Category Archives: based on a book

“Boy Erased” Trailer, Movie Clips, Featurette & Poster

based on a book, drama, true stories, , , ,

Directed by Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased is based on a memoir of a teenage boy whose parents encouraged him to attend a gay-deprogramming through a Christian-sponsored program. 

The movie stars some hefty actors like Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe and Oscar-nominated Lucas Hedges. Openly gay singer and songwriter Troye Sivan plays one attendee of the church-sponsored program.  In the trailer, Sivan appears to keep up with the other talented actors, and I am happy for him. 

The movie isn’t about being gay and accepting homosexuality. It’s about accepting your child or people.  Parents can mold their children into being what they want to be. I know it is cliche,  but parents have to accept who their children are and love them unconditionally.

This isn’t an anti-religion movie because, truly, it is about loving and caring for people and letting people be who they are.

Edgerton is an actor, and this is the fifth movie he’s directed.   He also wrote the screenplay based on Garrard Conley’s book Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family.

The featurette shows how much Edgerton is respected for directing this movie.

These two movie clips pretty much say what the movie is all about. Great acting, watch the clips and you will see what I mean.

The movie clip shows Troye Sivan playing a boy at the church-sponsored program.

The movie trailer tells the story and the frustration the boy and parents went through and the outcome we will find out when we watch the movie.

“Unbroken: Path to Redemption” Trailer, Movie Clips, Switchfoot Featurette, & Poster

based on a book, drama, sequels, , ,

Directed by Harold Cronk, Unbroken: Path to Redemption follows Louis Zamperini, played by Samuel Hunt, as he returns home after undergoing a plane crash, weeks of floating on a makeshift raft in the Pacific, and then years of torture as a prisoner of war.

Angelina Jolie directed Unbroken, a movie about Zamperini’s hardship before returning home. The Coen brothers wrote the script for Unbroken.

They based the movie on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling book of the same name. The story begins where the popular movie Unbroken concludes. Still, Zamperini’s story must be told because nightmares of his torment haunted him. Zamperini does not see himself as a hero.

He battles with anger and alcohol abuse. He senses an obligation to go on the Army tour and raise money for War Bonds. Instead, he spends more time in bars than selling War Bonds.  

They sent Zamperini to the beaches of Miami for some R&R. He meets Cynthia, played by Merritt Patterson, a young woman who captures his eye—and his heart. They marry and move to Los Angeles.

Nothing goes well with the Zamperini’s marriage and they are heading for a divorce when Cynthia attends Billy Graham’s 1949 Los Angeles Crusade where she finds faith in God and a renewed commitment to her marriage and her husband. Now, her most fervent prayer is for God to help her husband. She prays he finds peace and forgiveness. His grandson, Will Graham, plays Graham.

The screenplay is co-written by Richard Friedenberg and Ken Hixon. Cronk has directed several other faith-based movies. The cast rounds out with David Sakurai and Gary Cole.

The movie clips below are really good. I am impressed.

The movie clip is intense, and it’s like the viewer is right there with him.

The featurette offers details about the making or Switchfoot and the creation of this song “You Found Me” for the movie.

The movie trailer tells the story, and it is easy to guess how it ends if you saw the first movie directed by Jolie.

The Truth About “City of Lies” Trailer and Poster

based on a book, drama, mystery, thriller, , ,

Directed by Brad Furman, City of Lies, based on an authentic story, stars Johnny Depp as Russell Poole and Forest Whitaker as Jack Jackson. The movie follows Poole and Jackson as they investigate the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG spark.

The screenplay is by Christian Contreras, who adapted the story from Randall Sullivan’s non-fiction book. Contreras also wrote the script for Zero Dark Thirty.

Furman is best known for directing The Lincoln Lawyer, and the movie trailer shows a tight and well-crafted movie.

“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” Trailer and Posters

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Directed by Ari Sandel, kids are going to have a tree on Halloween. Goosebumps comes alive once again in a brand-new comedy adventure based on R.L. Stine’s 400-million-selling series of books.

The screenplay is by Rob Lieber who also wrote Alexander the Terrible and Peter Rabbit.

The cast includes Wendi McLendon-Covey, Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Chris Parnell, and Ken Jeong.

The second poster colors are much better. The lettering is on the bottom of the poster. Otherwise, both posters are almost similar.

Amazon’s “Eat. Race. Win.” Trailer and Poster

based on a book, documentary, ,

Eat. Race. Win. takes a behind-the-scenes look at the off-the-bike adventure into one of the biggest annual sporting events in the world – The Tour de France.

The movie follows Chef Hannah Grant on her race within the race as she sources performance food for Australia’s pro cycling team, Orica-Scott.  Sports Director Matthew, with Orica-Scott, rallies his riders to victory.

Grant and her team competently create a daily menu of food that is delicious tasting and geared to fuel riders for over 2200 grueling miles. Along the Tour and across the culinary landscape of France, Grant—known as the Queen of Performance Cooking and the first chef of elite pedigree in racing—shows us exactly what it takes to perform at the edge of human endurance for 21 race days.

All six episodes will stream during the release of Grant’s cookbook of the same name.

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” Trailers, Movie Clips, Vignettes & Posters

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I read the late Stieg Larsson’s books and thought they were fantastic. I remember an abundance of coffee. I even asked a friend from Sweden, “Do people in Sweden drink that much coffee?”

He said they did. I thought Americans and Italians drank a lot of coffee. Larsson’s stories feature lots of coffee served day and night.

Directed by Fede Alvarez, we again follow the dynamic figure and title character of the celebrated book series created by Larsson. Claire Foy plays the vigilante Lisbeth Salander this time. Salander returns to the movie screen in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, a first-time adaptation of the recent global bestseller.

Looking at the photos and footage of Foy as Salander, it is refreshing to see the Golden Globe winner play the outcast vigilante defender. Steven Knight, Fede Alvarez, and Jay Basu adapted the screenplay.

Alvarez is from Uruguay and is best known for his movie Don’t Breathe, a horror movie

The cast includes Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant, Claes Bang, Christopher Convery, Synnøve Macody Lund,  and Vicky Krieps.

The red poster is fantastic because it shows the pensive character and her intent to pull off this unbelievable twist in the circumstances.

The Vignette shows us Lisbeth Salander as Foy describes her character.

The three movie clips are intense and offer a moment of entertainment. Claire Foy’s accent in the “Sisters” clip is unbelievable. She nails it.

The trailer below is called the third trailer, but I don’t know where the second trailer is. Anyway, the movie is looking good. I just saw Claire Foy win an Emmy for The Crown. This girl can act. Is that her sister?

“Juliet, Naked” Trailer, Movie Clips, and Poster

based on a book, comedy, romance, , ,

Directed by Jessie Perez, Juliet, Naked follows Annie, played by Rose Bryne, the long-suffering girlfriend of Duncan, played by Chris O’Dowd.  Duncan is not willing to commit to a relationship, get married, settle down, and have children.  Added to that, Duncan is obsessed with Tucker Crowe, played by Ethan Hawke, a faded, singer-songwriter.

Annie starts and unlikely transatlantic romance with Duncan after making an obvious cliche statement about his recent comeback song.  The trio conflict begins and the story unfolds.

The movie is based on Nick Hornby’s novel. Hornby two other books, About a Boy, and High Fidelity were both made into movies as well. He seems to capture the romantic tug with a spice of realistic comedy.

The movie credits a handful of screenwriters to adapt the book including Perez’s sister Evgenia. Evgenia has worked with her brother on another occasion with the movie Our Idiot Brother.

The movie is streaming and is available on Blu-ray and DVD. Now is your chance to see it or see it again.

The movie clip shows the dark side of Crowe with a conflict between Crowe and Duncan about to start. We also find out about Crowe’s several relationships resulting in children.  But, his son is such a cutie.

I like the flow of this next movie clip where we can see the chemistry formulating between the three characters.

The interesting movie clip is rough but spontaneous.

The trailer pretty much tells you the story without giving away the ending.

“Beautiful Boy” Trailer, Movie Clips, and Poster

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Co-written and directed by Felix Van Groeningen, Beautiful Boy follows the real story from the memoirs of father and son David and Nic Sheff.  The movie stars Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, and Maura Tierney.

Groeningen is a Belgium writer and director. One movie he directed is The Broken Circle Breakdown, which earned an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Film. The movie won several awards, including Label Europa Cinemas at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, the movie chronicles the heart wrenching and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

The two movie clips show the discomfort of trying to reach your child when personal contact is lost.

David Sheff’s memoir is called “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction,” and Nic Sheff’s memoir is called “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.”

Interestingly, kids get diagnosed with learning disabilities and given methamphetamines. They become addicted to them.

Watch the movie trailer and see some fine, fine acting by both Carell and Chalamet.  Chalamet as Nic literal morphs in the restaurant scene.  I didn’t even recognize him at first.

Important and Amazing “The Hate U Give”

based on a book, drama, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. from the New York Times bestseller by Angie Thomas comes a poignant and contemporary story about the social scales tipping over as police officers unjustly kill a childhood friend.

The poster is so much better than the first. The star on the poster tells us it is a young girl’s story.

The Hate U Give follows Starr Carter, played by Amandla Stenberg, who constantly switches between two cultures. Two very diverse cultures from the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends.

The strained balance between these cultures is toppled over when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil, played by Algee Smith,  at the hands of a police officer.

Now, facing the community’s social pressures, Starr learns she must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.

Tillman helmed several movies and produced quite a few TV series and films. He is best known for Soul Food, his first movie as a director, which he made for $7 million. The movie grossed $43 million.

Audrey Wells adapted the screenplay. She has scripted and directed Under the Tuscan Sun and Guinevere while writing screenplays for diverse films such as George of the Jungle and Shall We Dance.

The Hate U Give also stars Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, KJ Apa, Sabrina Carpenter, Common and Anthony Mackie.

You can watch the movie on Blu-ray, DVD, or stream it.

The movie clip explains the theme of the movie: It is a trap; the only way out is to help each other and allow people to be who they are – humanity.

The movie trailer looks like something out of the headlines. The movie’s message is strong if the trailer’s pace is any indication.

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Trailers, Interviews, Featurette, & Movie Clip

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Based on the books by Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is written and directed by Dean DeBlois. The story follows that began as an unlikely friendship between an adolescent Viking and a fearsome Night Fury dragon. Some may call this franchise an epic trilogy. The studio released Kit Harington’s audition tape. Scroll down and take a look at what he went through to get the role. 

The third installment arrives when Hiccup and Toothless will finally discover their true destinies. The village chief as ruler of Berk alongside Astrid, and the dragon as leader of his own kind.  As both ascend, the darkest threat they’ve yet faced—as well as the appearance of a female Night Fury. They will come to learn more about their relationship.

Months went by without any movie clips or trailers. Now, there is a trailer to share. I hope the wait is worth it. The trailer plays a song and it is obviously a love story happens.

The movie trailer looks like the movie is going to be a lot of fun for kids of all ages.

The behind-the-scenes clip shows the audition process Kit Harington went through to get the coveted role of Eret.  All kidding aside, the featurette is cute and funny. Harington is not bad looking either. 

The featurette is more of a promotional or sizzle reel than anything, but it tells us more about the movie. It is obvious kids are going to love it.

Toothless courtship with Light Fury is cute and endearing. The kids are going to love this movie. Producer Brad Lewis explains the character’s relationships in the movie so well that I decided to post it for you to see.

I added the Jay Baruchel interview because he offers insight into what is happening with Hiccup and Toothless.

The Blu-ray/DVD and online streaming hits the streets. The movie is the perfect give for kids.

The bonus features comes with an alternative beginning, deleted scenes, behind the scenes viewing of actors recording their voices, and a Facebook app for Toothless and Little Fury.

The bonus features include two shorts. Bilby takes place in Australia where Bilby takes care of a little bird. Bird Karma is about a long-legged bird who just can’t have enough of anything.