Excitement Level Over 9,000! Children's tales coming to the screen in 2016

I am a big fan of all things Disney. (Does it hurt my feminist credentials to admit that?!)

That's why I was so excited to find out that two Disney tales are returning to the silver screen this year; The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast. Whilst browsing Youtube, I was side-tracked by two other movie announcements; The BFG, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I got really excited, thinking about these upcoming movies, then I realised; ALL THE MOVIES I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO WERE KID'S MOVIES.  

However, with actors such as Eddie Redmayne, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba and Emma Watson, studios are breaking out the big guns. These are the kinds of films that bring up nostalgia for generations of movie-goers, and looks set to make them the major blockbusters of the year. I am definitely excited for Bill Murray as the bumbling bear Baloo. And Christopher Walken as the giant 'orangutan' King Louie? Genius. What am I saying? Go ahead, indulge your inner child.

The Jungle Book, with stars including the aforementioned Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Bill Murray and child actor Neel Sethi, will be the first to arrive on NZ's screens, premiering in April this year. The trailer promises a sweet hearted, but action-packed story. Prepare to be dazzled by the beautiful Indian wildlife, and to have your heart stolen by the plucky new Mowgli.

The second to open in New Zealand this year is The BFG, premiering in July, with a cast of actors including Bill Hader, Rebecca Hall and our very own Jermaine Clement. There is only a teaser trailer out at the moment, but as Roald Dahl and director Steven Spielberg fans know, there's only so far you can (hopefully) go wrong.

*hyperventilates* Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. A Harry Potter prequel; what more can I say?! With an upcoming 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' play premiering in London this year, prepare for further Rowling mania. The announcement trailer doesn't give much away, but the plot basically is actor Eddie Redmayne playing 'Magizoologist' Newt Scamander, author of a future Hogwarts textbook on the subject, who chases down magical creatures in 1926 New York.

The second Disney story adapted for the screen, Beauty & the Beast, is technically not appearing to cinemas until 2017, but there is a lot of buzz around it already. Fans are freaking out about the casting of Miss Hermione Granger herself, Emma Watson, as book-loving Belle. With her large fan base and Brown University credentials, she is the perfect casting. Other actors in this astonishingly talented ensemble include Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, and Stanley Tucci.

What movies are you excited to see this year? Any other kids movies coming out this year that I've missed? Let me know in the comments below!

6 Movies that are Better than the Books they were Based on (IMHO)

Books that are better than the movie are ten cents for twelve (you know, a dime a dozen) but I really had to do some serious pondering to come up with some movies that surpassed their source material. Here’s my list of 6 movies that succeeded in spite of being based on books that were all just like blah blah blah.

American Psycho
It’s kinda hard to read a book with your eyes closed but that is how I got through ‘American Psycho’. The promising beginning soon descends into page after page of murder! madness! misogyny! mutilation! without really going anywhere - at least, nowhere that I wanted to go. The movie has all of that, but one thing the book doesn’t have but really needed: character development.

Once Were Warriors
Am I allowed to say that? The movie just made such a massive impact and was so accessible in a way that a novel could not be. Of course, the movie succeeds in part because of the depth of the source material but…it’s just BOOM! you know?

The Devil Wears Prada
A chick-lit novel about fashion would be easy to slate, but it’s actually not a bad read. It’s entertaining enough: there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. There’s just something that the movie has that the book does not: Meryl Streep. She gives her fashion editor character a depth that the book lacks.

Trainspotting
I owned this book for years before I even got past the first few pages, what with all that Scottish dialect and no speech marks. Just watch the movie, it’s so much easier. And it has a great soundtrack.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Yawns all round! But the movie has Colin Firth, so it wins by a smidge.

Anne of Green Gables
This is highly controversial of me to say, but mostly because Anne of Green Gables was technically a miniseries, not a movie. Come on! You know I’m right. The book is great, lots of chapters about Anne’s various shenanigans in Avonlea, but it’s all a bit old-timey in structure and I want a bit more direction from my novels. Many of the books’ scenes just work better after being tweaked a bit for the movie to really bring out the humour, drama and sadness. Plus, Megan Follows is the Best Anne Shirley Ever and Gilbert Blythe is a stone cold fox. Facts.

Well, I’m done dancing with the devil for now. There’s nothing left to do but invite the outpouring of offence in the comments below. Do you agree or disagree with my 6 choices? What movies do you think are better than the books? Who’s hotter, Colin Firth or Gilbert Blythe? Post your comments below!