. I think children would enjoy that part. I prefer the imaginative language of the book, however, because you can create your own picture in your mind. I enjoyed the young actors, although I thought the character of Leslie was not enough of a tomboy. I pictured someone different from the description in the book.
Overall, I enjoyed both the book and the movie. Although I didn't get this feeling from the book, the movie reminded me a bit of the movie My Girl. Both are stories about a best friend dying and leaving the other person to find their inner strength and move on.
Just like the last entry, I read the book before watching the movie. This book by Katherine Paterson won the 1978 Newbery Award. In the book, a young boy named Jess makes friends with his new neighbor named Leslie. Both children are picked on and they don't have many other friends. Together they discover a secret place in the forest, accessible by a swinging rope over a creek. Leslie encourages Jess to use his imagination and they create the magical land of Terabithia. One day, Jess doesn't go to Terabithia with Leslie and a terrible tragedy occurs. Jess has to figure out how to move on using the inner strength his friend helped him find.
The movie was actually quite similar to the book. A few details were changed but not enough to alter the main points of the story. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the computer animation of the creatures of Terabithia, but it did make the movie interesting. I think children would enjoy that part. I prefer the imaginative language of the book, however, because you can create your own picture in your mind. I enjoyed the young actors, although I thought the character of Leslie was not enough of a tomboy. I pictured someone different from the description in the book.
Overall, I enjoyed both the book and the movie. Although I didn't get this feeling from the book, the movie reminded me a bit of the movie My Girl. Both are stories about a best friend dying and leaving the other person to find their inner strength and move on.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Polar Express
I may be one of the only people who has never seen The Polar Express or read the book. I generally prefer original stories in books to movie adaptations so I started out by reading the book.
I really loved the simplicity of this story. The book makes its point (don't stop believing), but it doesn't dwell on it. This is a quick read, even for elementary students. I can imagine this book being a great bedtime story for my son, who will be born very soon!
As for the movie, I enjoyed it, but I felt like the story lost much of its simplicity in the adaptation. Several subplots were added, I guess to keep the movie interesting. I think I would have enjoyed it more had the writers stuck to the original story, even if it would have made the movie shorter. That being said, I'll talk about the positives. The animation is gorgeous. If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it for the animation quality alone. I watched one scene over and over because I couldn't believe computer animation could look so realistic. I liked the general idea of the movie as well. The original moral was still intact, but the new characters resolved their conflicts in a way that made you happy for them as well. One final note on the movie - I thought the songs were a little bizarre and out of place, but I think children would probably enjoy them.
It's pretty obvious that I vastly prefer the book to the movie. The book forces readers to use their imagination while the movie spoon feeds the imagery to you. As I said before, I really appreciate the book's simple and powerful message and I feel like that simple message gets lost just a little bit in the movie.
I really loved the simplicity of this story. The book makes its point (don't stop believing), but it doesn't dwell on it. This is a quick read, even for elementary students. I can imagine this book being a great bedtime story for my son, who will be born very soon!
As for the movie, I enjoyed it, but I felt like the story lost much of its simplicity in the adaptation. Several subplots were added, I guess to keep the movie interesting. I think I would have enjoyed it more had the writers stuck to the original story, even if it would have made the movie shorter. That being said, I'll talk about the positives. The animation is gorgeous. If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it for the animation quality alone. I watched one scene over and over because I couldn't believe computer animation could look so realistic. I liked the general idea of the movie as well. The original moral was still intact, but the new characters resolved their conflicts in a way that made you happy for them as well. One final note on the movie - I thought the songs were a little bizarre and out of place, but I think children would probably enjoy them.
It's pretty obvious that I vastly prefer the book to the movie. The book forces readers to use their imagination while the movie spoon feeds the imagery to you. As I said before, I really appreciate the book's simple and powerful message and I feel like that simple message gets lost just a little bit in the movie.
From Slave Ship to Freedom Road
I had never heard of Julius Lester, so I was very interested to read the work of an author I was unfamiliar with. In this book, From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, Lester's story about slavery is enhanced by the chilling artwork of Rod Brown. I really appreciated that slavery is not sugar coated here, even though this is a children's book. Lester describes the journey to America in haunting detail, asking the reader to imagine what it would feel like to be in that situation. The book goes on to describe the everyday lives of slaves, as well as their eventual freedom.
This book definitely gives you something to think about. I read it several hours ago and its realistic tone is still active in my mind. I do not think this book would have been as powerful had it been written as text alone. The pictures, while disturbing at times, really give the reader an idea of just how horrifying slavery really was.
This story was written in 1998, but Julius Lester has been writing books for some time. The book forward mentions another work, To Be a Slave, that was written over thirty years ago. Lester has also written Long Journey Home and This Strange New Feeling.
This book definitely gives you something to think about. I read it several hours ago and its realistic tone is still active in my mind. I do not think this book would have been as powerful had it been written as text alone. The pictures, while disturbing at times, really give the reader an idea of just how horrifying slavery really was.
This story was written in 1998, but Julius Lester has been writing books for some time. The book forward mentions another work, To Be a Slave, that was written over thirty years ago. Lester has also written Long Journey Home and This Strange New Feeling.
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