Book/Movie Comparison: Game Over

            My next book to movie comparison came via a suggestion from my friend John Fredrickson who I have known since High School. He wanted me to compare the book and version versions of Ender’s Game. The book was written by Orson Scott Card and the movie version was directed by Gavin Hood.

            Orson Scott Card knows how to write an entertaining science fiction story that keeps you entertained from beginning to end. Though the book is almost thirty years old it was interesting to see how the main character was bullied similar to children today. The descriptions of the different training activities and games made the book very easy to follow. It made me kind of wish I could go to a space age military training school or at least experience the activities and games that Ender and the other cadets did. The reasoning behind the training reminded me a bit of the movie Starship Troopers but with more tactics and less military combat.

            When the movie originally came out last fall I was not very interested in seeing it because I didn’t have much hope for Hollywood doing a good job of adapting a young adult novel that was originally released when I was just a child. I finally watched it after it was released on video and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The movie does move along at a very fast pace so some characters and not developed very much and while that doesn’t hurt the majority of the movie it does hurt the viewer’s chances of connecting with certain ones. The special effects help bring Card’s words to life and that is clearly evident in the zero gravity battle simulations. It might look like laser tag in space but it is so much more.

            Ender’s Game was the first movie I watched this year before reading the book. I think watching the movie helped me when reading the book because it was easier to picture a number of the characters based on who played them in the movie. My biggest qualm with the movie was the fact that it all but ignored the storyline about Ender’s brother and sister from the book. Once Ender is taken to training we only see his sister one more time. The political commentary plot between Peter and Valentine Wiggin play a larger part in the book and its later sequels. Possibly Hollywood knew they were only going to make one movie from the series thus decided not to include that part. I personally would have liked to see it and it would have only added another 15-20 minutes to the movie. I would gladly recommend both the book and movie to people if asked for a suggestion. In the years to come I can see the movie becoming one I watch on an annual basis.

Book/Movie Comparison: A Stormy Comparison

            My next book to movie comparison came about because of a sale at Best Buy. My friend John mentioned I should check out The Perfect Storm which was written by Sebastian Junger. He was going over an excerpt of it with his students. He also mentioned to me that the Blu-Ray of the movie directed by Wolfgang Petersen was on sale for a really good price. I am always looking for good Blu-Ray deals so it was a win win situation for me.

Sebastian Junger’s book focuses primarily on the crew of the Andrea Gail and their families. The book did a great job of describing the community and its residents in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It was very easy to picture that bars they would visit and looking out at the dock waiting to see a boat come in. The book also goes in to detail a number of other people that were trapped in the storm and those tasked with rescuing them. I’m not sure why but I always get excited with a book when they name drop somewhere I have been before. A couple of the Andrea Gail’s crew had homes in Bradenton Florida and I have been there multiple times as my Aunt and Uncle live just outside of it.

I remember when the movie version of The Perfect Storm originally came out. I didn’t know anything about the events it was based on, I just liked the cast and thought it looked interesting. The movie primarily focuses on the crew of the fishing boat. It does cut away to other parties trapped in the storm but the majority of the movie is about the fisherman and their experiences on the boat. Of course there has to be some turmoil between crew members, it wouldn’t be the Deadliest Catch I mean the Andrea Gail without it. Seeing the wall of fishermen lost at sea over the years was a very strong moment that I think drove home the point that this isn’t just a game, and numerous men have lost their lives over the years.

I enjoy both the book and movie because they both tell an interesting story. While the movie focuses more on the crew of the Andrea Gail, the book spends more time with the families of those on the ship and others trapped in the storm. I don’t think the movie would have turned out as well as it did had it been a directed adaptation from the book. The “movie quality” story was with the men on the boat and not with those back home waiting for news about their safety. One thing I wish the movie would have included was the “bad vibe” feeling that some crew members had, including one that decided to back out on the trip all together. That was a part of the book that I found to be interesting, especially when they talked about it toward the end of the book again. I would recommend both the book and movie to people but I must include as a warning, the story while the same is told in completely different ways.

Book/Movie Comparison: America’s Pastime

Recently I asked my friends on Facebook to help me pick my next book to movie comparison. The choices were Moneyball and Catch Me if You Can. Moneyball was the overall favorite with my friends. The book was written by Michael Lewis and the movie version was directed by Bennett Miller. I was glad when this option was picked because I have been a baseball fan since I was a little kid.

The full title of the book is Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and it gives a very in-depth look at how the Oakland A’s created a successful team with a budget not even half of the New York Yankees. The GM of the A’s Billy Beane has been involved with the major leagues since he was just a teenager. Once a player, then a scout he is now in charge of putting together a winning team. Instead of looking at the big stats of a player he with the help of Paul DePodesta use sabermetrics to help find players that while costing much to sign can get on base just as much as all stars. I really enjoyed the breakdown of all the different player stats and how sabermetrics were originally created. The book would also jump back and forth from time to time to Billy’s past and different times of his baseball career whether they be in high school or the minor leagues. The book also does a really good job of helping you picture the excitement of a player when they make a big play or are even told they are being signed.

I remember reading that this movie was a passion project for Brad Pitt shortly before it opened in theaters. I am a fan of Brad Pitt’s movies and if he is passionate about one I am usually immediately interested in it. Bennett Miller did a good job of directing a movie with baseball in it, but at times it didn’t feel like the focus of the movie was about baseball and analyzing stats to find players. Billy’s family life is not a big factor in the book but in the movie it is referenced at multiple times even in the closing minutes of the movie. Another big difference in the movie is the inclusion of Peter Brand. Peter Brand does not exist in the book but is created for the movie to resemble Paul DePodesta who did not want his name used in the film. The cast of actors for the movie do a very good job in their roles. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Chris Pratt both turned in very solid performances along with brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

While the movie is enjoyable for a sports fan there are a number of items missing from it that make the book such a better option. The movie primarily focused on the offensive side of the Oakland A’s and not the defense, namely the pitching staff. Yes they talk about pitcher Chad Bradford and show him in the movie a bit, but they don’t discuss his pitching style and history at all like in the book. The addition of a family life for the main character was not necessary. This is supposed to be about Baseball, not dealing with a tweenage daughter who plays guitar and sounds like she could have a song on the soundtrack to the movie Juno.

One of the two biggest things that I missed in the movie version was the discussions about the upcoming player draft and who they would want to sign. In the book you can feel the excitement as Billy waits to see if he can get the players he wants and in what order. One moment he is disappointed that a player he was hoping to get will no longer be available, but as soon as a team makes a move that they couldn’t have predicted he is elated once again because his player will be available. I also missed the bantering and deal making on the day of the trade deadline. There is a scene in the movie that covers that day for about five minutes but in the book it is a lot more intriguing as you picture Billy calling different teams to try and make multi team trades. Billy’s history of trading for players one year and trading them away the next is also included and I think helps show what a General Manager really does when it comes to player management. 

 The epilogue for the book is one part I went back and went through multiple times. Getting to read about Jeremy Brown a player that no one wanted except for Billy and Paul hitting a big time homerun was a perfect way to end it for me. The movie tried to include it at the end but by then too much had changed from the book to the movie. If someone was to walk up to Redbox and pick up this movie without knowing anything about it, they will probably enjoy it. As a fan of baseball movies I did enjoy it, but it was missing too much of the book to be a truly good adaptation of the book.

Book/Movie Comparison: Go for a Drive

Next up in my series of book to movie comparisons is Drive. Drive was written by James Sallis and the movie version was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. I didn’t know that the movie was based on the book until after I had seen it. I got a copy of the book after finding out it existed, but never got around to checking it out until now.

This is not a very long book but it sure packs in a lot of story. Right from the start you are thrown in to the world of the lead character. No backstory setup, that comes later during the book. The main character Driver is a stunt driver by day and at night or in his off time he is a getaway driver for criminals. I like the fact that book is not very long because James Sallis does not include any filler to carry the story along. The action and violent scenes are very descriptive and help the reader picture what is going on and what drives Driver to seek revenge. In a short time you come to care about the character and root for him even though technically he is a bad guy.

In the last few years Hollywood has fallen in love with Ryan Gosling. Gosling was a perfect fit for the role of Driver. He is very clean cut and looks like someone who could be your neighbor. The movie like the book is very fast paced. There is a bit more character setup and development in the movie but it is worth it in the end. One thing I really liked about the movie is that there didn’t seem to be very much if any CGI used throughout. The driving scenes seemed very natural and not overly flashy. The movie while set in California could very well have been set in any other state in the country because it didn’t rely on the surroundings to sell the story.

It is very hard to pick which one of these forms of the story I prefer. The book is a very well written character story that pulls you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the very end. The movie follows the key points of the book very well. There are some differences from the book to the movie that are necessary. Without the changes I don’t think the movie would have been as good. For example, the backstory and development of some of the characters in the movie are important to help the viewer connect with them. In the book the development is not as crucial with the pace of it. One thing I do wish they would have covered in the movie is where Driver came from and how he really got his start. That was a very interesting part of the book and I think helps shed light on the person that is Driver and what leads him to do what he does.

Book/Movie Comparison: An Artsy Piece

           Last December when I was seeing one of the latest movie releases I saw a trailer for a movie that I was instantly sold on seeing just because of the cast. The trailer included a note that it was based on a book so I decided then that it would be on of my book to movie comparisons for this year. The book is The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History written by Robert M. Edsel. The movie version was directed by one of my favorite actors George Clooney.

           Before I get in to my feelings on the book too much I need to preface it by saying I am a history buff and always enjoy learning about it. Having said that, I am not a fan of this book. The book read more like a textbook. There was a story that it followed for a bit but the majority of the book felt like a history lesson more than anything. There are a number of men in the Monuments Men group and the book seemed to jump back and forth between them and time periods so it was harder to follow along. The history of the war and the art that was stolen & found was really interesting to learn about but I thought it could have been presented better if they were looking to tell the story as an adventure.

           After finishing the book I was a bit hesitant about seeing the movie. I was worried that it would be slow and a bit boring like I found the book to be. Thankfully the movie was easy to sit through and enjoy. While not the best movie in the world it kept me entertained throughout and presented art history in a fun way. The last time I tried to sit through an art history lecture was while touring my first college. I dozed off about 10 minutes into the 90 minute lecture, it was a nice nap. The movie was a big draw for me because it featured some of my favorite actors from George Clooney and Matt Damon to Bill Murray and John Goodman. the characters played well off of each other and all had some good one liners.

           As with any movie adapted from a book things get changed around to flow better and fit better in a Hollywood style. Some of the characters presented in the book are brought in to play earlier or play a different role altogether. The primary focus of finding and preserving famous works of art though are the same in both the book and the movie. The Ghent Altarpiece is regarded as one of the most important pieces being searched for in both the book as well as the movie. I do wish the movie would have been a little bit longer because as it got closer to the conclusion the movie felt a bit rushed and in turn more things from the book were adjusted to fit within the movie timeline. Overall I prefer the movie to the book because of how it was presented and the actual pace of it. If I was more in to art history itself I could see myself preferring the book instead.

Book/Movie Comparison: A Fighting Chance

For my next book to movie comparison I went with Fight Club after my friend Sarah mentioned it to me. Fight Club was written by Chuck Palahniuk and later turned in to a movie and directed by the great David Fincher. I have seen the movie numerous times over the years but this was my first time checking out the book.

Chuck Palahniuk did a great job writing a book about two different people and how their lives intertwine. After their paths first cross on an airplane they soon become almost inseparable in their day to day lives. Wait, I think that’s what happened. This book does a great job throwing you for a loop or what is real and isn’t real. The narrator’s insomnia is something I can relate with to a point, I have bouts of insomnia but nothing that extreme. I really liked the details that Palahniuk went in to setting the perfume bottle scene.

David Fincher is a great director and except for maybe Alien 3 he hasn’t totally messed up yet. He took a great book and made a really solid film. The supporting characters were pretty spot on from their descriptions. The movie flowed really well and the “Cigarette Burns” sprinkled throughout were a nice touch. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt were phenomenal in bringing the Narrator and Tyler Durden to life.

The book and movie are very similar and of the three book/movie comparisons I have done this year it is also the most accurate. The main problem I have with the movie though is how fast the ending came about. In the book the narrator’s breakdown was a bit more drawn out and more clues about who Tyler Durden really was were included.. The very end of the book was not adapted for the movie and I wish it was. The movie also skipped over some of Tyler’s unethical work activities. Both the book and movie had good scenes involving the Narrator and Marla which I wish were included in both versions. Though I have some problems with the movie in comparison to the book they are truly just minor in the grand scheme of things. I would highly recommend people to check out both the book and movie.

Book/Movie Comparison: The Z Word

            For my second book to movie comparison I decided to go with World War Z which was suggested to me by my friend John. The book was written by Max Brooks and the movie was directed by Marc Foster. I am still unsure of the format I want to use for these but for now I am going to follow what I did last time.

            This book is not what I expected it to be about. Based on the title I was expecting to read a book about a war against zombies in one form or another. While there is a battle against the undead it isn’t played out in the book. The book features a number of interviews with different people from around the world and what they saw and experienced during the war. All of the stories told come years after the war has ended. I really enjoyed the different interviews conducted in the book because it told the story from multiple perspectives and showed how different people were affected. I think the book would make for a really good TV Mini-Series adaptation because Mr. Brooks does a great job of using his words to help the reader visualize the different environments.

            Marc Foster’s World War Z is the definition of summer popcorn flick in my book. Right from the get-go the battle against the undead begins. The zombies featured in this movie were not like ones previously seen. These zombies were much faster especially compared to me and that speed made them more dangerous. Brad Pitt does a good job as the hero of our movie trying to figure out what started the war and also a way to stop it. I read that the movie had to be rewritten and scenes reshot because people were not happy with the original cut of the movie. I would like to see the original cut though because I am sure it would help explain why Matthew Fox was in the helicopter transport. I also have a feeling that the original cut was a lot darker than the movie we ended up getting.

            The most important thing that the book and movie have in common is their title. That is also the only thing they have in common. These two versions of World War Z are completely different, but in my opinion very good. Both versions of the story work for me and while the movie was action packed I’d much rather see a true adaptation from Brooks’ work. I think that people come down so hard on movies adapted from books because of movies like this. Hollywood took an interesting story and instead of turning it in to a movie they took the initial concept and made their own thing. That is fine and all but don’t give it the same title as the book. 

Book/Movie Comparison: A Lone Comparison

I am not totally sure how my book to movie comparisons should go so I am just going to start writing and see what I come up with. For my first book to movie comparison this year I decided to go with Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10 written by Marcus Luttrell.

As I was going through the book I found myself on more than one occasion thinking that the book read just like a movie. It wasn’t long after that though that I remembered it wasn’t a movie and instead it was a true story. A good portion of the book is about Operation Redwing which took place in June 2005. I really enjoyed the backstory that Marcus wrote about which included his family life growing up and the training he went through in order to become a Navy Seal. His description of what Seal candidates go through made me realize right away that I would have never made it as a Navy Seal. The book does a good job of going back and forth between what Marcus is going through during the Operation and what his family is dealing with at the same time back home not knowing his whereabouts or health status. Once the bullets stopped flying the book didn’t end, Marcus still had to find a way home.

My friend Lexi put it best when she told me the movie Lone Survivor felt like you were watching a video game. The actions scenes really did remind me a bit of playing Modern Warfare. Director Peter Berg did a great job of making you feel like you were in the gun battles but I wish he would have paid closer attention to the other parts of the movie. The pre and post battle scenes felt a bit hurried along. I did like that the author of the book Marcus Luttrell made two appearances in the movie. Peter Berg of course made an appearance too, he loves showing up in his own movies.

I know that people always say that the book is better than the movie and I hope to prove that wrong this year at least once, but this will not be that time. I have two problems with the movie and how it compares to the book. First, the family side and the Seal training aspect is removed completely. They tried to add a bit of family in via some of the other characters but it barely scratched the surface and I didn’t feel a true connection. My other problem was how rushed the last act of the movie felt. Marcus did a great job of writing everything down that happened during Operation Redwing and I thought that the director decided the last third of the book wasn’t as important because he sped through it with just 15 minutes of film.

Had I watched the movie without knowing anything about the book I would have liked the movie a lot more because of the action scenes and the characters. But there were too many things cut out or changed from the book that in the end disappointed me. I just feel that in the process of making a good action movie the truth of what really happened in the summer of 2005 was altered.

2014: Now with Double the Media

For anyone that did or did not follow my “Title of the Movie is 365” challenge last year, I watched a lot of different movies. Movies are a big part of my life. Watching, reading or writing about them, I always have a movie or two on my mind no matter the time of day. Movies help me remember different people or events in my life that I hope to never forget. I love movies and look forward to watching many more in 2014. This year I have decided to work on two different media challenges. My first challenge of the year will be to watch at least one movie a day for all 365 days of the year. I decided to work towards this goal because I did the math and while I watched 581 different movies last year I only watched a movie for 296 out of 365 days. That means for over two months of the year I did not watch a movie, I want to change that this year. I am also hoping I can make it all 365 days and beat my friend John’s record of watching movies 364 out of 365 days last year. I will make sure to watch two movies on April 23 just for you John.

My other challenge came to mind last fall after my friend Rooster asked how many books I had gotten through so far. Now I got through a number of books last year but I think this year I can shoot for even more. My second challenge will be to start and finish a different book every two weeks that has a movie counterpart. After I finish the book I will then watch the movie as soon as I can. Each book/movie combo will include my thoughts on each individually and also how they compare to one another. I will also be going through other books and giving my thoughts on them but they do not have to have a movie counterpart.

I am open for suggestions on movies and books to check out this year. I will continue to post my updates over on my blog and link them here on Facebook. 2014 looks to be another media filled year but you know what, that is just how I like it.