poehler-bear

And I did, not that much later after watching the movie. It was fate. I'm still amazed that two of ultimate fave creators have this in common

They did! And directed by Stanley Donen. Well, this sort of gives you a hint "Prior to the Broadway opening, the producer, Martin Starger, fired the original director, the male lead, featured performers, and the production manager."
It's such a strange thing to imagine this movie as a Broadway musical. Just thinking of casting great actors who can sing and dance ballet well is giving me a headache.

Yes!! That's exactly the evil thing he does. Btw, I love how he all mentions that he writes the music those specific characters need at that specific moment. I've read people (used to?) criticize his music for being too brainy, but god, they bleed emanate so much emotion.

Couldn't they just say replacements are accepted? Anyway, award shows don't deserve our time (and yet, I'm super excited for the Oscars. Go Julianne Moore!)

yes! And with such great roles! I can't imagine better suited people for these roles.
(But on the Tony topic again, I'm so upset Bernadette never got one for playing a Sondheim character)

And right after an amazing rendition of Being Alive!
Ohh! I saw Gypsy yesterday! I obviously watched the one with Bernadette. Because it's Bernadette but also because I've heard so many controversial opinions on it that I didn't want to know the others before her Rose (I read really horrible things on the Times review, people are amazing).
First of all, what a show! The book and score went together so well. I had heard the recording a couple of times, and after a month into this crazy Broadway thing I couldn't avoid knowing a lot about the story, still, I was swept away by it. It's amazing, for months it's been really hard for me to concentrate on 20 min TV shows, but these 2 and a half hours (of bootleg!) went by so quickly. Anyway, back to the show. I went in expecting to really dislike Mama Rose but I really felt for her (Idk if it was Bernadette's performance or something in the book/score). I mean, she did horrible things, but I felt for the thing that originated those, her distorted view of the world (how I loved that she refused to accept the children had grown up "Nobody in this house is over 10", pardon my paraphrasing). There's so much to that character. A tricky one too. It's probably very easy to play her as the one-noted monstrous mother.
Hm, what else? I love how "I had a dream" comes back again and again. So much power in Rose's most important songs - Some People, Everything's Coming Up Roses and Rose's Turn! I also loved Bernadette's face right before Mr. Goldstone. And I can't wait to watch Benanti as Louise!
I definitely went on for longer than I intended. Without adding too much. Anyway. I loved it.

Oh! Sondheim inspired me. I've been playing the piano again (trying to learn Send in the Clowns ha ha), I hadn't realized I missed it so much.

Amazing


I have to say, one of the best things going into this is watching/listening/reading to interviews with Sondheim. Fascinating stuff.

Oh my god. I've been listening to B Peters all my life. Actual favorite childhood movie. And the movie that made me wanna be a singer (idea that I obviously abandoned but !!!)

poehler-bear

Sorry, breaking the rules but I've edited the other post many times. And I don't take a hint apparently, because here I am going on about Sondheim... but I'm so into the Broadway Baby number:


A lot of new Into the Woods things. I'm actually quite excited for it ("quite" is being generous).

Oh I started watching Les Mis. Yeah. Sondheim ruined me for musical theater. What a shame. I think I'd love Les Mis if I had seen it a year ago (well, I did, the movie, and I liked it?). I still have to watch act II but I'm currently running against the clock to finish papers and all that end of semester fun. But back to Les Mis. It's enjoyable but it's so so dramatic. It goes on and on and on. That doesn't mean it's bad, but not really my thing, I think. At the same time for BIG moments, so I enjoy that aspect a lot. I miss an actual spoken book though. Was anything cut for the concert? Or is it always so heavy on music, or how do you call it? When the dialogue is sang? I'll get back to you after this Wednesday (freedoooooooom!)

Oh and I'm completely obsessed with this

(actually the whole of Ladies in Red bit. I might watch it at least once every day)

Gelfling

No rules have been broken you can double post if it's not the same day and I'm soooo sorry for leaving you high and dry on your own in the thread! Last week was chaotic but in a good way. I'm back and eager to read your thoughts on musical theatre! I love having two people with whom to have smart articulated conversation about it!

I can think of a few off the top of my head but yeah it would be a tall order.

maybe that's what I love about them. They certainly are intellectual songs but they always come from the heart first.

It takes a lot of time and effort to create a role. I guess they didn't want to mix both.

Right??? How did she not win for the Witch???

a lot of "must-see" shows still feel long to me but this one is just so perfectly balanced, so complex and yet so effortless, it feels almost too short

I think a good Mama Rose is always somewhat sympathetic. The book and the score play it in between the lines, or just maybe a few things here and there, but that's where the actress gets her character I guess.

I'm sure she has been butchered a few times in amateur theatre but fortunately on Broadway, she's been played by such a caliber of actresses, she's always been very well served.
I can't really decide on a favorite. Ironically enough, I'd say Ethel Merman is my least favorite even though she created the part. Bernadette, Lupone, Tine Daly, Betty Buckley... all stood out and brought something to the part.
I wish Liza had played Mama Rose on stage because she sang a memorable Rose's Turn in concert and hell, she basically had 3 mn to get into character, at the end of a character journey and yet she killed it.

You're in for a treat and honestly, to make an impression next to Lupone's Mama Rose, it was not a small feat.

Awwww that's awesome! I didn't know you played! I'm glad he brought you back to it. So many great songs!

I guess it's the same for everyone who found out about Donna Murphy in Tangled.

poehler-bear

Ohhh, I didn't know that! Bah, I liked the idea of breaking rules for Sondheim
Nah, that's okay. Ha ha, articulated is not really the word I'd use. I'm mostly just cry and try to pass chaotic feelings into words.
Anything special happened last week, or just regular but good chaotic?

I bet you can. I'm still very ignorant of actors' extra skills. I'm excited to know more theater performers! I mostly limited myself to Bernadette Peters, but I'll eventually branch out. Well, I kind of have no option had seen every collaboration she had with Sondheim.

Does it work differently? For example, an actor doing a revival and one replacing someone. I know to create a show it takes a lot, but do revivals go through a lot too?

And she wasn't even nominated! But I'm happy she presented it for Joanna Gleason (and that she presented one for Sondheim and Lapine for Passion!)

That's great! It's weird to me to think that even Rosalind Russell played Mama Rose.
Is that Rose's Turn available on youtube?? Oh that reminds me, I saw a Some People supercut and Judy was in it! Such a great group of people in that video.

On the topic of Patti and Bernadette playing the same role, I was reading some interviews with Patti and it's amazing how many times she's mentioned she lost a role to Bernadette. Even The Witch! And she said she wanted to play Desiree in the revival. Isn't it weird? They are so different in everything...

Yes! That too! I'm looking forward to watch something with her. I don't know if I should start with Into the Woods or Passion.

Oh my god


I'm laughing so hard at how negative these people are also, footage!!!!

Aga_darkside

They shortened some parts in the concerts, but there is no spoken dialogue in Les Mis, it's called a sung-through musical and it's a genre that came after a 'traditional' book musical, in the 80s. There is some dialogue in sung-through musicals, though never much, Les Mis is one of the extreme examples And I guess that everyone has their own preferences or maybe it's moreabout what we saw/heard first, because at the moment my 3 favourite musicals are sung-through and I mostly know the Broadway classics from the movie adaptations - and I prefer when there is more singing and less talking I saw The Fiddler on the Roof on Sunday and I loved it, but still I'd prefer a few more songs for a 3 h show And when I saw The Sound of Music, I talked with a friend during the intermission and we both felt that the spoken parts were sub-par to the songs, but maybe it depends on the actors

The Phantom of the Opera has a little more dialogue so maybe you should try it instead of Les Mis

poehler-bear

Sung-through! That's it. Hmmmm, I don't know. Yeah, it might be a matter of taste. I just love the idea that the character sings because the emotions are too strong for words. Maybe that's why Les Mis is so dramatic... Sorry, I joke but I really enjoyed it so far. It just doesn't resonate with me the way the Sondheim musicals do.
I'm curious about you calling a show a 'traditional' book musical. Does that mean only that it's score + book? Is there any other type besides these two? So far I've only seen people distinguishing between eras, like traditional musical of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, then the Sondheim/ALW generation and that's how far my knowledge extends Idk if Rodgers & Hammerstein would be something in between because their score and book were better integrated (I think I've read/heard that?)... anyway. I'm very curious about this world. Maybe I'll get a book or two now that my brother is going to the States.

Perhaps. But do you think it could be because the book and the score weren't very well matched? I'm very curious to know what you'd think of both Gypsy and Follies, because, to me, these have been the best mix so far. I never missed the songs when they were talking. Follies is so full of small moments of dialogue between numbers that the newest cast recording kept a lot of spoken dialogue.

So far I'm only familiar with Sondheim and I have a feeling that musical theater is divided in two, Sondheim and non-Sondheim

But it's still very dramatic. I think that's the thing that bothers me the most, the lack of humor. Maybe not lack, but very little. And it's a bigger-than-life story. Maybe it's just not the right time in my life for this kind of thing. But I'll still watch it. I think I might enjoy it, even if I don't love it. Netflix has the concert at Royal Albert Hall.

I recently discovered one of the greatest facts of all. Sondheim wrote I'm Still Here for Joan Crawford it makes so much sense, but !!!!!

Gelfling

*******************CK! ate my post!
Here's to 30 mn I won't ever get back

where was I?

Sondheim would be proud

It was Joana's birthday and her Mom was visiting so we did a lot of celebrating and not a whole lot of anything else

You started from the top
There's a reason (several in fact ) Bernadette is one of Broadway's brightest and longest lasting stars. And that she's at the top of a lot of favorites list, including mine. I think she's way up there with Donna Murphy, for me.

Start with Passion. She created the part and won a Tony for it so it doesn't get any better. Also, you won't be tempted to compare to Bernadette's Witch

Well, revivals are entirely new productions so a lot of "recreating and reconstructing" is done by the cast and the director. Musicals and plays are being reworked from the ground up. Sometimes even with the same director, like it was the case with West Side Story a few years back.
Replacements usually work within parameters established by the production and the director. Of course, I'm talking about usually, not when said "replacements" are of the caliber of Elaine and Bernadette but it's very rare

I try to forget about that movie as much as I possibly can and not only because nobody did their own singing.

She sang it many times but I think this is my favorite on Youtube



Heh I know, right? And yes it's weird but I guess that's also what's amazing about live theatre. You get to experience how different the same part can be when played by different people... over and over
Broadway is a small small world and they are in the same range; both very popular, so I'm not surprised. They must be used to competing against each other for parts by now

Patti played Desiree to George Hearn's Fredrik at the Lavinia festival and she's always said she wanted to play the part again, in a more produced longer run. It's also very interesting to see Hearn and Patti play such different characters with such a different dynamic than in Sweeney Todd.

Jeeeeezus! There's enough talent in that picture to light up NYC!

Which reminds me I love Glenn Close's Send in The Clowns, for every way it's imperfect vocally



Sondheim was always in advance on his time!
He really change the way storytelling and music worked in musicals so I'm not surprised this one was no exception to the usual bashing

I'm sure ALW helped with that

It's a good musical, albeit a very traditional one musically but I agree with you. It wouldn't hurt if it had more numbers.

It doesn't. At least not for me. Even the movie, with the talented cast it had, is let down by the dialog and non musical scenes, for the most part.

that's already a good way to tackle it.

Gypsy is way up there when it comes to mixing spoken and sung word for me.

welcome to my world

Oh PoTO has a lot of humor throughout but it's very "dramatic" in a way, sure.

I should have known you'd love that
I wonder what Bette Davis would have done with that. She'd probably have asked him to write her a song called "what are you still doing here?"

Oh and did you see this? Just a little of Meryl gushing about Sondheim and Sondheim gushing about Meryl

poehler-bear

I just came back from my first live opera experience!! And the first time I entered the most important theater in my country. The orchestra!!!!! I'll get back with thoughts later (if I have any), but that was an amazing experience, regardless of the flaws. Well, one exception, the person by my side seemed very, very bored.

****ing technology. Tumblr screw me over so many times that now I copy everything to a notepad before taking.

well, that sounds awesome. I hope you had a lot of cake

I did, didn't I? Not only I started with Sondheim, but Sondheim + Bernadette!
Yes I keep watching random videos on youtube and she never cease to amaze me. I have to say, I'm jealous (the good kind) of the way she can give herself so completely to the music, jealous of the feeling, I mean. I really, really hope I can see Bernadette on the stage one day
I didn't know Donna Murphy was such an important fave for you! That's awesome!

That's what I was thinking. Also, I watched the Passion performance at the 1994 Tonys and holy crap! I didn't even recognize Donna Murphy! Well, I did, but it was so different (from Sondheim birthday concert) that it took me a few seconds to recover from the shock

Oh yes, yes. One of the great things about theater, reworking plays and musicals.
But take these shows that have been on Broadway for an eternity. Do they ever go through changes? Phantom, Chicago, Cats...? Maybe not a major rework (btw, that Sweeney Todd revival with Patti and Michael Cervis looks interesting and odd, anyway) but some change.

I watched Rose's Turn. Strange dubbing voice. But maybe because I'm too used to Bernadette's and Patti's versions? something about the whole thing was off.

Thank you!! Aw man, I love the middle part (the "mama's gotta..." bit). "Get off of my runaway"! And just about everything else.

Yes! And I love that age and looks are way less important than in movies.

She did?? I can't imagine her playing Desiree. But that's good! This forces me to be more open-minded. Is that available somewhere (don't worry about sharing just yet, I have tons to watch already)? Have you seen it?
!!! Wow, that's amazing, that both of them were in these completely different shows (written by the same man! HOW???). Oh, that reminds me. I saw somebody saying they'd like to see Bernadette and Mandy in Sweeney Todd. Here I am thinking, what the hell? That'd be a gigantic mess. But what if it's not? Or what if it is and it's enjoyable nevertheless? Anyway, I like that I can entertain these facts.

So good!! (this concert ) I also love the Judi Dench version. And I'm completely obsessed with this one. I feel that my realization of this song is very slow. Every time I listen to it, I pick up some tiny new thing, or find some new meaning. Well, actually this happens with a lot of Sondheim songs, but this one is special for some reason.
Oh! My new favorite thing is listening to one of Sondheim songs, nice little song, and BOOM! Suddenly I realize its power and I'm basically the human form of this: !!!! That happened a couple of days ago with Beautiful. Between the emotional mess of We do not belong together and Sunday, I missed the beauty of it. But it's so good!! Same thing happened with Finishing the Hat too.



that she would.

Yes!! I love how much Meryl has been gushing about Sondheim. I also love that at some interview she said "the great Bernadette Peters". So even if the movie sucks, I have all these bits, the ITW reunion and blu-ray (!!), Sondheim and James Lapine talking about it... it's a win regardless.

(I wonder how many times I've written the name Sondheim in the past month...)

Gelfling

there's always one. Makes you wonder if they thought there were going to be 3D goggles or something

Yep. Doing that right now.

We actually had a layered moist chocolate and coffee cake called Opera
so I'm not feeling at all conspicuous posting pictures here. It's not OT at all



anyway...

I hope you do too. It's awesome to see her perform in any way possible but I'm sure it doesn't compare to being in the same room and seeing the performance unfold.

I know, right? Fosca is a very sickly ugly woman and her body language is completely different.

Not to my knowledge. It does sound weird, I know. They changed casts I don't know how many times by now so I'm sure there are differences, however subtle but the direction, musical and stage, remain intact.

I knooooow! What a weirdly brilliant idea!

Skip the tv movie with Better Midler as well. I was verrrry disappointed when I finally saw it. I was expecting so much from Midler and it's not really all on her but the whole thing is just meh.

It's amazing to me how she can "act" a song that comes at the end of a very long character journey, just like that, starting cold in the middle of a concert, and do it justice like that.

and other things as well. There has been more minority leads on Broadway than in movies for the past few years.

I have yeah. I liked it a lot. The whole cast is awesome. I did like Bernadette more in the part but I think it's because Patti has such a strong personality, she doesn't give Desiree the same vulnerability.

Heh, I'd entertain them in *anything* so Sweeney? HELL YES! I do think Mandy's tone is too high for Sweeney's lower range though.

it's a very layered song and the imagery it uses can hide so much that our own perception colors it as well.

Heh I know exactly what you mean. They feel drowned in the power of much "bigger" songs and you only listen to them as musical numbers bridging the gaps in between those powerhouses but when you go back and listen to them, they're amazing.

Trust Meryl to give credit where credit's due

we can count on the thread if you want but hey that's what happens when your world collides with that of a genius you didn't even know existed (more or less ) a

poehler-bear

EVIL

How strange. And boring. It's also amazing to me that these shows managed to keep going for so long. The amount of people who watched them!
Also, I watched a clip of Cats being performed at Hey Mr. Producer. It's terrifying. People dressed as cats singing melodramatic songs... and dancing?

Aw, that sucks. Do you think it can't transfer well for film or it's a matter of the talent behind it? By talent I mean everyone, directors, actors, cinematographers, producers...

Oh that's awesome! Anything I should watch?

I think so too. But I'd give it a try. Well, like you said I'd watch them in anything. Did I mention their Evening Primrose recording yet (the four songs)? Because I'm in love with it

Yes! And I love when I find some "hidden" note/instrument in a song. With Sunday in the Park with George it literally feels that I discovered a color. It's wonderful!

that's true. I can't believe that it took me so long to "discover" him. I knew West Side Story but I just associated it with Leonard Bernstein. Better late than never.
But isn't it incredible? When you find something that becomes so important to you?

To the other half of this thread, and also something very important to me, I'm finally reading another Virginia Woolf book, To the Lighthouse. I'm loving it. Again, it's one of those work of art that feel especially made for you because they fit your taste and needs so well.
And I'm also reading a Brazilian classic, "A Moreninha". I don't know how your Portuguese is going, but I'd highly recommend it. Unless you dislike Romantic era literature.

Gelfling

Well, those are really typically the kind of shows that traveling agencies will book massively for their clients so I'd say only about 30% of their overall audience actually understood English enough to even follow the plot
I remember when I saw Phantom in London, there was a Greek family in front of us who had a very hard time with the play. The Dad kept turning to his tribe and explaining what he was getting out of the scene

yep.

I think it's a hard one to transfer to the screen. Notoriously hard. Universal has been trying to get a "new" movie off the ground since 2010. Julian Fellowes even turned in a script back in 2012, among many others.
Mike Nichols was in talk to direct but then was busy (he probably would have used Meryl )
Streisand was then in line to direct and possibly play Mama (she's too old now imo) and they even mentioned Lady Gaga for Louise but then Arthur Laurents died before his verbal agreements were made official so they were back at the start and Barbra didn't like the script.
Now they have another writer taking a shot at the script and he has stage experience but I doubt it will happen and I'm thankful for that.

The story need the energy and the "behind the scene" feel you get from the stage. It's not only down to talent of the people involved. It's just a hard one to move to the 2D of a screen.

Well, it's not Sondheim but I'll make you a list, sure. But shows like In The Heights or Passing Strange are becoming less exceptional. And a lot of shows with storylines that have very little to do with ethnicity or certain communities, like Kinky Boots, have minority leads.

Heh what's not to love?

he's a masterful musician. It's easy to forget how complex his music is because there is so much to focus on in terms of lyrics and melody but the complexity is just layers upon layers.

and of all they have both done, it's probably my least favorite of their work

best feeling in the world. It's like falling in love

I find Virginia Woolf to be so dramatically underrated now. We never once read anything by her in class when I was in school. There is a song by Indigo Girls called that says every line from her was like a message in a bottle to her readers and it's absolutely true. Her writing was so personal and delicate, it's as if she was writing for us.

I don't dislike any genre or period on sight. I have found that even in genres I thought I mostly disliked, there are books or poems that I treasure so I make a point of always trying before judging.
My Portuguese is very limited right now but I'm reading a bilingual version of Pessoa's Book of Disquiet and I'm loving the language so I'll be sure to try it. I have a much harder time speaking than reading so I should be fine.

poehler-bear

Yeah, I guess it makes sense. And it makes even more sense if the ones that last are the lavishing productions. If you don't understand the plot and its nuances, at least you can enjoy the big production, the extravagant music. But there's also something to be said about the universal language of music and of acting.

It reminds me of one of the critiques to Mack & Mabel, how do you transfer the atmosphere of silent films to the stage? But it would have been great to watch Nichols/Streep movie, even if it was a failure, I think it would have brought some interesting things.

Oh Kinky Boots seems to have great energy (from the Tonys performance - did I mention I watched like 30 Tony awards? ).
The other non-Sondheim I really wanna watch is The Last Five Years. Have you seen it?

It was one of the first Old Hollywood movies I watched and I really disliked it. I have to watch it again to know if I feel different. I sort of remember the songs and meh.

All I can think of, all I can talk about, it really is like falling in love

That's a great way of putting it! And the way she builds her characters! I absolutely love the stream of consciousness that jumps from character to character. Picking up what these characters truly are by the subtext, the contradictions in their thoughts, or in those special moments they dare to question their choices (which she writes in such a beautiful poetic nature, like Mr. Ramsay standing on the cliff )

Oh yes, yes. I knew that The best way to approach things, really.

The biggest problem with it is the old vocabulary. But then many native speakers, including myself, have to go a dictionary to understand everything. It's a major mark on Brazilian Literature because it was the first Brazilian romance about our culture. The story is simple, but it has its Brazilian charm.

Gelfling

shows with "previously seen on tv" attached to them or jukebox musicals get the big draw these days though.



And then you have all these tourists in Time Square just wanting the Broadway experience who have no idea about anything at all
Reminds me of this hilarious video of Laura Benanti dressed as Fosca asking everyone if they know who she is




I know, right? Some things just can't cross medium.

Tell me about it. I know he left a beautiful filmography behind but I still feel we'll be missing directors like him very very much in the near future.

it's a perfectly normal reaction. I watched as much as I could get my hands on when I found out about them

No but I'm reaaaaally looking forward to it. I wasn't a big fan of the original cast but I think the movie looks pretty interesting.
Coincidentally, Richard Lagravenese who wrote the screenplay for that movie based on the play is the latest script writer tasked with trying to write a screenplay for a Gypsy movie.

I'm still not a fan of the movie. The direction is just messy. It looks too staged and the acting... well
I liked the recent revival and I liked that they tried to make it more authentic with latino actors, and more dialog in Spanish, including Sondheim reworking some lyrics with Lin Manuel Miranda to translate them. Unfortunately "purists" didn't like that they touched the original and they changed everything back but all in all I'd say I liked it much better than the movie.

Yeah it was an important musical for its time but I think it's still way too "classical" in terms of construction and there's a lot of dancing that doesn't advance the plot at all.


well they say it only happens once so you should enjoy it but that's the beauty of theatre: it happens many times


it's like getting an insight into the lives and minds and hearts of people you never met but somehow already knew.

Not always the most practical as time gets "wasted" on books that are not necessarily my cup of tea but I think I get something from everything, even those I dislike. Same goes with movies except they take up less time to try.

Ah well it's the same thing with French books. Joana was trying to pick one to get some reading done in French and there are great books out there but the vocabulary is just not one most people would use anymore so it makes it harder to read and kinda useless in a linguistics perspective, I guess.

poehler-bear

"Does it bring out my mole?" Benanti's love for Sondheim And I still haven't watched Passion......... soon, hopefully. Tomorrow maybe? Either that or Into the Woods blu-ray (). Or actually do things I have to do, hm...

They are so much fun! It combines two of my favorite things, musical performances and award shows! I'm ashamed about the second one btw, but I gave up trying to defeat this weird thing. And the Tonys audience usually seems happy and excited to be there, unlike some other award shows.

Ohhh! Let's see how the movie goes to see if we want him involved with Gypsy

And always some performer or director can give you something fresh. It's amazing! I'm still wrapping my head around it, because for some stupid reason I never fully comprehended this, or appreciated it might be the better term.

I'm reading Rebecca. I half hate, half love the prose. I like the idea of it but it's irritating and too flowery to be fully enjoyed. It doesn't seem to advance at all. Have you read it? If not, you've seen the movie, right? I kind of need to vent about this Oh and I should add I am/was reading a poor translation from the 1980s so that definitely damaged its qualities (then some printer error skipped 40 pages and now I'm reading a pdf in English).

Gelfling

what's not to love? I love that only the gay guy guesses ofc and his reaction to her singing to him (at least he didn't faint, I can't say I would have remained upright if it'd been me)

anyway, it's Sondheim :p

it's a small community so they take a lot of pride in the work they do and everyone involved in it. I think they genuinely love the performances and to see crew members awarded.

well he's also behind one of my favorite new show this year, that he created with Tony Goldwyn of all people and with a great cast as well, but it's gotten completely under the radar because it's on some ridiculously small network (WE tv) which I had never heard about before so I'm guessing they didn't do a lot of FYC
so anyway, I have faith.
I know, right? So why is it that they can never get a movie remake right??!
It works with theatre so what's the deal??
oh dear yes I read the book a loooong time ago because I loved the movie. The damage bad writing can do to a good story

you like to live dangerously, don't you?