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  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the ninth book in the 10-part series that features books being adapted into Hollywood movies in 2014.

     

    This Is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper

     

    It is often said that the only occasions the family comes together is either to welcome another into the clan or mourn the loss of another.

     

    The Foxman family comes together for the first time in years to mourn the loss of their father to fulfill their father’s last dying wish which was to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family. The father is survived by his wife, daughters and his son, Judd Foxman. Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

     

    As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets get revealed, and old passions are reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant.

     

    This Is Where I Leave You is considered to be Jonathan Tropper’s most accomplished work to date, a riotously funny and an emotionally raw and honest novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind. This Is Where I Leave You currently stands at 3.90/5 of 31,313 ratings on Goodreads.

     

    The live action motion picture adaptation of the book directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) with a screenplay by Jonathan Tropper boasts quite an interesting star cast lead by Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Connie Britton (Nashville), Rose Byrne (Damages), Abigail Spencer (Rectify), Ben Schwartz (House of Lies), Corey Stoll (The Strain), Adam Driver (Girls) with Timothy Olyphant (Justified) and Academy Award winner Jane Fonda (The Newsroom).

     

    This Is Where I Leave You releases at a theater near you 26 September.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the eighth book in the 10-part series that features books being adapted into Hollywood movies in 2014.

    The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History – Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter

    The Nazis pulled off the greatest art heist in history. These guys are stealing it back!

    Edsel’s historical biography of an ‘untold true story’ takes place during the World War II when the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world. At the same time, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy, the “degenerate” works that he despised. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History stands at 3.79/5 of 6,477 ratings on Goodreads.

    In a race against time, eight men in the forward operating theatre of the newly created Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section (MFAA), also known as The Monuments Men risk their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. The Monuments Men is the story of their lives when they are tasked with entering Germany with the Allied forces during the closing stages of World War II to rescue artworks plundered by the Nazis, saving them from destruction or damage, and returning them to their rightful owners. They consist of America’s top art conservator; an up-and-coming young museum curator; a sculptor; a straight-arrow architect; a gay New York cultural impresario; and an infantry private with no prior knowledge of or appreciation for art, but first-hand experience as a victim of the Nazi regime.

    The live action motion picture adaptation of The Monuments Men boasts a stellar cast lead by Academy Award winner George Clooney (Gravity), who’s also helmed the film, Academy Award winner Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra), Golden Globe Award winner Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), Golden Globe award winner John Goodman (Argo), Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Screen Actors Guild Award winner Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) with Academy Award nominee Bob Balaban (Gosford Park) and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine).

    The Monuments Men hits Indian theaters 7 February.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the seventh book in the 10-part series that features books being adapted into Hollywood movies in 2014.

    The Maze Runner – James Dashner

    Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You’re in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters and gardens with no way out.

    Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids, who call themselves the Maze Runners, venture into the labyrinth, trying to map and figure out the ever-changing pattern of the walls in an attempt to find an exit from The Glade, a place to them that now feels far worse than hell. So far, no one has figured a way out of The Glade. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions falling victim to the maniacal Grievers (part animal and part mechanical killing machines).

    Enter Thomas, the newest arrival to The Glade. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he’s unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. Heavily influenced by famous sci-fi teen fiction like Ender’s Game and Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through The Maze in this tale of survival, friendship and civilization.

    On its arrival on the bookshelves, James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, book retailer Barnes & Noble included the book as part of its showcasing of new writers for the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. According to Wikipedia, The Maze Runner spent a year on The New York Times Bestsellers List. The Maze Runner currently stands at 3.98/5 of 151,708 ratings on Goodreads.

    The live action motion picture adaptation of The Maze Runner stars Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf) as Thomas, Kaya Scodelario (Skins) as Teresa, Aml Ameen (Kidulthood) as Alby, Thomas Brodie Sangster (Game of Thrones) as Newt, and Will Poulter (We’re The Millers) as Gally and is directed by Wes Ball, who makes his full length feature film directorial debut with The Maze Runner with a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim (The Buried Life).

    The Maze Runner will amaze Indian audiences 19 September 2014.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the sixth book in the 10-part series that features books being adapted into Hollywood movies in 2014.

    ‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth

    What makes you different also makes you dangerous!

    The future belongs to those who know where they belong. What if you don’t belong? What do you do when you don’t belong? What do they do when they know you don’t belong?

    That is the life of Beatrice “Tris” Prior, who discovers that she is “divergent” – that she does not fit into any one “faction”. She soon uncovers a sinister plot brewing in her seemingly perfect society.

    In a futuristic dystopian post-apocalyptic Chicago, people are divided into five distinct factions based on their personalities – Candor are the honest, Abnegation are the selfless, Dauntless are the brave, while Amity are the peaceful, and Erudite are the intelligent. When Tris discovers a conspiracy to destroy the Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.

    Divergent has been extremely well received. It won Favourite Book of 2011 in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2011. The book currently stands at 4.37/5 of 590,875 ratings. Common Sense Media, a not for profit organization working towards improving lives, commented on Veronica Roth’s book by saying that it had deep messages about identity and controlling societies and that the plot was unstoppable and remarkably original. The book also won the Sakura Medal Contest.

    The rights to the live-action, motion picture adaptation was bought by Summit Entertainment, an American film studio behind teenage blockbusters like The Twilight Saga and Step Up Revolution. The film directed by Neil Burger (Limitless) boasts an interesting cast led by Golden Globe Award nominee Shailene Woodley (The Descendents, The Fault in Our Stars) as the Divergent Tris, along with Theo James (Downton Abbey, Golden Boy) as Four, Maggie Q (Nikita) as Tori with Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) and Ashley Judd (Missing) as Andrew and Natalie Prior, Tris’ parents and Kate Winslet (Titanic, The Reader) as Jeannie Matthews, the film’s lead antagonist.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the fifth book in the 10-part series that features the books being adapted into Hollywood movies in the year 2014.

     

    A Long Way Down – Nick Hornby

     

    Life is looking up…!

     

    Just when you’re about to jump off a building and you’re almost at the edge, two other strangers with a similar motive join you! And to make the situation even more awkward, add a pizza delivery boy WITH A PIZZA!

    And so starts the live action motion picture adaptation of Nick Hornby’s dark comedy, A Long Way Down, one that stands at 3.41/5 from 41,934 ratings on Goodreads. Nick Hornby is best known for About A Boy and High Fidelity, both of which have been made into films to wide acclaim and popularity.

    The story of A Long Way Down is written in the first-person narrative and moves back and forth from the points of view of its four main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ; four strangers, who just happen to meet on the roof of a high building in London on New Year’s Eve, each with the intent of committing suicide. Their plans of jumping to death are howbeit ruined when they stumble upon each other on the roof-top. The novel recounts their misadventures as they decide to come down from the roof-top alive – however temporarily that may be!

     

     

    The movie adaptation stars EMMY award winner Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as J.J., a wannabe musician who now delivers pizza, Imogen Poots (That Awkward Moment) as Jess, an 18-year old girl with endless family problems, EMMY award winner Toni Colette (Hostages, Little Miss Sunshine) as Maureen, the sacrificial mother of a disabled son and Golden Globe award nominee Pierce Brosnan (Remington Steele, Mamma Mia) as Martin Sharp, the famous talk show host who goes to prison for sleeping with an underage girl.

    Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland) originally bought the rights for the book even before it was published. And as soon as A Long Way Down hit the bookshelves, it was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the fourth book in the 10-part series that features the books being adapted into Hollywood movies in the year 2014.

     

    Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back – Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

     

    “I see it, so I believe it. Do you?”

     

    In May 2011 Sony Pictures had acquired the film rights of the book Heaven Is for Real, which follows the true story of the Burpo family and the son Colton, who during his life-threatening illness and sudden surgery, slips from consciousness and enters heaven, from which he narrowly survives. Several months later while passing by the same hospital that saved him, Colton begins talking about his experiences during the surgery and making a trip to heaven. The family doesn’t know what to believe, but soon the evidence becomes clear.

     

    Written in first-person narrative of Colton’s father, Todd Burpo, with New York Times best-selling author Lynn Vincent, Heaven Is for Real walks readers through the revelation of Colton’s trip, his parent’s initial uncertainties and the lessons learned by such a small child.

    Within three weeks of its November 2010 release, the book debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list. By January 2011, there were 200,000 copies in print, and the book hit #1 on the New York Times list. Currently, the book stands at 3.98/5 out of 111,494 ratings on Goodreads.

     

    The live action feature film boasts an impressive cast lead with Little Miss Sunshine fame Greg Kinnear and Sherlock Holmes actress Kelly Reilly, along with Spiderman 3’s Thomas Haden Church and Emmy Award winning actress Margo Martindale (Justified, The Millers).

     

    Heaven Is For Real blesses Indian theatres on 20 June.

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Here’s the review of the third book in the 10-part series that features the books being adapted into Hollywood movies in the year 2014.

    Winter’s Tale – Mark Helprin

    This Valentine Day, believe in miracles…

    Starring Golden Globe award winner Colin Farrell (Alexander, In Brudges) and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey), the live action motion picture adaptation of Mark Helprin’s bestselling 1983 romantic fantasy epic will soon make your Valentine Day getaway a New York City adventure. The film adaptation of the classic 1983 novel by Mark Helprin vacillates between 1916 and present-day Manhattan.

    Take your Valentine on a journey to New York of the Belle Epoque and follow the journey of Peter Lake (Farrell), a thief who falls in love with Beverly Penn (Brown Findlay), a dying girl who has tuberculosis and occupies one of the houses he breaks into. Lake is saved from the insane Irish gangster Pearly Soames, played by Academy Award winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator) and his henchmen by Athansor, a mysterious white horse who becomes his guardian angel. Thus begins the love between the middle-aged Irishman and Beverly Penn, a young girl who is dying.

    Academy Award winning director Avika Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) called this film his passion project resulting in him producing and writing the screenplay for it.

    The Newsday called the book, “a gifted writer’s love affair with the language”. On Good Reads, Winter’s Tale has a ranking of 4.05 based on 9,318 ratings.

    Soon after its release, Winter’s Tale was praised on the front cover of the New York Times Book Review (NYTBR), courtesy Benjamin De Mott. It was thought to be “funny, thoughtful, passionate and large-souled”.

    Winter’s Tale will cast its romantic magical spell in India next Friday, 14 February.

    (Watch out for the next one to add to your booklist…!)

  • Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit Indian theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: This review is the second of the 10-part series by Indiantelevision.com on the books that are being adapted into Hollywood movies in the year 2014.

    Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

    Having spent eight weeks on The New York Times Bestsellers List at number 1, Gone Girl‘s principal suspense comes from an uncertainty about the main character, Nick Dunne, and whether he killed his wife, Amy Dunne when the latter goes missing on the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary.

    The book has a 3.93 rating based on 441, 306 ratings on Goodreads. The book is a “pathological, twisted freak-show of a relationship so demented that it leaves wanting for more”!

    Hairspray screenwriter Leslie Dixon read the manuscript of the novel in 2011 and brought it to the attention of Reese Witherspoon in December of that year. Soon after, Oscar winning actress Reese Witherspoon swopped in and bought the rights to the film adaptation of the blockbuster hit. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Witherspoon was drawn to the script because of its strong female character and its use of multiple perspectives and non-linear structure.

    In January of 2013, it was announced that Witherspoon will only be producing, and will not be starring in the film. By May, Golden Globe Award winning director David Fincher (The Social Network) was attached to the project with another Oscar winner Ben Affleck soon joining the project as the lead, Nick Dunne along with Rosamund Pike (Pride & Prejudice, Die Another Day) as his missing wife, Amy.

    In several interviews, Flynn has said she was interested in exploring the psychology and dynamics of a long-term relationship. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where Flynn worked as a television critic before bursting out as an author, she hinted that the film will have a different design than her twisty novel.

    The director, David Fincher himself designed the cover for the 17 January, 2014 edition of Entertainment Weekly. It can be seen below.

    (Watch out for the next one to add to your booklist…!)

  • Books to read before they hit theatres in 2014

    Books to read before they hit theatres in 2014

    MUMBAI: Today, we kick off a 10-part series on the books that are being adapted into Hollywood movies in the Year 2014. Here’s the first one from the lot…

     

    Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead

     

    Higher Learning, Higher Stakes!

    It’s time the Salvatore brothers took a backseat, for the students of St. Vladimir’s Academy are taking center stage in the upcoming big screen adaptation of the bestselling Vampire Academy series. The first book revolves around 17-year-old, Rosemarie “Rose” Hathaway, a half-human, half vampire Dhampir and her Romanian Moroi vampire best friend, Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir, who return to St. Vladimir’s Academy after being on the run for two years.

    The characters are smart, simple and very funny. The story has the right amount of blood, action and Gossip Girl-ing to make the book unputdownable. It has stark amount of detail and research the author has done about the Romanian vampires while still maintaining the snarky and sarcastic gift of gab.

    The book received positive reviews throughout most of the literary review mediums, with a Goodreads average of 4.20/5, based on 2,15,253 ratings. In June 2010, Michael Preger’s Preger Entertainment optioned the film rights to the Vampire Academy series.

    Australian actress Lucy Fry (H2O: Just Add Water) plays the royal Moroi Lissa and Zoey Deutch (Beautiful Creatures, Ringer) plays her Dhampir guardian-in-training Rose, who soon starts to develop strong feelings for her Dhampir mentor Dimitri Belikov played by Danila Kozlovsky, in his first mainstream English film. The two best friends begin to realise that the threat of the Strigoi (bloodthirsty, undead vampires) is bigger than ever. The film is directed by Mark Waters, director of the hit Lindsay Lohan teen romedy, Mean Girls.

     

     

    Deepak Nayar, Owner & Producer, Kintop Pictures, one of the leading producers of the film said  adapting bestselling young adult (YA) series into film franchises is not new, citing the example of Harry Potter. “Already having an existing audience, we expect the $10 million in book sales alone to turn into $100 million in ticket sales. We’ve made this film expecting a certain degree of longevity and success once made into a franchise.”

    Vampire Academy stakes Indian theatres Valentine’s Day, 14 February.

     

    (Watch out for the next one to add to your booklist…!)

  • Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons to act in the upcoming Superman-Batman film

    Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons to act in the upcoming Superman-Batman film

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures announced today in an official press release that, Jesse Eisenberg has been set to star as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons will play Alfred in the upcoming Zack Snyder untitled Superman/Batman film. The dual announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

     

    In the official press release, Snyder stated, “Lex Luthor is often considered the most notorious of Superman’s rivals, his unsavory reputation preceding him since 1940. What’s great about Lex is that he exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He’s a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman. Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions.”

     

    The director further added in the release, “As everyone knows, Alfred is Bruce Wayne’s most trusted friend, ally and mentor, a noble guardian and father figure. He is an absolutely critical element in the intricate infrastructure that allows Bruce Wayne to transform himself into Batman. It is an honor to have such an amazingly seasoned and gifted actor as Jeremy taking on the important role of the man who mentors and guides the guarded and nearly impervious façade that encapsulates Bruce Wayne.”

     

    Eisenberg has received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA Award nominations for his starring role as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s The Social Network. He also starred in Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love and Louis Letterier’s Now You See Me. He will next be seen in The Double and Night Moves.

     

    Irons won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune. His work in the film also garnered him a Golden Globe Award. He won an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for his performance in the TV miniseries Elizabeth I, opposite Helen Mirren, and recently starred on the small screen as Rodrigo Borgia in Neil Jordan’s highly acclaimed Showtime series The Borgias, for which Irons earned a Golden Globe nomination. He was recently nominated for a SAG Award for the PBS Great Performances television miniseries The Hollow Crown, for his performance as Henry IV.

     

    Snyder’s film stars Henry Cavill, reprising his role as Superman/Clark Kent, Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. The film also reunites Man of Steel stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.

     

    The new film is currently being written by Chris Terrio (Argo), from a screenplay by David S. Goyer (Da Vinci’s Demons). Charles Roven (The Dark Knight) and Deborah Snyder (300, Suckerpunch) are producing, with Benjamin Melniker (Constantine), Michael E. Uslan (The Spirit), Wesley Coller (Watchmen), David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns (Smallville, Arrow) serving as executive producers.

     

    The film is set to open worldwide on May 6, 2016, and is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.