Chick Lit (the appropriately named but much analyzed genre appealing to women between the ages of 18-40 that typically focuses on single women looking for love) is extremely popular…but not just in books.  Chick Flicks are the film version of Chick Lit and are equally scrutinized and looked down upon by film snobs. These chick flicks, also called romantic comedies, are often accused of giving women unrealistic ideas of love and romance. Critics feel these films set women up for disappointment because no man is ever going to measure up to the men we see on screen. In essence, chick flicks set the bar too high. But honestly, what woman doesn’t enjoy a trip to the theater (or DVD player) to watch a carefree tale about a down-on-her-luck woman who doesn’t seem to have anything going for her when the movie starts and then all of a sudden…enter Mr. Romance. We know how it’s going to end…happily ever after…and we know the comedy is going to be hokey and slapstick…but we like it. It’s an escape. We don’t want a woman to pine for a man and then not get him, or wish for a baby/job/vacation/pet and never have it work out. We are faced with that reality in life, we don’t need it in our entertainment. It’s why we read light, fluffy tales of women looking for love…and finding it!

So occasionally we will be discussing “Chick Flicks”. (Eat, Pray, Love is due in theaters in August, so expect a mention here at BookFinds next month. We were big fans of the book and can’t wait to see Julia Roberts portrayal of the uber-cool Elizabeth Gilbert.

In the meantime, this weekend I finally got around to watching WHEN IN ROME with Kristen Bell. For anyone who missed this movie when it hit the theaters in January, let me give you a quick summary.

An ambitious young New Yorker (KRISTEN BELL), disillusioned with romance, takes a whirlwind trip to Rome where she defiantly plucks magic coins from a “foolish” fountain of love, inexplicably igniting the passion of an odd group of suitors: a sausage magnate (DANNY DEVITO), a street magician (JON HEDER), an adoring painter (WILL ARNETT) and a self-admiring model (DAX SHEPARD). But when a charming reporter (JOSH DUHAMEL) pursues her with equal zest, how will she know if his love is the real thing

I read one review of the film that said it was hard to believe a girl as cute and likable as Kristen Bell would have any trouble meeting Mr. Right. Obviously this person hasn’t frequented any bars lately…single girls like Kristen Bell are all over the place!  If WHEN IN ROME were a book it would be considered “high concept” because it involves a rather large plot element that dictates most of the story. The fact that Kristen Bell steals coins from a fountain in Italy and then ends up having the original owner’s of those particular coins fall in love with her is high concept. When she then learns that the man she is falling in love with was one of the owner’s of the coins she stole, she begins to doubt his love for her…thinking he is simply under her “spell” and not truly interested in her.  The movie was enjoyable and entertaining. If it had been a book, I would have read it on the beach and enjoyed every unbelievable moment of it. Check it out on DVD if you are looking for a sweet escape.

A Brand New Me by Shari Low

Shari Low’s bestselling British chick lit, A BRAND NEW ME, is in production with Working Title Films. Mimi Hare and Clare Naylor, screenwriters of The Accidental Husband, are adapting the screenplay.

Here is the description of this wildly popular novel:

Leni Lomond isn’t one of life’s risk-takers. A creature of habit, she’s been stuck in her comfort zone for so long she’s practically asleep.

So, on December 31st, she vows that things will be different this year – new job, new man, new life.

Less than a month into the New Year, Leni’s first resolution is fulfilled when she accepts a job as PA to TV astrologer Zara Delta. And her new assignment – to date men from every sign of the zodiac – looks like it might just help her with the second.

As the year goes by, the men Leni has to date include wannabe rockstar Matt, who sees Leni as his ticket to fame and fortune, overgrown teenager Harry – a man whose idea of a good date is a night at the amusement arcade – and therapist Craig, whose psycho babble is even of a turn-off than his beard…

But just when Leni’s ready to give it all up her fortunes take a turn.

Will this year finally be the one in which Leni changes her life – or is her destiny already written in the stars?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

According to Deadline Hollywood, Fox Searchlight has acquired North American rights from IDG China Media to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, an adaptation set in 19th Century China of the Lisa See novel directed by Wayne Wang. Gianna Jun and Li Bing Bing star,  and Ron Bass wrote the script with Angela Workman and Michael Ray. (Bass and Wang previously teamed on the screen adaptation of the Amy Tan novel The Joy Luck Club.) The deal was made by Searchlight presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula and acquisitions exec veep Tony Safford. Kathy Morgan of KMI International will handle foreign sales. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the film’s producers are Wendi Murdoch and Florence Sloan — in other words, the wives of News Corp (Fox) honcho Rupert Murdoch and MGM chairman Harry Sloan. Meanwhile, executive producer Hugo Shong has a China-based film fund underwritten mostly by Wendi.

Yes, this is a book review site and the title of this post clearly says “The Movie,” but I have to venture into book-to-film territory for a moment. I am a big fan of books being turned into movies because I think it increases and widens the exposure that certain books achieve when they are adapted into films. However, last night I watched THE LOVELY BONES and was so disappointed! I read the book when it first came out and love, love, loved it. It was haunting and heartbreaking, mysterious and well-written. The movie was none of these things. The movie took a beautiful book and tried to turn it into some weird psychedelic fantasy movie (probably because Peter Jackson of The Lord of the Rings fame directed this film) that took all the complexities of the book and erased them. There were some truly horrendous scenes where Susie is stuck in the “in between” which, in Jackson’s hands, is apparently an animated episode of The Partridge Family.

I’m not alone in my distaste for this adaptation. Here is what NPR said when the movie was released this winter.

Sitting through Peter Jackson’s film of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is an ordeal. I’m not talking about the subject. The book opens with the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, so even a good adaptation would be an ordeal. But Jackson’s adolescent New Age computer-generated fantasyland is an excruciating fusion of the novel’s primal trauma and his own sensibility, which is more at home with juvenile, male-dominated Lord of the Ringsepics. There isn’t a second that rings true – on any level.

All I can say is, if you haven’t read the book and made the mistake of seeing this movie first, go back and read the book! You will not be disappointed.

Katherine Heigl is set to star in ‘One for the Money’, the first in Janet Evanovich’s wildly popular Stephanie Plum series. According to Variety, Reese Witherspoon was previously attached.

An exciting report hit the press late Friday that Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn were “circling” chances to star in the film adaptation of Sarah Gruen’s bestselling novel Water For Elephants. We have details on the role if Rob commits, but here’s a hint: Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in love? We don’t know who’s more jealous – us or Jake Gyllenhaal.

Probably us. An MTV blog has described Robert Pattinson’s role as the following if he takes the part, which is said to be “likely”: “The story follows a young man — presumably Pattinson — who drops out of school after his parents are killed to join the circus. Penn would play a disturbed animal trainer who works for said circus while the previously confirmed Reese Withspoon would play his wife.”

Variety reported that the film rights to “Dragon Tattoo” have been sold to Sony to produce a film based on the bestselling book. Although there has already been a film released in Sweden last February that made almost $100 million dollars across Europe, this will be the first American film based on the first trilogy.

The film will be c0-produced by the trusty Scott Rudin with the makers of Swedish film, Yellow Bird Films.

Over at MTV’s blog, they speculate who will play the tough, tattooed computer hacker turned sleuth Lisbeth Salander, who has been called “one of the most compelling characters in contemporary fiction.”

According to MTV, their choice is clear:

She is “a pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows… She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair raven black… She had a wide mouth, a small nose, and high cheekbones that gave her an almost Asian look.” And of course, she has a dragon tattoo (among others). With that in mind, here are our top three picks for Lisbeth:

Shannyn SossamonIf I were to leave my duties as your faithful blogger and take up a career as a Hollywood casting agent, my No. 1 pick for this role would be Shannyn Sossamon. Best known for her early ’00s roles in “A Knight’s Tale” and “40 Days and 40 Nights” this exotic brunette is a perfect physical facsimile of how I imagine Lisbeth to look.

Samaire ArmstrongAnother young starlet who’s just the right mix of delicate and dangerous is “Dirty Sexy Money” and “O.C.” actress Samaire Armstrong. Plus, with stints on T.V. crime shows like “NYPD Blue,” “Numb3rs” and “CSI: Miami,” she’s no stranger to a little detective work.

Kate MoennigWe loved Kate Moennig as tough-as-nails (with a heart of gold) lesbian Shane McCutcheon in “The L Word.” Pretty yet androgynous, we hope Kate would consider a hiatus from her role as Dr. Miranda Foster on the medical drama “Three Rivers” to step into Lisbeth’s well-worn combat boots.

Kristen Stewart of “Twilight” fame is a name that will probably pop up, although she was great in “Adventureland,” she has never come off as a “tough girl.” We will have to wait and see. Feel free to weigh in on who you think should be cast.

Joan Didion

Joan Didion is slated to write the script for the HBO biopic about legendary Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham. Graham oversaw the paper’s Watergate coverage leading to the resignation of President Nixon. The untitled project, which is in the very early stages of development, will follow Graham’s ascendancy to the top post at the newspaper after her husband committed suicide in 1963. HBO execs are reportedly in talks to have Laura Linney star as Graham.

Laura Linney

Katharine Graham