Jennifer Moody

I did a fun new thing last night: went to “A Grand Night for Singing” at the Historic Grand Theater in Salem.

Here’s a fun, if somewhat frightening, little time-waster. If your lifespan were shrunk to the length of your favorite movie, which scene would mark your life right now?

Warning: Here there be many spoilers.

Continuing here with interesting stories I’ve had, A-Z, in the 14 years I’ve been here. We’re on to “D” now.

Zombie lore tells us a good head shot will kill a zombie. So: Is it possible for a zombie to have a head wound?

Did I like the new movie “Where the Wild Things Are”?

… Yes. Yes, I think I can say that I did.

If a movie wants to take you on its own ride, sans book luggage, it should just do it already, under another title, and quit trying to pretend it’s anything like its inspiration.

Here’s a backward compliment to a movie that sorta kinda did this: “Barbie and the Three Musketeers.”

I don’t consider myself an unreasonable purist when it comes to movies made from books. I realize a novel isn’t a screenplay, some changes need to be made, some story elements need to be sacrificed. I realize, too, that sometimes you need to add elements for the sake of character development or plot movement or whatever. I’m OK with that.

But when you make changes so drastic that pretty much the only thing that remains of the original story is its title, I have to ask: WHY BOTHER MAKING A MOVIE WITH THAT TITLE??

It’s going to be really fun to see a bunch of Lebanon residents (Lebanites? Lebanonians? What are we called over here, anyway?) as extras in the film “Scamelot.”

I’m not going to be one of them, though, and that’s just fine with me. I bin there, done that.

So to date I’ve read the first book and seen the first movie. Verdict: Not bad, although I have some criticisms.

Maybe it’s the age or state of life. Were I a teenage girl (without two daughters), I would loveloveloveLOVE this story. How sweet! How sad! How incredibly romantic! Wouldn’t you want to just run off with Edward the vampire right now, human life (literally) be damned?