***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: stardust

We all delight in seeing our favorite books brought to life on the big screen. We cringe at casting. We scoff at release dates. All the while, we're gearing up to see if the director's vision lives up to the world we've conceived in our own imaginations. Sometimes it does...and sometimes it doesn't. We could lament the movies that don't measure up, or we could return to the books for a re-read, possibly with a slightly different mind-set. All's fair when it comes to artistic vision, right?

First up, a review of Stardust. It's been showing on cable a lot lately, and I finally caught the whole thing. :)

Title: Stardust
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Stars: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer
Release date: August 10, 2007
Based on: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.

Okay, so I'm kinda pissed at myself for not reading this book first. I love Neil Gaiman, as many of you do. I've only read Coraline and Neverwhere, but I've also seen MirrorMask, which I loved. And I have the audio of Anansi Boys...I just haven't gotten around to listening yet. I've wanted to read Stardust for a while, but you know how it is. And then I saw the movie on tv and it was so pretty and I just couldn't pass it up.

It was visually stunning, which I kind of think of as a prerequisite for any movie based on a story by Neil Gaiman. After all, he does craft these spellbinding and beautiful worlds that just beg to be made real. But I also love the complexities of his characters, the trials and adventures they must undertake. I don't think I've ever fully reviewed a Neil Gaiman novel, but I think they'd probably all seem relatively similar. Not that his books are all the same -- they are undoubtedly not -- but he always manages to make the story come alive for me. I didn't have an inkling to read Neverwhere when it was pushed on me by an older male friend who adores everything Gaiman. And it took a bit for me to get into it, but I was sucked in after that.

This movie, though...I loved it from the very onset. Yes, it was beautiful. But the characters and those cast to play them...perfection. I've always loved Claire Danes, even back in her My So-Called Life days. I wasn't familiar with Charlie Cox, but I liked his character a lot more once he got that long hair. :P But best of all was Robert De Niro as a cross-dressing pirate. That. Was. Priceless. And I'm not the hugest De Niro fan, but I think more highly of him now. :D

I thought this movie was rather brilliant, and I want to read the book even more now.

Rating:

Okay, after ComicCon, everyone's talking about Catching Fire, and while I'm wildly excited about the release of that movie in November -- especially after seeing the new trailer -- there's another movie that I'm just dying for:

Title: Veronica Mars
Director: Rob Thomas
Stars: Kristen Bell, Chris Lowell, Jason Dohring
Release date: 2014, i.e. not soon enough
Based on: the beloved TV series of the same name

Feature film adaptation of the TV series, 'Veronica Mars'.

I told my hubby they were making a full-length movie based on the show, and he said, "Why?!?" You see, he was never a fan, and it annoyed him to no end that he'd come home every day and find an episode on. One I'd probably seen a hundred times. What? Veronica Mars is awesome...she's that kick-ass girl who I wish all YA heroines would endeavor to be. Plus some.

I am beyond excited about this movie. BEYOND. From my vantage point at the office, I can see a yellow Xterra pass by on the street below at roughly the same time every day. And my thoughts immediately turn to Logan Echols every single time. Obsessed much? Maybe. But I wasn't ready for that show to end when it was cancelled.

So news of the movie and the release of a sneak peek have me keyed up again. The only thing that will make the wait bearable is knowing that there are going to be two Veronica Mars novels released after the movie. Okay, maybe that doesn't help with the wait. But for fans of the show, it's pretty exciting stuff.

Have you seen Stardust? Are you ready for Veronica Mars to take over the world?