Happy almost Friday everyone! I’m a bit late to the TMP party but I love this week’s topic that I still want to participate. The Thursday Movie Picks blogathon was spearheaded by Wandering Through the Shelves Blog.
The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you’re up to it one of each. This Thursday’s theme is… BOOKISH movies.
I haven’t been able to participate on TMP lately but when I saw today’s topic I knew I had to take part! I guess this topic could be about movies based on books, but I see it as movies where books/literature play a central role or that the main characters love reading, so I’m going with that… and I’m choosing films set in England (because one day I’d love to shoot my feature film there!) Plus, I have been reading quite a bit lately and I do LOVE movies about books!
In any case, here are my three picks:
The Bookshop (2017)
England 1959. In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.
Books can be a great way to escape your mundane every day life or a way to cope with a traumatizing event. In this movie, the protagonist Florence (Emily Mortimer) copes with the loss of her husband through books and decided to open a bookshop in her town, which somehow ends up facing fierce opposition from powerful local elites.
It’s a rather slow film but I quite enjoy the reflective nature and you truly feel the pain Florence is going through. The scenes when at the bookshop really makes me sad that there aren’t that many brick + mortar book stores anymore.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war.
I have just rewatched this movie recently and it makes me wish I could visit Guernsey, an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. The protagonist Juliet Ashton (Lily James) is a London-based writer who, upon receiving a letter from the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (yep, that’s the name of the book club!), she decided to pay write a book about them and their experiences during the Nazi occupation.
I love that the film has a bit of investigative aspects as Juliet delved deeper into the lives of the book club’s members. Of course the book idea wasn’t exactly received warmly initially, and you get to figure out why that’s so. There’s of course a sweet romance between Juliet and Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), the one who wrote to her in the first place.
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Well, as a fan of Jane Austen, naturally I’d have to include a movie based on her books. But I chose Pride and Prejudice as the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet LOVES reading and there are scenes of her reading even as she’s walking about, not a care in the world as she’s so engrossed in the pages of her book. It makes me like her instantly and it’s a great way to distinguish her from her sisters… that she’d rather be lost in a good story than be bothered about ‘silly’ things like boys. That is of course until she meets Mr. Darcy.
I love that Lizzie’s first comment as she meets Mr. Bingley speaks about how much she loves reading…
The library at Netherfield, I’ve heard, is one of the finest in the country.
Now, Bingley’s own sister pretends to love reading when she said “I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library,” but she only said that to attract Mr. Darcy’s attentions.
What do you think of my picks? Have you seen any of them?
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Pride and Prejudice… great movie. Haven’t seen your other picks.
I figure most people have seen P&P, the other two are pretty good as well.
I LOVE this version of Pride & Prejudice!! It might not get everything factual right but it feels right and the cast work splendidly together. I’m a big Colin Firth fan and I know his Darcy is beloved but for me Matthew MacFayden is the best I’ve seen.
The Guernsey Potato Peel Society book is one of my absolute favorites and I enjoyed this adaptation but I wish someone else than Lily James had played Juliet. She’s so pallid.
Haven’t seen the first but on the list it goes.
I’m having computer issues this week so while I have three I’m relying on the Google synopsis for clarity.
The Book Club (2018)-Four friends’ (Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen) lives are turned upside down when their book club tackles the infamous “50 Shades of Grey.” From discovering new romance to rekindling old flames, they inspire each other to make their next chapter the best chapter.
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)-Quirky dog-lover Jocelyn and many-time married Bernadette decide to start a book club exclusively dedicated to Jane Austen, primarily to help distract their friend Sylvia from the fact that her husband has just dumped her. Frustrated French teacher Prudie, Sylvia’s daughter Allegra and sci-fi fan Grigg join up as well.
The Pillow Book (1996)-Nagito has a fetish for calligraphy on the human body and meets ideal soul-mate Jerome, an English translator sent to Japan. However, once Nagiko’s father’s gay publisher rejoins the scene, the story is overtaken by treachery and bloodlust.
I did think of 84 Charing Cross Road about the decades long correspondence between a New York writer and a London bookstore manager with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins which actually would have fit your theme perfectly but I’d used it before.
Hi Joel! Oh I’m glad you like Matthew MacFayden, I agree I think he’s a wonderful Darcy and I too like him more than Firth. Too bad you didn’t like Lily James though, I think she’s lovely!
I should check out The Book Club though I have no desire in reading 50 Shades, ahah. I quite like The Jane Austen Book Club but haven’t seen The Pillow Book, though it sounds intriguing. But wow, how could I have missed 84 Charing Cross Road?? I LOVE Hopkins and Judi Dench as well, I definitely should watch that. Thanks for the recommendation!
Judi’s role as Hopkins’s wife is small, she does well with what’s given but the film is really a two hander between Anne Bancroft and Tony.
Ok great, thanks for the info. Dame Judi is ALWAYS great to watch, no matter how small her role is.
I love 2005’a Pride and Prejudice! I haven’t seen your other picks though.
The Guernsey one is on Netflix and The Bookshop is on Prime, I highly recommend both!
I have not seen any of these and would love to see them.
Hi Birgit! All of these are well worth a look and available on streaming as well.
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The Bookshop is one I want to watch. I sort of heard about it without really knowing what it is about.
I think all of Austen’s protagonists love to read, so you definitely can’t go wrong with any of the adaptations.
Hello! The Bookshop is worth a look, I believe it’s on Amazon Prime. And yes about Austen, I guess I went w/ that P&P adaptation as there are some lovely scenes of Lizzie reading a book in it 🙂
Great post! You have persuaded me to finally watch The Guernsey Literary! I don’t know what has been stopping me until now 🙂
Glad to hear! It’s a lovely film, hope you enjoy it!