Cozying Up with Bookish Movies
There are times that I’m definitely in the mood to read. Other times I can’t bring myself to focus on a book but still feel like I should be reading. When those times come, there’s nothing more I want to do than to curl up on the couch with a cozy throw and a hot cup of tea to indulge in some bookish movie watching.
Lately I’ve been in the mood for old favourites, there’s something about the Fall that makes you want to sit back and reminisce a bit. After the hustle and bustle of summer when the majority of free time is spent outdoors, it’s a nice change of pace when the cold weather beckons us to revert back to our most loved indoor activities. The thing about movies is that unlike books, you can watch them with other people. You know you’re an introvert when you consider movie watching a social activity.
Little Women
I love watching this one closer to Christmastime. Call me crazy but I really get in the mood for Christmas right after Canadian Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to re-watch this classic. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are some of my favourite characters in literature because of the richness of their imaginations and the strength of character they all possess. I also thought the casting in the 1994 version was spot on. Rumour has it that Greta Gerwig is rewriting the script for a new screenplay and I couldn’t be more excited. While some people are loyal to their favourite adaptations, I always love watching different artists interpret the same story.
Dead Poets Society
What English major doesn’t have a soft spot for this movie? Sure the script is a bit emotionally manipulative and relies on the sentimentality of literature rather than deep analysis, but I think that’s precisely what you have to do when representing literature in film. Robin Williams carries the film beautifully with his charm and his delivery of some of poetry’s best lines. Dead Poets Society makes you actually want to read poetry even if it does use extreme tactics to justify the value of the humanities.
Gabo
Maybe it’s because I just finished Narcos and I’m not quite ready to leave Columbia behind, but this documentary about the life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez is on my to watch list. If there’s one thing I love more than reading itself, it’s learning about about the authors behind the books. I find it fascinating to see what from the lives that writers lead seeps into their work.
There are so many other bookish movies, but those are the ones on my mind at the moment. What are your favourite bookish movies?
