Resolutions, Audiobooks and Recent Movies

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you've had a fantastic holiday season and have a great 2015 ahead!

When people discuss New Year's resolutions, it's often times things like "lose weight" or "have a better diet." But what about us bookworms? Here are three of mine...

1) Read diverse authors
I started listening to several podcasts this year like Book Riot and Books on the Nightstand and was not privy to the ongoing concerns in the publishing industry about a lack of diversity among authors. BookExpo America, the New York trade show that aspires to be the book equivalent to Comic Con, suffered high-profile public relations gaffe this summer when it had multiple panels that didn't have female or minority authors. While a book's subject matter will still be the proverbial compass I use to determine which book I want to read next, it cannot hurt to consider more diverse voices. In an attempt to put my money where my mouth is, I've recently acquired bestseller Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and both Cristina Henriquez's The Book of Unknown Americans and Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone are on the wish list.

2) Aim for 52, hope for more
Goodreads started up their annual yearly reading challenge again today and I put in 52 books, with the hope of topping that number even more. How does one help get to that number? Well...

3) Listen to more audiobooks
For a while, I didn't care for audiobooks. I had canceled my Audible account after having several bad experiences listening to books, most notably Catching Fire, the second novel of The Hunger Games series. After realizing that I was spending my 90-minute roundtrip commute listening to a local sports radio station talk 24/7 about the Lakers, who I don't care for, I wanted to be more productive with that time. I started with Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, then went to Cary Elwes' As You Wish and Michael Koryta's Those Who Wish Me Dead, which I'm almost halfway through. I initially thought I'd take inventory after Koryta's novel, but by the time I was done with Night Circus, I knew I was hooked. Guess I should fire up that Audible account again.

During the holiday hiatus, I saw several movies, most of which were okay at best.

1) Theory of Everything - Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones give fantastic performances and David Thewlis of Harry Potter fame is a nice addition. The movie's classical soundtrack is excellent and the direction was exemplary. The movie is in my top ten of the year, but it didn't strike me as the definitive Best Picture of the year. Grade: B+

2) Interstellar - This year's "great idea, so-so execution" movie. Two of director Christopher Nolan's past movies are two absolute favorites of mine and I eagerly awaited this one all year. Having said that, I mostly enjoyed what the film tried to do, despite a plot that seemed to bend and twist over itself to the point of confusing audiences. There were moments when I was taken out of the storyline because I was trying to digest the science of the previous scene. Having said that, after the movie, I drove over to my local Barnes & Noble and perused Kip Thorne's book The Science of Interstellar. If other filmgoers managed to have their imaginations sparked and pursue the stars, then Nolan can consider it mission accomplished. Grade: B-

3) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - I didn't care for the first two parts of The Hobbit, so I went in with minimal expectations. I love the book, but I didn't like the splitting of the story into three films. The resolution of the Smaug storyline could have easily been handled in the second movie (it's finished before the title card, so get to the theater on time). There are now major continuity problems with The Fellowship of the Ring, especially in how Gandalf knows about the One Ring and Sauron. The latter part of the movie I enjoyed, mostly because the damage had already been done. The Hobbit is to Lord of the Rings what the Star Wars prequels are to the original triogy, both in terms of timeline and quality. Grade: B-

4) Exodus: Gods and Kings - After hearing negative reviews online, I went into Ridley Scott's Biblical epic with greatly reduced expectations. Even then, this movie didn't deliver the goods. Dozens of changes from the original text didn't serve the story and seemed to be made for the sake of a change, rather than serving the story. The visuals were good, but with the likes of The Hobbit playing in the same multiplex, there wasn't anything special about Exodus. Grade: C- (the visual work saves it from the F).

Do you have any book-related New Years resolutions this year? Seen any stellar films this year?

Holiday Movie Preview

Picking up where the fall movie preview ended, the holiday season is chock full of high-quality films that are vying for awards contention. Many are based off books this year and stand a real chance to be mentioned come Oscar time (along with fall preview mentions The Theory of Everything and Foxcatcher. Here are the eight films that will be making the jump from page to screen...

Nov. 21 - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lionsgate)
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) returns in the penultimate episode of The Hunger Games series as Panem is in full-blown civil war. While I liked the book in general, I really don't care for studios to split a single book into multiple parts, whether it is Harry Potter or The Hobbit or The Hunger Games. I remember walking out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 saying, "WB just sucker-punched us." At least with that movie, it was only an 8-month wait until Part 2, whereas Mockingjay's conclusion won't be in theaters until November 2015. In these split films, plot lines tend to get super-stretched and because Mockingjay's book wasn't that long, I suspect there will be plots divergent of the source material when there didn't need to be. And yet, I'll still see it opening weekend. Yes, I'm a sucker. Below is the final trailer.

Nov. 28 - The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Co.)
Based on the book Alan Turing: An Enigma by Andrew Hodges, the film details the efforts of British mathematician Alan Turing to build a computer in order to break Nazi codes. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, the film has already garnered major awards buzz (as of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes already posted a score of 86%). I'm really looking forward to this one, especially to see Cumberbatch in light of his excellent job in the BBC's Sherlock series. The film is opening in limited release, likely focusing on New York and Los Angeles, so the release date may be later for other audiences. Should it gain traction in the Oscar race, expect a wider release in January. See the trailer below.

Dec. 5 - Wild (Fox Searchlight)
Debuting in limited release, Academy-Award winner Reese Witherspoon stars in this take on the Cheryl Strayed memoir about her discovering herself on the Pacific Crest Trail that stretches from Southern California to Washington. Witherspoon jumped all over the film rights for the book and it is a passion project of hers and based on the awards buzz, it looks like it paid off. I still think of her from Walk the Line and Sweet Home Alabama, though she was really good in this fall's The Good Lie. Director Jean-Marc Vallee also knows his way around awards season after directing last year's Dallas Buyers Club. The teaser trailer is right here...

Dec. 12 - Exodus: Gods and Kings (20th Century Fox)
Movies based on the Bible are a complete crapshoot, given the inevitable controversy that stirs. One could argue that The Ten Commandments could not be made in today's era of cinema. Darren Aronofsky's Noah ran into a buzzsaw of controversy earlier this year, but still managed to make $100 million Stateside. For Exodus, director Ridley Scott looks to do for biblical movies what he did for ancient epics with Gladiator, one of my favorite films. I won't be expecting this one to be anywhere close to the text, but consider me somewhere between cautiously optimistic and excited on this one.

Dec. 12 - Inherent Vice (Warner Bros.)
It's amazing that a writer of Thomas Pynchon's storied reputation and caliber has waited this long to get a film adaptation, but his 2009 novel is getting the Silver Screen treatment. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, and yes, Reese Witherspoon, the film is a drug crime caper in 1970's-era Los Angeles. The movie will debut in limited release before expanding nationwide January 9.

Dec. 17 - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Warner Bros./MGM)
The trilogy is mercifully ending. I never thought I'd say that about The Hobbit, since the Lord of the Rings finale is my favorite film (and series) of all time. But, I've watched the previous Hobbit films with dismay after seeing plot lines stretched out, characters doing really dumb things, and plot rehashes from Fellowship of the Ring that cause continuity problems down the road. I have many friends who love the Hobbit films and I'll likely see it with them since they enjoy it so much and I love Tolkien's book, but my enthusiasm for the movie is very dampened compared to what it was prior to An Unexpected Journey. Here is the most recent trailer that's making a lot of noise online.

Christmas Day - American Sniper (Warner Bros.)
Starring Bradley Cooper, directed by Clint Eastwood and based on the Chris Kyle memoir, the teaser trailer for this movie was fantastic. Kyle was the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history and was infamous among Iraqi insurgents. The movie will debut in limited release and barely qualify for Oscar contention before expanding nationwide January 16 (typically, most Oscar films this late in the season have a limited release run in order that they can qualify for awards, then expand in January. Last year, Lone Survivor used the same tactic). I'll be reading Kyle's memoir for sure before I see this at my local multiplex. Below is the riveting teaser trailer.

Christmas Day - Unbroken (Universal)
This one's the big one. The adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's memoir of World War II hero and Olympian Louie Zamperini's life was one of my most eagerly-anticipated films of the year. The book, which I read in the spring, is currently my No. 1-rated book of the year. Directed by Angelina Jolie with a screenplay written in part by the Coen brothers, the film has pedigree up and down the credits list. This is clearly a project Jolie cared deeply about, met with Zamperini multiple times and lobbied Universal to direct the film. So while she has little directing experience, I'm optimistic that she's up to the task. Below is the most recent trailer.

Is there a movie you are most looking forward to this holiday season?