*Note* Technically this is 2 books in 1 movie, but the movie is named after the book by Julie Powell so I focus on that mostly in my comparison. For the record, I have read both of the books that the movie is based on.

I haven’t been to the theater to see a movie in over a year. . . maybe two. Pregnancy tends to make me avoid having to sit in the same spot for two hours and now that I’m not pregnant I’m just too busy with a needy little baby. Anyway,  I wanted to see this one in the theater but I just had a feeling I was going to be disappointed. I did rush right out and rent it today though, I couldn’t wait for it to come via Netflix!

I couldn’t imagine how they would make this movie from the book. Anyone who has read the book must know what I mean, right?

First of all, the movie is charming. My favorite scene includes Julia Child in front of  the big pile of onions that she is practicing chopping after her first day at Le Cordon Bleu. Of course everyone agrees Meryl Streep is amazing in the role of Julia Child. Those of us that watched her on PBS several years ago know she was a unique person, not easy to emulate, that’s for sure. I can’t imagine anyone else being able to pull off this role.

Mostly I enjoyed the parts of the movie featuring Julia Child and her husband Paul living in France. It was great to bring to life some of Julia Child’s writings of this time that I had read in her memoir, another great book, My Life in France. (The movie is based on this book as well, a great compliment to the book written by Julie Powell.) The relationship Julia had with her husband Paul is the kind of relationship everyone should have with their significant other- supportive, loving, entertaining. The relationship they share is similar to the mood of the movie. The book. . . not so much.

Here is a link to the book:
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

The book really is a disturbing little book and I loved it! I reserved it at our local library and the version I got was the large print version. All I could think of while reading the opening scene in the book was little old ladies reading it and falling over of a heart attack. She opens the book by describing an encounter with a mentally ill homeless woman while waiting for a train in the NYC subway system. The woman is repeating expletives- the kind my mom doesn’t like to read in books or hear in movies. The rest of the book is filled with them! Those and other “offensive” phrases and graphic descriptions of sexual encounters, strange phrases and general naughtiness that was interesting and made for an entertaining read. There were some things I felt went a little over the top- some things I felt were a little strong even for my high tolerance of all things vulgar.

I loved the book. It was edgy but was written about something traditional- French cooking, which makes it extremely appealing to me. The whole time I was reading the book I kept thinking, how are they going to make this into a movie??!! I knew that they would just take out all the substance of who Julie Powell is and turn it into a light-hearted comedy. Which they did. Amy Adams does a good job in the movie. She’s cute, but I’m not sure this is what the real Julie Powell is like. Her book makes her seem so much more. . . interesting. How I imagine her to be from reading her book makes me want to be her best friend and hate her at the same time. Not necessarily a bad thing- it means she is interesting at least. The way she is portrayed in the movie makes me want to smile and say, that’s nice. But it’s not interesting.

I know, I know, movies are made to sell tickets. They have to appeal to the masses. I guess this is why I don’t like many movies. I’m not the masses. . . I like strange, weird books and Julie Powell’s book is one of them! I made sure to tell my mom that she could never read the book. It really would be offensive to her. It’s not for old ladies. She did however love the movie. So did my grandma. Both would have had an aneurism had they read the book.

So in conclusion, I guess it depends on what kind of person you are. But my guess is that the movie is an “all ages” flick to please most females and some males and the book is probably for those under the age of 40, unless you are not easily offended. Ah, and you should probably have at least some interest in mastering the art of French cooking!

I am taking a little hiatus from blogging this month so that I can participate it National Novel Writing Month. So far I am right on track to meet the 50,000 word goal.

In the meantime, if you want to follow along for “Book vs the Movie” I am reading The Horse Whisperer and will compare it to the movie which I have not seen in a few weeks. So far the book is pretty good!

Any suggestions on what my next Book vs Movie comparison should be?

**UPDATE** In my opinion, the book far outshines the movie effort. About the only thing I enjoyed about the movie was the scenery. A young Scarlett Johansson is in the movie, which makes it tolerable. The book is good, except I hated the mother character so it was a little agonizing to read every night. I suppose you aren’t supposed to love all the characters in all the books all the time!

I was surprised to find this book on the shelf at my local library. First of all, it’s a SMALL library. Second of all, I didn’t know it was a book! I remember watching the movie and thinking it was a little over-rated, a little too violent and mean for my taste. But now that I have read the book, I get it. I’m not sure if the point of the book translated well throughout the movie so I have it cued up again on Netflix to watch one more time. No Country for Old Men the book was amazing. Here is what the dust flap says:

Set in our own time along the bloody frontier between Texas and Mexico . . .A harrowing story of a war that society is waging on itself, and an enduring meditation on the ties of love and blood and duty that inform lives and shape destinies, No Country for Old Men is a novel of extraordinary resonance and power.

I really enjoyed the perspective of the “old man”, the sheriff. I never thought about things before until reading his inner-monologue throughout the book- the amount of change the older generation has witnessed and what they think about today’s generation. You really do feel empathy for him as he tries to figure out what in the world this country has come to that people would be so greedy, so needy, such addicts that we would put ourselves through all this violence. No country for old men? Hell, half the time I think no country for anyone.

I’m going to watch this movie again, probably with a new perspective, but I doubt I will think the movie beats the book. I can’t wait to read other books by the same author and I look forward to the latest movie being made from one of his books, The Road.

*UPDATE*

I just watched the movie for the 2nd time. I feel terrible saying this since I love Joel and Ethan Coen but I think they got a little lazy about mid-way through. I mean c’mon! That’s your ending?? Not enough of the sheriff’s dialogue and why cut out the hitchiker? Oh well . . .I guess it’s their movie. Final verdict- the book is better than the movie, BY FAR!

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is one of those books that stays with you. Phrases keep popping into my head and it is definitely the kind of subject matter I think every married couple can relate to. Marriage starts out great, loses flair, children complicate, look to add more flair, fail. Reading this book, I hated April Wheeler so much I wanted her to fail.

I watched the movie before I read the book and I am still not sure which is better to do. I guess sometimes it’s nice to watch the movie first so that the book is easier to read but other times if you watch the movie first you get lazy about reading it because you know how it ends. This book has the same ending as the movie but there are added scenes in the movie. . . haunting scenes that were not in the book. I think the creators of the movie did a really good job, however I am picking the book as being better than the movie here because the way Richard Yates describes post-WWII suburbia is top notch. I loved the part where he describes an argument between the married couple with the cartoons playing in the background- how it makes the argument feel surreal because it is so stupid and pointless, just like the cartoons. Only Yates can describe it!

Hutchinson had their city-wide garage sale this weekend. I scored some pretty good stuff considering I didn’t get to get out and really garage sale hardcore. I had both kids with me so we had to kinda hurry from one to the next in the stroller before Chloe decided to colic it up. No way was I lifting that car seat in and out of the car a zillion times- especially since it is still so hot here! What happened to that cool front that was supposed to be rolling in? Oh well, I’m sure it will be here soon enough and then I will be wishing for spring again.

One of the finds I was most happy about was this: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I have never read it but have seen the first movie about 20 times (the 2nd, Johnny Depp version once). I thought it would be a great movie/book to compare so if anyone has read it and seen the movie- either one, please start this discussion!

I read this book last summer and watched the movie shortly after. Because the movie has stayed with me for an entire year I am going to say that the movie beats the book on this one. Almost ALWAYS it seems I say the book was better, but any movie you can remember scenes from a year later must be very powerful. Actually it sort of makes me want to read the book again to really do some comparison. Oh and don’t get me wrong the book was very good, I just think the movie was exceptionally powerful.

This is a contemporary book/movie. There is very adult subject matter. It is not a book I would recommend to my mother, nor the movie. If you are still interested, the first person to comment on this post will receive this book in the mail. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Little Children: A Novel

Little Children Directed by Todd Field

Kate Winslet is wonderful in this role. There is a scene where she is sitting in the park with her toddler and she forgets to bring the snack. She looks over at the other moms who are all way more prepared and feels both contempt and humility. I think all of us moms can relate to that!

Photo courtesy of Sifter, via Flickr

I’ve always wanted to join a book club but have always been worried about what it is they will want me to read and how much time I will waste reading books I’m not interested in. So I came up with my own idea for a book club and hope some of you will want to participate. With winter not far away, we will have plenty of time for books, movies and popcorn!

This will be a book club that compares the book vs the movie. I will pick some books to try and get us started, but I also hope you will suggest some as well! We don’t all have to be reading the same book and watching the same movies at the same time, either. However, some of you may prefer that. What I will do is start a new post with each of my comparisons, invite others to try it and then comment on which you thought was better- the book or the movie! All of these posts will be filed under the same category, “Book vs Movie” so be sure to check back under that category.

I will post three Book vs Movie suggestions to get us started, but please email me if you have a book/movie combo you would like to include in the club!  KristineLeuze@gmail.com