Comments on: Wrote the Book, Hated the Movie (Part 2)

By: Jill Morrow

Jill Morrow — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 18:48:39 +0000

In reply to Anonymous. I haven't read Elena Ferrante's books, although I know that at least one of them is at the top of the NY Times compilation of best summer books. I need to start a new list of books to read!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 18:50:31 +0000

I have enjoyed the adaptations of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels on HBO. I believe she was involved in some way. The actors brought a depth to the characters and although some of the narrative was lost the rich storytelling remained true to the source material

By: Bob DiNapoli

Bob DiNapoli — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 23:45:36 +0000

Except write poetry? Which some days feels like the equivalent of shouting ‘Game called on account of earthquake!’ and sweeping all your pieces off the board . . .

By: Bob DiNapoli

Bob DiNapoli — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 22:37:21 +0000

Tough call. Good films have sometimes done a better job of communicating the original author’s intentions than the authors themselves, but they’re a little few and far between. Effective authors play a tight balancing act between trying to appeal to an audience (which at its most extreme descends to mere populist pandering) and challenging expectations (which at its far end leads to pretension and preciousness).

Waddya gonna do, huh?

By: Jill Morrow

Jill Morrow — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 15:35:21 +0000

In reply to Bob DiNapoli.

Geezer away, Bob.

Your comments also remind me that no matter how authors envision both their characters and their stories, there’s no control over how a reader might perceive them. Who knows how many “versions” of the same character are out there in readers’ imaginations? The ability to meet your reader/viewer wherever they are is part of storytelling, too (and admittedly different from someone hoping to make money off of an original concept).

By: Bob DiNapoli

Bob DiNapoli — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 21:38:21 +0000

Whew! Nothing like indulging your cranky old inner geezer!

By: Bob DiNapoli

Bob DiNapoli — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 21:34:25 +0000

My test-case is The Lord of the Rings. In the wake of Amazon Prime’s calamitous attempts to vampirise Tolkien’s concepts, many critics have harked back to the Peter Jackson trilogy as the quintessence of powerful and respectful film adaptation. Jackson himself said he wanted nothing in his films that didn’t sort with Tolkien’s original vision.

Really? I’ll grant Jackson gave it a go, but his chosen genre’s addiction to mindless spectacle and low-ball bums-on-seats appeals to a mass audience completely bulldozed both the story Tolkien wanted to tell and the questions he wanted to ask. ‘Faithful’? Only when viewed alongside Bezos’s ludicrous Rings of Power parody.