Book adaptations – Page 13 – Yesterday's Movies

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

This popped up on my radar as an automatic recommendation related to my interest in other movies of about the same era, which were in turn probably automatic recommendations based on other films. At this point, I have no idea what the original search was, but isn’t that what algorithmic recommendations are for?

So, as the poster says, this is the story of a bombshell who gets kidnapped for ransom and squabbles with her kidnapper until they fall in love. The synopsis I originally saw focused on her arguing the ransom amount was far too low, which is at least by now an old joke. So this sounds like a fairly stock screwball comedy, but it looks like it’s been cast with people who can pull it off well.

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YesterMovies Rewind: Simon Birch

December 26, 2014temporalparadox1 Comment

Five years ago this month, Yesterday’s Movies officially began. To celebrate half a decade of movie reviews, I’m rewatching some of the highlights and giving them second-look reviews. I’m closing out this series with the very first movie reviewed here, Simon Birch.

I know I originally chose this one because I’d just read the book it was based on, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and I recall it ended up not having much to do with the book.

I also think I remember Christmas being a major part of the movie, being a major episode somewhere in the middle of a story told over about a year or so. I’m not sure if I said something about it in the original review, but I’m recalling a feeling very similar to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. oddly. That and the bus scene are all I really remember.

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YesterMovies Rewind: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

December 12, 2014December 12, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Cannon Films 1987.

Five years ago this month, Yesterday’s Movies officially began. To celebrate half a decade of movie reviews, I’m rewatching some of the highlights and giving them second-look reviews. This week I’m taking another look at the worst movie I ever reviewed, Superman IV.

I remember this being a completely irredeemable movie. The acting phoned in, the story misguided and nonsensical, and the special effects being too terrible to forgive. The only time I couldn’t recommend anyone watch it. So I’m gonna watch it again!

I’m really hoping I’ll find something good about it that I missed the first time. The story is what it is because Christopher Reeve believed in its message, so hopefully I’ll find at least him to be fully committed to the result.

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Cheaper by the Dozen

November 21, 2014temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

This is a movie about a very large family. There’s currently a franchise of movies with the title that stars Steve Martin, but this doesn’t appear to have much to do with it, aside from perhaps a “suggested by” remake. I have the distinct impression that the modern version (which I haven’t seen either) involves a blended family, while this doesn’t appear to.

It does appear to just be anecdotes from a real family’s life strung together into a feature film. Not quite as attractive as a slapstick comedy with Steve Martin, but it should be fun and interesting.

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Random Hearts

November 14, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I first heard of this movie in In The Can, a book about Hollywood missteps. When I selected it, I didn’t remember what the book had to say about it (I may have confused it with another entry), but I was fairly certain it had been in the book. I have a particular interest in movies that had potential but made a critical error, and in this case it sounds like a minor problem rippling outward: according to the book, Harrison Ford’s fame took too much focus that could have been spent on more interesting characters. Now I can decide for myself if that’s the case.

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The Lodger

November 7, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I got this in a box set of early Alfred Hitchcock films, which indicated it was Hitchcock’s first thriller. I’ve seen it described elsewhere as when Hitchcock came into his own. But I don’t know much about it beyond that it’s about a serial murderer and it’s silent.

I haven’t covered many silent films. I don’t dislike them, but they don’t usually attract me unless it’s something historically significant like The Birth of a Nation. Lack of color often enhances the tension in a movie, but I’m not sure if lack of sound will do the same or be a barrier to connecting with it. I’m expecting it to help though.

I have a hard time picturing a Hitchcock film without sound though. He does a lot of advanced camera and narrative techniques, and when I think of technique in the silent era, I think more about pioneering the basics than doing anything that can impress in its own right. I recognize this is patronizing, and I’m hoping this film will defy that notion.

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The Inspector General

September 19, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I was only familiar with this story previously through a Wishbone adaptation of the play. What I recall of it is rather different from the summary I’ve seen of this movie, though on the one hand this is credited as “suggested by” the play, admitting they’ve walked rather far away from it, while Wishbone could well have bowdlerized the bungled assassination attempts mentioned as being in this movie. Having quickly scanned a summary of the play, I’m inclined to think it’s more the former than the latter.

It’s a rather surprising notion to do a story about corruption in the Imperial Russian government as a cheery-looking musical starring Danny Kaye, no matter how farcical the plot may be.The songs should either be quite something or a lot of nothing.

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Moby Dick

July 11, 2014April 14, 2016temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The most intriguing big name here is the writer: Ray Bradbury. Gregory Peck rarely gets mentioned outside of To Kill a Mockingbird anymore, I’m sure director John Huston has a following among deep film buffs, and of course Melville’s novel is a (somewhat sloppy) masterpiece, but Bradbury gets my attention. When I think of Bradbury, I think of his sci-fi concepts. I never think of his words, only his ideas. In a medium dominated by actors and directors, using someone else’s ideas and doubtless many of his words, I’m curious to see if I can spot any of Bradbury coming through.

Note should be made that this is once again from my late great aunt’s collection.

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Ben-Hur

April 17, 2014April 18, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The Ten Commandments is an Easter tradition for many people. The connection seems tenuous to me, but there’s a thread there. I’ve already seen “Commandments”, so I won’t be reviewing it here, but it has me following another connection, that you can already guess at due to the title and the picture to the right.

In my mind, that film is much more strongly linked to Ben-Hur than to Easter, but on examination, it seems circumstantial. They’re epics, set in Middle-Eastern antiquity, informed by religious legend, starring Charlton Heston. It seems accidental, though possibly the success of one got the other made. While I don’t know of it being an Easter tradition like its cousin, if anything, this one should be more Easter-related, since it actually has a few scenes with Jesus.

On the other hand, its overall reputation is more like CHARIOTS CHARIOTS CHARIOTS.

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Flash Gordon

March 28, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I’ve been wanting to see this movie ever since I learned while reviewing Highlander that Queen did music for it. That is the biggest selling point of this movie for me, and will likely be the best thing about it, even if it does turn out to be an effective update of a campy adventure serial. I’m just not sure this sort of thing can be done seriously anymore.

I was surprised to learn from the box that Flash is a football player. Some quick research showed that in the original comics, he was a polo player, so that’s not a big change. I never picked up on him being an athlete. I should probably invest more time in familiarizing myself with source material.

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