Seeing the Story – Callie Khouri’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

Poster for film: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Movie Poster Source: Wikipedia

Seeing the Story/ Review of Book to Screen Adaptation

Released in 2002.

All screen adaptations will be referred to in the following format “Title (Date).”

4/5 Just a week ago, I posted my Starlight Book Review (SBR) of Rebecca Wells’ Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, a book I read twenty years after I saw the screen adaptation which it inspired. While the film factored into my opinions while reading the book, I felt my memory of the Callie Khouri’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) movie somewhat faded enough to separate the two. Of course, I recently re-watched the film in planning for this post <smile>.

Click here to read my SBR of Rebecca Wells’ Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Click here to learn more about the Back in the Day SRC.

“Siddalee Walker (Sandra Bullock), a famous New York City playwright, is quoted in Time Magazine and infuriates her dramatic, Southern mother. A long-distant fight wages until her mother’s friends (and members of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) kidnap Siddalee and take her “home” to the South, where they hope to explain her mother’s history and to patch up the rift between mother and daughter.”—kzmckeown

I enjoyed watching Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002). I felt Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, and the rest of the cast made their respective characters and roles their own. Both the book and the film possessed the same flavor, somewhat of a neighbor to my own experience with the chief setting of Louisiana. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) stands quite well on its own but reading Wells’ book enriched my second viewing of the film. With that being said, my brain accepts that changes in adaptations must happen but my heart ached at these plot alterations. As to not spoil too much here, I only mention the one where Vivi’s Ya-Yas come up to New York City to “bring” Siddalee down to her hometown at the beginning of the film. So, for this and other switches in the plot, I knocked off a star in my rating.

Quotes come from description on IMDb and are featured on color blocks. Click here to access this webpage.

Seeing the Story – Marcus Cole’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995)

Cover of the 2000 DVD release the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in the center of a brown background | Cover Image Source: Wikipedia

Seeing the Story/ Review of Book to Screen Adaptation

Released by ABC Network in 1995

All screen adaptations will be referred to in the following format “Title (Date).”

3/5 I continued to read children’s literature with the “Back in the 1960s” Book for the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). As with One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), I watched From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) when ABC ran in the 1990s. In fact, I remember thinking Jean Marie Barnwell looked much like a friend and classmate of mine. Yet, I held off on reading the source material until this year. I sought out The Hideaways (1973) but From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) was what was available to me.

Click here for check out my Starlight Book Review (SBR) of E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Click here to learn more about the Back in the Day SRC.

“Two runaway kids hide in a museum. Once they are locked inside overnight, they try to solve a mystery about a statue supposedly carved by Michelangelo, known as “The Angel”. Will they solve the mystery in time?” – IMDb.com

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) achieved a close adherence to Konigsburg’s original work. Lauren Bacall charmed in the titular role and I enjoyed most of her parts. I found Mrs. Kincaid a bit thoughtless in this screen adaptation which I didn’t like at all. I also wished From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) kept the movie in the 1960s rather than the 1990s; this pre-World Trade Center tale lost some of its whimsy in this adaptation. All things considered, this film made for a light ninety minute or so diversion.

Quotes come from description on IMDb and are featured on color blocks. Click here to access this webpage.

Seeing the Story – Walt Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians movie poster on a blue-green background | Poster Image Source: Wikipedia

Seeing the Story/ Review of Book to Screen Adaptation

Released by Walt Disney in 1961

All screen adaptations will be referred to in the following format “Title (Date).”

3.75/5 In search of something lighter and more whimsical, I chose The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith as “Back in the 1950s” Book for the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). I admit I saw this movie way back in my own day along with many of my peers in elementary school, well before I cracked the cover of the book. Still and all, the details of my first viewing of the adaptation are vague. I only recall associating super villain Cruella de Vil with a substitute teacher who wouldn’t let any of us kids in class near her fabulous white fur coat (I can laugh now). Anyway, after reading the book, I treated myself to watching One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) in 2022.

Click here for check out my Starlight Book Review of Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Click here to learn more about the Back in the Day SRC.

“Pongo and Perdita have a litter of 15 puppies. Cruella De Vil takes a fancy to the pups, and wants to get hold of them, as well as more pups, to make herself a lovely Dalmatian skin coat. Cruella hires some thugs to kidnap the pups and hold them at her mansion. Pongo and Perdita enlist the help of the local dogs London to find and rescue them.”—Colin Tinto cst@imdb.com

I actually liked One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) on its own. Pongo, Perdita, and all the pups held true appeal for me. The animation charmed me as well. The fascination of the characters — canines, humans, other creatures — with the “Telly” seemed… forgive me for saying so in a review of media featuring dalmatians… spot on. The music delighted me; Roger Radcliffe’s ditties remain in my head. As a friend of a number of felines, I appreciated the camaraderie of the pups with Sergeant Tibbs. Cruella lived down to my girlhood nightmares of the villainess. I sliced off some stars on my rating because, while I get the challenge of screen adaptation, I wished some of the characters of the book appeared in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). In addition, Missis and Perdita became merged into one character in the film. Besides that, this fun romp brought about something simultaneously old and new for me. Other readers of the book may enjoy One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), recalling that author Smith herself delighted in this film.

Quotes come from description on IMDb and are featured on color blocks. Click here to access this webpage.