Top Books to Film

August 9th is Book Lover’s Day and here are some books to film movies.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring/ The Two Towers/The Return of the King (2001,2002, 2003) Rated PG-13

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-Earth still it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell, by chance, into the hands of the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. On his eleventy-first birthday, Bilbo disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin, Frodo, the Ruling Ring, and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-Earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom. Based on the book: Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 

Join Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, and brave members of the Fellowship as they continue their quest to destroy the Ring of Power. As darkness descends on Middle-earth, a strange creature named Gollum leads the heroes to the Black Gates of Mordor. The rest of Middle-earth prepares for a battle that will decide the fate of all. Based on the book : The Two Towers

Frodo makes his way through the darkness to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Aragon learns of his destiny as the true King and the others prepare for a massive battle that will determine the fate of Middle-Earth. Based on the Book: Return of the King

The Godfather (1972) Rated R

Focuses on the Corleone family’s rise and near fall from power, shifting between the Sicilian Americans’ family life and their criminal enterprises. Based on the book: The Godfather

Schindler’s List (1993) Rated R

The story of a Catholic war profiteer, Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and went bankrupt in order to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps. He employed Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army. At the same time he tries to stay solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant and negotiates business with a vicious Nazi commandant who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa that overlooks the prison camp he commands. Based on the Book: Schindler’s list 

Hunt for Red October (1990) Rated PG

A new Soviet sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast. Government experts think it is planning to attack–that is, all the experts but one. He thinks the sub’s commander is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find the sub and prove his theory. Based on the book:  Hunt for Red October

Doctor Zhivago (1965) Rated PG-13

A poet and surgeon, husband and lover, finds his life disrupted by war. It alters the lives of many, including Tonya, the gentle woman he marries and Lara, the woman he cannot forget. Based on the book: Doctor Zhivago

Titanic Films 2012

In honor of the 100 years of the titanic’s sinking, here’s  a list of films to watch.

A Night to Remember (1958) Rated NR

In his unforgettable rendering of Walter Lord’s book of the same name, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the Titanic’s final hours. Featuring remarkably restrained performances, A Night To Remember is cinema’s subtlest, finest dramatization of this monumental twentieth-century catastrophe.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Rated NR

Molly, a poor, uneducated young woman, leaves her mountain cabin home in search of a rich husband and a better life. She finds both in Leadville Johnny Brown as she strikes it lucky and he strikes gold. Along the way, Molly survives the Titanic and the snobbery of Denver society.

Titanica (1992) Rated NR

The unsinkable ship. The unthinkable tragedy. Discover the Titanic…in a whole new light.

Titanic (1997) Rated PG-13

Two people from different worlds meet and fall in love on the brief, tragic maiden voyage of the grand ocean liner “Titanic”.

The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997) Rated NR

Horty, a foundry worker travels to England to witness the launching of the Titanic. Marie, a beautiful chambermaid due to board the ship, asks to share his room. Returning home to his wife, Horty’s account of the night he met Marie will change his life and transform all those who hear it.

Romantic Films (2012)

Affair to Remember (1957) Rated NR

Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Though each is engaged to someone else, they agree to meet six months later at the Empire State Building if they still feel the same way about each other. But a tragic accident prevents their rendezvous, and the lovers’ future takes an emotional and uncertain turn.

Love Actually (2003) Rated R

It’s all about love and holiday cheer in London. The Prime Minister is smitten with his caterer; a widower’s young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and mother copes with her potentially unfaithful husband; and a lovelorn American is desperately attracted to a colleague.

Moulin Rouge (2001) Rated PG-13

Christian, an idealistic and impoverished young writer who, newly arrived in Montmartre, is haphazardly inducted into a circle of young bohemians led by Toulouse-Lautrec. A comedy of mistaken identities ensues, quickly enmeshing the young poet in a love triangle involving the unobtainable and consumptive Satine, queen courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, and the foppish Duke of Roxbury, his villainous rival for her affections.

The Notebook (2004) Rated PG-13

Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie’s parents who disapprove of Noah’s unwealthy family, and move Allie away. When Allie doesn’t hear from Noah after several years, she meets and becomes engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, with her love still alive for Noah, stops by Noah’s home to check on him. Seeing that their reunion has rekindled a passionate romance, Allie must now choose between true love and the match that her parents approve of.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993) Rated PG

After hearing a man confess his love for his dearly departed wife on a call-in radio show, a woman falls deeply, inexplicably in love with him. Deciding he is her destiny, she treks across country on a wildly romantic impulse to meet him.

Thanksgiving Films 2011

Home for the Holidays (1995) Rated PG-13

Claudia Larson is a divorced single mom who just lost her job and now has to fly home for the traditional family Thanksgiving in Baltimore. From the plane, she calls for reinforcements–and her brother Tommy makes it down from Boston with a little surprise: a handsome friend named Leo. Between dropping the turkey in their sister’s lap and a few fist fights on the front lawn, Claudia and Tommy recapture their childhood–and Claudia and Leo explore the sweet possibility of romance.

The Ice Storm (1997) Rated R

The story of two dysfunctional suburban families, set in the 1970s. When a self-centered husband’s relationships with his wife and mistress grow cold, it takes a wife-swapping “key party” and a freak ice storm to clear the air–and change their lives forever.

Mighty Joe Young (1998) Rated PG

A fifteen-foot-tall Central African gorilla is brought to America to save him from poachers. But his notoriety makes him a target for an enemy from his past.

Pieces of April (2003) Rated PG-13 

Family outcast April lives in a beat-up apartment in New York’s Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby. In order to spend some time with her dying mother, April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April’s lifestyle. Her dad tries to think positively, while sister Beth flaunts her good-girl status and brother Timmy captures it all on film.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) Rated R

An uptight businessman faces disaster after disaster as he tries to get back home in time for his family’s Thanksgiving dinner, and along the way is joined by an insane traveling salesman that will not leave him alone.

POW/MIA Recognition Day September 16th

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Rated PG

When British P.O.W.s build a vital railway bridge in enemy-occupied Burma, Allied commandos are assigned to destroy it.

Great Escape (1963) Rated NR

A high-security German prisoner-of-war camp in 1942 holds only known troublemakers and risk-takers, all of whom are determined to pull off the war’s most daring escape.

In Enemy Hands (2004) Rated R

The U.S.S. Swordfish U-boat is taken prisoner in a battle with a German sub. Meningitis strikes half the German crew. Avoiding the contagion and POW protocol, crew members and prisoners must work together to survive.

Prisoners of the Sun (1991) Rated R

In the aftermath of World War II, a mass grave of brutally executed Australian POWs is discovered. A tough military lawyer and his team are dispatched to prosecute the Japanese guards. To win his fight for justice, the lawyer must deal with an American officer protecting his national interests and a Japanese commander who has sworn his troops to a blood oath of silence.

Stalag 17 (1953) Rated NR

A group of American G.I.s in a POW camp suspect a spy is among them.

Three Wishes (1995) Rated PG

A mother and her two young sons try to survive the best they can since her husband, the boys’ father, is presumed to have died in the Korean War. One day they meet an injured stranger and his dog who change their lives.

Labor Day Films 2011

Clerks (1994) Rated R

A deadpan comedy about a day in the life of two nowhere-bound convenience and video store clerks and the two eccentric drug dealers who constantly loiter outside the stores.

Erin Brockovich (1999) Rated R

Erin Brockovich is a feisty young mother who convinces attorney Ed Masry to hire her and promptly stumbles upon a momumental law case against a giant corporation. Erin’s determined to take on this powerful adversary even though no law firm has dared to do it before. The two begin an incredible and sometimes hilarious fight that will bring a small town to its feet and a huge company to its knees. Based on a true story.

North Country (2005) Rated R

Josey Aimes needs a job and goes to work at a Minnesota steel mine after splitting with her violent husband. But the job proves to be almost as harrowing as her marriage. The male miners are resentful of women taking their jobs, so the men verbally abuse and play humiliating pranks on the female miners. After being physically assaulted by a coworker, Josey tries to fight against the harassment, but none of the other women will join her case for fear that things will only get worse. A fictionalized account of the first class action sexual harassment case in the U.S.

Office Space (1999) Rated R

Unable to endure another mind-numbing day at Initech Corporation, cubicle slave Peter Gibbons gets fired up–and decides to get fired. Armed with a leisurely new attitude and a sexy new girlfriend, he soon masters the art of neglecting his job, which quickly propels him into the ranks of upper management.

Tommy Boy (1995) Rated PG-13

Party animal Tommy Callahan is definitely a few cans short of a six-pack. But after seven years, Tommy’s finally earned his diploma–and a cushy job at Callahan Auto Parts. Returning home, Tommy gets some more great news: his dad is marrying a real “10,” and Tommy will get the stepbrother he always wanted. But when his father dies, the business starts tanking–and his stepmother starts scheming. Now Tommy’s got to hit the road with his dad’s right-hand man, a smug numbers-cruncher. And what these two don’t know about salesmanship could fill a book.