You know I love films and I love books, so it kind of follows that I love films based on books. Sometimes the adaptations are quite poor and disappointing (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), much less often they improve on the source material (anything based on a Tom Clancy book) but just sometimes a great book leads to a great film…
Calls for 50 Shades Book-Burning
24 August 2012 by Leave a Comment
A charity in the North of England which helps women who have been victims of abuse is calling for copies of the hugely popular Fifty Shades trilogy to be burned in protest at what is seen as the violent and degrading treatment of the female characters…
The Casual Vacancy Front Cover Revealed
3 July 2012 by Leave a Comment
Undoubtedly the biggest book story of this year is the release of J.K. Rowling’s first non-Harry Potter book The Casual Vacancy, a novel aimed at adults. Due for release on 27 September this year we are told by publishers Little, Brown Book Group that it is “blackly comic, thought provoking and constantly surprising.” The front cover art…
Houdini’s Magic Ticket
25 November 2011 by Leave a Comment
Once upon a time – about 6 weeks ago actually – Dan at Top Ten Movies had a great idea for a blogathon. He invited movie bloggers to think about what they would do with a magic ticket that could transport them into different films. There’s been some great replies and I’ve been meaning to add my own thoughts since the blogathon was announced…
JK Rowling admits that Ron Weasley nearly died….
1 November 2011 by Leave a Comment
The final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 2nd December. Great timing for Christmas presents – if anyone can wait the 23 days to see it. One of the special features on the disk is an interview of JK Rowling by Daniel Radcliffe in which she admits that while she always intended that the three main characters would survive, there was a time when she seriously considered killing off Ron….
Top Ten: Children’s Books
7 October 2011 by 5 Comments
I’ve been thinking for a while about writing a post on my favourite children’s books. It’s been going over and over in my head and I’ve been wondering how to choose the list. Would it be my favourite books specifically from childhood…
Banned Books Week
29 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
Banned Books Week has been a feature in American libraries for the past 29 years but I’ve not seen much coverage in the British media before. UK libraries are coming together from 24th September to highlight the growing issue of censorship and challenges to libraries stocking particular books.
Another good week for Harry Potter
10 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
As I predicted last week Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 continues to do extremely well at the box-office worldwide. In the past week it has climbed to third in the list of highest-grossing films of all time. Apparently it is unlikely it will challenge the James Cameron duo of Avatar and Titanic at the top of the list, I’m still not sure I agree but either way it’s a great result for the final chapter in the franchise.
Harry hits $1billion
3 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
The success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was never in doubt, the only question was how big that success would be. Well, news is in and it’s huuuuuuuuuge. So far the film has taken over $1 billion (said in a Dr Evil voice of course), the first of the franchise to break through that threshold. After only three weeks on release it is already the 8th biggest film of all time and I wouldn’t bet against it going all the way and toppling Avatar from the top spot.