Almost perfectly cast

For years I wished that someone would come along and create a film version of the Lord of the Rings that would do justice to the books... and then Peter Jackson did. I loved his LOTR films. Yes, there are plenty of things that appear in the books which didn't make it into the movie. (How many people who just want to see an action flick would get into action-hero Aragorn reciting poetry? Or that diversion with Tom Bombadil? Great writing, but not essential to the plot. Of course, I'm still disappointed that there was no Scouring of the Shire, as I felt that chapter exemplified the growth of its characters over the course of the story. I'm also annoyed that Jackson didn't do more to show that Eowyn and Faramir fall in love, other than having them stand next to one another while smiling.) Yes, there were some scenes which weren't actually penned by Tolkien (Elves coming to Helm's Deep? Arwen kicking ass? Faramir taking Frodo to Osgiliath?) but which I felt did work well into a movie.

I've mentioned before how absolutely thrilled I was with Peter Jackson's choice of Orlando Bloom for Legolas in his LOTR trilogy... and I think Jackson did a splendiferous job in his casting choices for LOTR *except* for his choice of Liv Tyler as Arwen. Yeah, he gets points for giving her a sword and letting her save Frodo from the Ringwraiths, but Liv Tyler? For those who never read the books, Arwen is supposedly the most beautiful woman (er, elf) on the planet. Can you honestly tell me that this chick is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?

I'm not entirely sure who I would choose as the most beautiful woman in the world (suggestions?) but not Liv!

For some reason she was also cast as Tatyana in the 1999 screen adaptation of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. As a lover of Russian lit and language, I've read Onegin quite a few times (in both English and Russian, I might add). For those who aren't familiar with the story, there's this rich cat Onegin who is essentially above it all - love, duty, responsibility - he's wholly disinterested... and then he runs across this Tatyana chick and she totally discombobulates his reality. He falls hard. Again... Liv Tyler?? Are you kidding me?

A message from Neil Gaiman

Since this *definitely* fits in with our topic, I just wanted to link you guys to this podcast, in which Neil Gaiman discusses the movie-ization of his book, Stardust.

From the Casting Couch

I'm just doing a short post now to get the topic out on the board. I'll update with my own response later tonight.

I'm fairly certain we all read. A lot. And I'm sure we all have some book we'd love to see turned into a movie. Well here's your chance to cast it. Give us a synopsis, and then tell who you'd cast in what roles. If you have a favorite director, hell, tell us that too.

Or, if there's a movie already made that you would've done casting differently, talk about that.

UPDATE:

Well an author I’ve recently become slightly obsessed with (and I know Jane’s with me on this) is Neil Gaiman, so I’m going to cast the first novel of his I read, American Gods.

The basic synopsis is that a convict, Shadow, is let out of prison a few days earlier than his original release date due to the death of his wife. He heads home, ready for the funeral and to start his new life, when he meets a strange man named Wednesday, who is offering him a job as a bodyguard. He rejects it, but then finds out his new job is gone due to the death of his best friend, who died in the same car accident as his wife. In fact she was was giving him a blowjob in the car. Oh - and she comes back from the dead too. Well it turns out Wednesday, is a god, Odin, and is on a crusade to gather up all the other gods in the country to rebel against the new ones America has created. The old gods were brought over with believers from other countries when they immigrated. However, as time passed, and the generations stopped believing, the old gods were forgotten, and were left to live normal lives. America replaced them with things like the internet, television, and money.

Czernobog - Peter Stormare - Slavic god that makes a bet with Shadow that if he wins a chess game, he gets to smash his head in with a hammer. Unsettling - just like this guy always is to me.

Anansi - Morgan Freeman - Lively, witty god - trickster of African folklore. Actually a bit more prominent in another Gaiman novel - Anansi’s Boys.

Shadow - Gary Dourdan (Yes, that’s the guy from CSI - I think he could totally pull off convict - at least one with depth - I could have easily just said Vin Diesel or The Rock, but that’s a bit of a cop out)

Wednesday - Billy Drago (Ok - this is where I have to admit that I watch Charmed, and he played Barbas, and was super creepy looking - btw Wednesday is not always a trustworthy character)

There are a ton more gods - several of which I might have to cast once I get to a computer with a faster internet connection. You can check out the list on Wikipedia - and feel free to add to this if anyone has read this book. I’ll try to get some links up to these actors’ pages on imdb, but in case I don’t, is it really that hard for you to look for yourself?