Right now I'm reading the 3rd book in Stieg Larsson's Liz Salander novels, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
." As mentioned in a previous post, I highly recommend Larsson's novels. They are each well written, nuanced, and highly entertaining.
Yesterday, we decided we'd watch the Swedish film version of the first novel, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
." There is a US movie of the book currently in production. We fired up the Nintendo Wii, played the Netflix disc, and started the movie.
The Swedish movie was terrible. Like many novels-turned-movie, large swaths of storyline were removed. Most infuriating though, was that the storyline was changed repeatedly - sometimes in extreme ways. Subtleties were lost entirely, and nuance was replaced with bigger explosions and whack-you-over-the-head action.
Also, the acting was suspect. The lead male was not particularly good looking - this despite the fact the lead male character is supposed to be a ladies man. The lead female looked the part of Liz Salander, but was the unfortunate victim of a bad screenplay that completely changed the character, making it difficult to watch.
After watching the movie, I began to wonder when a book-turned-movie had been good, bringing the novel to life as opposed to making a bizarro-world version of the text. Any examples you can think of? I struggled with this one.
Soundtrack of the week: Big Boi "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty"
- This album delivers all the beats you could want, and some excellent (and legitimately funny) filler material between songs. For Outkast fans waiting for something from Big Boi and Andre 3000 together, we'll have to wait a little longer. But, don't fear, Big Boi's new one is stellar on its own.
What We're Drinking This Week:
I'm pretty excited about this week's drinks...
Tuesday - Jameson and Lemonade - I'm always excited to find new whiskey-based cocktails - this one should be good.
Friday - Spa - Gin based, and likely an excellent choice for the summer heat.
Enjoy your Monday - see you tomorrow!
." As mentioned in a previous post, I highly recommend Larsson's novels. They are each well written, nuanced, and highly entertaining. Yesterday, we decided we'd watch the Swedish film version of the first novel, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
." There is a US movie of the book currently in production. We fired up the Nintendo Wii, played the Netflix disc, and started the movie.The Swedish movie was terrible. Like many novels-turned-movie, large swaths of storyline were removed. Most infuriating though, was that the storyline was changed repeatedly - sometimes in extreme ways. Subtleties were lost entirely, and nuance was replaced with bigger explosions and whack-you-over-the-head action.
Also, the acting was suspect. The lead male was not particularly good looking - this despite the fact the lead male character is supposed to be a ladies man. The lead female looked the part of Liz Salander, but was the unfortunate victim of a bad screenplay that completely changed the character, making it difficult to watch.
After watching the movie, I began to wonder when a book-turned-movie had been good, bringing the novel to life as opposed to making a bizarro-world version of the text. Any examples you can think of? I struggled with this one.
Soundtrack of the week: Big Boi "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty"
- This album delivers all the beats you could want, and some excellent (and legitimately funny) filler material between songs. For Outkast fans waiting for something from Big Boi and Andre 3000 together, we'll have to wait a little longer. But, don't fear, Big Boi's new one is stellar on its own.What We're Drinking This Week:
I'm pretty excited about this week's drinks...
Tuesday - Jameson and Lemonade - I'm always excited to find new whiskey-based cocktails - this one should be good.
Friday - Spa - Gin based, and likely an excellent choice for the summer heat.
Enjoy your Monday - see you tomorrow!
I know this outside the realm of music I am likely to recommend. It's dance club music. But, tell me you don't feel something, however small, when you watch Robyn in the "Dancing on my Own" video. 
" If you're not in on this book yet, do yourself a favor, and jump in with both feet - the water is warm, I assure you. Larsson's first novel is a rather long thriller set in his native Sweden. The characters are nicely developed, and the pacing is superb. This book is popular, arguably the most popular fiction book out at the moment, but make no mistake - this is a terribly well written effort. In other words, it's not some crappily-written beach-novel a la The DaVinci Code.
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