The Art of Adaptation - Jeffrey Overstreet

Dawn-Treading Where They Shouldn't?

Let's just be clear. These Narnia movies aren't supposed to be based on the books. They're supposed to be based on the filmmakers' memories of the books, which they might not have read since childhood. Because, you know, those memories will be so

Ang Lee

"Life of Pi" interests yet another talented director

First it was Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Then it was M. Night Shyamalan. Now, Variety reports, Ang Lee is considering Yann Martel's Life of Pi. Have you read it? Which director would you pick? It'll take someone with a poetic sensibility and a flair for fantasy. I'

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"The Tale of Despereaux": Read the Book. (Don't Wait for the Movie.)

My review of The Tale of Despereaux is coming to Christianity Today Movies next Friday. For now, I'll just say this: Read the book before you see the movie. Please. Pretty please. You'll thank me for it. It's one of those classic books like

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DecentFilms on Prince Caspian: Lewis's Themes and Ideas are "Largely Lost."

When it comes to The Chronicles of Narnia films, well... I want them to be great. I want them to be entertaining, yes. But more than anything, I hope that the filmmakers finds ways to preserve the ideas at the core of the story. In The Lion, the Witch and

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"The Defanging of Aslan"

Steven D. Greydanus interviews the men behind Prince Caspian. And he finds them making some rather dubious claims. "I've produced a lot of movies based on books," he said, speaking at a New York press event with other Narnia filmmakers. Citing titles from The Natural to

Looking Elsewhere

Specials: Reepicheep. Indy trailer. Katherine Heigl. Philip Yancey.

Today's specials concern a mouse, an archaeologist, the star of Gray's Anatomy, and one of my favorite Christian writers... REEPICHEEP... you know, that insane killing machine from Narnia... It will be interesting to see if Walden Media is able to bring C.S. Lewis's

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Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" Seeks a Title

First came the announcement: The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper's classic novel of fantasy and adventure, was becoming a movie. Then came the trailer, and hopes quickly began to crumble. It looked awful. And the story had clearly been revised to be more "accessible," rewriting the

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Christ the Canceled

Looks like creative differences have buried the big-screen version of Anne Rice's Christ the Lord... at least with Good News Holdings. I have a hunch that it'll rise again.

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The Dark is... um... well...

Here's the trailer for The Dark is Rising. I've met a lot of fans of Susan Cooper's novels. My wife Anne, for one. I have a feeling the fans will pull out their hair when they see this. And no, I don't

Alfonso Cuarón

"Children of Men": Literary sabotage, or award-winning adaptation?

The debate continues: Did the screenwriters for Children of Men take a novel written by a Christian, which offered a profoundly Christian vision of human depravity and redemption, and turn it into an attack on Christianity? Or were they just interested in taking P.D. James' premise and exploiting

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Mike Johnson prepares "The Tale of Despereaux"

One of my favorite childrens' stories... the kind that's so good, adults should be reading it... ...is coming to the big screen.

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Will "Charlotte's Web" Be Broken?

One of my worst film-adaptation nightmares looks like it's about ready to come true. Charlotte's Web, one of my favorite children's books, was made into a fine animated film decades ago. But with the success of Babe, it became inevitable that the book would

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"Wild Thing" Spike Jonze has his new project...

According to Variety, Spike Jonze is the man that Warner Brothers is depending on to take us... Where the Wild Things Are. Let's see... with Curious George also on the way, what other beloved children's books are waiting for their champion? How about the great books

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Amy Wellborn on the Narnia Film

Amy Wellborn, one of my favorite bloggers, saw the Narnia film this weekend, and she has a lot to say about it, of course. And, of course, she's right on. Here's an excerpt: But what the adaptation, with its choices, additions and omissions has done, in

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Speaking of Disney disrespect to source material...

(via Chattaway's FilmChat.) Now Disney's meddling with the Hundred Acre Wood and replacing Christopher Robin with at 6-year-old girl, because Christoher Robin "just wouldn't sell." I need to find something to quit so I can say "I quit!" in protest.

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My Favorite Novel is Going to Be a Movie. Again.

Hmmm. From the director of Cube, Vincenzo Natali... Apparently it's going to be a television miniseries. For more information, click here. The original film adaptation of Watership Down severely abrdiges the story, but considering that it would be impossible to tell the whole story in a two hour

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Richard Linklater to direct "Fast Food Nation"

It seems to be a whole new frontier... converting popular non-fiction books into big screen films. I learned last week at Biola that The Purpose-Driven Life is about to become a feature film. (Try and figure THAT out!) Now, word that Richard Linklater (Before Sunset, Waking Life, School of Rock)

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What friends are saying about Lemony Snicket...

My good friends and ever-so-dependable colleagues in film-dissection have beaten me to the punch on Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. In fact, I haven't even seen the film yet. But they have. Here's Peter T. Chattaway's review. And here'

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Guess who hates the SciFi Channel's Earthsea?

The author. Here's Ursula LeGuin on "How the SciFi Channel Wrecked My Books"