Books vs Movies Adaptations| Carenza Bramwell

This has been an idea that has been floating around in the back of my head for a few years now. As a big lover of both books and movies, it's always interesting when a new one comes out. Despite the old bookish mantra that the book is always better than the movie, there are a few cases where I personally believe it goes the other way.

Just a few quick disclaimers before we get into the bulk of this post. Firstly, when I say "movies", I am going to also include TV show adaptations. There are a couple of TV show adaptations that I've seen and have opinions on. Secondly, I am only going to be comparing on screen adaptations with books I've read. There are a few where I haven't read the books yet, which would make it unfair to compare the two. Thirdly, it is perfectly okay for you to disagree with me, but please remember these are my opinions. 

How Will I Be Rating Them?

The main way I judge if a book to on screen adaptation is something I like, is mostly how accurate it is. Accuracy is a key point in adaptation. You can't take an existing story and radically change it, unless it is loosely based on said story. Overall enjoyment is another key factor. It will also be taken into account whether or not I saw the film first or if I read the book first. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on some book to on screen adaptations. 

Books Over Movies

Let's start with a classic and that has the be the Harry Potter series. This is one of the first book vs movies I ever remember being involved with and caring about. In my household, we made it a rule that you couldn't see the movies until you had read the books. I only saw the last three movies in the cinema, even though at the time of seeing Half Blood Prince, I was reading Deathly Hallows for the first time. This is 100% a case where I prefer the books to the movies. It's not that the movie adaptations are bad, they're fairly solid. It's more a case that the movies will never beat the original text. I adore the books so much.

Another book that beats its movie adaptation is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Although I do owe a lot to the movie, and I'm fairly certain that I watched the film then read the books, the movie adaptation is widely viewed as bad. It is still a film I watch every now and then for nostalgia purposes, but the book will always hold a special place in my heart. The movie did it very little justice and I haven't heard the best thing about the recent TV show adaptation. 

The Divergent series was one of the first YA series I remember reading when I properly got into books in my early teens. I remember going to see the film with a friend before either of us had ever read the books. Although they are not the most high brow books and the ending of the series was somewhat disappointing, they are superior to their movie adaptation. I never even finished watching the movies. I think I got halfway through the second one and I just couldn't do it. 

The final one on this list has to the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. The fact that it was written and directed by Tim Burton, made it a pretty good movie in it's own rights. However, the fact that they changed some of the key elements about the books and it's been almost four years since it came out and there has been no hint of a sequel, it just ended up being a bit of a flop. As a movie on it's own, if it was not adapted from a book, it would have been an incredible movie, but knowing the back story, it has to go on the books over movies list. 

Movies Over Books

My first entry on this list is actually where my idea for this post came from and that is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Here, I watched the Netflix TV show adaptation first and fell head over heals in love with this world and these characters. However, when I read the book, it was nothing like the show and I was hugely let down. Douglas Adams is a phenomenal writer, but it was a book from the 80s and he didn't stop talking about iMacs throughout the whole thing. The original text just felt very dated to me, whereas the TV show was modern and exciting. I'm still bitter that they never finished it properly.  

Another TV show adaptation is the Poldark TV show vs the books. This was one where I watched the on screen adaptation first. I then read the books. I've read six out of the seven I own and it is a twelve book series. I think I prefer the show as these books, like Dirk Gently, are very dated. They were written in the fifties and sixties, and feel very cheesy. I love the world and characters but this has to be a case where the TV show is just easier to follow. It cut a lot of the minor plots out and gets straight to the heart of the action. 

The next one where I prefer the movie is the Lord of the Rings, however I can only say that after having read just the first book. It seems to be a reoccurring theme in this post, but the novel felt dated, mainly due to the language choice and attitudes. I grew up watching the film adaptations, so they will always have a special place in my heart. I do intend to read all of the books in the LotR series, but for now the movies will always be it for me.

Finally, I have the Scott Pilgram graphic novel series vs the movie adaptation. Once again, the common theme is that I saw the movie adaptation first. I just reread the summary for the graphic novels and realised how impressive it is that they turned a six book series into one movie. I like how fast paced and fun the movie is. 

On-Screen Adaptations I'd Love to See

Here is just a little list of books I'd love to see adapted for the screen:

• Serpent and Dove
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
• My Dark Vanessa
• Strange the Dreamer

So that concludes my post on books vs movie adaptations. What are your thoughts on book vs movie adaptations?

Carenza :) x  

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
As I'm sure most of you know, the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie and script came out on November 18th. It's safe to say that the Potterheads went a little bit mad over having a new Harry Potter movie. I went and saw it on the 20th and I have fallen in love with the Fantastic Beasts universe. Like my last movie review, I will split it into sections: Non-Spoiler Thoughts, Poster Review, Outline of the plot, Character Chat and Opinions, which I am going to merge into one section. This post will contain spoilers, so if you have not seen the Movie or read the script, please do not read this post! Go watch the movie and then come and read this.

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I had very low standards. I loved the Harry Potter movies and was skeptical that they would be of the same standard. While I was happy to have more in this universe, I felt that turning Fantastic Beasts into a movie was stretching it a bit. Also in my head, Newt was an old man and was from the 1600's not the 1920's. 

But once I had saw the movie, my thoughts changed. I really enjoyed it. I feel as though it's appropriate for all ages. You can watch it if you haven't read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies (which you should!). I found it interesting how it showed the wizarding world in a different era and a different country. I gave it 5/5 stars and am hoping that I can go and see it again.

Poster Review

 I know there is more than one version of the poster, but I would have to say that this is my favourite. It shows Newt (Eddie Redmayne) in the American Ministry of Magic,  the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). I love the design of MACUSA, it fits very nicely with the 1920's period. It also shows how big and grand America is compared to Britain.

I thought I should show you how pretty the script is. The dust jacket is a matte navy blue with gold details. I love the 1920's style of the gold details (in case you can't tell, I love the 1920's style in general). But under the dust jacket is this super cute detail of a Niffler! I love this so much! I can't put into words how much I love it!
Also, the inside of the book is just as beautiful. To break up the scenes, we have pictures of the different creatures. This is the prettiest script I own.

Plot Overview

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

This summary was taken from Google

J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut is captured in this exciting hardcover edition of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. 

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. 

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.

This summary was taken from Goodreads and is the description for the script.

Character Chat and Opinions

This section is going to be split up into 4 sections which are going to be: Newt and his creatures, Supporting Characters, The Wizarding World and the production and plot- this section will contain spoilers, you have been warned.

Newt and His Creatures

Newt is now one of my favourite characters that J K Rowling has created. I love his enthusiasm for his creatures. It was nice seeing a wizard who had left Hogwarts and getting a sense of the world from an adults perspective. His devotion to his creatures was the main reason I fell for his character. He cared about them and would do anything to protect them. He seemed to be a wizard who cared about creatures more than magic. He also had other great qualities. I liked seeing a wizard who was unafraid to mingle with the muggles (or No-Maj) and wasn't afraid to show them the Wizarding World. It was nice seeing a main character who was a Hufflepuff. I feel as though Hufflepuffs get a bad rep in the fandom. I personally don't see being a Hufflepuff as anything bad, Hufflepuff is often referred to as "the duff house" or "the house for everyone else". I think that being loyal is a good quality and we see that in Newt.

My favourite thing about this film were the creatures. I loved every single one of them. But by far my favourite was the Niffler (I think the whole fandom has fallen for the Niffler). I want every single piece of Niffler Merch I can get my hands on. I loved the wide variety of creatures that Newt had. To me, it was like he had a creature to represent the elements and nature itself. For example, Pickett is part of a tree. The animation of the creatures was beyond amazing and I was blown away by the quality. I also think that almost all the creatures have animals that they are based off. For example, I've seen this a lot on Twitter that Puggles (which are baby Echidnas) are Nifflers, here's a photo to show you the similarity. I'm linking an article from the Express that talks about the similarity between the two creatures.  

Left: A baby Echidna, Right: Niffler 

Newt's case was a truly amazing edition to the film. I guess it's like Hermione's bag in Book 7 and has an undetectable extension charm. It was a really nice way to look after the beasts. I also really liked how Newt had a little house in there so he could be close to his creatures, but also he would just have to jump in and he'd be able to check on the beasts. I really hope they add this set to the Warner Bros Studio Tour as I could spend all day exploring it. 

Supporting Characters

 As you've probably guessed, I love Newt, but I also loved our supporting characters. I'm only going to talk about 3 and they are Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstien and Queenie Goldstien.

Jacob Kowalski definitely added the humor to this film (I'm going to talk humor in a separate point). It was nice that they included a No Maj. I loved seeing his awe at the magical world and his eagerness to help his new friends. I love seeing qualities like that in characters. I'm interested to see where his story goes after he lost his memory of the wizarding world. Jacob was played by Dan Fogler.

Tina Goldstien was another character I loved. Her determination to help MACUSA was a really strong part of her character. I loved that she was also really loyal to Newt, her sister Queenie and Credence. I would like to see more of her and learn more about her job in MACUSA. I really liked her relationship with her sister and that you could see she was the big sister.  Tina was played by Katherine Waterston.

Queenie Goldstien also added humor to the film, because of her ability to read peoples minds. She had a way of making characters feel awkward when she saw their thoughts. I liked how she was able to use here ability to help the group when she needed it. My favourite thing about her was her relationship with Jacob. I could sense that they really cared for each other and that she was sad that he lost his memories. Queenie was played by Alison Sudol.

The Wizarding World

Like I said at the start of my review, I loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different time era. It was nice to go into a story and know that the villein wasn't going to be Voldemort. It was nice to visit this world we know so well through the Harry Potter books but in a different era. I really liked how they fitted the theme of World War One in with the Wizarding World. Newt served on the Eastern Front with dragons. It was also interesting seeing how they showed the Wizarding World struggling with the Great Depression. I liked how they were threatened with persecutions from the muggles and how it tied in with what was happening at history at that time. 

I also really loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different country. We've spent so much time in Britain that it was nice seeing the Wizarding Community in America. Although the different eras makes it hard to compare the two at the same time, I loved seeing how the American Magical Community was run. I could sense that MACUSA was very different to the Ministry of Magic. To me it felt a lot stricter but also a lot grander than M.O.M. 

Production and Plot

Like I've already said, I loved the humor in this film. I feel as though it was a lot more humorous than the Harry Potter. There were moments where you were supposed to laugh (the Niffler being caught stealing) and subtle moments ( Jacob). I really liked the humor and I hope we get more humor in the next film (s).

While I am no film expert, I do appreciate good cinematography. The quality of this film was amazing. The animation and special effects were fantastic. The way it was filmed was really nice and it it flowed really well. I just love the quality of this film and I can't put it into words because I'm not a film expert.

I didn't see Credence (Ezra Miller) being the Obscurus (is that how you spell it?). I had expected it to be the little sister, but J K Rowling always has a surprise up her sleeve. I did feel genuinely sorry for his character and I found it odd how Graves (Colin Farrell) was interested in him.

I was shocked by the ending. I didn't see Grindelwald (Johnny Deep) being involved as much as he was. I know we got the announcement that we will see the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in this series, but I didn't expect to see him in the first film. I also which he didn't have to replace Graves' character as I really liked Graves. Also, I'm not that bothered by Johnny Deep playing Grindelwald. I know a lot of the fandom were angry when it was announced that Deep was going to be in the franchise, but it doesn't bother me that much.

I'm excited to see where they take the story. At first I was unsure if I wanted 5 Fantastic Beasts movies, but now I know I want more from this era. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the next film!

So that concludes my very long review of Fantastic Beasts review, let me know what your thoughts were.
Love,
Carenza x