We Were Books First

Morning Kindle-ites!!!! There are a TON of great adaptations coming out in the next few months so I decided I would share a few of them with you. If you are anything like me…you have to read the book before seeing the movie, so let’s just call this post a “reminder.” Anyways…there are several more scheduled for release (for example: Ender’s Game, Romeo & Juliet, The Spectacular Now, Prisoners, and The Seventh Son – just to name a few) but I’ve decided to hold off on those until they release movie posters and trailers for each. Until then…here is what you have to look forward to. Cheers!

About The Book: 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. About The Movie: Premieres May 10th A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor. Directed By: Baz Luhrmann Writing Credits: Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce (screenplay) & F. Scott Fitzgerald (based on the novel by) Staring: Leonardo DiCaprio – Jay Gatsby, Isla Fisher – Myrtle Wilson, Carey Mulligan – Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton – Tom Buchanan, Jason Clarke – George Wilson, Tobey Maguire – Nick Carraway, Adelaide Clemens – Catherine, Callan McAuliffe – Young Jay Gatsby The Buzz: “My love for certain novels doesn’t desire to see them confined to the page or protected from being interpreted on film; take for example Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre, a perfect adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s dreary, soot-eyed romance, and an example of underdog cast and director choices at their most winning. When it comes to Leonardo DiCaprio reteaming with Baz Luhrmann to interpret F. Scott Fitzgerald’s second-best novel, I often think that the people who have the power to green light (Gatsby reference) major projects aren’t necessarily the best fit to star in them. Or act as their director. As respected as he aims to be, Leonardo DiCaprio is at his least effective handling serious drama; Luhrmann, with all of his mega-budget entitlement, has bewitched the industry, but let’s see how his latest epic plays out in terms of audience appeal.” – IMDB

About The Book: The brave good bugs march off to save the garden . . . First, they must fight the evil Spider Queen . . . Before summoning the Leaf Men to save the day . . . But what about the mystery of the Long-Lost Toy? Here is ancient elfin magic, epic adventure, and a bugle salute to the power of memory, loyalty and love as resounding as Robin Hood’s call to his Merry Men About The Movie: Premieres May 24th A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world — and ours. Directed By: Chris Wedge Writing Credits: Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember, James V. Hart, William Joyce Staring: Jason Sudeikis / Bomba (voice), Steven Tyler / Nim Galuu (voice), Amanda Seyfried  / Mary Katherine (voice), Pitbull  / Bufo,  (voice), Beyoncé Knowles / Queen Tara (voice), Josh Hutcherson / Nod (voice), Judah Friedlander / Larry (voice), Colin Farrell / Ronin (voice), Aziz Ansari    / Mub (voice), Blake Anderson / Dagda (voice), Christoph Waltz / Mandrake (voice), Chris O’Dowd / Grub (voice) The Buzz: “Chris Wedge has been immersed in the Ice Age universe since its inception, alongside his co-director, Carlos Saldanha. Like Saldanha, who ventured out on his own with Rio, Wedge is going solo for Epic, which was first announced as an adaptation of the children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce, though the plot seems to have morphed into something slightly more akin to the work of Hayao Miyazaki.” – IMDB

About The Book: The action is set in Sicily, where Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, has recently defeated his half-brother, the bastard Don John, in a military engagement. Apparently reconciled, they return to the capital, Messina, as guests of the Governor, Leonato. There Count Claudio, a young nobleman serving in Don Pedro’s army, falls in love with Hero, Leonato’s daughter, whom Don Pedro woos on his behalf. The play’s central plot shows how Don John maliciously deceives Claudio into believing that Hero has taken a lover on the eve of her marriage, causing Claudio to repudiate her publicly, at the altar. About The Movie: Premieres June 21 A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words. Directed By: Joss Whedon Writing Credits: Joss Whedon, William Shakespeare Staring: Amy Acker / Beatrice, Emma Bates / Ursula, Spencer Treat Clark / Borachio, Alexis Denisof / Benedick, Reed Diamond / Don Pedro, Nathan Fillion / Dogberry, Clark Gregg / Leonato The Buzz: “Shakespeare in the hands of Joss Whedon – what else is there to say? We love that Whedon’s insecurity about directing The Avengers manifested in a such a way (the restless creator shot this project in secret while assembling the Marvel blockbuster), and those of us who reeled from the news that Anthony Head stepped down from playing Leonato were assuaged by the slotting Clark Gregg in his place. I mean, it’s clear to some that Gregg’s Agent Coulson is made of the same Whedonesque fabric as Head’s Rupert Giles from “Buffy”, so it is assuring to see him become one of the new Whedon Players.” – IMDB

About The Book: The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years. Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War. Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?” Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission. Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war “I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China “‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers “Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe About The Movie: Premiers June 21 United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Directed By: Marc Forster Writing Credits:  Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay), Max Brooks (based on the novel by) Staring: Brad Pitt / Gerry Lane, Mireille Enos / Karen Lane, Eric West / Jason, Matthew Fox, David Morse, James Badge Dale, Elyes Gabel / Fassbach, Michiel Huisman / Ellis The Buzz: “Marc Foster always seemed like a curious pick to helm an action-heavy adaptation of the novel by Max Brooks, and details on the out-of-focus production emerged over the summer of 2012 as to its myriad problems, from indecision as to what the zombies should look like to major crew members asking to be let go from the production. Never mind the skyrocketing budget. What first appeared to be the best franchise starter since Rise of the Planet of the Apes has a target on its back; I’m sensing this is the Men in Black 3 of Summer 2013 – meaning it will under-perform in the U.S. and make its money elsewhere.” – IMDB

About The Book: The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan’s amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a “half blood” whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan’s series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment. In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book’s drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come. About The Movie: Premiers August 7 In order to restore their dying safe haven, the son of Poseidon and his friends embark on a quest to the Sea of Monsters to find the mythical Golden Fleece and to stop an ancient evil from rising. Directed By: Thor Freudenthal Writing Credits: Scott Alexander, Marc Guggenheim, Larry Karaszewski, Rick Riordan (novel) Staring: Logan Lerman / Percy Jackson, Sean Bean / Zeus, Nathan Fillion / Hermes, Jake Abel / Luke Castallan, Alexandra Daddario / Annabeth Chase, Stanley Tucci / Dionysus, Leven Rambin / Clarisse La Rue, Daniel Cudmore / Manticore, Anthony Head / Chiron, Brandon T Jackson / Grover Underwood, Douglas Smith / Tyson The Buzz: “Part two of this trilogy based on the novels by Rick Riordan finds director Thor Freudenthal, who got Fox’s other kid-franchise, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, off the ground, subbing in for Chris Columbus. All of the main young demigods are back, with a scaled-back (and therefore less expensive) adult supporting cast featuring Anthony Head as Chrion, replacing Pierce Brosnan.” – IMDB

About The Book: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end. About The Movie: Premiers August 23 When her mom is attacked and taken from their home in New York City by a demon, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl, Clary Fray, finds out truths about her past and bloodline on her quest to get her back, that changes her entire life. Directed By: Harald Zwart Writing Credits: Cassandra Clare (novel), Jessica Postigo (screenplay) Staring: Lena Headey / Jocely Fray, Lily Collins / Clary Fray, Aidan Turner / Luke Garroway, Jonathan Rhys Meyers / Valentine Morgenstern, Jamie Campbell Bower / Jace Wayland, Kevin Zegers / Alec Lightwood, Jared Harris / Hodge Starkweather, Robert Sheehan / Simon Lewis, Kevin Durand / Emil Pangborn, Jemima West / Isabelle Lightwood, Godfrey Gao / Magnus Bane, Robert Maillet / Samuel Blackwell, CCH Pounder / Madame Dorthea, Stephen R. Hart / Brother Jermeiah The Buzz: “Cassandra Clare’s six-novel Mortal Instruments series seems to possess enough dark magic, secret family histories, and love-triangle dynamics to please fans of both Harry Potter and Twilight, and casting Lily Collins as Clary Fray seems like a wise move in the post-Bella Swan era. Sony is looking to build a franchise, and it’s ultimately not surprising to see Harald Zwart, who helped turn The Karate Kid into an over-performing worldwide hit, in the director’s chair. If the initial formula works, look for this story to get even cooler as it progresses.” – IMDB

About The Book: A modern classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction — Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time. Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is…Carrie About The Movie: Premiers October 18 A sheltered high school girl unleashes her newly developed telekinetic powers after she is pushed too far by her peers. Directed By: Kimberly Peirce Writing Credits: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (screenplay), Stephen King (novel) Staring: Chloe Grace Moretz / Carrie White, Judy Greer / Miss Desjardin, Julianne Moore / Margaret White, Gabriella Wilde / Sue Snell, Ansel Elgort / Tommy Ross, Alex Russell / Billy Nolan, Portia Doubleday / Chris Hargensen, Michelle Nolden / Estelle Parsons The Buzz: “It’s unsurprising to see Brian De Palma’s creation applied to modern times, the age of heightened awareness of peer-to-peer bullying. I’ll spare you any commentary on the remake trend and say: at least the casting choices are ace. Though it will be completely different in tone, I will use Chlöe Moretz’s performance as Carolyn Stoddard in Dark Shadows as the litmus test for her stepping into a character immortalized by Sissy Spacek.” – IMDB

About The Book: Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge. Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before…and surprising readers at every turn About The Movie: Premiers November 22 As Katniss and Peeta embark on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts, Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games. Directed By: Francis Lawrence Writing Credits: Simon Beaufoy (screenplay), Michael Arndt (screenplay) Suzanne Collins (novel) Staring: Jennifer Lawrence / Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson / Peeta Mellark, Elizabeth Banks / Effie Trinket, Liam Hemsworth / Gale Hawthorne, Sam Claflin / Finnick Odair, Jena Malone / Johanna Mason, Alan Ritchson / Gloss, Woody Harrelson / Haymitch Abernathy, Stanley Tucci / Ceaser Flickerman, Philip Seymour Hoffman / Plutarch Heavensbee, Willow Shields / Primrose Everdeen, Donald Sutherland / President Snow, Toby Jones / Claudius Templesmith, Amanda Plummer / Wiress, Jeffrey Wright / Beetee, Lenny Kravitz / Cinna The Buzz: “The Hunger Games was the most satisfying franchise-starter in some time; a true measure of its success were the positive reactions from people who had yet to read the novels before seeing the movie. We love that the sequel was filmed in Hawaii, an ideal setting for the beautiful harshness of the Quarter Quell. Cast and crew wise, we’re less concerned about any choices made by director Francis Lawrence and more worried about Sam Claflin as the knot-tying/Katniss-wooing Finnick Odair, because he displayed an innate talent for making time stand still in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Snow White and the Huntsman.” – IMDB