Fifty Shades Recast

So, the Fifty Shades folks announced that this fellow pictured on the left will play Christian Grey in the may never see the light of day movie of the same name.  Sorry fans, but I just can't see this movie arriving at a theatre near me anytime soon.

But, if you're curious, his name is Jamie Dornan and he hails from Northern Ireland.  And you may have seen him in a handful of episodes of Once Upon a Time, where, I must add, he was fabulous.

I don't dislike him for the role of Mr. Grey.  I just think my casting choice was better. 

I do find it a little funny that Mr. Dornan is from Ireland and he's replacing Charlie Hunnam for this role.  Why do I find it funny?  Because Charlie's character, Jax, is always having trouble with the Irish on his show Sons of Anarchy! 

;-}  Well, I didn't say you'd think it was funny, too!

Fifty Shades Casting Call

I thought I missed the opportunity to post about the Fifty Shades of Grey movie, but then Charlie backed out and it's news again!

So, sometime in late August or early September, Hollywood announced that Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson would portray Christian and Anastasia in the 2014 movie adaptation of the uber best selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey.  That announcement actually came at the same time I was reading the first installment in the series.  And, no, I wasn't impressed with the casting choices. 

First, I think Charlie is too short to play Christian.  Second, I think Dakota is a dead ringer for the role of Kate, Anastasia's best friend.  But, I'm speculating that the role of Kate will be absent from the movie all together. 

Obviously,  I just wasn't feeling these guys as the characters from the book.  Then, yesterday I hear that Charlie has dropped out of the movie.  The radio said it was a fear of being type-cast, IMDB says it's scheduling conflicts.  I don't know which is accurate, but if I was fearful of type casting, I'd really be trying to get away from playing murdering motorcycle rider Jax Teller.

And now that this is in the news again, I'd finally like to share my casting choices with the world.

Drum roll please.

Imagine Christian Grey played by the handsome and smart Christopher Gorham.  And Anastasia played by the lovely and smart Anna Kendrick.

And here's way I made these choices.

Anna as Anastasia
1.  Right hair color
2.  Perfect for the beautiful but thinks she's not pretty role
3.  Would be funny because Fifty Shades is the result of something known as Twilight Fan Fiction.  Anna was in Twilight.  Come on, it's funny.
4.  Anastasia prefers to be called Ana.  That's Anna's name already.

Christopher as Christian
1.  Tall
2.  Fantastic physique
3.  Great speaking voice
4.  Well, those three things are the only reasons you need to cast Christopher in this role.

Now, having said all that, I want to make a prediction.  I predict that this movie will never see the light of day.  And, if it miraculously does become reality, I think it will be so far removed from the book that fans will be up in arms disappointed.  I mean, we have something called ratings in this country and there's no way anyone is turning this book into an R rated movie fit for theatres. 

For me, this book just wasn't great.  It wasn't a 'can't put it down' read that I couldn't wait to finish.  Actually, I think it took me about two months to read it cover to cover.  And I'm no interest in reading the other two installments.  And that almost never happens when I've started reading a series.  Plus, it's a blatant rip off of Twilight, pretty much down to the initials of the characters, but without the bite. 

And the real clincher for me, the thing I found to be the most off-putting about this book, is a single line of dialogue from the final pages of the book.  Christian says to Anastasia, "I want to hurt you."  And that cemented the icky feeling that I had had from the beginning.  I can't imagine being in a relationship where my partner openly admits that he wants to hurt me.  It's just insane.  I can hardly believe this series found the audience it did.  It just isn't for me, I guess.

Hindsight: I got to thinking about this and I have a new prediction. I predict that, even though this won't make it to the movie box office, Fifty Shades might work as a one-hour drama for a major network. It won't fit I to the ABC Family or CW lineups, and it's not smart enough for AMC, but I think it might find a home on FX or maybe even HBO. These books are long, I think the right team of writers just might be able to squeak out a watchable series.

What I'm Reading Now, an Update

Although I've barely cracked the cover of The Invisible Man, I'm already loving it.  Why couldn't we read classics like this back in high school?  Plus, I snagged the Dover Thrift Edition for a great low price (search Dover Thrift Editions Classics on Amazon). 

I seriously love getting books for bucks these days.  Have I mentioned my serious Scholastic Book Club addiction?  Love those dollar books!

Anyhoo, I really liked The Time Machine, my favorite HG Wells so far, War of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau so I'm looking forward to getting deeper into this story as well.  Now I just have to find the time to get into it!

Recently, the Iron Fey series was recommended to me by one of my favorite middle schoolers.  I find it absolutely hilarious that this is a Harlequin Teen series.  I mean, who would have guessed Harlequin had a teen line of books?  Not me!  Don't you think that's funny, or is it just me?

You know I like a good book series and this one looks promising.  But, it also looks like there are several books to read, so I'm not sure I want to take the plunge.  It's been hard to find any extra time for reading lately.  Suffice it to say, I am way behind in my "one book a week" goal I made at the beginning of the year!  And if I fall in love with this author, it looks like she has two other series that I would want to read. 

Oy, I gotta find a better way to manage my time!

And I just added a new page to the blog called My Book Club so I can keep up with how far behind I am on my 52 books this year goal!

Return to the Land of the Living

Whew.  Patty shared her cold with me last week and I was down for the count!  Thank goodness I made a turn for the better on Sunday and am happy to say I feel quite recovered today!  Although, I am wondering if that ground hog got it right, 'cause in my neck of the woods, it's not looking spring just yet. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, not because it's Valentine's day, but because it's Girl Scout Cookie arrival day!  I've been dreaming of those little yummies since Patty brought home the order sheet.  I wish I possessed the restraint (and the bank roll) to stock up on a year's worth of my favorites, but I am afraid I'd eat them all and gain, like, a zillion pounds by spring break!  I'm picturing Tim Allen in the Santa Clause, remember that one?

I am happy to report that I finished off the Beautiful Creatures books during my illness last week.  Now I have to patiently wait for the final book to arrive in paperback.  Can someone tell me why can't you find a release date when you need one?  I've been pretty pleased with this series, though, once I got into it.  It reminds me a lot more of Harry Potter than Twilight, and hardly at all like True Blood, but it's been a nice read.  I did discover that there were some serious changes made for the movie adaptation.  I'm never too fond of that, but I gotta say the movie preview looks good.  Think I can get Casey to take me to see it for Valentine's Day?

I grabbed a copy of Safe Haven, the newest book to movie offering of Nicholas Sparks.  Have you noticed how many of his books have become major movies?  To think it all started with A Walk to Remember, which I read and made Casey take me to see at the theatre.  We were the youngest people there.  That's partly because I have this thing about going to the matinee instead of a night show, but I remember it was just us and a bunch of grown up ladies; all of us crying into our popcorn!  Wow, that was eleven years ago.  I feel old all of a sudden.

Oh, and I am looking forward to the Valentine's snack for Patty's class tomorrow.  I was so proud of  her writing her friends names on their Valentine's cards.  Sure, some of them were hard to read, but she did it all by herself!  And we ended up two cards short of having enough for everyone, but thankfully I found one lonely box at the mart yesterday!

I know it's kind of late to mention new year's resolutions, but I wonder if anyone ever resolves to win the lottery?  I'd elaborate on that, but JT is in the bathroom with the door closed and i hear a clicking sound i can't identify.  Wait, i think that's my birth control pill...gotta go!

Book Club: Beautiful Creatures

I took a little blog break last weekend to read.  You see, I have an unofficial New Years Resolution to read one book each week.  Well, I got the month off to a bad start by not finishing War of the Worlds until about two weeks into January.  Whoopsie. 

Thankfully, I read one of the newest Sookie Stackhouse mysteries in just a few days and plowed through Beautiful Creatures by bedtime on Saturday.  So that puts me one book shy of being on track to reading 52 books this year! 

Have you heard of the Beautiful Creatures series?  There are at least four books and even though I'm just not up for a long series right now, I was happy with the first installment. 

So, why read yet another teen series?  Well, it's a book to movie opening in theatres next month.  The movie preview looks really good, and having been a fan of the Secret Circle trilogy back when I was a teenager (not so much a fan of the failed television show by the same name) and a lover of movies like The Craft and The Covenant, I thought this would be a book series to enjoy.

I can't say this book was a page turner for me, but I'm looking forward to reading Beautiful Darkness next.

One of the most intriguing things out of this story, for me, was the mention of haint blue ceilings.  I'd never heard the word "haint" before and when dictionary.com was no help, I turned to my good friend Google and found a really good explanation on a website called Between Naps on the Porch.  I'd never heard of painting the ceiling blue to ward off evil spirits, but I am in love with the idea.  The story gives a different reason, though.  When we painted our bedroom and kitchen a few years ago, we painted the ceilings a shade of blue to coordinate with the walls.  I guess the bathroom is protected too, since I painted the ceiling and walls the same color!  Who knew I was warding off spirits all this time?  I've given some serious thought to painting the porch ceiling, but I think Casey will veto me!

Another captivating thing is the charm necklace Lena wears.  She collects little mementos and wears them on a necklace which she never takes off.  If I were a teenager, I'd have to have a necklace like that.  I'm not so sure I won't have to have one now!  I've always admired charm bracelets but feared losing one of the little charms so I've never owned one.  I'm sure you'll find me checking out the jewelry making section on my next visit to Hobby Lobby.  A charm necklace might make a really cute DIY gift for a couple teenagers I know!

Want to Watch: Warm Bodies

Here's  a couple fun facts about me.

I love Zombie movies.  And Zombie movies give me nightmares so I rarely watch them!

If the name is any indication, I think Warm Bodies is going to be funny-scary, so maybe I can watch without nightmares.

Bonus, the movie is based on a book.  I'm a big fan of movies based on books, don't you know?  This ones already on my Amazon wish list.

I'll probably skip the theatrical release of this one, but I will most definitely be looking forward to it's DVD release sometime later this year!

Getting on the Grey Bandwagon

Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey?  I haven't succumbed to the temptation just yet.  Why have I resisted thus far?  Well, reading any book requires me to funnel time away from another task.  So, if I'm going to find the time to read a set of three books, I think I'd prefer more story and less porn.  Plus, Chelsea Handler hasn't had anything nice to say about these books.  I know, I shouldn't take advice from a comedian; but I've read a couple of her books and have really enjoyed her ghost writer's work.  Not to mention that I think her show is hilarious!

Oh, that Joan Rivers!

So, Patty and I listened to 98.7 on the way to school this morning and it just happened to be news time.  If you know me at all, you should be proud that I was listening to the news at all!  And, no, the juice on 96 sto doesn't count as real news.