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The Snowman (2017)
The Snowman (2017)
2017 | Crime, Drama, Horror
How could this go so wrong?
I've finally come to the realisation that, apart from a few rare exceptions, filmmakers really have no clue what they're doing with book adaptations. I appreciate you cant include absolutely everything from a book, but it should still be fairly easy to adapt an already well received novel into a film. Well apparently with The Snowman it isn't.

They appear to have picked out some of the very basic plot points and loose character identities from the book, and decided to completely rewrite the rest of the story. This'd be fine if it works,but it really doesn't - the book is barely recognisable within this mess.


The characters are underdeveloped and completely changed. Harry, despite being an alcoholic and a bit of an ass, is meant to still be loveable. In this, you couldn't care less about him. Oleg is portrayed as a petulant teenager, Rakel is sidelined and the rest appear to be similar to their book counterparts in name only.


They've missed so many key plot lines out that I could barely understand what was going on, and due to this, there was no intrigue, no tension or suspense. Even a very good cast are given nothing to work with here.


It's unusual for me to be able to find nothing good to say about a film. And it's even rarer for me to want to walk out of a film less than an hour in. The trailer made this film look very good, but it failed miserably.
  
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Maddie (37 KP) Nov 16, 2017

I read the original novel and have yet to see the movie due to so many reviews such as these. However, to be fair to the filmmakers in this case, the people pulling the financial strings for this film gave the director and crew very little time to shoot. I think Tomas Alfredson, the director, said they were so short on time 20% of the script didn't get shot. This meant they had to try to fix everything in the editing room - a situation no filmmaker ever wants to be in.

I'm 100% sure this is a bad film, especially since the director himself said it wasn't what he wanted (and I had such high hopes for this after seeing what he did with Let The Right One In). However, I wouldn't go so far as to blame the situation on the cast and crew, but rather on the studio and the ones writing paychecks. Sounds like they shot this one into the ground, not the artists.

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, Yuki Morisaki | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The characters, which are well-developed, for the most part. (1 more)
The dishes, which I was surprised to learn have actually been tested before being put into the books.
There is quite a bit of fan-service, which I don't mind, but it's hard to imagine food so good that it causes people's clothing to shred and disappear (only mentally, not actually in front of others). (0 more)
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma (the series)
I have been reading Food Wars since volume 1 came out and now that book 20 has recently been released in the United States, I still enjoy this rather unique food-based manga.

The hero, Yukihira Soma, has been raised as the only child of a single father who runs a diner called Yukihira. One day, his father tells Soma that he has enrolled him in a culinary school and that he will be off helping friends for a while. Soma doesn't think much of this idea, but goes to take the test for Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy and settles into Polaris Dormitory, and so the story begins.

Soma has quirks, and lots of them. You know he's getting serious when he whips his headband off his wrist and dons it and his apron (which I've not figured out yet where he keeps that). He has no end of confidence, and often says the first thing that comes to his mind, which gets him in trouble a lot of the time. He's determined to be the top student at the academy so that he can beat his dad eventually in a food competition, of which he's lost several during his childhood. Despite this, he is eager to learn new things and never gives up. He is loyal to his friends and has a strong sense of justice.

Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy isn't exactly the most normal school anyway. It is a fact that over 90% or more of the students either get expelled, fail out, or drop out, and the idea behind the academy is that most of the students are there merely to "polish" the students who make it through the final year of high school. It is run not only by Dean Nakiri, but by the Council of Ten, who are the top ten students at the school. Disputes between the students are settled by Shokugeki, which have very strict rules.

I think my favorite story arc is the one with the Fall Classic (books 6-13), where 100 selected first year high school students compete to see who is the best. The winners usually go on to become part of the Council of Ten. Many things happen in this arc, from Soma and Megumi (a girl from Polaris, who learns a lot about cooking and confidence from Soma) learning about curry and spices, to Soma's dad coming for a visit, to a copycat chef who wins other students' favorite cutlery from them in Shokugeki, to the surprise finish of the Classic under the light of the full moon.

I would definitely recommend this manga series if you enjoyed other food series such as Yakitate!! Japan. It's a lot of fun and drama all wrapped up in a tasty bow. The manga series is still on-going, with an anime which has just entered its third season.
  

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