Films you may not know were based on Graphic novels

I like comics and graphic novels. There I said it. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with them, they're just another medium through which to tell stories. Hell they're essentially another art form. Hollywood obviously agrees, since ideas from comics turn up in films all the time. Every now and then a random comic actually ends up being adapted into a film, a mere few examples of which are included below. So here we go: unlikely comic book adaptations-

Howard The Duck

One of few Lucasfilm productions universally panned by  fans and critics (the star wars Christmas special being another), this is the tale of a Duck from another planet essentially coming to earth and behaving like a jackass. I have to say I quite like it actually, though I don't thinks its too close to its source material, a 1070s comic strip of the same name

Whiteout

This Kate Beckinsale also features Gabriel Macht before he struck wider fame in the TV show Suits. Its essentially a murder mystery which takes place in the Antarctic, and is based on a graphic novel of the same name by  Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber

Road to Perdition

This Tom Hanks hit is all about redemption and revenge, set in prohibition era America. Its based on a monochrome graphic novel of the same name by Max Collins, who went on to produce an "in-betweenquel" as he calls it, called Road to Perdition 2. The graphic novel is sumptuously drawn and the film matches the tone expertly.

Art School Confidential

This comedy features a good old-school cast in the form of John Malkovich, Angelica Huston and Jim Broadbent. It is based on a Daniel Clowes graphic novel of the same name, though only very loosely. In fact, the film had the same Director and distributor as the film which came before it, which is found below.

Ghost World

This one is also based on the Daniel Clowes graphic novel of the same name, and is probably Clowes' most famous work. Essentially it is about the boredom of two socially awkward, isolated teenagers. I wasn't a massive fan of the graphic novel (of all his works, Ice Haven and Wilson are my two favourites, neither of which has been adapted yet), but the film holds very true to its source material

Surrogates

Bruce Willis in a sci-fi film satarire, it started out good btu then descended into cliche. The COmputer facelift done on Willis is pretty good though. Based loosely on a comic book series by Robert Venditti, its roots go even furtehr back to scifi novels from the good old days

300

When they made Sin City from Frank Miller's graphic novels, the visuals were a revelation. So much so in fact, that the computer generated sets and hyper stylised violence was repeated with 300. What a lot of people don't realise, is that 300 was also a graphic novel by Miller , albeit a departure from his usual work

The Crow

This tale of revenge has a wonderfully violent, Gothic style which inspired a generation of films. The production is now marred by the tragic death of Brandon Lee. For more of the same, look to The Crow comic book series by James O'Barr

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Michael Cera stars as the titular hero of this reality bending story of a guy battling a girl's seven evil ex boyfriend in order to secure her love. Some people were instant fans of the film, but I never warmed to it. The main reason reason is it could never do justice to what is probably one of the greatest Graphic Novel collections ever written. Bryan O'Malley both wrote and drew all 6 volumes and incredible attention has been paid to every page. If you liked the film, in fact even if you didn't, GO OUT AND BUY THEM NOW. Seriously. The originals are black and white, but if that's putting you off, the success of the film has prompted their re-release in colour, volume by volume

Blade

The Blade trilogy tells the Tale of vampires fighting against humans, and the hybrid/good guy vampire Blade who fights for humanity. After a few duds, Wesley Snipes cleaned up in this role, but its actually based on a Marvel Comics character of the same name

Oldboy

Another revenge tale, this one is about a man held captive for years who, now free, finds his captors to determine why he was imprisoned. Oh yeah, and to exact violent vengeance. It is loosely based on the manga Oldboy, by  Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi

The Mask

The film that showed us Cameron Diaz in *that* dress, seemed a perfect vehicle for Jim Carrey's cartoonish shenanigans.  The crazed man with the green face and yellow face is actually based on a slightly darker Dark Horse comic book series by writer John Arcudi and artist Doug Mahnke

V for Vendetta

A dark story of a mystery figure in a white mask organising a rebellion against a neo-con state, this was the Wachowskis follow up to The Matrix films. Hugo Weaving is brilliant as always, and Natalie Portman showed impressive commitment by shaving her head. It is based on V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, but several liberties have ben taken. In the original there was an anarchist/fascist conflict set in the 80s, which the film transposes to the future with liberal/neo-conservative at its core. As with all adaptations of his films, Moore has disowned the work

A History of Violence

The story a seemingly ordinary guy who ends up an unlikely hero, prompting the return of elements from his dark gangster past, was stylistically shot by Croenenberg. Its something a dark, unsettling story, but is actually less brutal than the 1997 graphic novel John Wagner and Vince Locke upon which it was based.

American Splendor

There is a comic book element of style to this film, and its unsurprising, it is based on a long running series of autobiographical comics by Harvey Pekar. Paul Giamatti plays the lead character fantastically, and in the film, as in the comics, we see the story of a life which is remarkable in its mundanity

From Hell

Starring Johnny Depp, and Heather Graham as the world's most beautiful hooker, this is a fictional story based on Jack the Ripper. Again, its based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore, and again he disavowed it. With some of the dodgey accents on show, I can see why

Film of the Year Runner up 2012

The Film of the Year is to be announced in the next few days...but to whet your appetites, here's the runner up for 2012......

LIFE OF PI

An excellent film, that fell just short of takign victory, my review below will hopefully explain to you just how good it is:

"Unfilmable". Neologism though it may be, it’s a word which used to mean something, but with Ang Lee’s latest masterpiece, Life of Pi, he has well and truly banished the word to the past.

The "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" director is no stranger to films of quiet, haunting beauty, but even so, his take on Yann Martel's Booker prize-winning novel, Life of Pi, is an astonishing work of art, and a magnificent film in its own right.

The film is framed as a story within a story, which begins in French Pondichery, India, in a family zoo. The unfortunately named Piscine Patel wisely begins going by the nickname Pi, to avoid schoolyard bullying. When the Zoo runs into trouble, Pi must leave his newfound lover, and travel with his family and their animals, by boat to Canada. Disaster strikes when a storm hits, and Pi ends up the sole human survivor of the tragedy.  He is not alone however, being marooned on a rescue boat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal Tiger, all gloriously rendered in life-like CGI. The next 227 days are the true heart of the film, as they follow Pi’s struggle to survive and make sense of the tragedy, and his uneasy partnership with the tiger. While it may be amusingly named Richard Parker, this is no cute and cuddly critter, and the wild and savage nature of the beast is a strong theme that runs throughout.

To explain the plot much further is really to miss the point. The beauty of Lee’s film, is the way it uses such economy to tell a story that wonderfully ties together themes of loneliness, survival and religion.  While it may sound like a very bleak tale, there is much humour to be found, and ultimately the incredible journey of survival is enormously uplifting: a true testament to the determination of the individual.

Throughout the entire film, I was in a constant state of awe at the remarkable imagery, and the sheer poetry of the visuals. There is something fantastical about young Pi’s story and the film fully allows this dream-like element to blossom into fruition. I’m not much of a believer in 3D, generally seeing it as little more than a gimmick, but in Life of Pi, it is employed to flawless effect. Gone are the cheap scenes of objects hurtling out of the screen – this 3D serves only to enhance the beauty of the film, and the depth of the message it shares.

Finally, a review would not be complete without referencing the entirely excellent cast, praise first and foremost of which, must go to unknown Suraj Sharma. As the film progresses his weight sheds whilst his skin darkens from the sun and crusts from dry saltwater, but none of this is as shocking as the way his face hardens and his mannerisms fatigue. The character’s transformation is achingly real, and is all the more incredible when you realise, he was probably acting in an empty boat in front of a green screen.

In framing the tale, the character of mamaji tells the author, “I have a story that will make you believe in God”. For what it’s worth, Ang Lee’s film just might live up to that promise. A masterpiece

5 Worst Zooey Deschanel Movies

Super quick post today. Zooey Deschanel has become something of a sensation ever since her sitcom New Girl was launched. She’s such a well known name now I think it’s easy to forget that she started out from very firm Indie roots. Unfortunately this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, and there’s more than a few questionable films in her back catalogue [btw Your Highness was at number 6]

5. The Go-Getter

A kid takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Lots of random Indie coincidences and stilted, pointless conversations occur

4. Winter Passing

An actress needs publishing permission from her reclusive writer father, who prefers hanging out with groupie students. It’s actually not that bad, but it’s so full of dysfunctional family indie clichés it feels like you’ve already seen it

3. The New Guy

A dork at a new school reinvents himself as a cool guy. Its neither funny, nor clever, and even Eliza Dushku’s hotness can’t save it. DJ Quails isn’t a leading man for a reason

2. Live Free or Die

From some of the writers of Seinfeld, you’d expect good things, but alas this is slow to start, and quite muddled. Most importantly, not very funny

1. Flakes

Sooo boring I fell asleep in the middle. It has a great quirky concept about a restaurant which only serves bowls of various cereals – its as if they thought the premise was so good, they forgot about decent plot or even likeable characters. Christopher Lloyd should be ashamed

Films you might not know were based on books Part 2

AKA the Books behind the films. We all know classic examples like The Godfather and Jurassic Park. Continuing from the last post, but here are a few more examples

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Giving us one of cinema's most beloved characters, in Hepburn's Holly Golightly, this comedy romance about a cafe socialite had all the hijinks and infectious eccentricity of its source novella of the same name, by Truman Capote


The Blind Side

Launching Sandra Bullock back into the spotlight, this was basically the story of how any poor, uneducated black kid can make it in the world, as long  a rich white lady helps them....Okay so it wasn't really but that’s sometimes how it feels. Its the story of Michael Oher being effectively adopted by a Christian woman, and his rise in the world of High school football. It is loosely based on The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis, though the book itself features much more information on offensive football strategy with less focus on drama


Diary of a Wimpy Kid

There are a three of these films at the time of writing and I suspect there will be more to come. While they are essentially comedies about a small, wiley kid going through school without any great degree of popularity, and a dorky best friend, I feel the films can never replicate the books, just because of the format. The books are written as fake diaries, coupled with various drawings and doodles, and the combined effect presents a very very funny story, which makes you think back to your own youth. As amusing as scenes from the film may be, the first one in particular, they can never touch the emotional chord of the books. There are 7 in all so far: the  Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, by Jeff Kinney


Shutter Island

Scorsese reunited with DiCaprio yet again for this psychological drama about a missing person on an island housing a psychiatric facility. The fragmented narrative and multiple contradictions keep the suspense going, even if the eventual 'conspiracy'/'explanation' is fairly routine. The gothic, pulpy atmosphere is in close keeping with the source material, the best-selling novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Incidentally Lehane also wrote Mystic River, which also ended up being made into a film


Drive

This one may come as something of a surprise. The very deliberate nature of the directing and cinematography gives the impression that the entire endeavour is one man's distilled vision. The film tells the story of a mysterious man called The Driver, who lives by a set of precise rules, and takes driving jobs for criminals. Just as he is finding love with his neighbour, he ends up in the middle of a double cross over a bag of money and a bloodbath ensues. The Film is based on the novel Drive by James Sallis, one of two featuring his character The Driver. Short, dark, and gloomy, the novel isn't a linear story and includes many flashbacks and jumps, which in some way helps explain the style of its movie incarnation


Children of Men

Starring Clive Owen and set in a world where infertility is absolute, and there hasn't been a newborn in years, it follows a man trying to protect a pregnant woman, and eventually her baby. The premise is excellent, but the implications seem somewhat blunted by the pedestrian plot. This is in contrast to the novel, The Children of Men by P.D.James, which delves much deeper into the politics of this dystopia and the psychological and social implications


Brewster’s Millions

An underrated Richard Prior movie in my opinion, it may not be as caustic as some of this other works, or feature his great chemistry with Gene Wilder, but it is nonetheless a funny premise, carried off with aplomb. Essentially a man is given 30 million dollars, and told that if he can spend it all and have nothing left to his name in a month, he will inherit 300 million. Hilarity ensues. I was surprised to find that this was based on novel from way back in 1902 by George Barr McCutcheon, and surprised further to find that in all this time, it has been made into not just one, but ten separate films across the globe!


Doc Hollywood

A classic from the Michael J Fox back-catalogue, this is a really charming, enjoyable story of a hotshot young surgeon crashing his car in a rural South Carolina hamlet. Sentenced to community service, he ends up having to stay in the town and adapt to life at a slower pace, developing friendships with the locals and even finding love. If the plot sounds familiar, it may be because the Pixar film Cars used almost exactly the same story years later. Its a pretty faithful adaptation of What? Dead Again? by Neil B. Shulman, who in addition to being an MD, was also a producer for the film


Jaws

Now here's an unexpected one. A Spielberg classic which spawned far far too many sequels [which was nicely spoofed in Back to the Future II], one can only guess how many people have developed a phobia of swimming, oceans and beaches from this motion picture about a Shark terrorising a summer resort. It is considered monumental in the history of cinema, effectively being the first ever 'blockbuster', and it is based on Jaws by Peter Benchley. The novel has a lot of other subplots which were dropped for the film, which instead focused on the shark, and then men hunting it.


The Princess Bride

Another classic story, this one is a fantasy story about a pirate assembling a group to help him rescue a princess who was once his lover. It is based on a novel of the same name by William Goldman. The Book itself is presented as an abridgement of the fictional book ' The Princess Bride' by S. Morgenstern, with a fake forward and Goldman's comments running throughout. This atmosphere of silliness and irony permeates through to the film, which is unsurprising given that he adapted the screenplay for it. Some hold it in as high regard as The Goonies..more or less says it all


The NeverEnding Story

The first of a trilogy of Epic Fantasy films, it was based on a German novel, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, which was later translated into English by Ralph Manheim. The story is of a boy in the real world who is reading a book which effects a fantasy world called Fantasia, which is being destroyed by 'the nothing' which is a lack of imagination in the real world.... it’s not actually as complicated as it sounds. It looks a bit dated now, but fun nonetheless. Incidentally the first film only covers the first half of the novel, and even then with some omissions. The remainder of the novel influences  the sequel, to some extent, but other plotlines have been made up and added in too


Forrest Gump 

Forrest Gump is a wildly popular film even now, and for many, it shows Tom Hanks at his acting finest. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Wilson Groom, published 8 years before the film was released. The film tried to stay relatively faithful to the book, but some of the plot had to be abridged due to time constraints, leading to the whole 'Ape called Suzie' and 'NASA astronaut' arcs being dropped. The sex was sanitized, as was the retardation angle. Groom was so disappointed with the film, that in Gump and Co, the sequel, he begins with the line, "Don't never let nobody make a movie of your life's story."