Unwrap holiday movie adaptations
The stress of finals and college life has finally given way to the stress of family gathering time. When you can’t stand your grandpa giving you crap about your tattoo, think about hiding in the dark of a movie theater.
Hollywood generally releases similar movies at any given point and this season, the theme is adaptations. The adaptations range from sources such as Nobel Prize-winning novelists, graphic novelists, Scottish folklore, British legend and more novels.
NOVEMBER
Friday/16
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
A kid’s movie about shy-girl Natalie Portman inheriting a fa ntastical toy store, only for ominous occurrences to start. Written by the brain behind the dry-humor comedy, “Stranger Than Fiction.”
Love in the Time of Cholera
Based on a book by Nobel Prize-winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this story follows the life of Florentino, who spends 50 years trying to reclaim the lover he lost to a wealthier suitor.
Beowulf
Who knew core humanities could be so cool? This adaptation of the ancient epic poem has the same half-CGI aesthetic as “300” and stars Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother, a half-serpent monster.
Wednesday/ 21
August Rush
The titular orphan of this movie uses his amazing musical talent to survive on the streets and bring his family back together.
This Christmas
A holiday homecoming with a dysfunctional family movie.
Enchanted
A fairytale princess appears in New York via the skills of an evil witch and falls in love with Patrick Dempsey.
Hitman
Right in the middle of feel-good Christmas movies is this flick about a hitman hired to kill people for cash.
The Mist
This adaptation of a 1980 Stephen King novella is about a small Maine town under siege by a mysterious fog filled with killer animals.
Christmas in Wonderland
Kids find counterfeit cash at the mall and help catch the crooks. Carmen Elektra cameos.
DECEMBER
Friday/7
The Golden Compass
This is an adaptation of the first book in a young-adult series, dealing with parallel universes and questioning the authority of the church.
Wednesday/12
The Perfect Holiday
A little girl asks a department store Santa to bring her mother a boyfriend. What do you think happens next?
Friday/ 14
I Am Legend
Zombie movies are successful. Vampire movies are successful. How about a zombie movie based on a vampire book? Will Smith is the last person alive on Earth and spends all that time hiding from light-sensitive zombies and trying to find a cure.
The Kite Runner
Combine two of the year’s most popular themes (aside from zombies and vampires): war and adaptations. The Kite Runner was originally a best-selling novel about two men who grew up together in Afghanistan. Now, as adults, one man travels from the United States to help his old friend’s son get out from under Taliban rule.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Back in the day, this was an animated cartoon that was pretty funny for five-year-olds. Now, it’s a film with former pro-skater and “My Name is Earl” star Jason Lee and computer-animated chipmunks.
Wednesday/19
Flakes
A hippie runs a locally-loved cereal bar, until a competitor steals his idea and opens a corporate-esque shop across the street.
Friday/21
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
It’s a sequel, with all the same actors as the original and Helen Mirran, who passed up meeting Queen Elizabeth II because she was filming this in South Dakota. This time, Nicholas Cage’s character follows the trail of 12 missing pages from John Wilkes Booth’s diary.
P.S. I Love You
An adaptation of a novel by Cecelia Ahern. A grieving widow receives 10 messages from her dead husband with instructions to help her move on with her life.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Johnny Depp once again stars in a Tim Burton film, this time as Sweeney Todd, a legendary barber who sought revenge against those who wrongfully imprisoned him. “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen has a role.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
The newest comedy written by wonder kid Judd Apatow lampoons “Walk the Line.” Paul Rudd and Jack Black are members of the Beatles, Frankie Muniz is Buddy Holly and Jack White is Elvis.
Tuesday/25
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
What says “Merry Christmas” better than monsters from two iconic movie franchises battling in an unsuspecting Colorado town? The answer is nothing.
Charlie Wilson’s War
Based on journalist George Crile’s book. Set in the 1980s, Tom Hanks is a Texas congressman who teams up with a rogue CIA operative to hoodwink the government into arming Afghan rebels against the Soviets. Those rebels later became Taliban enforcers.
Persepolis
This is based on a graphic novel memoir by Marjane Satrapi about coming-of-age during the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
This movie is based on Scottish folklore. A boy finds an egg that hatches a “water horse.”
The Debaters
Denzel Washington directs and stars in another film surrounding race relations. This time, root for Wiley College’s first debate team, who went on to challenge Harvard.
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