Thursday Movie Picks: Book to TV Adaptations

This week’s theme is about books adapted to television shows. I still have quite a bit of this on my watch list, with my priority being Little Fires Everywhere and Normal People, as I’ve read the books in the recent past. Below are my choices for this week.

High Fidelity - There were three things that made High Fidelity compelling for me. First is the gender bend adaptation of the novel by Nick Hornby. Next, the film adaptation was popular, and I wanted to see how they would prolong the novel. Finally, that it starred Zoe Kravitz. I love that Zoe Kravitz is getting lead roles; the stuff I’ve primarily watched her in has her pegged as a supporting character. I thought it was a good show. It not only focused on Rob (Kravitz) but her friends and co-workers at the music store. Despite it not being extremely centralized to music (note: I haven’t seen the film nor read the book, but this always appears in those movies about music lists), it had a pretty soundtrack to boast. I wouldn’t mind this getting a second season.

The Umbrella Academy - I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed The Umbrella Academy. I knew it was getting a lot of praise, and during the first season run, the graphic novels were sold out because everyone was reading them. I read the graphic novel after watching the show, and I like the show better. Season 2 is going to be released soon, and I can’t wait to see what happens to the Hargreeves children, and where the end of season 1 took them.

His Dark Materials - I finished this show a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it. It was atmospheric and exciting, though it takes a bit of time to get to the excitement. I’ve only seen Dafne Keen in one other project (Logan) and she was really great here. I like the energy she brought to the character. Her scenes with Iofur Brynison were some of my favorites, and I liked her friendship with Roger. I also like the direction it took when it came to the narrative, weaving in bits of The Subtle Knife to give life to the other protagonist and the bigger role he’s to play in the succeeding seasons. The show is making me think twice about continuing on with the books, and to wait for the show instead. I have tried reading The Subtle Knife, but I’m having a hard time getting into it. The show is doing a great job in keeping things interesting, so I might just wait for the second season to see if I’d give reading the books another try.

6 comments:

  1. The only one I've seen is His Dark Materials and I enjoyed it too. I've never read any of his novels but the cast was so good I couldn't say no.

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    1. I'm just going to wait for the show to air to see if it re-ignites my interest in continuing on with the books. The show is such a great adaptation, I'd rather follow the story through a moving media.

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  2. I started watching The Umbrella Academy when I was sleep deprived for a while and gave up because too much was happening, but I really need to give it another chance!

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    1. A lot definitely happens in the first season. There was a lot of world building involved since it had to set two alternate worlds. It's still an amazing show though. The second season is a lot more linear and plot focused.

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  3. I want to watch High Fidelity since I've seen the movie, haven't read the book though.

    I enjoyed Umbrella Academy too...second season is end July.

    His Dark Materials - I'm a few episodes in and so far I'm bored. Not sure if I'm continuing.

    If you participating in this blog series, do remember to put a link back to my blog on your post.

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    1. High Fidelity was a great show; it sucks that it got cancelled after one season.

      Thanks for the reminder!

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