The trailer for THE GIVER

[Borstalboy]

Yet another Hollywood adaptation of some book that has Really Special Teenagers.
Streep's wig deserves it's own Razzie

[darquegk]

I don't know yet how well this movie will play out, but I'm happy the design elements are at least somewhat restrained. I worried it would look like "Logan's Run."

[Lavieboheme3090]

I guess it was to much to hope that they would have filmed this movie in black and white.

[darquegk]

I don't think that would have worked. In the book, that plot works because you don't realize until then that they can't see color. The idea of color as abstract concept that they can't grasp is not only central to the plot, but central to the realization that it's a dystopia, not a utopia.

The black-and-white-to-color trope is too common in films for it to work the way it did in Lowry's novel.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Haven't read the book, but the preview couldn't look more derivative and terrible.

[strummergirl]

The film should be in black and white. Heck, grainy 35mm black and white.

[Taryn]

I've seen a different trailer where parts ARE in black and white, so I think that they may actually retain that for the beginning of the film until Jonas starts having his sessions with the Giver.

[Taryn]

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/05/22/the-giver-character-posters-taylor-swift-meryl-streep/ has some mention of the B&W featurette along with the B&W character posters that just came out.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

This was one of my favorite books as a kid and I was looking forward to this film, but they seem to have aged Jonas up from 12 to about 19, and swapped the quiet, building suspense of the novel for a very generic teen action movie feel, like Hunger Games or Percy Jackson. I understand why they made that choice, but this is just very disappointing.

[jasonf]

The Giver is a really fantastic book. Anyone who hasn't read it, I strongly recommend it. It's short - maybe 150 pages, but really one of the deepest YA books you'll ever read. I taught the book in my 7th/8th grade class and we had some of the best discussions of the year from it.

That said, I'm VERY concerned about this movie. It doesn't look nearly as good as the book, or like they even got close...

[BobbyBubbi]

Thanks for the info on the book everyone, I will pick up a copy.

Judging from the trailer, (which I know, is unfair) this movie doesn't look very good.

Kudos to Meryl though for continuing to turn them out.

[EricMontreal22]

When this was announced, I was kinda surprised that after all these years, a big budget Lois Lowry novel was being filmed. Then I remembered that The Giver could easily be fit into the current YA dystopia film mode

[EricMontreal22]

Hollywood seems to be hedging their bets on former teen Aussie soap star Brenton Thwaits going from a cheesy Blue Lagoon tv remake to leads in this and Maleficent. Phillips Noyce has directed great films (Dead Calm, etc) and some awful ones, but at least it promises to be stylish.

[EricMontreal22]

The above mentioned featurette does seem a lot better (and doesn't feature Taylor, ugh, Swift.) https://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/the-giver-goes-black-and-white-officially-182148696.html?vp=1

[beautywickedlover]

They've just released another trailer.


The World is Black and White in a New Trailer for The Giver

[beautywickedlover]

Here are Bridges's thoughts on Swift's performance.

"She's so sweet and such a good actress and, of course, a phenomenal songwriter and musician," Bridges, 64, said Thursday while promoting their new film together, The Giver at the annual Comic-Con event, held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in San Diego.

But could an acting career be in the pop and country star's future?

"Oh, yeah," replied Bridges. "I think so."

"Taylor was so terrific," Bridges said of her screen work. "Our scenes we had together – a lot of the scenes were at the piano, so both being lovers of music, we talked a lot of music and got to pick a little bit between set-ups."


Taylor Swift, Movie Star? The Giver Costar Jeff Bridges Weighs In

[beautywickedlover]

I saw this over the weekend. The movie was very bizarre and kind of slow. It really would be strange to live in world with any emotion or feeling whatsoever. I was impressed with Swift's acting since this was her first dramatic role.