Film adaptations I've been watching lately

I was thinking about books and film the other day and how differently N and I approach them. N rarely reads books. It's not that he doesn't want to but he has limited free time and that time he'd rather be watching a TV programme or a film. He watches a lot of films. The first few minutes of a film or something will grab his attention more easily than the first few chapters of a book.

Me, on the other hand, I read a lot of books. I try reading different genres and push myself with what I'm reading. I definitely try to take chances on the books I pick up. Not so with films. I'm really incredibly picky about films. N tries to convince me to watch a film with him by reading out the little blurb to me or by saying some actress I like from something else is in it. And it all just makes me think 'nah, I don't think so.'

And I wonder if N and my views of books and films are switched around. Where he takes more chances on film and I take my chances with books. There's not more story to that, I just found it interesting to realise.  The films that I do like to watch ... film adaptations. And especially with my recent reading slump, I turned to them more. Here's what I've been watching (these are not reviews!):

Twilight: Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Part One and Two


I really didn't like the first Twilight film. Something about the entire thing felt off to me. I can't really pinpoint what it is about it. It just wasn't what I was expecting and for me it really wasn't something I felt like I could invest emotion into. So I put off watching New Moon for absolutely ages. And then I saw it and it was weird with floating Edward's face as Bella puts herself into danger. It was laughable, and not in a good way. But I'm a masochist about these things, I still wanted to see how the rest of the series was going to play out... so I watched Eclipse and the two Breaking Dawns.  ...And I liked them. I think maybe I went into these  three films with such low expectations that it would have been impossible for the films not to at least meet them. But I enjoyed the experience of it. I'd finish one of the films and think how much I'd like to re-read the books.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower


I have to admit, I am not the world's biggest fan of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was one of the few books that I've actually thrown across the room in frustration.  There's a lot that I don't like about the book and there are still a lot of issues that I have with the story.  ...But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching the film.  All of the problems that I have with the story seemed less when watching the story on film rather than reading it.  I was able to relate to most of the characters and there were moments when I could see why this story has so many fans.  I'm still not one of them, but it's as though I took a step closer after seeing the film adaptation. And I suppose that's worth something.

Jane Eyre


I love the story of Jane Eyre, I really do. It's one of my favourites. I've probably seen every adaptation of this story that's ever been made and I'm so familiar with the story that I was actually really confused when I started watching this one.  There were moments, lots of them, at the beginning of this film where I thought 'wait, have I seen this already?' I actually thought that maybe I'd already rented the DVD previously and just forgotten that I'd done so.  But I hadn't. This is one of those books and films that I could watch endlessly. It's very comforting to me to return to this story and to these characters.

The Lucky One


I know that Nicholas Sparks is a bit of a twat and I do have issues with some of his storylines, but whatever. I am still a closet-fan of his film adaptations.  And The Lucky One especially appealed to me because of Zac Efron. Ugh, I could just spend all day looking at him. He is painfully good-looking. And in this, he's a man in uniform who takes care of dogs. I watched this with N and he actually said at one point during the film 'do we really need to see Zac Efron shagging?' at which point I just sshhed him. Because, really.

Have you seen any good film adaptations lately?