Trying to stick to my process of reading the book before seeing the movie. In celebration of Golden Globe / Oscar season, the South Portland Public Library put up a terrific display featuring many books that have been made into movies.
Now, I've wanted to see Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter since it came out this summer (probably even more than I want to see Lincoln), but I did not know that it was a book first. And again I'll say, how did I NOT know this?
Seth Grahame-Smith is also the author of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (which I haven't read, but is on my list). Abe Lincoln is a fast, enjoyable, if gory, read. Without being a total spoiler, it puts slavery into a whole new and even more terrifying context.
And now I've seen the movie. This movie is kooky and fun in its own way. Think Abraham Lincoln, Superhero. Or Abraham Lincoln, Samurai.There's a "making-of" in the DVD Special Features. It turns out that the book and the movie were written and developed simultaneously - so the book was NOT based on the movie. They were created together!
Dominic Cooper is no Daniel Day-Lewis. But I enjoyed the book AND the movie all the same.
I read the book while they were still making the movie. I didn't realize they were made together. However, I enjoyed both, but people who saw the movie with me, who had NOT read the book felt a little lost. I think you almost have to read the book before seeing the movie.
ReplyDeleteWil, you bring up a really good point - it can be hard to follow a movie that's been adapted from a book. I mean, there's a lot more content and description and interior monologue, etc, in a book that might take you 10-15 hours to read, versus a movie that's two hours. Even with the very best use of cinematography, editing, set decor, etc, you can't get "inside" characters heads in a movie the way a reader usually does in a book. DH and I are big LOTR fans, and even watching the director's cut of all three films, there's detail that had to be left out.
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