Book Inspired Oscar Nominations

I enjoy looking at how many of the movies that make it to the Oscars are based on books or short stories.  This year has a full slate of book-to-movie nominations and here is a listing for you reading pleasure.  Some are nominated for the lesser recognized awards, but they are still in the Oscars.

Contending for Best Picture are:

-  “12 Years a Slave” is based on the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, also nominated for Best Director for Steve McQueen, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Fassbender, Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o.

-  “Philomena” is drawn from the book "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" by journalist Martin Sixsmith, and is also up for  Best Actress for Judi Dench.

-  “The Wolf of Wall Street” used two memoirs: "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street" each written by Jordan Belfort, and are also nominated for Best Director for Martin Scorsese, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, and also Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill.

-  “Captain Phillips” is based on the memoir “A Captain’s Duty,”  written by the Captain Richard Phillips, which is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi.

-  “August: Osage County” which has Meryl Streep nominated for Best Actress and Julia Roberts for Best Supporting Actress, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County by Tracy Letts.

Best Animated Feature nominees:  “Ernest & Celestine,” from various books for children written by author and artist Gabrielle Vincent.  “Frozen,” is based on the Hans Christian Andersen legend “The Snow Queen.”  “The Wind Rises” is based on the director Hayao Miyazaki’s manga, which was inspired by the book “The Wind Has Risen” by Tatsuo Hori.

Best Sound Editing nominees “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is of course based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel "Hobbit" and “Lone Survivor” is based on the book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell.

Best Original Score has “The Book Thief,” which is based on the novel of the same name by Markus Zusak,

Of course The Great Gatsby movie was based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic and The Invisible Woman utilized a Charles Dickens biobraphy by Claire Tomalin are up for misc. awards.

What a bounty of books that were made into movies.  Have you read the book and also seen the movie of any of these nominees?  Please share your feelings about each. 

Original source:  Oscar nominations: Many films came from the page 

Vote for the Book behind the Oscar movie!

I just came across this and had to share it immediately with all of you. Encore Books in Yakima, WA has an online Oscar Ballet to vote for the BOOKS that the Oscar nominated movies originated from. I love this idea so I am spreading the word.  Online Ballot is HERE.

From their site: "Every year the Academy honors the actors and directors and everyone else involved in movie-making, but they almost never recognize the books... and the beloved characters in those books... that make so many of their films possible.

We think its time to correct that oversight, so we've created this ballot. Please help us choose which books and characters are Oscar-worthy. The six categories and nominations below are all taken from this year's Academy Award nominations."

As a special Thank You, they will select some of the entries to receive a free book!

You get to vote on these categories:

• Best Supporting Female Character (Taken from nominations for Best Supporting Actress)
• Best Supporting Male Character (Taken from nominations for Best Supporting Actor)
• Best Female Character (Taken from nominations for Best Actress)
  Best Male Character (Taken from nominations for Best Supporting Actor)
• Best Book (Taken from nominations for Best Actor)
• Best adaptation of a book into a movie (Taken from nominations for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay)

Voting closes at midnight February 25th.
Results will be revealed February 26th on their Facebook Page

Let's help celebrate the BOOKS behind these movies!