I watched The Lovely Bones the other night, and was quite disappointed. The book was excellent, but I felt Peter Jackson made rather self-indulgent use of CGI which detracted from the suspense of the story line. Saoirse Ronan was brilliant as the murdered girl, and Stanley Tucci, as the murderer, also gave a good performance. Too many "Carousel" type dream sequences in "Heaven" or "Limbo" turned this almost into a teenage chick flick. I shall have to read the book again to remind myself why i thought it was good!

I watched 'The Sicilian' yesterday afternoon, but made the mistake of doing so just having finished the book (by Mario Puzo). The book is brilliant, but the film changed so many things that I found it quite confusing. Quite why so many movie makers insist on having a female lead in certain films is beyond me, there was certainly no need for one in 'The Sicilian', Guiliano's fiance/wife made only a fairly brief appearance in the book, it doesn't make sense to me.

Quite a few westerns were ruined by having women playing important roles too - why don't movie makers realise that there are certain types of film that call for a mostly male cast. The only film I can think of at the moment that adopted this approach was 'Deliverance', which was brilliant!

I watched 'The Sicilian' yesterday afternoon, but made the mistake of doing so just having finished the book (by Mario Puzo). The book is brilliant, but the film changed so many things that I found it quite confusing. Quite why so many movie makers insist on having a female lead in certain films is beyond me, there was certainly no need for one in 'The Sicilian', Guiliano's fiance/wife made only a fairly brief appearance in the book, it doesn't make sense to me.

I think most screenwriters do these changes to make the story work better as a movie. Movies and books are such different types of beasts that you often have to completely re-think the story because many things that work brilliantly in written form just don't work when transported to the big screen. The first big problem with converting books to film scripts is that you simply can't include everything or if you did, most of these movies would last about ten hours.

I haven't read "The Sicilian" or read the book, so I can't comment on the changes and how they work, but I do know that it's hard to make some books work well as movies and I try to keep myself from comparing the two if I've read the book before I've seen the movie. I try to watch it as an independent piece of storytelling and if it works as a movie, then I don't think there's any point in complaining about the changes they've made, but if the movie isn't good, then I start thinking more about why they might have made those changes.

Of course it's not all that unusual that producers or production companies demand that a movie must have a strong female part in it to make it more marketable. That's when screen writers are often forced to do all sorts of circus tricks to accommodate these demands. Production companies are sometimes horribly wrong with their demands. I'll use the first Godfather(as we're talking about Mario Puzo) movie as an example here. The Production company had told in no uncertain terms that Al Pacino is not suitable for the role of Michael Corleone. Often they just want what they think would bring in the most money.

I'll use the first Godfather(as we're talking about Mario Puzo) movie as an example here. The Production company had told in no uncertain terms that Al Pacino is not suitable for the role of Michael Corleone. Often they just want what they think would bring in the most money.

Al Pacino was an aspiring actor when Coppola cast him, the producers wanted Warren Beatty if you can believe such a thing. I suppose Maks already explained their reasoniing. BTW Pacino was a direct descendant of immigrants from Corleone, Sicily - just like his character.

As to casting women to "broaden" appeal, how about "Lawrence of Arabia" - not a single female credit in a 3 1/2 hour film!

As to casting women to "broaden" appeal, how about "Lawrence of Arabia" - not a single female credit in a 3 1/2 hour film!

Not all directors have to bow down to pressure from the production company. The director and producer had just recently done "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and they had big name actors like Anthony Quinn and Alec Guinness, so I think that gave them some freedom to move. Besides, David Lean and Sam Spiegel were far more established names in the business at that point than Coppola was when he was directing the first Godfather. And I guess the times were a bit different back then. Today most of the big production companies try to play it safe and that's one why we see so many remakes and movies based on television series, video games and what not. They count on luring people in because the movie is about something that they already know about and possibly even like. You don't see that many completely original ideas coming from the big production companies these days. And when they spend loads of money on a blockbuster movie, they always hope that they could turn it into a franchise so that they could make at least one or two more movies based on the same characters and the same world. They already have an audience for their movie because people will already know what "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Lord of the Rings" is and want to see more of the same stuff that they liked.

Apocolypto

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472043/

In the Maya civilization, a peaceful tribe is brutally attacked by warriors seeking slaves and human beings for sacrifice for their gods. Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife and his son in a deep hole nearby their tribe and is captured while fighting with his people. An eclipse spares his life from the sacrifice and later he has to fight to survive and save his beloved family.

Zola Rating: 9/10

Edited July 21, 201015 yr by Zola

This vaguely reminds me of a film called "At Play In the Fields Of the Lord" Has anyone seen it?

Nobody's trying to take human sacrifices. It's a peaceful tribe (in South America?) who way of life is wrecked by whites. I'm going to have to go and google it now because it years since I saw it. It has Tom Berenger in it

P.s. Yes, I've just checked it out on wiki and reminded myself why I liked it, going to have to buy it in DVD now

Edited July 21, 201015 yr by moi

I've just finished the remake of Dawn Of The Dead - better effects but a way inferior film - none of the tension, even though Romero was involved

This vaguely reminds me of a film called "At Play In the Fields Of the Lord" Has anyone seen it?

Nobody's trying to take human sacrifices. It's a peaceful tribe (in South America?) who way of life is wrecked by whites. I'm going to have to go and google it now because it years since I saw it. It has Tom Berenger in it

P.s. Yes, I've just checked it out on wiki and reminded myself why I liked it, going to have to buy it in DVD now

I think you would really enjoy Apocolypto Moi.

I think you would really enjoy Apocolypto Moi.

I'll go to see it as soon as it comes to a cinema near me!

I think you would really enjoy Apocolypto Moi.

Is that Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's car-crash of a patronising, racially stereotypical, "honest,it's nowhere near as offensive as the Passion of the Christ" film?

I think maybe you might not know Moi as well as you think! Or I don't!

I'll go to see it as soon as it comes to a cinema near me!

The movie was released in 2006 and I doubt it will be back on the big screens any time soon. ;)

Is that Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's car-crash of a patronising, racially stereotypical, "honest,it's nowhere near as offensive as the Passion of the Christ" film?

I think maybe you might not know Moi as well as you think! Or I don't!

No, you're the one that knows me, YB - If that's what it is, it is NOTHING like At Play in The Fields Of the Lord, and I definitely wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

I think maybe you might not know Moi as well as you think! Or I don't!

She's full of surprises. I think it was just a month ago when she said she liked Laibach(the band). I'm still not sure if she was serious about it, though.

I don't possess any Laibach records but I do like them!

SO, Maksimov - have YOU seen At Play in The Fields Of The lord?

Is that Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's car-crash of a patronising, racially stereotypical, "honest,it's nowhere near as offensive as the Passion of the Christ" film?

I think maybe you might not know Moi as well as you think! Or I don't!

What are you on about?

How is it racist?

Jesus wept.

SO, Maksimov - have YOU seen At Play in The Fields Of The lord?

Uhh...no? *backs away without breaking eye contact* :unsure:

Consider yourself chastised! Seriously, try to see it some time. Mind you, I've just looked on Amazon and EBay and it's hellishly expensive. DVDs £18+

There are VHS videos available for £4+ but by the time you add postage for them it works out quite pricey...and I don't really want to start increasing my diminishing suypply of videos.

What are you on about?

How is it racist?

Jesus wept.

It is mate, it really is. Read this for example http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1217-24.htm

...seen At Play in The Fields Of The lord?

3 points for the film, thought provoking missionary theme

2 points for Darryl Hannah full-on nudity

-1 point for Kathy Bates full-on nudity

4/5 overall rating

Edited July 21, 201015 yr by ThunderDan

Great film for me: 3 points for the film, thought provoking missionary theme

2 fpr Darryl Hannah full on nudity

-1 point for Kathy Bares full on nudity

4/5 overall rating

Strangely enough it was Tom Berenger's nudity that interested me!

Lithgow's modesty must have been a disappointment for you.

I was disappointed they didn't all end up one of those missionary boiling pots that cannibals seem to prefer, but I really did like the film.

Strangely enough it was Tom Berenger's nudity that interested me!

Perv.

Watched Whiteout last night, was a decent movie but the last part of the movie got really boring and almost made me fall asleep tbh.

Kate Beckinsale did good and the environment was amazing to watch, especially in HD.

6/10 - Watch if you have nothing else to do.

It is mate, it really is. Read this for example http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1217-24.htm

One sad blogger doesn't really do it for me. It's a movie ffs.

At the end of the day Hollywood dramatises everything so to call it racist because it doesn't show every different aspect of Mayan life is ridiculous. It's a story of a small tribe. I don't think it tried to imply for one moment that it represents every person of that era and culture.

Mel Gibson is an easy target for obvious reasons.

Have you seen the film?

It is a superb tale of human strength.

Edited July 21, 201015 yr by Zola