Tag Archives: literary adaptation

Review: Big Sur (2013)

Another film adaptation of one of Jack Kerouac’s books. It opens today. My review is now up at Roger Ebert.

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Death of a Salesman (1951)

If you’ve read Arthur Miller’s Timebends then you know he was not happy with the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, with most of the original Broadway cast (Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy, Cameron Mitchell), and Fredric March in … Continue reading

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Seen Recently: Meet John Doe (1941), A Short Film About Love (1988), The Heiress (1949)

Meet John Doe directed by Frank Capra In his autobiography, Frank Capra opens the section on Meet John Doe with these words: Making a film out of Meet John Doe proved to be as full of surprises as breaking a … Continue reading

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Seen Recently: Une Affaire Des Femmes (1988), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Battle of Algiers (1966), The Bling Ring (2013), Tomorrow (1972)

Une Affaire des Femmes or: Story of Women directed by Claude Chabrol This movie is as deep as the Mariana Trench. I suppose it all depends on which angle you want to look at it, which filter you want to … Continue reading

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Review: Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing

One of the best films of the year thus far. Check out my review over at Roger Ebert.

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Review What Maisie Knew

My latest for Roger Ebert: a review of What Maisie Knew, the modern-day telling of Henry James’ 1897 novel. It’s good. It’s upsetting.

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The Key to Streetcar Named Desire is Stella, and Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Different: A Review of Who Am I This Time? (1982)

A re-post, because I’ve got love and theatre on the brain. Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit That from her … Continue reading

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Jane Eyre (2011): It’s Not MY Jane Eyre, But It’s Pretty Close

This review originally appeared on Capital New York. The classic book, by Charlotte Bronte, has a creepy, supernatural element that translates awkwardly to the big screen. Film-makers do one of two things: They throw up their hands at some point … Continue reading

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Where the Wild Things Are; (2009) Dir. Spike Jonze

Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are isn’t plot-driven. There’s not much text, and he uses a lot of repetition (“and they roared their terrible roars,” etc.) that gives the book an incantatory feel. As though we, as … Continue reading

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