Books VS. Movies

I have a system. I didn't always have this system, but after many disappointments I came up with it. Whenever I see a trailer or hear word that a movie is coming out that's based on a book, I don't read it. I HAVE TO watch the movie first because if I don't, I will most likely hate it. If I've already read the book there is nothing I can do, but I won't re-read anywhere close to the release of the film.

That's what I used to do. I used to re-read the entire Harry Potter series before the movie came out so it was fresh in my mind. The problem with that is with all the details fresh we have expectations that are unattainable for a film. You don't have this problem when you reverse the process. If you watch the movie first you can decide then and there whether it's a story you're interested in reading, and you can appreciate the movie for what it is instead of having pre-conceived ideas. 99% of the time the book is better than the movie (The 1% includes The Road) so you have to work harder to like the movie. After watching a movie and then reading the book you get to see all the little details the movies can't incorporate. You can see the changes the movie made, but you don't hate them for it, usually.

It's so hard to keep the two art forms separate, and enjoy each for it's own. This makes it easier for me. Sometimes it's annoying to read the book and think, "She looked nothing like that in the movie!" *cough cough The Seeker in The Host cough cough* But you get over it. I wish it didn't always seem like it was book VS. movie. Why can't we love both equally and separately? I think they are both special and wonderful in their own unique ways.

At first I was kind of annoyed that nearly all the movies out these days are adapted from something (books, true stories, musicals) instead of coming up with something original. Now, I'm learning to accept and love the adaptions with the few originals thrown in.

I don't know if this system will work for you or not, but give it a shot and you might be surprised. :)

These are some of the book to movie details that annoy me the most:
1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Let's completely change the Hogwarts grounds from what the books say they are and what the first two movies have already established! Meanwhile let's screw with the whole plot and mangle it as well! Great plan!
2. The Host - The Seeker is supposed to be dressed in all black with black hair, not white with blonde hair. This seems like an easy fix. Plus they left out the BEST LINE after freaking setting up for it earlier in the movie!
3. All Harry Potter films - Would it really have been so hard to give Daniel Radcliffe green contacts? Is that so much to ask!?
4. Twilight series - Kristen Stewart's god awful acting and Robert Pattinson's downright unattractiveness.
5. My Sister's Keeper - Let's completely change the ending! We'll have a different person die and we'll take out a major character!
6. Angels and Demons - Once again, let's completely change the ending and we'll have the guy live instead of die. Who cares!?

Some of my favorite book to movie adaptions are: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, The Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II, and Eat, Pray, Love

What are some of your most annoying book to movie details!? What are some of your favorites? Leave them in the comments!

The Fault in Our Stars

Last Saturday I went and saw The Fault in Our Stars which I have been eagerly anticipating since the movie was announced. It did not disappoint. I would say it was right up there with Catching Fire for best book to movie adaption. Such an amazing cast and script. I was blown away! Naturally I went through several tissues and was red and puffy when I left the theatre.

If you've read the book: see it. I promise you, it's worth it. If you haven't read the book: see it, then read the book. Be aware that it is hard to watch. It's sad, funny, and beautiful all at the same time. Prepare yourself to feel all the feels. Seriously though, read the book. John Green's books have the most interesting writing style. The are intelligent and witty and hysterical and heart-breaking and honest. The best way I can think to describe The Fault in Our Stars is that it is heart-breakingly wonderful.

Have you seen TFIOS yet? What did you think!? Leave a comment!

Get Involved

Hey Readers! I would love some input from you! I don't want this blog to just be me spewing out words, I want it to be interactive. I want a dialogue. I would love some suggestions! How can I help to get you guys more involved? What would you like to see more of on this blog? What would you like to see less of? Leave any suggestions in the comments below! Thanks for reading!

Holly

Oscar Winners

Guess what I just realized! I never posted how I did on my predictions for the Oscars! Well, I killed it! I got pretty much everything right! The only ones I missed were: Mr. Hublot for animated short, Helium for live short, and Her for original screenplay. Not bad considering! The awards were awesome! Ellen totally bought pizza for the celebs and took the most epic selfie ever. JLaw tripped...again. Benedict Cumberbatch was there and he totally photobombed U2! He also got a bit teary when Lupita won! Adorable! Plus John Travolta will never live down the shame of Adele Dazeem. Here are a few of the best moments!

You can get your name Travoltified HERE!

Until next year!

World Oceans Day

Technically World Oceans Day was June 8th, so I'm a couple days late in posting about this, but I hardly think that matters. To me, every day is World Oceans Day. I love the ocean. I always have, and I always will. There is so much wonder, beauty, and mystery hidden beneath the shimmering blue waves. Naturally I want to do my part in protecting the oceans because that is where my shark homeboys live. While sharks are clearly the coolest and best part of the oceans, there are still a lot of other living things that need taking care of there.

I recently watched Bambi as part of my "Watch every Disney movie in order" challenge. In it, Bambi and his mother have a very close call in the meadow when man comes and starts shooting without consequence. Later man comes back and succeeds in burning down the entire freaking forest! Good job, guys! Well guess what? That's not a stretch. We are killing our earth. Plain and simple. Land has it's problems, but so do the oceans. Plus the oceans are like 75% of our planet, so if we ruin them, we're totally screwed.

It seems like common sense, but let me spell it out just in case it's not. Mind you, the slaughter of sharks is just ONE of MANY problems we are causing in our oceans.

Hi! I'm a shark! I'm the ocean's top predator! I'm very important! I keep this ecosystem in check. Lately me and my friends have been having a hard time taking care of our ecosystem because there just aren't that many of us left. I promise I'll keep working on it! Hopefully we can get this place back up to snuff soon!

Hi! We're fish! We used to be scared of sharks and swim in fear all the time. Now we don't see sharks that much and our family is growing! There are so many of us! It's great!

Hi! We're phytoplankton! We hang out in plants at the surface of the ocean. We are dying because there are so many fish! We can't keep up! The fish are picking us clean and we are struggling to do our job!

Hi! I'm the air you breathe! Did you know that up to 85% of me comes from the oceans! Not only are humans polluting me with all their nasty fuels, but I'm struggling to get the oxygen I get from the oceans! There just aren't enough phytoplankton left to feed me!

Like I said, the slaughter of sharks is just one problem. I'm pretty sure man ruins everything it touches. I mean look at what we are doing!

The mass slaughter of dolphins. For more on this watch the documentary The Cove, if you've got a strong stomach. It's more graphic than Sharkwater.

Overfishing

Dying Coral Reefs

Shark Finning

Oil spills

Trash EVERYWHERE

Acidification

If you don't see anything wrong with these photos, you should probably check into a mental institution because THIS IS NOT OKAY. We're pretty darn lucky to have this Earth that provides us with life. There aren't any other planets that can do that! We've only got this one planet, so we better start taking better care of it! This isn't a movie where we can all move into a giant spaceship to live when we screw it up, we can't relocate to Mars, we can't hit a reset button. We have one shot, and we're blowing it! For information on how we can reverse this screw up visit oceana.org. We can make a difference. Let's get started!