Here there be fangirly ranting.
Mood: 
Every now and then you should have a good ranty blog post
Every now and then you should have a good ranty blog postI really need to stop reading the books before I see the movie adaptations. Coleen and I went and saw My Sister's Keeper last night and I'm undecided whether I walked out so disappointed simply because the film wasn't that great, or because it was so completely butchered from the original novel version.
I understand that book-to-movie adaptations always involve some inevitable but necessary plot trimming, but I can't stand when for no apparent reason they cut out all these wonderful scenes from the book and then end up writing all-new scenes to fill up all that extra space that don't even end up doing the original's justice at all. Why don't they just keep the original bits? There were scenes in the novel that displayed the emotional battle this family is going through so simply and vividly -- whereas the new movie inserts were fairly bland and too drawn out.
I'm also a little irked that they completely changed some of the key character's personalities. They made Anna loud, annoying, and obnoxious. In addition to giving Jesse's self-destructive personality a complete 180 degree rewrite, they also cut out his entire storyline. And poor Campbell Alexander's character should never have been given to the likes of Alec Baldwin who is both much too old and not at all good looking or charming enough to pull off the role. Though I can't say they even gave him much a role in the film -- Campbell's entire subplot with Julie (who wasn't even in the movie) was trashed, and his health condition was barely even touched upon.
And did I mention that they completely changed and reversed the ending? D: That is most ridiculous rewrite of a story wrap up that I've ever seen. There was no heart wrenching impact or twist to the movie's finale! It was anti-climactic and completely negates Anna's entire purpose in the story that contributes so much to the title My Sister's Keeper. What a sham. *Grumble mumble grumble*
On a different but still petty fangirlsh rant, I'm about so sick of all of the recent Dark Knight LedJoker fanart that I could spew. I don't think I can stand to see another dozen duplications of the "Why So Serious" poster, the infamous playing card or head quirked shots, or Ledger sitting on the damn jail cell bench. (Don't even get me started on the amount of cosplay photos you have to swim through now. Ugh.) Don't get me wrong, I like DK Joker. It's just that that seems to be all you ever see now. The Chris Nolan Batman franchise has spawned a whole new generation of Batman fans that probably don't even realize that Heath Ledger is just this one microscopic version of Mister J in a pile of Joker incarnation gems of the past in cartoons and comics. *Sad* It makes weeding through the DeviantArt results to find interesting pieces very tedious.
(Hahaha, okay, but I did come across this creepy but adorable LedJoker chibi. So cute in a creepy-clown-doll sort of way.)
Also, has anyone else noticed how funny and a bit disturbing at times it is that pretty much no matter which popular fandom or character you search for on DeviantArt, you'll inevitably end up finding a picture of them depicted as either some sort of canine, feline, or horse relation? Look! It's Joker as a wolf! Look! It's a Jack Sparrow horse! Look! It's a Severus Snape lion! And well hey now, that seems to be a bit of strange anatomical position to put him in with that Dumbledore lio-- ohmygodmyeyes *close tab close tab CLOSE TAB!* DX I guess it just goes to show there's a crazy furry enthusiast in every fandom. Though for the sake of the rest of the fan community there should be some sort of browsing filter.
Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: 26
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I recall someone telling me once that, if you work on a movie script, you get paid based on the number of changes you make to the script. So if you can't do cheap and easy changes like the main characters' names (because it's based on a book and people would notice), then you can have to get away with changing dialogue or entire scenes. This was also proposed as a theory for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie.
Seriously? o_O That's crazy if it's true. Doesn't that whole process just end up working against them? If anything, wouldn't you think people coming to see a book-to-movie adaptation would want to see something that remained closely tied to the original?
I don't understand Hollywood. =_=
I haven't seen the movie yet but I am fearing it for all the reasons you listed. I was also curious as to whether they changed the book's spectacular ending - and now that I've found out it was disappointing I'm a little less excited to go :(
I deeply fear when The Time Traveler's Wife is finally out of production and in theatres. I am yet to see a movie based on a book that I actually LIKED.
I still need to read The Time Traveler's Wife, though depending on when the movie comes out maybe I should wait and watch the film first, lol. The only movie-adaptation I've seen that I've really loved was the Lord of the Rings series -- but I suppose that doesn't really count because I never managed to ever make it completely through the first book in the trilogy. Soooooo boring. Same with the Narnia series.