Filmbook: Adaptation Grab Bag

Movies, I saw movies:

"Sherlock Holmes" (2009) -- Exquisite set design, extra-loud punches, jaunty hats and people running away from explosions. This movie was silly, but fun, and probably won't damage the Holmes legend forever, although it's true what they say: Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. have more chemistry with each other as long-time partners in detection than with their respective female counterparts.

"The Informant!" (2009) -- Great Matt Damon performance around a solid movie in which he plays a naïf caught up in an international corporate scandal (or is he?). It runs a bit long but I was with it the whole time because it has a very carefree, almost idiosyncratically cheerful tone. Melanie Lynskey is very good as Damon's wife, capping a year of small scene-stealing parts (see also "Away We Go" and "Up In The Air"). Also, a great "Hey! It's That Guy!" movie, especially if you like comedians.

"The Lovely Bones" (2009) -- It's been so long since I read this book I'm not reliable on how much was changed, but this movie is part Hallmark and part horror and it's a mighty uneasy mix. (The last trailer I saw shaped it into a Mark-Wahlberg-avenging-dad movie, and it is very little of that.) One juxtaposition in particular made my skin crawl even as I felt I was supposed to be moved by it. But Saoirse Ronan is terrific as Susie -- a little older and she would be a Best Actress shoo-in. Can't imagine ever sitting through this one again, but it's great to look at; the visuals of "the in-between" are more wow-inducing than "Avatar," while Earth is shot in the same lovely-scary palette as "Little Children."

Fall 2009 Book Adaptation Calendar

Because hope springs eternal in the human breast. These release dates are correct as of today but always changing.

9/18: "The Informant," based on the Kurt Eichenwald nonfiction book of the same name about an corporate informer who tried to take down Archer Daniels Midland. Why you should care: It's Soderbergh! And fat Matt Damon.

10/16: "Where the Wild Things Are," based on the Maurice Sendak children's book. Why you should care: Adapted by Dave Eggers!

10/16 also: "The Road," based on the Cormac McCarthy novel and starring Viggo Mortensen. Why you should care: It was supposed to come out last year! Either it's been fixed in the meantime or, direly, it hasn't.

11/13: "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," based on the Roald Dahl children's book with George Clooney voicing the fox. Why you should care: In this house we take all the Wes Anderson we can get. At least the late-night screenings should be empty.

11/20: "The Blind Side," based on the Michael Lewis nonfiction book. Why you should care: Amid all the non-news about the forthcoming MONEYBALL adaptation, this one kind of snuck past us -- which is not to say it will be great, but it could be good.

12/11: "The Lovely Bones," based on the Alice Sebold novel about a dead girl. Why you should care: It's Peter Jackson's first movie since the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy; further trivia, the lead is Saoirse Ronan, who you would know as young Briony in "Atonement."

12/25: "Sherlock Holmes," based (loosely?) on the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. Why you should care: Love for Robert Downey Jr. might overcome what looks like a ridiculous sub-"Prestige"; family needs something to rally around come Christmas.

Ineligible but still of note: Winsome coming-of-age tale "An Education" (10/9) is Nick Hornby's second produced screenplay; Pedro Almodóvar's "Broken Embraces" (11/20) follows a blind writer re-examining his life.