Twilight to Trueblood--keeping Fantasy "real"

I have always been very interested in the process of adapting books to screenplays. But I confess, I am a fangirl first. I am quoting Pam Pastor of the Phillipine Daily Inquirer when she points out that Meyer herself felt that Melissa Rosenberg had better be very careful...
..."The original script changed the passage, “And so the lion fell in love with the lamb,” but according to Producer Greg Mooradian, Stephanie (Meyer) suggested that they stick to the original because many girls have tattooed that line on their ankles."

yeah..that is my kind of obsession. I need every director, every producer to be as involved with the script as I am infatuated with the charatcers. The bar has been set quite high--Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh with thier work adapting Tolkien's volumes so vastly supercedes my first real experiences with this concept; that would be Peter Benchley for his work on Jaws and of course Lucas w/Star Wars in '77. Those early boys didn't do a bad job mind you, I'm just saying the BOOKS were light years (get it?) of vividness away from the dull mundanity of special effects. Trust me dear ones, the scene may not be "pretty" in my head but imagination is alive and potent in a way that no mechanical shark or "planet basketball" can begin to touch. Now despite my pride in my own imagination and my preference for the appearance of the characters, One of my favorite 36 hours ever was when Petey and I with R&T (of course!!) sat through a marathon of Jackson's series that ended at midnight when Return of the King was released. I was in heaven.

Not so much with the adaptations of the Harry Potter series. My opinion of those films can be easily summed up.

They suck.

These WB generated atrocities do however provide a nice transitional concept from St. Peter & his lovely Fran to Mr. Alan Ball. Who is confusing me no end. It seems that Ball has created another spawn monster--this one nearly as disappointing as the Harry Potty films. HBO's webpage describes the series thusly,

"A sexy, scary new drama from 'Six Feet Under' creator Alan Ball, 'True Blood' delves into the meticulously-crafted world of novelist Charlaine Harris."

Please excuse me while I laugh hysterically!!! *can't breathe* --- I like Harris' novel's very much. They are witty mysteries frosted with black humor. They are about as deep as a mud puddle-- they are primarily a formulaic vehicle for a quickie mystery (or maybe another kind of quickie if you are into Weretigers named Quinn. grrrrowl). A "beach book", fluff and nonsense. delicious! (You should maybe check out her Shakespeare series---it's not what ya think)

What Ball is doing to these books is like comparing eating a handful of fresh grapes to drinking a full bodied red wine. (or dare I say it? for a vamp...hunting vs a bottle of Trueblood (tm?) Not even the same thing!!! I am sure the producers at HBO have a hand in the soap opera like changes but I wonder if Harris is even in the library let alone on the same page!! The numerous and prolific differences between the text of the books would surely bore you; I could fill three pages. (WHERE is Ball gonna put Bubba* I ask?) And yet...I have to admit...

As with it's previous eyecandy-- Rome and The Sopranos, HBO has some tasty cinematography and Jace Evertt's theme song has wrapped around my spine. I'll be back in the summer for Season Two. Even if Jason isn't a werewolf, Tara is the wrong race and there are no interVamp politics.




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Elvis' brain dead corpse?