Five Potential YA Franchises that Failed

Let me add Lois Lowry’s The Giver to this list.

The Maze Runner (2014), a film adapted from James Dashner’s young adult post apocalyptic sci-fi series, made a killing at the box office last year, earning a whopping $102 million in the US ($238 million internationally) with just a $38 million production budget. Yesterday, Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, the second installment, graced big screens all over the nation, and its potential for success is great. This came to me as a surprise considering that it’s one of the young adult series with a relatively smaller following than say Divergent or The Hunger Games. Of course there are an infinite number of reasons for the success and failure of a young adult film adaptation. A solid fan base from the books help, but they are not entirely a guarantee. And as much as we have The Hunger Games, Twilight and Harry Potter, all YA series adaptations that have become massive money makers, we get those few who never really become the full-blown film franchise they were expected to be.

Read about what’s included in the list: Five Potential YA Franchises that Failed – What About Movies?

Films Mentioned in Anna and the French Kiss

So I was watching Lost in Translation last week. Then in a conversation between Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), Bob said: “The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.” I remembered that I highlighted a similar quote so I checked the books that I recently read and there it was, in Anna and the French Kiss. In the book, Stephanie Perkins really did quote Bob Harris. Lost in Translation is one of Anna Oliphant’s favorite movies.

After that, I decided to list the movies that are mentioned in Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I initially highlighted most of them anyway.

“Paris . . . is the film appreciation . . . capital . . . of the world.”

Here are the films:

1. Madeline (1998)

IN AN OLD HOUSE IN PARIS, THAT WAS COVERED WITH VINES…

A movie based on Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic book series which is set in Paris. This is one of the three movies mentioned by Anna when she listed everything she knows about France at the first chapter of the novel.

2. Amélie (2001)

ONE PERSON CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER.

Another movie mentioned by Anna in the first chapter of the novel. This is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life. And I am quite ashamed that I haven’t watched this film yet even though I’ve been hearing a lot of good reviews about this.

3. Moulin Rouge (2001)

CLUB MOULIN ROUGE – AN EXPERIENCE YOU WON’T FORGET!

I watched this first during my freshman year in college and I really like it. My friends and I used to watch this at a friend’s house when we don’t have classes in the afternoon. I rewatched this with my sister and cousins this year too. It was set in Paris and it’s a musical! No wonder I loved it.

4. A Little Princess (1995)

EVERY GIRL EVERYWHERE IS A PRINCESS.

I just learned about this movie after looking it up in IMDb and Letterboxd. So the story is the same as Princess Sarah, the Japanese anime series that was translated in Filipino and aired in Philippine television when I was a kid. I believe every 90s child knows this story. It is also adapted in Philippine cinema as Sarah… Ang Munting Prinsesa, also in 1995. These are all based on the children’s novel A Little Princess by British playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. I also plan to watch this, as it is directed by Alfonso Cuarón. 🙂

5. Hitchcock (2012)

GOOD EVENING.

A love story between the filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and his wife during the filming of Psycho (1960). A film about filming. Interesting!

6. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

A DIFFERENT SET OF JAWS.

A British musical comedy horror film based on the musical stage production. I know some of the songs in this film because of Glee. I also read about this in The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I am looking forward to watch the movie, and maybe the musical stage production too.

7. Rushmore (1998)

LOVE. EXPULSION. REVOLUTION.

I first heard about this film from my friend Tin. It’s one of her favorite films of all time. (Tin, am I right? Hehe!) And since I recently watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, also directed by Wes Anderson, I’m going to bump this up on my watchlist.

8. Star Wars specifically The Empire Strikes Back (1980) & The Phantom Menace (1999)

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES…

EVERY GENERATION HAS A LEGEND. EVERY JOURNEY HAS A FIRST STEP. EVERY SAGA HAS A BEGINNING.

An epic saga created by George Lucas. I might rewatch these films, especially now that Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is coming into theaters next year.

9. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

BEING THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN WHOSE PRINCIPAL INTERESTS ARE RAPE, ULTRA-VIOLENCE AND BEETHOVEN. MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING!

Okay, this film is not really mentioned in Anna and the French Kiss. It was just mentioned as a username of a regular in Anna’s favorite message board while she was reading film reviews. The username is clockworkorange88. I also want to watch this movie but I think I’ll read the novel first.

10. It Happened One Night (1934)

TOGETHER… FOR THE FIRST TIME

A romance comedy film directed by Frank Capra, a well-known film director of a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. I also often see this film in lists of best films of all time.

11. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

ROMANCE, DRAMA, LAUGHTER AND HEARTBREAK… CREATED OUT OF THE VERY HEART AND SOIL OF AMERICA!

Just like It Happened One Night, this is directed by Frank Capra and included in lists of best films. But this one is a drama.

12. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

WHO WILL SURVIVE AND WHAT WILL BE LEFT OF THEM?

An American slasher film. I have known this for a while now and it even had a remake in 2003. But I am not a fan of horror movies so maybe I’ll skip this one. (Not a fan meaning I may have a fear of horror movies. LOL)

13. Scooby-Doo 2 (2004)

THEY CAME. THEY SAW. THEY RAN.

I’m not a fan of Scooby-Doo. I just watched some episodes of the American animated television series when I was young. But isn’t it amazing that the animated series is still ongoing?

14. Sixteen Candles (1984)

WHEN YOU’RE JUST SIXTEEN ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!

An American coming-of-age comedy film. It is included in some lists of best high school movies.

15. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

THE BEATLES, STARRING IN THEIR FIRST FULL-LENGTH, HILARIOUS, ACTION-PACKED FILM!

I bet any Beatles fan has already watched this film. I will watch this one of these days and then listen to some famous Beatles songs like A Hard Day’s Night and Can’t Buy Me Love.

16. Lost in Translation (2003)

EVERYONE WANTS TO BE FOUND.

I watched this because of Scarlett Johansson. Hehe! And I really like it. As Stephanie Perkins said thru Anna Oliphant in Anna and the French Kiss, “It’s about isolation and loneliness, but it’s also about friendship. Being exactly what the other person needs.” Sofia Coppola became the third woman (and the first American woman) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing, for this movie.

17. Iron Man (2008)

HEROES AREN’T BORN. THEY’RE BUILT.

This is one of those blockbuster Marvel movies that I liked. It was fun watching Robert Downy, Jr. as Tony Stark or Iron Man. I think I like this more than its sequels.

18. Roman Holiday (1953)

ROMANCE IN ROMANTIC ROME!

A princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American journalist in Rome. That princess is played by Audrey Hepburn, one of the world’s most famous actresses of all time. But I haven’t watch any of her films. Maybe I could start with this one.

19. The Gold Rush (1925)

THE WORLD’S GREATEST LAUGHING PICTURE!

This movie stars The Tramp, Charles Chaplin. Chaplin is considered as one of the most important stars of the early days of Hollywood. This is one of his silent films where he is most recognized.

20. The Decision, The Entrance & The Lighthouse

Three movies adapted from the novels written by James Ashley with the same titles. Okay, okay, I’m kidding. These are fictional movies. James Ashley is the pen name of Anna Oliphant’s father, who is an author of stories about love, cancer and dying.

By the way, I also made a Letterboxd list of these films.

Books & Films: Stuck in Love

No, this is not a film adapted from a book. But Stuck in Love (2012) is a story about writers. The tagline actually says that it’s A story of first loves and second chances. Hehe! But the main characters here are writers. Plus Raymond Carver and Stephen King!

“Every life needs a rewrite.”

Stuck in Love is a 2012 American independent romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Josh Boone. The film stars Greg Kinnear (The Last Song), Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream), Lily Collins (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) and Liana Liberato (If I Stay). See what I did there? I just need to mention those books adapted to films. Haha!

There are three writers in this film. Meet the Borgens! There’s the father (Kinnear) who is a successful novelist, the daughter (Collins) who is publishing her first novel, and the son (Wolff) who is an aspiring fantasy writer. This is even originally titled as “Writers” when it premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

But let’s talk about the other two writers mentioned in this film.

1. Raymond Carver

I have read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love early this year. It was our book club’s book of the month last February. I was glad I read it before I saw this film. Let’s quote Bill Borgens (Kinnear) quoting Raymond Carver:

“My favorite book is a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver, called What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. And in the closing lines of the title book, Carver says:

I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moved, not even when the room went dark.

And I think that that’s what writing is, it’s listening for that beating heart. And when we hear it, it’s our job to decipher it, to the best of our abilities.”

This is the scene where Bill was asked to talk during the launch of Samantha’s (Collins) book. He was requested by the professor to say a few words about the process of writing. Do you agree with Bill’s thoughts?

2. Stephen King

Stephen King is the favorite author of Josh Boone, and Rusty Borgens (Wolff) too. Rusty raved about his favorite book, It, in the film. While Louis (Lerman) mentioned that The Stand is his favorite.

Then let’s quote Rusty talking to Stephen King (Yes, cameo!):

“It’s kind of like what you said in the opening of The Body.”

The most important things are the hardest to say.

I have been hearing the name of Stephen King since, uh, grade school? But I haven’t read any of his books. Maybe his style and genre are not my thing. Well, I thought I said I am willing to read anything? Maybe other books are just more appealing to me. Maybe I’m just scared, because horror and suspense. But how do I know if I didn’t try? So after watching this movie, I added two Stephen King books in my “to-read” list. I added It (because it’s recommended by Rusty) and Pet Sematary (recommended by a friend from the office). What about you? What Stephen King books have you read? Any recommendations?

Love books? What About Movies?

Books & Films: Atonement, The Fault in Our Stars, Edge of Tomorrow

Last Saturday, I watched three films. What got my attention and I found it funny is that I watched three movies in a day whereas I watched three movies last May. Yes, for the whole month of May, I only watched three, the least I did in a month this year. Last Thursday, I was thinking of what to do on a holiday. Blogging, watching movies and reading books came to mind. That’s when I realized that all of the three movies that I watched last Saturday are all based from books. As mentioned in the title of this blog post, these are the movies that I watched and enjoyed.

1. Atonement (2007) This British romantic drama war film is based on the historical fiction novel of the same title by Ian McEwan. I read this with my book club friends last April. I’ve been planning to watch the movie after reading but I’ve been in a “movie watching slump” (Does this phrase even exist?) last month. A friend asked me that we watch it together albeit we’re in different locations and I was glad I did. The movie was very faithful to the novel, which makes a reader happy and satisfied when watching adapted films. I admire the actors that brought the characters into life. Another remarkable aspect is the film’s use of the sound of the typewriter and the piano as background music. This imposed added feelings of tension to the story. Also, I was amazed with the sweeping shot at the beach which depicted different moods during the war. Full of emotions, I would certainly recommend this film.

My Goodreads rating: 5/5 stars
My Letterboxd rating: 5/5 stars

2. The Fault in Our Stars (2014) This is a romantic comedy-drama film based on the young adult novel of the same title by John Green. John Green has been famous in the young adult genre so I decided to read this book last year. I really enjoyed watching this movie with my friends. This movie made me laugh and… Okay, I’ll admit, it also made me cry. I believe that Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort were impressive as Hazel Grace and Augustus. I heard that John Green was present most of the time during filming. So that explains why the movie is regarded as a good adaptation of the novel.

My Goodreads rating: 4/5 stars
My Letterboxd rating: 4/5 stars

3. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) It actually surprised me that this science fiction Tom Cruise movie is based from a book. I just found that out after the movie when the credits were shown. It is based from All You Need is Kill, a sci-fi war novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The movie is clever and funny. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are superb and I love the battle scenes. The ending will make you think so the movie experience will stay. I’m not really strict in following the “read the book before watching the movie” rule so I added this book to my to-read list. By the way, this book was adapted into a graphic novel too.

My Goodreads rating: to read
My Letterboxd rating: 4/5 stars

I once watched a movie and then discovered that it was based from a book. My initial reaction: “So that’s why it was that good!” As a matter of fact, some of the greatest movies of all time were adapted from books. So yeah, I’m looking forward for more!

Love books? What About Movies?