See the movie? Finish the book first!

So, last week, I made a rare trip to the movie theatre to see Sweeney Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the musical directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The movie was enjoyable, but the experience continued to remind me why there's little point in going to the theatre anymore -- the cost, the discomfort, the noise. Anyway, the one thing I continue to enjoy about going to the movies is seeing trailers, even though they are readily available online. So, I was hoping to see The Dark Knight, or Iron Man or Cloverfield, to actually see them on the big screen. Instead, I got a bunch of trailers for movies I have no desire to see on screens big or ... not as big (my TV is pretty big) -- movies aimed at kids, and other musicals. But then, there came a trailer that seemed familiar, even though I had never seen it before. It was for a movie called The Ruins.

The reason it seemed familiar is because I have been reading the book by Scott Smith that the movie is based on for months now, but was not getting far. I am so easily distracted by my iPod and DVR, that I rarely make time for reading anymore, unless it includes pictures and word balloons. But for some reason, seeing the trailer has inspired me to finish the book, even though I know I won't go to the theatre to see it when it comes out in April.

It has gotten great reviews, and I enjoyed Smith's first book, A Simple Plan, also made into a very good movie (directed by the Spider-Man film trilogy's Sam Raimi), but I had a hard time getting into The Ruins, and struggled to get past the first 100 pages (the paperback is just over 500 pages).

But since seeing the trailer last Sunday, I have made it a priority, and have read another 200+ pages, and the book has indeed picked up. I haven't touched a TV show or movie on my iPod in several days (haven't given up the DVR though), so I'm reading on the train again. I predict I'll be finished the book within the next week, and will likely be lending it out with high recommendations. But I still won't see the movie in the theatre in April. Only Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight will do that over the next several months.

Next book for me is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. See the same strategy worked for the first four books in the Potter series -- I read the books by the time the movies came out. But not this time. Now, it's on DVD and will soon be on cable, and I haven't touched the mammoth book yet. So soon that will be on the list over there on the right (the one that has had The Ruins on it for over six months along with Larry Kane's Lennon Revealed).