The Box Office Belletrist

By Jennifer Makowsky

A Ghost Story of Dubious Origins

[28.Oct.09] :. No matter the vercity of the tale, The Haunting in Connecticut has just enough creep quotient to keep me engaged, especially since I grew up a few miles from the house.
 

The Handmaid’s Tale: Not So Sci-fi

[24.Sep.09] :. The terrifying, 'it could happen today' message of this story is best told in the Atwood's book, rather than the film version.
 

Not to be Silenced: To Kill a Mockingbird

[2.Sep.09] :. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is more than an enlightening tale of the racial inadequacies in the South during the Depression -- it inspired people to study law.
 

We All End Up in Diapers: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[29.Jul.09] :. Comparing the book to the film, it’s as if Fitzgerald laid just the foundation, and from that Roth built a multi-storied house.
 

Let the Right One In, But Only the Right One

[26.May.09] :. Lindqvist’s book and Alfredson’s film adaptation both convey a sweet, dark version of puppy love. We don’t need the American remake.
 

‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’: Check, Please

[28.Apr.09] :. I hate it when a film takes a brilliant literary work and turns it into what it thinks the literary work should be.
 

Chok(ing) Onscreen and In Print

[31.Mar.09] :. Whether served up on the page or on the screen, this is an intimate assessment of a twisted mother/son relationship with plenty of sardonic humor and scathing satire.
 

Woolf at the Door

[1.Mar.09] :. Both Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and Michael Cunningham's The Hours offer an illuminating look at the choices we make, the roles we play, and the hours that hinge our lives together.
 

Twilight Takeover

[7.Jan.09] :. The film is a successful adaptation of the book not only because Pattinson is so talented and dreamy, but also because Hardwicke knows a thing or two about filming adolescents.
 

Hughes Oughta Know

[3.Dec.08] :. The British Library bought Ted Hughes' literary archive, further inspiring film and literary speculation into his life with Sylvia Plath.
 

Blinded by Science

[29.Oct.08] :. While Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a wonderful tale of a tortured man and his experiment, I’ll take Hollywood’s version of the block-headed monster any day.
 

Bukowski: What Lies Beneath

[7.Oct.08] :. During the rare moments when Charles Bukowski's vulnerable side are shown, they manage to break through the "dirty old man" parody of himself that he had become.
 

He’s Lost Control

[25.Aug.08] :. The kids who grew up in the '90s had the haunted Kurt Cobain; my generation had the tormented Ian Curtis.
 

Rebel Rebel

[29.Jul.08] :. The time is ripe for revisiting One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as we're all aware that individual freedoms are still being suppressed by governments around the world.
 

Love on the Rocks

[30.Jun.08] :. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'s dark, witty banter and assessment of human malice made my brain tick and also made me glad I wasn’t married.
 

Living the Dream: The Life Before Her Eyes

[20.May.08] :. Kaisischke's grotesque images of the natural world remind me of Sylvia Plath. She is a master of highlighting the splendor and tragedy working side-by-side in everyday life.
 

Love in the Time of Record Shops

[21.Apr.08] :. Technology may have changed the way we obtain music, but as Nick Hornby's High Fidelity reminds us, it can never alter our love affair with the medium.
 

The Escape Artist

[24.Mar.08] :. The desire to escape that lives in each of us, and the consequences of acting on that desire, is what makes us care for Chris McCandless (Into the Wild), and what makes his short life such a compelling story.
 

Standing by Stephen King

[5.Mar.08] :. Childhood and the end of innocence are vividly portrayed in Stephen King's novella The Body, and Rob Reiner's excellent interpretation, Stand by Me.
 

The Sins of the Sister

[14.Feb.08] :. A director can translate a writer’s words to the screen beautifully, but he can never alter their power on the page. The book and film versions of Atonement prove this all too well.
 

The Good Shepherd

[20.Dec.07] :. His comic look at life in the '50s formed the foundation for a seminal Christmas 'Story'. But there is more to Jean Sheperd than little boys and BB guns.
 

Save the Drama for Your Mama

[5.Dec.07] :. Sons and Lovers gave author D.H. Lawrence a chance to work out all his Oedipal issues. Too bad the film adaptations have been less than enlightening.
 

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

[25.Oct.07] :. Flowers in the Attic is the perfect example of what happens to a favorite book when it gets pressed through the Hollywood machine. The results are enough to ruin a sly, scandalous thriller - and a reader's rich adolescent memories.
 

One Hit Wonder - The Stone Reader

[26.Sep.07] :. A favored book from one's past. An elusive author who seemingly never wrote anything since. Sounds like the components for a fascinating documentary? You'd be right.
 

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

[14.Aug.07] :. Circumstances may have brought them together, but a single 'enduring' emotion may be driving Ian McEwan's characters toward a deranged date with destiny.
 

The Lisbon Bunch

[14.Jun.07] :. Purposefully ending one's life is often seen as a last act of personal desperation. But in Jefferey Eugenides' poignant, bewitching novel, it may actually be a form of salvation.
 

We Like to Watch

[16.Apr.07] :. Far more prescient today than it was 36 years ago, Jerzy Kosiński’s darkly comic novel of media and politics, Being There, lives on, thanks in part to Hal Ashby's marvelous 1979 motion picture adaptation.
 

Soulless

[21.Feb.07] :. James Redfield's 'prophetic' novel, The Celestine Prophecy, as manifested in film... maybe it means something. I see soft-focus imagery and swirling colors. I'm getting a feeling. It's...it's... nausea.
 

Stumbling with Nail Clippers

[30.Nov.06] :. It was one of the most talked about tomes upon its release. Unfortunately, our literary liaison for all things film thinks that Augusten Burrough's mesmerizing memoir was definitely defanged in the cinematic translation.
 

Vamping It Up

[31.Oct.06] :. From folklore to fright icon, a certain naughty neckbiter remains one of literature -- and film's -- most fascinating fear factors.
 

Lolita’s Balls!

[20.Sep.06] :. Between the scandalous novel and it's equally inflammatory big screen adaptation, Vladimir Nabokov's classic story of unnatural, obsessive love still has chutzpah.
 

The Da Vinci De-Bacle

[9.Aug.06] :. As I sat there in the theater watching The Da Vinci Code, I wondered how it would be possible to follow the knotty narrative if you hadn't read the book first.
 

“Thunder”‘s Blunder

[11.Jul.06] :. The Box Office Belletrist -- Thunder's Blunder -- Hyams and company managed to take an excellent metaphor for man's technological hubris and strip it of all importance.
 

Bradbury on Fire

[1.Jun.06] :. Though it was written over a half century ago, and the only film adaptation was helmed during the tumultuous and turbulent '60s, Fahrenheit 451 remains a classic sci-fi treasure. Our literary lady of letters believes that now just might be the right time for a remake.
 

Swimming Home

[25.Apr.06] :. Sometimes, the written word can be far more evocative than the most memorable motion picture. Such is the case with John Cheever's classic short story about alienation amongst the sun-drenched swimming pools of suburbia.
 

Sympathy for the Devil: In Cold Blood

[28.Mar.06] :. Truman Capote crafted a masterpiece in human ambiguity with his classic 'nonfiction' novel. Our leading lady of letters argues that the recent cinematic exploration of the book's creation is an equally unnerving experience.
 

Vintage Venom

[27.Feb.06] :. Looking for a classic bit of 'cruelty' with 'intentions' that are all too clear? Our resident literary 'liaison' argues the case for this 1988 masterwork of manipulation.
 

Love Is Risky Business

[17.Jan.06] :. With all the Oscar buzz swirling around Ang Lee's taboo-busting drama, our literary liaison wants us to not forget the stellar short story it's based upon.
 

Austen’s Powers

[15.Dec.05] :. Despite Jane Austen's obvious skill as a storyteller, her novel, Pride and Prejudice, is somewhat asexual. Thankfully, the new film version of the literary classic introduces some much needed physicality into this far too courteous romance.
 

Everything Is (Sort Of) Illuminated

[17.Nov.05] :. In the rare case of a book and its cinematic adaptation complimenting each other, Makowsky looks at the link between the literary and celluloid versions of Jonathan Safran Foer's acclaimed novel.
 

Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Give Us Something Good to Read

[11.Oct.05] :. Interested in some chilling All Hallows Eve fare? Our resident lady of literature attempts to glean the thrills from the spills as she searches the shelves -- both book and video -- for a good scare.
 

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Dullest of Them All?

[14.Sep.05] :. In this month's installment, Makowsky wonders why, in either kid-friendly or mainstream motion picture versions, the Brothers Grimm just can't get any respect.
 

‘Chick Lit’ Overload

[11.Aug.05] :. Makowsky laments the continuing influence of 'Chick Lit' in both bookstores and movie houses worldwide.
 

‘WOW’ of the Worlds

[13.Jul.05] :. The 2005 War of the Worlds may be one of the few times where the credits 'based on the book by...' actually has a legitimate meaning.
 

Re-Judging a Book by Its Cinematic Cover

[14.Jun.05] :. Like most bibliophiles, I often cringe when a favorite book is transformed for the big screen. It doesn't mean I won't give it a chance though.