Random Thoughts

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

My latest celebrity crush: Billy Magnussen

That is a pretty, pretty man.

Boru

[Rev. Rye]

ULooking through the Mumkey Jones video channel, I saw this video of Mumkey talking about his favourite novel (Richard Wright's Native Son) and how the producers really dropped the ball both times it was made into a film.





Well, at least Native Son is actually pretty straightforward in its plot: poor black man living in squalor ends up getting a job as a chauffeur for a rich family. He ends up killing the daughter of the family who hired him, and becomes everything the white society fears about black men. Thinking about my three favourite novels, I have to say, I don't have hope of any of them making a great movie.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Even if Catcher had a plot that lended itself to film, Salinger has a strict policy of not allowing any of his works to be made into films. This policy has extended even as he's shuffled off this mortal coil. I suppose some people might try and make short films based on scenes with no budget, but a proper film will have to wait for when the text becomes public domain (which will be 2046 in America and 2081 everywhere else.)

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This one has been made into films before, though the only one that I've actually seen was the 1958 adaptation with Yul Brynner, Richard Baseheart, and William Shatner. It was 145 minutes long, and, despite this length, it really feels rushed, with almost everything except for Dmitri's plot being clipped to a minimum (notably, Ivan Karamazov goes crazy at Dmitri's trial talking about seeing Satan, despite the vast majority of his character arc, including the scene where he sees the Devil, as well as the Rebellion and Grand Inquisitor chapters, and also, Father Zosima is a blink-and-you'll miss him, so much so that I only found out he even appeared by looking at the full cast and crew listing on IMDB). Vonnegut once said that the book can teach you everything you need to know about life, and cutting out so much kind of blunts its impact. That said, I suppose it's possible that in this day of miniseries on HBO and Netflix, it's possible to give it the adaptation it deserves.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I have seen both adaptations, and I like them both, but they were only watered-down versions of the original novel, not only because of the content (which would certainly alienate audiences), but also because a crucial part of the novel's greatness lies in Humbert's status as an unreliable narrator. While it can be done properly in film, (see Fight Club and Election for my favourite examples), the way Humbert does it can't really be transferred as well. An early chapter has Humbert try to justify himself by comparing his attraction to "nymphets" to Dante falling in love with Beatrice when she was nine [Humbert neglects to point out that, at that point, Dante was ten], and Petrarch falling for Laura when she was thirteen [In reality, she was seventeen]. Humbert would know how badly he's messing up these dates, as a literautre professor, but he's doing it anyway, and his unreliablity just grows from there, especially as his excuses start to contradict each other (like claiming that he has a disease, but that it's also normal to be attracted to "nymphets.") Unfortunately, this literary device isn't very easy to pull off, and if even Kubrick couldn't pull it off, what chance do mere mortals have?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

ULooking through the Mumkey Jones video channel, I saw this video of Mumkey talking about his favourite novel (Richard Wright's Native Son) and how the producers really dropped the ball both times it was made into a film.





Well, at least Native Son is actually pretty straightforward in its plot: poor black man living in squalor ends up getting a job as a chauffeur for a rich family. He ends up killing the daughter of the family who hired him, and becomes everything the white society fears about black men. Thinking about my three favourite novels, I have to say, I don't have hope of any of them making a great movie.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Even if Catcher had a plot that lended itself to film, Salinger has a strict policy of not allowing any of his works to be made into films. This policy has extended even as he's shuffled off this mortal coil. I suppose some people might try and make short films based on scenes with no budget, but a proper film will have to wait for when the text becomes public domain (which will be 2046 in America and 2081 everywhere else.)

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

This one has been made into films before, though the only one that I've actually seen was the 1958 adaptation with Yul Brynner, Richard Baseheart, and William Shatner. It was 145 minutes long, and, despite this length, it really feels rushed, with almost everything except for Dmitri's plot being clipped to a minimum (notably, Ivan Karamazov goes crazy at Dmitri's trial talking about seeing Satan, despite the vast majority of his character arc, including the scene where he sees the Devil, as well as the Rebellion and Grand Inquisitor chapters, and also, Father Zosima is a blink-and-you'll miss him, so much so that I only found out he even appeared by looking at the full cast and crew listing on IMDB). Vonnegut once said that the book can teach you everything you need to know about life, and cutting out so much kind of blunts its impact. That said, I suppose it's possible that in this day of miniseries on HBO and Netflix, it's possible to give it the adaptation it deserves.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I have seen both adaptations, and I like them both, but they were only watered-down versions of the original novel, not only because of the content (which would certainly alienate audiences), but also because a crucial part of the novel's greatness lies in Humbert's status as an unreliable narrator. While it can be done properly in film, (see Fight Club and Election for my favourite examples), the way Humbert does it can't really be transferred as well. An early chapter has Humbert try to justify himself by comparing his attraction to "nymphets" to Dante falling in love with Beatrice when she was nine [Humbert neglects to point out that, at that point, Dante was ten], and Petrarch falling for Laura when she was thirteen [In reality, she was seventeen]. Humbert would know how badly he's messing up these dates, as a literautre professor, but he's doing it anyway, and his unreliablity just grows from there, especially as his excuses start to contradict each other (like claiming that he has a disease, but that it's also normal to be attracted to "nymphets.") Unfortunately, this literary device isn't very easy to pull off, and if even Kubrick couldn't pull it off, what chance do mere mortals have?

Pretty well thought out for the ‘Random Thoughts’ thread, innit?

Boru

[The Valkyrie]

I've just realised that "c" IS for "cookie" but that's no longer good enough for me.

Not any more!

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I've just realised that "c" IS for "cookie" but that's no longer good enough for me.

Not any more!

One! One Sesame Street reference! Ah-ah-ah!!

Boru

[Rev. Rye]

Well, I just posted about the first snow of the Chicago winter in the “what’s everyone up to” thread and didn’t think it was good to double post and merge the two.

[brewer]

Anyone else tired of hair growing where it's not suppose to?

[Angrboda]

What can the lame duck House do between now and when the Democrats take over?

Lame duck sessions are notoriously unpredictable. But we know there’s one big issue that has to be tackled: Funding for some of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, expires on Dec. 8. The president has threatened a shutdown if Congress doesn’t fund his border wall. The final appropriations bill has to get 60 votes in the Senate, which means it can’t pass without some Democratic support. But, Democrats are in no mood to fund the wall after winning the House — a victory they view as a referendum on Mr. Trump. So it’s unclear how — or even whether — the government gets funded.

And there are a few other legislative loose ends, like negotiating a new five-year farm bill and extending some annual tax breaks.

~ NY Times, Lisa Lerer: On Politics

[Sal]

Influenza is such a bitch.

[outtathereligioncloset]

Anyone else tired of hair growing where it's not suppose to?

YES.  Especially that one insanely fast-growing hair on my chinny, chin chin.