Thursday, December 15, 2005

All Things Rachel

Well, I'm back to report that the reading at Borders in Westwood on Tuesday night was a huge success! Paul's new book, Adriane on the Edge is amazing and I'm part way through it and on a mission to finish by the weekend. I've been thinking about holiday movies and re-makes. King Kong is a big movie coming out, but one thing I don't like it the advanced CGI in these films like HULK because the way they've used special effects in these types of films. It seems that Hollywood has run out of ideas when big budget re-makes are done and marketed for the holidays. It's a pretty easy equation as far as money's concerned, but a creative choice? Not really. As the weekend approches I'm gearing up to see a holiday movie--The Family Stone. Holiday in the true sense of dysfunctional family fun--not a sequel of the ever-so-popular Tim Allen Santa Clause or the George C. Scott version of Scrooge and actually-- not based on any book. I'm going essentially for two reasons: Rachel. McAdams. (well, I am a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker & Diane Keaton too--the whole cast really) but I have to say that Rachel's history of film choices (The Notebook--based on Nicholas Sparks book) and Wedding Crashers, not to mention the sleeper hit Red Eye are all films that have made Rachel a rising talent and yes, as my boyfriend Anthony puts it, "She's hot!" So, there's that. She can act and she's hot. That's a great thing. She's polite and very smart when it comes to being wise about what she talks about (ie: she wouldn't say anything bad about the Vanity Fair shoot that wanted her to pose nude and the "artistic differences" that arose from the situation) on the radio (with Ryan Seacrest) or does she ever in interviews. However, as Tod Goldberg mentiones, you rarely see a film based on a book do well at the box office. And with so many great novels out there, so many great characters, one has to wonder, what gets lost in translation? I'm a fan of good movies, based on novels or not. And although it disappoints me that there are so few books that get made into successful movies, The Family Stone will be at the top of my list, regardless of it's origin.

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