Saturday, August 30, 2008

Movies Based on Classic Books

Films have been made for years using classic literature as their inspiration. Many may argue that these movies have had varying degrees of success in their adaptation from page to the screen....you may wish to check them out yourself and see!

Book Cover
African Queen
By Huston, John
2000/09 - Warner Home Video
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A gin-swilling riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship. ...More

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The Age of Innocence
By Scorsese, Martin
2003/03 - Columbia Tri-Star
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Edith Wharton's sprawling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about manners in 1870s New York society transfers to the screen in fine fashion ...More

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Doctor Zhivago
By Lean, David
2002/09 - Warner Home Video
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A poet and surgeon, husband and lover finds his life disrupted by war. It alters the lives of many, including Tonya, the gentle woman he marries and Lara, the woman he cannot forget. ...More

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Gone With The Wind
By Fleming, Victor
2004/02 - Warner Studios
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Vivien Leigh is Scarlett to Clark Gable's Rhett in cinema's greatest epic of passion and adventure. With its immortal cast, magnificent cinematography and sweeping score, this cherished classic continues to thrill audiences today. ...More

Book Cover The Grapes of Wrath
By Ford, John
Fonda, Henry
2004/10 - Twentieth Century-Fox
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John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the Great Depression translates beautifully to the big screen with a young Henry Fonda at his best ...More

Book Cover Great Expectations
By
2004/09
- Wgbh Wholesale
1593752067 Check Our Catalog

YOUNG PIP IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A BLACKSMITH, BUT, HATING THE SOOT AND SMOKE, HE SECRETLY DREAMS OF BECOMING A GENTLEMAN. WHEN HE MEETS THE MYSTERIOUS MISS HAVISHAM AND HER HAUGHTY NIECE ESTELLA, PIP IS CONFIDENT THAT HIS DREAM IS TO COME TRUE. ...More

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The Great Gatsby
By Clayton, Jack
2003/12 - Paramount Home Video
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About a mysterious American millionaire whose efforts to recapture the sweetheart of his youth results in tragedy. ...More

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Hamlet
By Zeffirelli, Franco
2004/02 - Warner Home Video
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From director Franco Zeffirelli this two-hour version of Shakespeare's play stars Mel Gibson as the Danish prince. The supporting cast is outstanding, including Glenn Close as Gertrude, Alan Bates as Claudius, Ian Holm as Polonius, and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia. ...More

Book Cover Jane Eyre-Masterpiece Theater
By
2007/02 - Wgbh Wholesale
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...More

Book Cover Lolita
By
2007/10
- Warner Home Video
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Professor Humbert Humbert marries a widow to be near her nymphet daughter. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. From the Vladimir Nabokov novel. ...More

Book Cover
The Maltese Falcon
By Huston, John
2000/02 - Warner Studios
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The classic film starring Humphrey Bogart as private eye Sam Spade. Following the death of Sam's partner, Sam is engulfed in a quest for a priceless Maltese Falcon statuette. ...More



Book Cover
The Mill on the Floss
By Wilson, Ronald
Blake, Christopher
Cornwell, Judy
2007/04 - Warner Home Video
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The tragic tale of Maggie Tulliver, the miller's daughter, who defies her embittered brother in standing by the man she loves - shocking the stifling society in which she lives - in an attempt to pursue her blighted dreams. ...More

Book Cover
Les Miserables
By August, Bille
2003/04 - Columbia Tri-Star
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Victor Hugo's story of escaped convict Jean Valjean, who is pursued relentlessly by the fanatical Inspector Javert. ...More

Book Cover Moby Dick
By Huston, John
Huston, John
Huston, John
2002/08 - Tcfhe/MGM
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Captain Ahab is a surly sailor who loses his leg to a gigantic, crafty white whale and becomes obsessed with hunting it down in this stunning visual tribute to Herman Melville's great literary classic. ...More

The Old Man and the Sea
By
2005/02 - Warner Home Video
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Hemingway's old Cuban fisherman in a small wooden boat relives his youth as he fights a huge marlin. ...More

Book Cover Oliver Twist
By Polanski, Roman
Kingsley, Ben
Clark, Barney
2007/05 - Sony Pictures Home Ent
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ABANDONED AT AN EARLY AGE, OLIVER TWIST IS FORCED TO LIVE IN A WORKHOUSE LORDED OVER BY THE AWFUL MR BUMBLE, WHO CHEATS THE BOYS OF THEIR MEAGER RATIONS. DESPERATE YET DETERMINED, OLIVER MAKES HIS ESCAPE TO THE STREETS OF LONDON WHERE HE IS LURED INTO A WORLD OF CRIME BYT THE SINISTER FAGAN. ...More

Book Cover A Passage to India
By Lean, David
Davis, Judy
Banerjee, Victor
2001/03 - Sony Pictures Home Ent
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Set in the late 1920s, a young, headstrong British woman goes to India, accompanied by the mother of her fiance. Tensions between the East and the West heat up when the British tourist accuses a young Indian doctor of rape during her visit to the caverns. ...More

Book Cover Persuasion
By Shergold, Adrian
2008/01 - BBC Warner
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Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with the handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne was persuaded to break off her engagement. Eight years later, Anne has lived to regret her decision. She never stopped loving Wentworth, and when he returns from sea with a fortune and rank, she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet. ...More

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Pride and Prejudice
By Wright, Joe
2006/02 - MCA Home Video
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In this retelling of Jane Austen's novel set in 19th century England, Mrs. Bennet is all atwitter in hopes of marrying her daughters to prosperous gentlemen callers, especially when a wealthy bachelor moves nearby. Headstrong daughter Elizabeth meets her match in Mr. Darcy, but misinterprets Darcy's honorable intentions and jeopardizes her chance at love. ...More

Book Cover A Room with a View
By Ivory, James
Carter, Helena Bonham
Smith, Maggie
2005/04 - Warner Home Video
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"Lucy, a perfectly proper young Edwardian lady, is escorted by her even more proper Aunt Charlotte to the sensuous landscape of Florence. But after the merest hint of scandal, Charlotte whisks her back to the serene English countryside where she is betrothed to a supposedly suitable gentleman. ...More



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To Kill A Mockingbird
By Mulligan, Robert
2002/01 - Universal Studios
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The award winning story of a small child who learns that there is evil in world. Set in the backdrop of the South, during the Depression, a white woman accuses a black man of rape. And while he is obviously innocent only one man will step up to defend him. ...More

Book Cover Treasure Island
By Haskin, Byron
Driscoll, Bobby
Newton, Robert
2007/01 - Buena Vista Home Entertainment
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Young Jim Hawkins has a map, and pirate Long John Silver wants it. From the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. ...More

Book Cover
Vanity Fair
By Nair, Mira
2005/02 - Universal Studios
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Becky Sharp is a lower-class girl who uses her considerable wit to climb her way up the precipitous ladder of 1820s London society in this latest, faithful film version of William Makepeace Thackeray's famous novel. ...More

Book Cover Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights
By Wgbh
2005/08 - Wgbh Wholesale
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...More

Can you think of any other movies based on classic literature that you would add to this list?



Tuesday, August 26, 2008

New Quick Flicks for the week of 8/26/08

Book Cover
Redbelt
By Mamet, David
Ejiofor, Chiwetel
2008/08 - Sony Pictures Home Ent
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In director David Mamet's riveting character study, jujitsu master Mike Terry -- who's in a financial bind -- considers entering the arena to compete for cash, which goes against his philosophy and his integrity. ...More

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Son of Rambow
By Jennings, Garth
2008/07 - Paramount
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Forbidden to watch TV or go to the movies by his ultra-religious parents, young Will gets a hold of a camera, and his mind blossoms. Set in 1980s Britain, the film tells the tale of the friendship between Will and class bully Lee when the latter recruits Will to help him make a home movie inspired by Rambo: First Blood. ...More

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What Happens in Vegas
By Vaughn, Tom
Diaz, Cameron
2008/08 - Tcfhe
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After a night of heavy partying in Vegas, two strangers wake up to realize, much to their displeasure, that they've gotten married, and now, each must vie for a $3 million jackpot won since their wedding. They try every trick in the book to get their hands on the cash, but as fate would have it, the more zealous they become about seizing the riches, the more passion they develop for each other. ...More

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Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden
By Spurlock, Morgan
2008/08 - The Weinstein Company
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Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock gamely tries to one-up the U.S. government by finding Osama Bin Laden. Spurlock reportedly shot more than 800 hours of footage while scouring every nook and cranny of Afghanistan and the Middle East in pursuit of the infamous leader. ...More