Category: Video & Audiobook

Winter Reading: Movies Based on Books

Posted on by lrussell

What films come to mind when you think of movies based on books? To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, The Hours, Silence of the Lambs, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter – they’re all great! 

If you’re looking for something new, here are a few movies based on books recently released on DVD and available from the library.

To find more, you can also do a search for “film adaptations” in the catalog.

The Dry — Detective – 6.8/10 IMDb / 90% on Rotten Tomatoes – won 6 Australian film awards

Dune (2021) — Action – 8.0/IMDb / 83% Rotten Tomatoes – won 6 Oscars and 168 other awards

Nightmare Alley — Crime – 7.0/10 IMDb / 81% Rotten Tomatoes – nominated for 4 Oscars, won 28 other awards

Illusions perdues = Lost illusions — Drama – 7.4/10 IMDb / 93% Rotten Tomatoes – won 8 French film awards

 

South Beach Love — Romance – 6.0/10 IMDb / no rating

Both Sides of the Blade — Romance – 6.2/10 IMDb / 83% Rotten Tomatoes – Berlin Film Festival Winner

Mr. Malcolm’s List — Romance – 5.8/10 IMDb / 82% Rotten Tomatoes – nominated for an Image Award (NAACP)

Fatherhood — Comedy/Drama – 6.6/10 IMDb / 67% Rotten Tomatoes – nominated for a People’s Choice Award

   

A Journal for Jordan — Drama – 5.9/10 IMDb / Audiences liked this one better than critics did – nominated for Image Awards (NAACP)

Minamata — Drama – 7.3/10 IMDb / 78% Rotten Tomatoes

Bandit — Crime – 6.4/10 IMDb / 74% Rotten Tomatoes

The Power of the Dog –Western – 6.8/10 / 94% Rotten Tomatoes. Critics liked this one better than audiences did – Won 1 Oscar and 271 other awards

 

Bullet Train — Action -7.3/10 IMDb / Audiences liked this one better than critics did – nominated for a People’s Choice Award

Death on the Nile — Detective – 6.3/10 IMDb / 62% Rotten Tomatoes – nominated for a People’s Choice Award

The Good House — Comedy/Drama – 6.4/10 IMDb / 73% Rotten Tomatoes – 1 award  & 1 nomination

Three Thousand Years of Longing — Fantasy/Romance – 6.7/10 IMDb / 72% Rotten Tomatoes – 16 award nominations

 

 

How to Play Winter Reading Bingo

Print a BINGO Card

 

Feature: Indie Films

Posted on by creiste

Do you enjoy the genre of independent films? Here are some indie films and cult classics to watch that are in the Adamstown Area Library’s collection! Click on the image to request the item.

  • An indie film is any feature-length or short film that is made without a major studio or big production company attached. Indie filmmaking is often low-budget, which in the film industry can mean anywhere from a few thousand dollars (“micro-budget”) to a few million.
  • Cult classics, also known as cult films, are films that are considered obscure or unpopular with mainstream audiences and are often revolutionary or ironically enjoyed.

 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (R)

A newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (R)

Tells the adventures of a free-spirited mental ward inmate whose rebelliousness pits him against the repressive head nurse, and whose charm wins him the loyalty of his fellow inmates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (PG-13)

A high school student is determined to get a day off, but the principal has other ideas. Contains all-new special features and new interviews with Matthew Broderick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Breakfast Club (R)

They were five teenage students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At seven a.m. they had nothing to say, but by four p.m., they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (PG)

The quest for the Holy Grail by King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table is retold in the inimitable Python fashion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Virgin Suicides (R)

When school hunk Trip Fontain convinces the beautiful but sheltered Lisbon sisters to go to the prom, the romantic fantasies of a group of neighborhood boys threaten to come true–until all are engulfed in a stunning chain of events that will change their lives forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whiplash (R)

Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite East coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (PG-13)

A uniquely funny and moving story about Greg, a high school senior who avoids deep human relationships as a way to safely navigate the social mine field that is teenage life. In fact, he describes his best friend Earl, with whom he makes short-film parodies of classic movies, as being ‘more like a co-worker’. But when Greg’s mom insists he spends time with Rachel, a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer, Greg discovers just how powerful and important true friendship can be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parasite (R)

Kim Ki-teak’s family are all unemployed and living in a squalid basement. When his son gets a tutoring job at the lavish home of the Park family, the Kim family’s luck changes. One by one they gradually infiltrate the wealthy Park’s home, attempting to take over their affluent lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dallas Buyers Club (R)

Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof’s free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Shunned and ostracized by many old friends and bereft of government-approved medicines, he decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, he joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts and established a hugely successful “buyers’ club.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Princess Bride (PG-13)

Heartbroken over the death of her beloved Westley, beautiful Buttercup finally succumbs to the advances of the wicked Prince Humperdinck. Yet, when she’s suddenly kidnapped by a motley band of deviants, what gallant hero comes to the rescue? None other than Westley– alive, well and as wonderful as ever. But before these two can live happily ever after, they must first overcome formidable odds. Will these star-crossed lovers ever fulfill their destiny? Or, this time, will Buttercup lose Westley forever?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel (R)

The adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bookish Winners at the Golden Globes

Posted on by creiste

Book-to-screen adaptations collected some prestigious accolades at last night’s Golden Globe Awards.

Winners that started as books include:

Movies

Nomadland (Chloe Zhao | Director – Motion Picture Drama), adapted from Jessica Bruder’s book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

From the beet fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs & modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads.

ADAMSTOWN Children's The library book / by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark ; illustrated by Chuck Groenink Chapin, Tom, 1945- author. Book | Atheneum Books for Young Readers | 2017 | First edition. Available at ADAMSTOWN Children's Area (E CHAPIN) plus 9 more Request itArea E CHAPIN AVAILABLE

 

 

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Chadwick Boseman | Actor – Motion Picture Drama), based on August Wilson’s play

The time is 1927. The place is a rundown recording studio in Chicago. Ma Rainey, the legendary blues singer, is due to arrive with her entourage to cut new sides of old favorites.

Waiting for her are her black musician sidemen, the white owner of the record company, and her white manager. What goes down in the session to come is more than music. It is a riveting portrayal of black rage, of racism, of the self-hate that racism breeds, and of racial exploitation.

 

 The Mauritanian (Jodie Foster | Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Drama), based on the memoir Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

ince 2002, Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. Although he was ordered released by a federal judge, the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. 

Three years into his captivity Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody and daily life as a detainee.  

TV

The Queen’s Gambit (Best Limited Series or Film Made for TV; Anya Taylor-Joy | Actress – Limited Series or Film Made for TV), adapted from the novel by Walter Tevis

Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, she’s competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as she hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting.

 

I Know This Much Is True (Mark Ruffalo | Actor – Limited Series or Film Made for TV), based on Wally Lamb’s novel

On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother, Thomas, entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut, public library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. . . .

One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.