Hollywood does Thermopylae

So there's a lot of buzz surrounding the new movie 300. 300, the film adaptation of Frank Miller's (Sin City) graphic novel of the same name, is loosely based on the historical Battle of Thermopylae. In 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persians for three days in one of history's most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war. The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian Empire's navy destroyed and Xerxes was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it the expansion of the Persian Empire into Europe. The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is often used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain to maximize an army's potential, and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. (Summary taken from Wikipedia.)

When I first heard about the movie I knew I had to see it. Why? Because I love anything about Ancient civilizations, the clips I'd seen were visually stunning and there were a bunch of half-naked stud muffins going off to fight a battle that would inevitably lead to their deaths. Yeah, I'll pay money to see that! I'd heard the criticisms about the excessive violence, homo eroticism, inaccurate historic portal and the politics behind 300. But it didn't phase me faze me. I was of the same mind of aNewsday.com reviewer to said:

This movie in no way pretends to be a replication of historical events. It is, instead, a willed hallucination of ancient history goosed with mutant warriors, rhinos outfitted like Sherman tanks and a King Xerxes who's dolled up with enough glittering threads and glossy makeup to make every David Bowie wanna-be from the mid-1970s chew his knuckles in fuming envy. Put bluntly, the movie's just too darned silly to withstand any ideological theorizing. And "silly" is invoked here, more or less, with affection.

And the film just looked,well, cool. It was shot almost entirely in front of a blue screen which allowed the director, Zack Snyder, the control to keep the film as similar to the graphic novel as possible. Which it accomplished quite well as the film is a shot-for-shot adaptation of the graphic novel (see image to left). (Excluding a few additional scenes added to the film.)

I will admit whole-heartedly to LOVING this movie. It felt like a Gladiator, Troy, Lord of the Rings hybrid. However, if you are at all queasy about blood, guts and the occasional decapitation, you might want to pass on 300.

Some of my favorite reviews from Rotten Tomatoes:

You don't go to Hooters for the chicken wings - no matter what you might tell your wife - and you're not going to "300" for the plot nuances. That said, the new Ancient Greek blood bath is exactly what you're looking for if you're looking for decapitations, fluid bursts and sweaty naked men (there are a few naked women, too). -Richmond.com

I feel comfortable enough in my (relative lack of) masculinity to say that if I had to stand in the presence of these men for more than ten seconds, I’d spontaneously grow a pair of ovaries. -Film Threat

In between all the blood and guts, 300’s careful costuming and sensuous style is intensely erotic.-Cinemablend

Based on the Book

I love books, I love movies. Which did I love more-the book or the movie?! Hmmm good question. You know how it goes-you read a book, you love it then Hollywood adapts, interprets, distorts, or defiles the book you so loved. More often than not, the book comes out the winner. However, there have been instances where I felt the the movie version far surpassed the book. In determining which you liked better does it matter which came first...the chicken or the egg? If you read the book first then saw the movie are you more likely to favor the book version? Or vice versa...? My body of evidence and verdicts:

Exhibit A: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I saw the film adaptation first and LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it! Ryan Gosling just sent my heart aflutter! After viewing the movie I wanted to read the book. But I was SO disappointed! What I loved about the movie was how, after all they'd been through, they died together-they couldn't or wouldn't live without each other. In Spark's book Allie dies and Noah is left with out her. Bummer! I found it depressing and not nearly as powerful as the movie. I've read several other of Nicholas Sparks books and am not a fan, I always end up depressed after reading his stuff. Verdict: MOVIE!

Exhibit B: The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. When I first saw the preview for the movie, I was intrigued. I thought it looked fascinating. So, being the librarian that I am, I did a little background search about the real events. During my searching I found that the movie was based on Ellroy's (author of L.A. Confidential) fictional account of the events. The novel was fantastic. Macabre and twisted, with phenomenal use of 50's slang (I had to Google many-a-term to keep up with the character conversation), it was an interesting read. The movie, what a mess! The reviews were not very favorable, however, I very seldom put stock into reviewers opinions. This time, however, I whole-heartedly agreed! It was a horrible adaption of Ellroy's novel. There was just too much going on and not enough time to develop the story for the audience. Half-way through the movie one of my friends leaned over and said "Do you have any idea what's going on?!" Even after having read the book I was having trouble following the plot line! With some of my favorite actresses (Scarlett Johanssan and Hilary Swank) I thought for sure I would enjoy this movie-not so much! Verdict: Book!

Exhibit C: The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I'll have to admit I haven't read the book since high school. I've seen the movie version several times. Perhaps the time gap or the multiple viewings have biased me but I loved the film version of The Color Purple. The actors, the sweeping landscapes-Spielberg did an amazing job bringing this piece of American Literature to the big screen. Verdict: Movie!

There have been so many books adapted for the big screen that this blog could go on forever discussing each book/movie combo. For those interested the Mid-Continent Public Library has a database of the books that have been made into movies. Based on the Book, all owes users to search by book or movie title, book author or the movie release year. Check to see if your favorite book has a movie counterpart or vice versa.

Anyone have their own favorite book to movie?!

I (dramatic pause) Am a Harry Potter fan. (Sigh.)

I've been meaning to post for the past week. But, as I'm in the middle of moving--I've had very little time to read, blog or do anything other than work and pack! I did, however, finish the third Harry Potter book on audio last night.

As the title of my post would suggest I'm not entirely happy about being a Harry Potter fan, I tried to fight it, I swear. It didn't do me any good, I still got sucked in.

When Harry Potter first came out I was so adamant about not becoming a member of the HP cult, that I refused to read them. Then the movies came out and I refused to see them as well, no particular reason- I wasn't worried about my immortal soul being in peril or any such nonsense. I think I knew, deep down, that if I read the books or watched the movies I'd be another of the Harry Potter crazies. And I was right. When the first Harry Potter movie finally made it to HBO, I made the mistake of watching it. As I suspected I was hooked. I've seen all the movies since and I tried several times to go back and read the books but I never made it through them. It's to do with seeing the movies first, I just couldn't make myself trudge through the books when I already knew what was going to happen. I knew I should WANT to read the books, knowing that the books were probably even better than the film adaptions but I just couldn't do it. But then one of my librarian co-workers suggested I try the audio versions. I was skeptical about audio books in general. I'd tried one or two an they did nothing for me. But my co-worker insited that the narrator, Jim Dale, did a phenomenal job. So, I figured I'd give them a shot and boy am I glad I did! The audio books really are amazing. Jim Dale does such a wonderful job that I forget I already know the story. I can't wait to start the Goblet of Fire and I'm even more excited to move on to the books that haven't been made into movies yet! Hopefully I'll get them all finished by the time the last book, HP and the Deathly Hallows, is released in July!

Desert Island Picks

If you were stranded on a desert island what 10 books would you want?

While browsing the responses to the question posed on Nancy Pearl's Book Lust wiki I found myself thinking, "Yea, right!" The responses included The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, T.S. Elliot and Charles Dickens. I don't know about you, but I'd choose those only if I wanted to bore myself to death! I had to read these authors for my undergraduate degree. As an English major, I knew what I was getting into and had no right to complain. However, if I were trapped on a desert island and was only allowed 10 books, they would not be books with serious literary value. No sirree, I would choose completely based on entertainment value. My desert island list does not include any staples of Classic Literature. Let's be honest here, when you go on vacation do you lug around a Complete Works of Shakespeare? Not normally! So, here is my completely non-Academic, non-literary(but by God, I'd be enjoying my self) desert island book list!

My preference for reading books in a series makes this difficult, as I'd want the whole series but sometimes we have to make tough decisions....here goes nothing!

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, the first in the Outlander series. While I love all the books in this series, none compare to how Jamie and Claire's story began!

2. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. Crusie is a master of writing heartfelt stories complete with humor, sizzle and a dachshund or two. While I don't believe there is a dachshund in this book, it is full of humor and fun!

3. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich. The fourth book in her hilariously, quirky Stephanie Plum Bounty-Hunter series, I found the antics of Stephanie, Lula and Grandma Mazur to be particularly laugh-out-loud funny!

4. The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton. Book 6 in Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series, Anita struggles for her feelings between Jean-Claude, vampire and the Master of the City, and Richard, middle school teacher and leader of the local were-wolf pack.

5. Jamie by Lori Foster. This is the final installment of her Visitation series. Jamie, a mysterious, but appealing character in the other Visitation books, finally gets his story told and it couldn't be soon enough for the fans of this series. Throughout the series the reader's curiosity builds about the mysterious loner and finally, our curiosity gets satisfied!

6. Lucky's Lady by Tami Hoag. One of the first romance's I ever read, to this day it is still one of my favorites! Lucky, the Cajun hero, is one of the most memorable hero's in the romance genre. Gotta love a little spice in your life!

7. Heart of Fire by Linda Howard. Having read most of Howard's works I can confidently say this is by far one of my favorites! Heart of Fire is action packed with plenty of sizzling romance between the hero, Ben Lewis and the heroine, Jillian Sherwood.

8. Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann. Part of Brockmann's Navy SEAL Troubleshooter series, Out of Control is Ken "Wildcard" Karmody's story. Throughout the series Wildcard was one of my favorite characters and it was good to finally see Wildcard get his own story.

9. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips! She, perhaps more than any other author I've read, can create characters you both love and, at times, wish you could throttle. Case in point, Kenny Traveler. Immediately, his warped sense of humor appeals to me but his apparent laziness makes me want to smack him around a tad bit! In the end the chemistry between Kenny and Lady Emma is irresistible!

10. Open Season by Linda Howard. Yep, two from the same author! As a librarian, I couldn't have my top 10 desert island reads without representing my beloved profession! Daisy Minor, a mild mannered librarian turns out to be nothing but trouble for police chief, Jack Russo.