~~ Ribbon ~~

Last week, as I was travelling back home from work, I chose to watch a movie "Ribbon" on Amazon Prime (one of the reasons I have not been reading this year during my travel time is because I wanted to make the most of my one year Amazon Prime Subscription - I had planned that I will only opt it for a year and thus, this was one of the goals too). There was no particular reason that I chose this movie - it was just a random selection as I had just completed Season 01 of a series and wanted to watch something else before moving on to Season 02.

 

The movie was about a married, working, independent, young couple who had not planned or basically were not prepared to think about a baby yet, but now had to deal with it.  The movie progressed slowly portraying the confusions of a young married couple, the growing bond as the years roll by in a marriage, the ego clashes, the problems working women face when they have to go on maternity leaves and then the problems they face when they report back to work, how a working woman suddenly needs to choose between career and stay-at-home options, how the couple have to grapple with various responsibilities, how the current generation husband is or should be, the dilemma on opting day care or resorting to a house-help, so on and so forth. There was no unnecessary drama or songs or cheesy dialogues - none of that stuff. It was just life - plainly being lived. Real portrayals of actual problems in life and how life is not made of just dreamy, romantic happily ever afters - how life is also full of challenges, "why me's?", adjustments, compromises, little happiness here and there, memories, love, understanding etc etc.

 

 

As I kept watching, I found myself hoping that they had not touched upon the subject of child abuse,  but then, it was. It hurt me to watch the movie after that - not because of the way it is dealt, because it has been dealt the right way, but the reality of such things happening around us, just hit hard. It also did not help when the movie ended abruptly with no closure on that subject - and that's probably a real portrayal of what happens in reality too. That hit me hard too. I was pretty upset after watching the movie.

 

To calm down and to distract myself, I checked FB and what do I see?  News floating about of a doctor's horrific death.  I was disgusted. I still am.

 

Is there no kindness or sense of humanity in this world anymore? 

~~ [Post 18]: Books vs Movies ~~

So, I am sure most of us book worms actually prefer to read the book before watching a movie based on the very book.  I am also sure, that, most of us, also do believe that the book is always way better than the movie. Almost every single time.  However, I did feel a little differently for few books that turned to movies. There are cases where the movies were quite at par with the books, or sometimes, even better.  Here's a list of 5 of such movies based on books which top my list. Have you watched them? Do you agree? Do you have any suggestions on movies where movies were equally good/at par with the books?

 

1. Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell - This is my all time favorite book & movie. The stubborn yet intelligent and practical Scarlett, kind and lovely Melanie, confused Ashley, charming and dominant Rhett Butler, motherly Mammy, "Fiddle Dee Dee"  and the "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" cannot be easily forgotten. I read the book first. I have read it multiple times actually.  I gifted myself a copy of this movie DVD a while ago and had great expectations when I watched the movie - and thankfully, it did not fail me a bit! I cannot picture anyone else in these roles other than the artists who played these fictional characters in the movie. I absolutely loved the portrayal of Melanie in the movie. A must read. A must watch.

 

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I always believe that a book or movie evokes different emotions when read/watched at a particular phase of our life. This is one of such examples which proves my belief. I had read the novel long long back. Actually it was a marathon read of all Jane Austen's books back to back, and as I remember, none of it managed to make any kind of special impact on me. I have a friend who loves this book and goes back to reading it every now and then. Knowing how I felt about Jane Austen's books, she gifted me the movie DVD as a birthday gift few years back, maybe she wanted me to give the works another chance. I watched the movie with a lot of apprehensions, and to my surprise, it turned out to be a beautiful rendition and I totally absolutely loved the movie. I might even like Jane Austen's books if I read them again now.  A must watch and probably a must read-again-soon.

 

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I watched the movie first. The movie remains one of my favorite and is a must watch. Considering it was quite a moving plot with strong characters like Aibileen and Minny, I immediately went ahead and bought the book as I had expected that the book will be way better. But unfortunately, for me, it turned out to be one of those cases, where movie was much better than the actual book itself. Nevertheless, the book is still a good read. Elaborate, good read.   

 

4. P.S.I love you by Cecelia Ahern - Just like "The Help", I watched this movie before I had a chance to buy the book. The movie did wonders and as you know me better now from this post,  yes, I cried loads. I purchased the book expecting to shed a truckload of tears, but did not even shed one. For me, this is worth a read, but more worth a watch :)

 

5. Mist by Stephen King - Have you watched movies based on books where the movie & the book do not share the same climax? Such cases are quite rare, but I am sure you might have read/watched at least a few such books/movies . And for those cases, most of the times,  you are always inclined towards either the book's climax or the movie's climax. However, this is one such movie/book, where the climax is totally entirely different from its counterpart, though the plot is the same, and you absolutely are in love with the way each of the work ends, irrespective of which one you picked first, book or the movie. Must read and a must watch :)