Top Ten Tuesday: Good movies about the lives of famous authors.
(I tweaked today's topic since I have already done print-to-screen favorites here.)
Movie: Becoming Jane (2007)
Based on the life of: Jane Austen
Books by this author: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, et al
Starring: Anne Hathaway
Why I liked it: I love anything by or about Jane Austen
Movie: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Based on the life of: P.L. Travers
Books: Mary Poppins series
Starring: Emma Thompson
Why I liked it: I love Mary Poppins and Disney. This story explains a lot.
Movie: Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Based on the life of: William Shakespeare
A possible story about the writing of: Romeo and Juliet
Starring: Joseph Fiennes
Why I liked this: I like to imagine Shakespeare as Romeo, the setting was also fabulous
Movie: The Glass Castle (2017)
Based on the life of: Jeannette Walls
Book: The Glass Castle (memoir);
Starring: Brie Larson
Why I liked this: The book is incredible and the acting in this movie is so good.
Movie: In Love and War (1996)
Based on the early life of: Ernest Hemingway
Book: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Starring: Chris O'Donnell
Why I liked this: Seeing Hemingway as a young man explains a lot about his later years
Movie: Miss Potter (2006)
Based on the life of: Beatrix Potter
Books: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, et al
Starring: Renee Zellweger
Why I liked this: Who doesn't love the art of Beatrix Potter?
Movie: Capote (2006)
Based on the life of: Truman Capote
Book: In Cold Blood, et al
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Why I liked this: Capote and Harper Lee were friends. This movie expands on their friendship.
Movie: Julie and Julia (2009)
Based on the life of: Julia Childs and Julie Powell
Books: Julie and Julia by Powell and Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Childs
Starring: Amy Adams (Julie) and Meryl Streep (Julia)
Why: Actually I thought Meryl Streep was amazing.
Movie: Finding Neverland (2004)
Based on the life of: J.M. Barrie
Books: Peter Pan series
Starring: Johnny Depp
Why: It seems possible that this is really how Peter Pan came into existence.
Movie: The Raven
Based on the last days of: Edgar Allan Poe
Short Stories and poems: "The Raven". "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", et al
Starring: John Cusack
Why: Pretty gory but plausible explanation for Poe's untimely death.
Movie: The Hours (2002)
Based on the life and death of: Virginia Woolf
Based on a books: The Hours by Michael Cunningham, Mrs Dalloway by Woolf
Starring: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf
Why: Amazing: Three stories in one.
and though I have not seen it yet, I plan to see:
Movie: Tolkien (2019)
Based on the life of: J.R.R. Tolkien
Books: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, et al
Starring: Nicholas Hoult and Harry Gilby (young Tolkien)
Why do I want to see it: I'm a big fan of his books and his imagination
When researching this topic I stumbled upon a few more movies about authors I want to see:
Sylvia (2003) based on the life of Sylvia Plath
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) based on The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Invisible Woman (2013) based also on Charles Dickens
Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) about the life of A.A. Milne
Wild (2014) about Cheryl Strayed's walk along the Pacific Crest Trail
What movies about famous authors do you recommend?
I'm glad I saw the Tolkien movie (mainly because now I can pronounce AND spell the name!), but it was a tad... Slow. And not as informative as I wanted it to be, somehow.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of these films! I just became a movie fan in these past three years or so. (dating will do it to you!) I'm intrigued by the "Tolkien" one also.
ReplyDeleteOoh I love your take on the list this week. I wasn't aware that there were so many movies about famous writers. My TTT
ReplyDeleteGreat take on this week's theme! Finding Neverland is one of my favorite movies, I love Johnny Depp with all my heart and the movie is just amazing. If you like these types of movies, you might want to go check out the movie "Wilde" from 1996. It deals with Oscar Wilde's life, it stars Jude Law and Stephen Fry. It's a bit slow, but I think it's beautiful.
ReplyDeletehttps://bookishtreats.wordpress.com/
Shakespeare In Love- one of my favorite movies! :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard of the recent Tolkien movie, but I didn't realize there were so many movies based on the lives of authors!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Julie and Julia so much more than I thought I would! And you reminded me Glass Castles has been on my To watch list forever! (or so it feels like!)
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited for the Tolkien movie! And I really need to see Becoming Jane!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Shakespeare in Love was a very good movie.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
I remember watching Shakespeare In Love in English class when I was like 13 and our English teacher had to stand in front of the projector when any of the nude scenes came on!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/top-ten-tuesday-211/
Great tweak on the prompt. Love your post!
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I ranted again about the disappointments of movies-from-books. Yes, same song.
I am so ridiculously excited for Tolkien. I hope it's as good as (or better than) it sounds!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
Bravo!! Excellent post! I've enjoyed most there--I missed a few but know I'd enjoy them as well. Lisa at https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/top-ten-tuesday-page-to-screen-freebie/
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched any of these, but you'd think I would have at least seen Becoming Jane at some point. Will have to make that one a priority.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list! I love Finding Neverland, and Miss Potter, and The Hours! Such good movies. :D
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't realize there were so many movies about authors! I haven't seen any of these movies, tho I really want to see Becoming Jane and Shakespeare in Love! And Glass Castle once I get around to reading the book...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Shakespeare In Love and Finding Neverland! I'll have to check out some of the others.
ReplyDeleteI think I am due for a re-watch of Shakespeare in Love. Based on the comments i can't believe that some folks haven't seen it yet.
DeleteThe only ones I've seen so far are Becoming Jane, Shakespeare in Love, and Finding Neverland, but I do want to see Tolkien as well. I really enjoyed all three of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat list of books. I've never thought about movies I've seen about authors, but there are so many good ones.
ReplyDeleteI want to see both The Raven and Tolkien. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's an addition: Out of Africa about Isak Dinesen's life. Book & movie are great. I also hope to see the movie Colette which was released recently. Nice list you made.
ReplyDeleteOh good call on Out of Africa. I liked the movie much better than the book by the same title. I understand that most of the material for the movie was taken from other books and essays.
DeleteThe only other one that comes to mind is the one about C. S. Lewis, Shadowlands. I saw it with my mom years ago, and we enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteREALLY want to see Tolkien even though I haven't read any of his books. I just love a good period drama. ;) I liked Finding Neverland and of course despite its bittersweet end, Becoming Jane, too. :) Thanks for visiting Finding Wonderland last week. Apologies for the delay of a return visit.
ReplyDelete