Book-based movies?

Although I'm not what one might call an "avid reader", there have been a number of books I've read that have turned into movies. Most of the time, it seems as though it leads to utter disappointment. Case in point: The Notebook. I know that most would probably disagree with me, as it's probably one of the movies women borderline obsess over as being "saaaooowwww caaauute". I'll admit, it is pretty sweet. And romantic. And some scenes are definitely "that" cute. But overall, the acting totally stunk. And parts of it were boring. And that scene after the big rain storm when they were out in the boat? A bit racy for a PG-13 movie, don't ya think? It just disappoints me when Hollywood takes a "girly" book that is really good and makes a movie on it, because they think they can just take a sweet story, choose a good looking guy to play the lead actor, not work too hard on the script, and assume women will love it because it's romantic.

The Notebook, Hollywood style. Thumbs dooown, in my opinion.

Anyway, my most recent disappointment in the book-based movie realm is a book written by one of my favorite authors: Jodi Picoult. That's right, you guessed it:

My hubby and I rented it on Saturday night. The other movie we had in the running against My Sister's Keeper was Julie & Julia. I hadn't ever had a desire to see that movie, but with my recent free time and interest in cooking and blogging, I thought it might be a fun flick. Not surprisingly, the hubby wasn't too interested in that one. He's also a semi-fan of Jodi Picoult, so we chose My Sister's Keeper. I was really looking forward to it, as I just finished the book about a month and a half ago and thought it was a real page turner.

Much to my dismay, when we got home and popped it into the DVD player, we both found it incredibly boring, dull, and filled with [yet again] relatively poor acting. After about 20 minutes, we turned it off and set up the wonderful game of Life instead. Bummer. At least I had a code for a free RedBox DVD rental and didn't waste $1.07 (with tax) on it. I'm even more grateful that we didn't pay $20.00 to see it when it was in theaters.

Although this post is filled with totally pessimistic views of book-based movies (I promise I'm waaaay more optimistic and cheerful than my last two posts may have expressed : )), I do have to share one book-based movie that far exceeded my expectations.

As an undergraduate student in an Elementary Education program and as a current elementary school substitute teacher (for now... hopefully I'll be able to lose the "substitute" tag next school year!), I have spent a lot of time delving into children's books. Pretty much every elementary teacher (and I would guess any person who was once an elementary student) is familiar with the book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs".

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, children's book style

Now, I can't say the book is one of my favorites. And when I found out they were making it into a movie, I was less than thrilled. In fact, my mind said, "laaaaame". However, when my 29-year old brother and his wife raved about how great it was after seeing it on the silver screen, I figured it would be worth a rent (without a free RedBox DVD rental coupon code even!).

So on Friday night when we met up with some friends for some delicious pizza, loads of laughs, and yummy warm chocolate chip cookies (thanks Kyle!), I brought along this PG-rated movie and crossed my fingers in hopes that it would be a hit amongst the group we were with. And I am more than pleased to report that the movie was well-loved! From Flint's spray-on (sparkly!) shoes that he couldn't get off (my favorite!), to the ratbirds (hubby's least favorite), to "Steeeeeeve" the Monkey (gummy bears!), to the ice cream-covered town along with an ice cream snowball fight, the movie was filled with loads of laughs and oohs & aahs from my over-20 year-old friends and I. It was such a refreshing movie that was completely wholesome and 110% fun! It's a total dream world for a kid, and it will entirely transport you back to your seven-year old self in the best way possible. So without a doubt, go rent "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". And do it without a free rental RedBox DVD code -- I promise it's worth your dollar!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, movie style!