Books, Mud and Compost. And Horses.

Thanks Charlotte for sending me this (I know I've posted something similar before, but the video's different for this one.  And I just like it anyway.)

These photos are from the film being made by Stephen Speilberg . I had wondered if he'd stick with using the puppets and use a more graphic style, but it looks like it's real-life all the way.

Dreamworks (Stephen Spielberg) have acquired the rights. Bearing in mind the difference between the book and the play, I'll be interested to see what new directions the film takes off in.

I'm just not good at seeing adaptations of books I know well. The place in my brain where the books live is too ready to charge in, saying "Shouldn't that be happening now? And what's happened to so-and-so? And x should happen next. I wonder if it will?" It's not so bad if I see something for the second time: I watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for the second time over Christmas, and because I knew exactly how much had been missed out or changed, I was able to turn the brain off and watch the film as it was (and consequently, enjoyed it much more than the first time). This was a blessed relief to my daughter, who normally has to suffer me sitting next to her at films, hissing and muttering. I tried and failed to read Cornelia Funke's Inkheart , about a father who, when he reads aloud, brings the characters quite literally to life, but went to see the film with OH and daughter, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The initial scenes set in book shops...

A post on Mutterings and Meanderings' blog reminded me of the horsey programmes I used to watch. My absolute favourite horsey programme was White Horses , which for those of you not lucky enough to be born when I was, was a German programme about a Lipizzaner stud, dubbed into English. I think there's a certain section of horsey society out there who can sing along with every single word of the theme song. And Boris, ah Boris.... there was a horse. Ferreting about on the internet when I should have been doing other things, I found this site , dedicated to the series, and which is going to re-issue it on DVD. Oooooooh.... oooooooooooh. When it's out, I shall buy one, and an extremely large box of chocolates and watch it all with my sister, my partner in our television crimes. Fortunately White Horses was on BBC1 as for most of my childhood we had a tv that only received BBC1, and when we did get a telly that got more chanels, my mother issued an edict that ITV was bad a...