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Since the first Academy Awards in 1928, thirty-three Best Picture winners were based on novels.

All told, that accounts for almost half of all Academy Award winning films! That’s quite a track record attesting to the critical success of “book to screen.” But do literary characters fare equally well?

There are countless fairy tales and legends we hold dear, but not all of them have had the staying power of Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Cinderella. Some stories just don’t have what it takes to remain in public consciousness and be made into Disney films. Here’s a collection of fairy tales that have fallen, deservedly, into obscurity.*

[Movie still from La La Land, Lionsgate]

If you’re a movie buff – or even if you’re not – you probably know that the world has gone absolutely gaga for La La Land. Everywhere you look, there’s a new article about the casting choices, or the songwriting, or how many Oscars the film will ultimately take home—even articles about which books might get the La La Land treatment and be turned into musicals. We’re all about that trend, but let’s flip the script—here are some books that would make terrible musicals.

Science fiction is one of the greatest predictors of the future. Since it’s speculative fiction, it’s bound to get ideas right every now and then. For example, if it weren’t for Star Trek, we might not have the automatic sliding door or Bluetooth headsets! Author Jules Verne was another one of the greats at thinking up what the not-too-distant future might bring. After all, he foresaw the invention of both space shuttles and submarines. We at Quirk thought it would be fun to take a look at some other sci-fi tech feats that haven’t happened yet…but could!

[Photo by Wei-Cheng Wu on Unsplash]

The Grammys may have come and gone, but we all know the music listening has just begun. We’re offering you some recommended reading while you catch up on these Grammy Awards winners, all so you can optimize your reading/listening experience.

Keanu is one of those people who only needs one name like Cher, Bono or Sting. The man has been one of the greatest action stars of all time with films like Speed and the Matrix bringing in mass quantities of dead presidents at the box office. Just this month, Keanu will be gracing the world with the sequel to his sleeper hit John Wick, which is bound to be yet another success. Even so, from time to time, he seems to like to stretch his wings. Mr. Reeves played Don John in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing. He also took a shot at Johnathan Harker in the Francis Ford Coppola version of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. While Keanu’s acting sometimes meets with mixed reviews, it is clear that America loves him, and could love him in a variety of different literary roles.