The Filipino Group discussion

Hello, lovelies! It's the first day of March and that means it's time for another edition of our Biweekly Memes and I will be your host.

Film awards season has passed with its supposed main event, The Academy Awards, just concluding its 87th run with its result paving the way for some intense debates (Birdman vs Boyhood, Keaton vs Redmayne) but it doesn't mean that we can't have any film-related fun anymore.

For our first biweekly meme for March, I want you to cast some of your favorite books including who you want to direct the film adaptation of your imaginary movie. You can cast as many books as you like and you can even recast existing book-to-film adaptations. You can cast everyone in the book or you can just cast the main characters, it's up to you.

And, to make things more interesting, let's turn this into a box office contest. Each participant of the meme is going to be given 600 only-exists-in-the-imagination bucks and, given the fact that a movie ticket to see the adaptation costs 200 only-exists-in-the-imagination bucks, each participant will then have to decide which three fictional adaptation he/she will watch. The movie with the most earnings will get a TFG passport stamp and maybe a prize from me.

Let me kick things off by casting one of my favorite books, the first part of The New York Trilogy, City of Glass:

Directed by: Christopher Nolan (Pre-Batman Era; Think Memento, Following, and Insomnia) (view spoiler)[ I really think that City of Glass should be a high-concept, low-budget film which is similar to Nolan's previous thrillers before he became a Hollywood cash cow. (hide spoiler)]

Cinematography by: Jeff Cronenweth (Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl)

Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network, The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl)

(view spoiler)[ Yes, this has become a David Fincher film without David Fincher since Cronenweth, Reznor, and Ross are Fincher collaborators mostly (hide spoiler)]

Starring:

Joaquin Phoenix as Daniel Quinn
Edward Norton as Peter Stillman
Michelle Williams as Virginia Stillman
Gary Oldman as Boston Stillman
Paul Auster as Paul Auster

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

(In my perfect world this would be a 10-episode miniseries produced by AMC but I'm going to adhere to the spirit of this meme.)


Director: Michel Gondry

- Joe Kavalier - B.J. Novak
- Sammy Klayman - Andrew Garfield (Maybe get makeup to age him up a bit, make him more haunted? I could also put in Adam Brody except that 5 years ago would've been the sweet spot for him casting-wise I'm running out of viable actors to cast why don't you just make this fucking movie already, YOU HOLLYWOOD JERKS.)
- Rosa Saks - Tatiana Maslany
- Tracy Bacon - Aaron Tveit (His capacity for turning up WASP-y smarm evidenced by his virtuoso performance in Gossip Girl.)
- The Escapist - John Slattery (Fight me.)

This will be scored by Gustavo Santaolalla while incorporating Aleksandr Borodin's String Quartet Symphonies. I have thought this through you have no idea.

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson - (view spoiler)[Winesburg, Ohio garnered Anderson a literary fame that his later works (among them Many Marriages in 1923 and Dark Laughter in 1925) failed to do. Published in 1919, Winesburg, Ohio was the best- received of Anderson's works, and is still regarded as a masterpiece of American writing. Like Theodore Dreiser, author of Sister Carrie , Anderson was a master of literary naturalism, which offers a gritty, harshly realistic, and often pessimistic assessment of human affairs. However, whereas Dreiser focused on cities and city life, Anderson focused, in Winesburg, Ohio, on a small town in the American heartland, a setting that an increasingly urban nation had begun to regard nostalgically as an American ideal. In his novel, Anderson pierces this idealistic veil, exposing the loneliness and alienation that permeate life in a small, American town. (hide spoiler)]

Actually, this should be a BBC or an HBO miniseries. Winesburg, Ohio is a fictional American town but I had all these British people in my head (most of them).

Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall, Revolutionary Road, I nearly picked Joe Wright but after Anna Karenina, oh dear, no)
Writer: Nick Hornby (An Education, Wild)
Music: Dario Marianelli (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice)
Cinematography: Roger Deakins (this will win him his Oscar after a dozen nominations)
Editing: Angus Wall (The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, actually, I picked him mostly because we are namesakes so yeeaaah!)

Cast (8 out of 24 characters):
Jack O'Connell as George Willard - (view spoiler)[A young man who works as a reporter in Winesburg, Ohio. Despite the fact that he is one of the least developed of the major characters, he occupies the central role in the book. As a result of either chance meetings or other people's decisions to confide in him, George is the figure who links many of the novel's disparate stories together. (hide spoiler)]
Michael Caine as Doctor Reefy - (view spoiler)[An aging doctor with a declining practice. He marries a young female patient, but she dies after less than a year. He also develops a close relationship with Elizabeth Willard during her last months. (hide spoiler)]
Emma Thompson as Elizabeth Willard - (view spoiler)[George Willard's mother, and Tom Willard's wife. She lives in the family's run-down boarding house, where she is constantly ill and has become an invalid. She displays desperate impotence in her dealings with other people, including her husband and son. (hide spoiler)]
Daniel Day-Lewis as Tom Willard - (view spoiler)[George Willard's father, a middle-aged man with frustrated political ambitions. (hide spoiler)]
Nicholas Hoult as Seth Richmond - (view spoiler)[A sensitive, deep-thinking young man, and a friend of George Willard. (hide spoiler)]
Tom Hardy as Curtis Hartman - (view spoiler)[The successful, popular minister of the Presbyterian Church. He struggles with the sexual temptation of peeping in at Kate Swift's window while he writes his sermons. (hide spoiler)]
Kate Winslet as Kate Swift - (view spoiler)[A Winesburg schoolteacher. She sees a "spark of genius" in George Willard and tries to encourage it, but she is also looking for love, and briefly allows him to embrace her in the newspaper office. (hide spoiler)]
Hannah Murray as Helen White - (view spoiler)[A local girl, who is romantically connected to both Seth Richmond and George Willard. (hide spoiler)]

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
It was fun but also difficult to cast this book because all the characters you will see below are important and played a vital role in the book. Each character also represents something in the grand scheme of astrological things: zodiac signs and heavenly bodies. While reading this last year I imagined the faces of several actors playing a particular role, and I can't wait to see an actual adaptation of the novel soon. I agree with the author, though, that the novel better fits the small screen than it would the silver screen.

Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, Sense and Sensibility)

Cast of Characters:
The Twelve Zodiac Signs
• Antonio Te Maioha as Te Rau Tauwhare (a Maori greenstone hunter): Aries
• Matt Damon as Charlie Frost (a banker): Taurus
• Geoffrey Rush as Benjamin Lowenthal (a newspaperman): Gemini
• James Franco as Edgar Clinch (an hotelier): Cancer
• Kevin Spacey as Dick Mannering (a goldfields magnate): Leo
• Andy Lau as Quee Long (a Chinese goldsmith): Virgo
• Javier Bardem as Harald Nilssen (a commission merchant): Libra
• Leonardo Di Caprio as Joseph Pritchard (a chemist): Scorpio
• Jeff Bridges as Thomas Balfour (a shipping agent): Sagittarius
• Edward Norton as Aubert Gascoigne (a justice's clerk): Capricorn
• James Hong as Sook Yongsheng (a Chinese hatter): Aquarius
• Alan Rickman as Cowell Devlin (a chaplain): Pisces

The Heavenly Bodies
• Christian Bale as Walter Moody (a lawyer): Mercury
• Helena Bonham Carter as Lydia (Wells) Carver née Greenway (a widow): Venus
• Richard Armitage as Francis Carver (a scarred ex-convict): Mars
• Anthony Hopkins as Alistair Lauderback (a politician): Jupiter
• Gary Oldman as George Shepard (a jail warden): Saturn
• Michelle Williams as Anna Wetherell (a whore): The Sun/The Moon
• Henry Cavill as Emery Staines (a young millionaire): The Moon/The Sun

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Because this is a standalone fantasy novel, I envision it more as a BBC mini-series than a movie. I had one rule when I was casting: no actor/actress from an existing fantasy series/franchise. So no one from Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, etc.

Director: Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, etc.)
Music : Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, Black Sails, etc.)

Cast of Characters:

ALESSAN - Charlie Cox; The guy who always play a supporting role is fitting to play a character who is basically an "insurance" prince. Someone who looks like he can move people to get behind his cause.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
DIANORA - Marion Cotillard; Looks like a goddess and can play someone who is both a bitch and tragically broken
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
BAERD - Enver Gjokaj; Built like a warrior but is gentle. Because they are siblings, must remotely look like Marion Cotillard
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

BRANDIN - Mark Strong; Someone who can play scary and sympathetic. He's also already 50+ but doesn't look it so he got that timeless non-aging magic Brandin have.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

DEVIN - Cameron Monaghan; young and lithe. This kid is a show-stealer on Shameless.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
CATRIANA - Alice Englert; redhead, quiet but fierce.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

SANDRE - Colin Salmon; blackfacing won't fly now so I'm casting a old yet still fit black guy straightaway
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
ERLEIN - James D'Arcy; someone who looks like an artist who doesn't give a shit. I also love his Jarvis
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

ALBERICO - Christoph Waltz; creepy and pragmatic villain
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Movie Adaptation of Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Director: Guillermo del Toro (view spoiler)[ because nobody loves monsters and strange creatures and insects and clockwork and weirdness more than GdT. You take Mimic, plus Pan's Labyrinth, plus Hellboy = Perdido Street Station movie adaptation. (hide spoiler)]
Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro
Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro (view spoiler)[a frequent collaborator (hide spoiler)]
Music: Hans Zimmer (view spoiler)[ sweeping, intense, suspenseful, heart pounding music! Listen to Inception Dream is Collapsing and The Dark Knight Trilogy soundtrack. (hide spoiler)]

CAST:
Michael Fassbender as Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin (view spoiler)[A scientist described to resemble a dirigible; huge, taut and strong. Hence Fassy has to go on a Rene Zellweger Bridget Jones diet. (hide spoiler)]
Eva Green as Derkhan Blueday (view spoiler)[A journalist described as pale, tall and thin. (hide spoiler)]
Jeremy Renner as Lemuel Pigeon (view spoiler)[A criminal, does all sorts of illegal dealings with people in the underworld, also has a blonde pony tail, so mag a-American Hustle coiffure siya muli. (hide spoiler)]
Doug Jones as Yagharek (view spoiler)[ Jones is usually seen in prosthetics and is a staple in most del Toro films so he pretty much pull off of being a humanoid bird creature. (hide spoiler)]
Ralph Fiennes as Mayor Bentham Rudgutter (view spoiler)[ Unscrupulous, corrupt Mayor of New Crobuzon. (hide spoiler)]
Hugh Grant as Montjohn Rescue (view spoiler)[Mayor's deputy and something else. (hide spoiler)]
Marion Cotillard as Eliza Stem-Fulcher (view spoiler)[The home secretary described as having an unlined face, and that it's impossible to tell her age. (hide spoiler)]
Mark Gatiss as Montague Vermishank (view spoiler)[Loathesome university's Science Faculty Director. (hide spoiler)]
Scarlett Johansson as Lin (view spoiler)[ A khepri artist so ScarJo's head will be CGIsd into a scarab and she will be speaking insect speak, so body language nalang siya ng todo. (hide spoiler)]
Oscar Isaac as Benjamin Flex (view spoiler)[Editor of a seditionist paper. (hide spoiler)]
Nick Frost as Lucky Gazid (view spoiler)[ A failed impressario turned drug addict (hide spoiler)]
Nathan Fillion as David Serachin (view spoiler)[ A fellow scientist (hide spoiler)]
Karl Urban as Lublamai Dadscatt (view spoiler)[ A fellow scientist (hide spoiler)]
Ron Perlman as Shadrach(view spoiler)[Large and sturdy adventurer/rogue, and because no del Toro movie is without Ron Perlman. (hide spoiler)]
Andy Serkis motion capture as Mr. Motley (view spoiler)[ A feared druglord who has done so many body alterations that he is said to have so many limbs and appendages and kung ano ano. Me plastic surgery addiction. Haha. (hide spoiler)]
Meryl Streep as The Weaver (view spoiler)[ A deranged, giant-ass spider who likes to speak in riddles, Streep can just do her sing song Julia Child voice. XD (hide spoiler)]

Kristel: When I was reading Kav & Clay, I had Armie Hammer on mind as Tracy Bacon with his classic Hollywood boy look and his smarmy character on TSN.

Angus: Looks like Sam Mendes will be a lot busy on the next 5 years. Haha

Tin: Guillermo del Toro is a indeed a perfect fit for Perdido Street Station! Maggie Q for Lin, though. Haha

Aaron: ERLEIN - James D'Arcy. Nice choice! And yes, I love him as Jarvis too.

Tin: Andy Serkis as Mr. Motley is a great choice. I can already see him in my head.

Aaron: Ay, oo! Mas swak si Maggie Q! Her built closely resembles Lin's in the illustrations, more than ScarJo's.

And I agree with James D'Arcy and Marion Cotillard. Perfect.

Louize: I know, right? They have some serious CGI work to do though when it comes to Motley. :)

Movie Adaptation of Stoner by John Williams

Director: Lone Scherfig

Cast:
Gary Oldman as William Stoner
Bill Nighy as Archer Sloane
Mark Ruffalo as David Masters
Kyle Chandler as Gordon Finch
Maria Bello as Edith
Ellen Page as Grace
Willem Dafoe as Hollis Lomax
Dane DeHaan as Charles Walker
Rebecca Hall as Katherine Driscoll

Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities the musical

Director: Tim Burton because after SweeneyTodd, his films were kinda bleech. Alice and Wonderland, Dark Shadows. Bleech.

Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim- his internal monologue-y songs might fit all the internal monologues in Ato2C.

I propose this be made along the lines of Sweeney Todd, dark and gothic, hence the Burton-Sondheim pairing.
(view spoiler)[
*Ernest and Therese De farge duet - “The Worst Wine in Paris!” (TheWorst Pies in London)
*Therese De farge solo - “I will have vengeance! I will have salvation! Who, sir? You, sir?
No one's in the guillotine.....(Epiphany)
*Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton duet – Lucie (Johanna)
(hide spoiler)]

Cast:
Doctor Alexandre Manet – Geoffrey Rush
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Lucie Manette – Carrie Mulligan
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Charles Darnay – JJ Feild
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Sydney Carton – Tom Hiddleston
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
C.J. Stryver – Peter Sarsgaard
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Jarvis Lorry – Michael Caine(view spoiler)[Master Bruce! LOL (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Miss Pross – Allison Janey
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Ernest Defarge – Liam Cunningham
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Madame Thérèse Defarge – Donna Murphy
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
John Barsad – Ryan Cage
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Marquis St. Evermonde – Charles Dance
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Jerry Cruncher – Timothy Spall
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

#pinagisipan ng maigi. :D

How and when do I spend my 600 only-exists-in-the-imagination bucks? :D

Hi guys! At the end of this biweekly meme, we have casted 8 (including mine) book-to-film adaptations. They are:

1. City of Glass (directed by Christopher Nolan)
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay (Directed by Michel Gondry)
3. Winesburg, Ohio (Directed by Sam Mendes)
4. The Luminaries (Directed by Ang Lee)
5. Tigana (Directed by Sam Mendes)
6. Perdido Street Station (Directed by Guillermo Del Toro)
7. Stoner (Directed by Lone Scherfig)
8. A Tale of Two Cities: The Musical (Directed by Tim Burton)

As promised, I will be holding a poll where you can choose three movies that you want to watch out of the total 7 (I won't include mine for propriety's sake) and the book with the most votes will win a passport stamp and maybe a prize from me. What is this prize? I don't know yet but I'm thinking a Criterion DVD of a film that's adapted from a book. No promises there!

Anyway, to vote, go here: http://goo.gl/forms/akTsbwkLyb

So which film is the blockbuster?