Three Books I Haven't Read

With all the fall shows busy coming up with a season finale and of course my preoccupation with the slam bam series finale of Lost, I still managed to squeeze in a little of movie/dvd watching :)



After the disappointment of New Moon, the next three movies on my Netflix list are all adapted from books. Just like New Moon, these three I haven't read. I haven't even heard of them before, which disgusts me if I may say so. Once upon a time I used to be very bookish and while I preferred textbooks and history books, I never shied away from fiction.



Here are the next three on my Netflix list for this year in order of arrival.



UP IN THE AIR is a 2001 novel by American author Walter Kirn about a 35-year-old career counselor whose main job is to deliver the bad news (lay off) and assist these people in reentering the job force. In the movie very little is shown about this assisting, it's more on the delivering the bad news. Ryan Bingham (Clooney's character) spends about 300 days traveling and his goal is to reach the milestone of 10,000,000 miles. Along the way he meets fellow frequent flier Alex (Vera Fermiga) and embarks on a casual relationship. [Like there is one. For me when this type of relationship ends there is always someone who gets hurt.]



Bingham was summoned to the main office to train new recruit ambitious Natalie (Anna Kendrick) and show her how things have been done before. Natalie wants to implement a high tech program to cut cost.



MY TAKE: Bingham on paper is 35 y.o. Clooney is not. But that didn't deduct anything from the validity of the movie. The acting by the three major characters [including Jason Bateman as the boss - gosh I hate that guy!] was natural and effortless, which is probably why acting nominations were handed out to the main actors by award-giving bodies.



At some point in the movie, I thought it ran a little slowly. It took its time moving the story along.



Not having read the book, I was surprised to see that Alex was truly just after casual affair. Wasn't that scene where Ryan found out that she's not into anything serious kind of want you to say 'GOTCH' Ryan.



I enjoyed the movie, although I wouldn't pay good money to see it on the big screen.



THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE is a 2003 novel by American novelist Audrey Niffenegger. It's a love story about a man whose genetic disorder causes him to time travel unpredictably and his wife who has to deal with his absences.



MY TAKE: I love Rachel MacAdams. She has this ethereal beauty that gives a classic feel to a movie. Eric Bana is not bad either. He didn't stand out here. And I don't think Rachel did as well, acting wise. However, the story is captivating. It transported me to a place I wanted to be. I love this kind of fairy tale/sci-fi movies.



I got choked up more than once in the movie. It's a nice one to put on the dvd player if you want a little chilling time.



THE LOVELY BONES is a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold about a 14-year-old girl who was raped and murdered and is coping with her death as she watches her family go about their daily life from her perch "heaven".



MY TAKE: I read the synopsis of the book on wikipedia, if I haven't I would be happy with the film adapatation. In the book the mother played by Rachel Weisz had an affair with the detective in charge of disappearance case of Susie Salmon. This was not implicitly or explicitly shown/hinted on the movie version. I don't know if that would have made a difference on how I viewed the movie.

The subject matter is a bit serious for me. It's not the kind of movie I would have wanted to see at midnight. It does give you some things to think about death and grieving and accepting.

The protagonist's character was superbly played by Stanley Tucci. Just one look at him and you can feel bad vibes.

All in all, I think it's a well made movie. I don't know if it made money in the tills, but it's a good rental movie.