Movie Adaptations?

[todamascus]

I haven't myself seen many adaptations but it sounds like a fun topic.

Worst and best? What have you seen recently? Any recommendations?

I normally stick to films with safe casting but also dodge when the book is too big or too dear.

Here I go first...

Worst: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter or Daniel Craig as Bond (not that Craig is bad but he's nothing like Bond).

Best: I've always had a crush on J-L Trintignant & Ralph Fiennes so that would be a tie between "Conformist" and "The Constant Gardner".

Have a good day everyone.

h.

Edited February 16, 2012 by todamascus

[yank in the M20]

Good topic.

Never Let Me Go was a pretty poor adaptation of a fabulous book--the two leads were great, but the script changes and the casting of Kiera Knightley as the third lead negated their performances.

Everyone talks about the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice so I'll leave that one be, but I'd like to put in a vote for the 90s version of Persuasion--captured the humor and the pathos of the book exactly.

And what about adaptations you can't wait to come out? I'm eagerly anticipating the BBC Parade's End later this year with Benedict Cumberbatch.

[MelleMelville]

I think one of my favorite adaptations is A Single Man. Colin Firth was so good and it's such a beautiful story. Also, Adaptation, though I'm not sure if that counts.

Speaking of up-coming adaptations, I am totally dreading the "action-heavy take" on Paradise Lost with Bradley Cooper that's coming out next year. Yikes.

[user_name]

Blade Runner. It's only 1/3 of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but they had the good form to change the name and used what they took well.

Blow-Up. It took the story and ran with it.

...plus Jurassic Park, but that goes without saying.

[Sparky]

Blade Runner. It's only 1/3 of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but they had the good form to change the name and used what they took well.

...And set it in a different city...in a different year... All my love to both, mind you, but still... On PKD, I think Minority Report and Scanner Darkly work far better as movies than novellas, but I'm not sure I would put either on my list of all-time greatest adaptations.

My vote goes to The Great Escape. Also, Shawkshank Redemption (if we are considering short stories as well as novel-length works). Both cases of phenomenal source material turned into outstanding movies.

Oh! And The Princess Bride. Also in the category of "movies that are VASTLY different than their source material," but again, both are excellent in their own ways.

[HunkyDory]

I think one of my favorite adaptations is A Single Man. Colin Firth was so good and it's such a beautiful story. Also, Adaptation, though I'm not sure if that counts.

Speaking of up-coming adaptations, I am totally dreading the "action-heavy take" on Paradise Lost with Bradley Cooper that's coming out next year. Yikes.

The Paradise Lost movie got cancelled like a week ago. The funding fell through.

There are Great Gatasby and On The Road movies out this year though.

[cquin]

I love Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides almost as much as I love Eugenides's novel.

[Grunty DaGnome]

Best: Tie between Kubrick's Clockwork Orange and Kubrick's Lolita with Peter Sellers.

Worst: The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore.

[cquin]

Best: Tie between Kubrick's Clockwork Orange and Kubrick's Lolita with Peter Sellers.

Duh, how did I not think of Lolita? Peter Sellers makes me weak in the knees...

[antecedent]

I love love LOVE both Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner - too me they are the best example of a successful novel/adaptation relationship. Many plot points are the same, but Ridley Scott kinda made up the details in a way that actually fit the novel. Complementary, not identical.

Unlike Harry Potter, where they tried to keep every detail the same (except when they gave up) and hit all the high plot points and not glossing over anything if they couldn't skip it, making the films seem like two hours sitting in stop-and-go traffic.

I know The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo isn't high literature, but I thought that Noomi Rapace as Salander in the Swedish films was one of the best casting decisions I have ever seen. I swear she was born to play that role. On the same note, I thought Daniel Craig did a pretty good job as Blomkvist, although I'm afraid that's like saying Keanu Reeves did a good job playing Neo. Neither role required much expression, just a lot of hurrying around and looking concerned.

[Jbarks]

Some good ones: The Hours, American Psycho, The Shining, and Children of Men.

Bad Life Decisions: The Scarlet Letter, War of the Worlds, Beloved (not a fan of the book either, but still...seriously, Oprah?)

[RoundandRoundAgain]

So many great suggestions on this thread! In sticking with the BBC adaptations, North and South is amazing and I really enjoyed Middlemarch. I hated Lost in Austen though.

A Series of Unfortunate Events did a great job of capturing the spirit of Lemony Snicket and did a pretty decent job of covering the first three books of the series.

[yank in the M20]

So many great suggestions on this thread! In sticking with the BBC adaptations, North and South is amazing and I really enjoyed Middlemarch. I hated Lost in Austen though.

A Series of Unfortunate Events did a great job of capturing the spirit of Lemony Snicket and did a pretty decent job of covering the first three books of the series.

I loved Wives and Daughters.

[Silent_G]

Worst: The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore.

By far. I absolutely hated it and was forced to watch the entire thing in high school during English class. I was ready to walk out after the first five minutes.

[bfat]

Two of the worst adaptations I've ever seen were The Prince of Tides and The Time Traveler's Wife, which are two of my favorite books. They were absolutely butchered.

[Stately Plump]

Don't ever watch Cold Mountain. Just read the book.

The Hours was phenomenal, as someone said. I also love the new Sherlock Holmes with Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes (though that is a TV show and not a movie). It is freakin brilliant.

There are also times, I think, when the book and the movie need to be appreciated as separate art forms. I think it happens too often that people look for a movie to recreate the book so they can relive the experience they had while reading the book. If you want to relive the book, reread the book. I don't think movies necessarily need to be true to the book. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close comes to mind; Oskar is a very different character in the movie than in the book (in the book he is much more timid and unsure; in the movie, at times, he comes off as cocky and pretentious) but it works.

My point is, don't see Cold Mountain. Just read the book. And then try to pretend they never made the movie.

[Isidore]

I'd like to preface this by saying that I'm an aspiring medievalist, and have read approximately 3 new releases in my entire life. However, Johnathan Safran Foer's "Everything is Illuminated" will stay put on my top 10 (well, maybe top 20) list forever. But the movie fell OH so short - the film fails to navigate time as deftly as Foer does through narrative... not to mention the fact that I laughed out loud many, many more times while reading the book!

Maybe "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" will be better... but then again, I wasn't crazy about the book.

[Isidore]

I don't think movies necessarily need to be true to the book. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close comes to mind; Oskar is a very different character in the movie than in the book (in the book he is much more timid and unsure; in the movie, at times, he comes off as cocky and pretentious) but it works.

Now I'll definitely have to see the movie...

[user_name]

Trapped in the Closet (chapters 1-12) was a pretty head-on adaption of Finnegan's Wake.

[perrykm2]

I like the old and new versions of The Importance of Being Earnest. All of the Studio Ghibli book adaptations are amazing: Ponyo, Tales from Earthsea, Howl's Moving Castle. I keep trying to get my boyfriend to watch Howl's Moving Castle with me, but he keeps refusing. I also love Clueless (guilty pleasure) as an adaptation of Emma. Actually, I think that 1990's Beverly Hills is the perfect setting for that plot.

I also have a spot in my heart for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie, but it's not awesome.

[perrykm2]

I hated Lost in Austen though.

Yes, so bad. I hated it, too.

[hazelbite]

Some good ones: The Hours...

I think most Woolfians start foaming at the mouth when people talk about Michael Cunningham...

[marlowe]

There are Great Gatasby and On The Road movies out this year though.

Ah, looking forward to these.

The Hours was phenomenal, as someone said. I also love the new Sherlock Holmes with Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes (though that is a TV show and not a movie). It is freakin brilliant.

Ah, agreed on both accounts. I love Holmes, and the Cumberbatch interpretation is pretty awesome.

I loved the Jurassic Parks, the Thomas Harris/Hannibal Lector films. I always tend to prefer the books, however.

[marlowe]

Better question: When has the film been better than the book!?

[perrykm2]

@Marlowe Probably most adaptations of Stephen King paperback novels.