Wizard of Oz

This is such a wonderful movie, even now. The book is only okay. I think the kindness of the characters in the movie, plus the catchy music, is what made it such a timeless film.

The tie-in from the beginning to the end (the Wicked Witch is their neighbor, the Wizard is the local fortune teller, the scarecrow/lion/tin man are the farmhands) is not in the book at all. I love this part too, and the foreshadowing in the scene at the beginning.

In the book, the flying monkeys help Dorothy in the end. Also, the shoes are silver instead of ruby. But otherwise the movie does follow the story from the book pretty closely.

Also, the book has a chapter where the characters go through a town all made of China. This made it into the newer movie "Oz the Great and Powerful".

Orange is the New Black

This book is an account of Piper's year in a female prison. It is mostly a straightforward series of anecdotes, with some condemnation of the prison system.

The television series obviously draws out some of the features of the book. It is really well done, and I am enjoying it so far. (I've watched 4 episodes) At first I was a little annoyed because Piper does not start out as a strong or optimistic character. But as she starts to get her bearings, we start to see the spirit that comes through in the book.

Her run-in with the cafeteria boss is quite exaggerated, and the incident with the screwdriver is backwards. (she actually ends up with an extra screwdriver, instead of accidentally stealing one) I like how we see the back story of some of the other inmates, and most of them are sympathetic. We also see the nice side of most of the guards, with the exception of the prick Pornstache.

I was surprised by how closely the series is matching the book, though. It is difficult to take a short book (about 300 pages) and make it into a 13-episode series. (or maybe longer, I do not know yet)

The Social Network

This movie is based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich. I liked how the movie was told partly in a deposition-type setting. I also liked how the young woman lawyer saw through Mark's "asshole" exterior. But I thought some of the early scenes may have exaggerated Mark's arrogance. In any case, he seemed way worse in the movie, at least early on. Loved Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker. Also, there were two major arcs in the movie that were not in the book at all. I'm pretty sure they were both completely false. First, there was Mark's girlfriend at the very beginning. There was no girlfriend, but I can see why she was added. But Mark's desire to be in the "final club" ruined some of the validity of his relationship with Eduardo. I highly doubt Mark even thought about these clubs, let alone burned with a desire to join. And so he could not have been jealous of Eduardo's membership. As far as the motive for screwing over Eduardo, it was probably more Parker's influence than anything else.

Jesse Eisenberg deserved his nomination for best actor, and the movie was very well done and engaging.