Atonement, Minus Kiera Knightly

Last year, I rented the movie Atonement and thoroughly enjoyed it. The score is amazing, definitely deserving of the Academy Award, and the story is breathtakingly bittersweet, perhaps depressing in the best possible sense of the word. While it lived up the the hype, I was a bit disappointed with Kiera Knightly. Of course, her beauty is an asset that can’t be overlooked, but I’ve never been particularly pleased with her acting performance. She has always seemed to me more like an actress on set, dressed in a good costume. In this movie, the stand-out is her backless green dress:

I recently purchased the book, written by Ian McEwan and published in 2001. Most of all, I wanted to imagine the character of Cecilia Tallis reacting like a real person. The first few pages are full of glowing critical quotes, and I’ll add my own. This is the best modern chick-lit I’ve read. Toss away your Nicholas Sparks, because this gem has beautiful imagery, diction, and storytelling that not even film could recreate entirely. The beginning chapters, which seemed slightly farfetched in the motion picture, were much more believable in print.

I won’t discredit the movie, it was remarkably done and worthy of the critical attention, but I strongly suggest the book to any Kiera Knightly skeptics, and every fan of Austen and Bronte novels.

Atonement Movie on Amazon

Atonement Book on Amazon

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, in Pictures

Last week’s Comic-Con revealed lots of new information about the highly anticipated Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton. It combines live action, CGI, and stop-motion, and is characteristically dark. Here is the abbreviated cast lineup:

Mia Wasikowska: a bit older-looking than the traditional Alice. She’s relatively unknown, nineteen, and Austrailian.

in the famous tea party setting

Johnny Depp: the Mad Hatter, in the famous tea party scene. We’ve seen him play crazy in Tim Burton’s movies before, and he looks great in this one.

Helena Bonham Carter: the Red Queen. Not to be confused with the Queen of Hearts, she’s the chessboard queen from Through the Lookinglass. Obviously, this is where some of the CGI comes into play.

Alan Rickman:The Caterpillar- There are no photos released yet, but his scenes are supposedly void of live action.

Michael Sheen: the White Rabbit. Just like Carroll’s rabbit, he sports of lovely jacket and pocketwatch. More CGI here.

You can see the giant chess piece in the background

Anne Hathaway: the White Queen, you can see the giant chess piece in the background. Anne looks beautiful, painted white as the other half of the Looking Glass chess set.

Stephen Fry: the Cheshire Cat. This cat is a little more frightening than the Disney version. Still, he maintains the vanishing act.

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and the Jabberwock. The twins seem more troll-like than jolly, and you can just make out the Jabberwock behind them in this picture.

And one last photo: this one is Alice as she falls down the Rabbit Hole:

The film is set for release on 26 January 2009. Until then, you can find more Alice content here.

New Sherock Holmes

Detective stories are timelessly popular, and who is a better-known detective than Sherlock Holmes? His wit, easy grace, and opium addiction has drawn readers and views alike for over one hundred years. The first film featuring the pipe-carrying hero was filmed in 1900 and lasted only thirty seconds, and countless (and longer, of course) have followed. Will the newest rendition of the mastermind stand apart?
This Christmas, Guy Ritchie’s new “Sherlock Holmes” bursts onto the big screen with equally big actors: Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. While Downey doesn’t fit the physical description of the famous detective, the two do share an affinity for hard drugs. Critics don’t doubt Law’s potential in his role, but many wonder whether their parts seem backwards.

Certainly this project could be placed into no hands more capable than Ritchie’s; his history sporting numerous quirky crime thrillers, including most recently the well received “Rocknrolla.” His unique visuals should shed a different light on London’s dingy streets, the sepia is rather more eye-popping than even those of Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd.”

In short, the new Sherlock Holmes project seems to be getting everything that it deserves; a stunning cast and a director with quite the eye. Whether or not the film will be lost among its dozens of relatives, Arthur Conan Doyle would be proud of this one.

Click here for all the Holmes that Amazon has to offer!

‘Ello, Dearie!

Ah, the first post on Split Infinitives! As typical of an introduction, I have nothing of substance to say. But, I will say this:

Hello and welcome. As you might be able to tell from the name, I enjoy grammar, but not the Strunk and White variety. Yes, split infitives are grammatical. I won’t bore you with all of that, though. Instead, you get real content!

I have a plan, a format, some organizational guidelines. You will get to read about movies based on books, books turned into movies, and music in film. Soundtracks and scores, hurrah. Yes, it’s loosely themed, and yes, I’ll have plenty to write about.

Cheers!

Follow the link below the picture to buy The Elements of Style
While there are a lot of problems with the book, it’s an essential grammar tome. Just don’t take it too seriously.

You need this book…to poke fun at. Click here and you too can become an intellectual.