Happy Canada Day

According to a girl at work (who lived in Canada for the better part of her childhood), one day, the United Kingdom asked Canada if they wanted to be their own independent nation. And Canada said, "Okay. That'll be great." And that's how Canada broke off from the UK.

Happy Canada Day, everybody!

This is by no means an accurate account of actual events. The story expressed in this post are for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken seriously. So go ahead and have a little laugh. 

I call it Wonderful

Let's name all the mediums with which a story can be told:

- oral

- books/graphic novels

- film/TV

- stage performance

Quite recently, the same story has been passed around from medium to medium. The Hunger Games is working towards a 2012 movie release. (Are you keeping up with the casting news?) John Scalzi announced a while ago that his book The Old Man's War was signed to be made into a movie. I heard a series by Amanda Hocking was signed for movie production as well. 

It's been a trend in recent years to make movies into musicals. Starting with Disney movies, we have The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Most recently are the Legally Blonde and Flashdance musicals. Less famously is Young Frankenstein, which was recently in my town but not seen by me, which is why I think of it. Various books were adapted to musicals as well. Les Miserables started as a book, then a musical, then a film (without music). Most famously (for me at least) is The Phantom of the Opera. I practically grew up with this musical, mostly because my mom's such a big fan of listening to the original London cast from start to finish. (I am too for that matter).

And both my mother and I agree that the film adaption for Phantom of the Opera is done very well. Not only are there a few scenes featured in the film that couldn't be covered in the stage play (I'm thinking about the flashforwards to Raoul here), but the acting and the costumes were done very well. 

Chicago is another movie made from a musical. As with The Producers, Oklahoma!, and Grease.

If you haven't noticed, these are all done by live-action actors and actresses. With the exception of Disney in this case the musicals came from animated movies. But what if someone decides to make a hand animation film of an already existing live-action musical?

For all you fans of Wicked, wouldn't this be wonderful? (NOTE: the text below the video is the video description on the actual site and not written by me.)

Dear Stephen Schwartz,

I know you can relate to the plight of loving a story, loving a medium, and trying to convince someone in power to see your vision! You did it with Marc Platt when you convinced him to make it a stage musical. I’m just approaching you with the same sincerity. Is it possible to talk you out of doing a live action movie adaptation? Would you consider doing a traditionally animated adaptation? In my heart I think the musical needs the medium, and I think the medium needs your musical. I just love them both so much and hopefully that shows through in the story reel.

Sincerely,

Heidi Jo Gilbert

Good Stories plus Recommendations

I'm a fan of good stories. Not necessarily in a specific medium, but good stories in general. I've played a fair few video games (RPGs, mostly) that have some gripping plotlines. They snatch your heart and force you to continue playing until the end. And when you finish, when you beat that last boss, you breath a sigh of relief and watch the credits roll with a satisfied feeling in the pit of your stomach. It's the same feeling you get when you watch a particularly good movie, or finish that great book you've been reading all afternoon. You know it's a good story when you feel like you've just been on an adventure, and you don't regret going one bit.

When you open a book and it takes you away in those first couple pages, you know you nailed a good story. Or when you start a game or television show and you can't think of anything else until it's done. If a movie has you hooked from the opening credits, and you spend the end credits sitting in the theater trying to mull everything over. These are tell tale signs, but you can get the same feeling from stories that just really excite you.

So here is my multi-medium list of good story recommendations. Please note that this list is not extensive and limited to favorites of that particular medium. They do not reflect everything I have ever

experienced. I tried to limit the list to those that were particularly good instead of those that I just really liked on a personal level. It hasn't been a grueling process, but it did take time.

Perhaps I'll blog reviews on all these recommendations. Keep a sharp eye for them. They'll be scattered thoughout the archives once they start to build up.

Recommendations

Anime

Full Metal Alchemist

Death Note

Gundam Wing

Books

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

The Inheritence Cycle by Christopher Paolini

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Anything by Tamora Pierce

Manga

Mars by Fuyumi Soryo

Nana by Ai Yazawa

Movies

Castle in the Sky

Princess Mononoke

I Am Legend

The Dark Knight

The Back to the Future Trilogy

Star Trek (2009)

The Notebook

Star Wars

The Whole Nine Yards

The Princess Bride

Robin Hood starring Kevin Cosner (please tell me if I butchered his name)

Juno

V for Vendetta

Wall-E

District 9

Musicals

The Phantom of the Opera

Wicked

Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical

TV Shows

Firefly

Video Games

Kingdom Hearts

Final Fantasy X

Recommendations of your own? Post them in the comments!