…these movies in December!
… The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger a.o., the film came out in 1939 and has been since then aired many times in theatres and on television. Based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum and published around 1900, which has been adapted in many different ways as films, books and even a graphic novel.
Judy Garland plays the sweet Dorothy Gale, who is swept away from home during a tornado to the magical land of Oz and goes on a quest to find the only person who can help her to return home: the Wizard of Oz. In her quest she meets wonderful magical characters, whom she helps to overcome their shortcomings and has to deal with a wicked witch…
… We Need to Talk about Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsey and starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller. Based on the novel of the same title written by Lionel Shriver.
Eva never really wanted to be a mother; certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered a number of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who tried to befriend him. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood and Kevin’s horrific rampage.
… Puss in Boots, directed by Chris Miller. Starring the voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, the story is not really based on any previous account of Puss in Boots, by Charles Perrault, but on a hilarious mixture of fairy tales.
In this animated prequel to Shrek, Puss in Boots is already a wanted cat looking for a duo of thieves known as Jack and Jill, who possess the magic beans and the secret to the castle in the air, where the goose of the golden eggs lives. Puss has been looking for this treasure his whole life and now that he finds Jack and Jill, he’ll keep on their trail…
… Carnage, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. Based on the play God of Carnage, by Yasmina Rezda.
Two pairs of parents meet in private to discuss in a civilized manner the problem of their children having fought in public, resulting in one hurting the other. The evening begins pleasant enough, but as it goes on, the parents become increasingly childish and the evening devolves into chaos,
… Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. As mentioned before, the characters are loosely based on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes has always been the most intelligent man around, until a Professor Moriarty shows up and challenges him with his own intellect. But Moriarty is a tremendous criminal mind and his talent for evil makes Holmes’s life a bit more interesting than he – or Watson! – would actually expect…
… Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson, starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt a.o., it’s based on the novel of the same title written by John le Carré and published originally in 1974.
George Smiley used to be the right-hand man of the man controlling the British Intelligence Service, until a mission in Hungary – with the objective to learn who is the mole inside the agency – goes wrong, pointing things into their direction. After some time of forced retirement, Smiley returns to work and starts investigating who could be the mole.
… The Rum Diary, directed by Bruce Robinson and starring Johnny Depp, it’s based on the novel of the same title by Hunter S. Thompson, written in the early sixties but only published in 1998.
Tired of working in New York and under the Eisenhower administration, Paul Kemp, an itinerant journalist, goes to Puerto Rico to work for a newspaper there. He starts drinking rum, gets obsessed with a woman and experiences many different things under the Puerto Rican sun.
Tags: Children's Books, classics, Drama, fairy tales, Fiction, Film & TV Tie-ins, lilia, Mysteries & Thrillers, Saw the Movie? Read the Book!