Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! Only 3 days, 11 hours and a handful of minutes until Twilight hits theaters! Are you going to be in line to watch the first show at midnight on November 21? You are? Well you won't see me there but I hope you enjoy the show. (Need an update on how long before it opens in theaters? check here for a countdown clock)
In case you are unfamiliar with this "Twilight" to which I refer, then you haven't talked with many tween/teenage girls lately or haven't placed one of the 200+ holds on the book (or its sequels). Stephanie Meyer's 2005 young adult vampire romance novel is a NY Times best seller and has three sequels to date. The movie version is almost here and many just can't wait! For a fan's entertaining (although a bit long) reaction to her initial viewing of the trailer watch this youtube video.
Unfortunately many book fans are often disappointed by the film version of their favorite book, but once in a while a decent version of a book does hit the big screen. So, how about you RAVALA folks? Do you have any book to movie that you thought was done well? Or are there any movie versions you just hated?
If you need a reminder on those titles that have gone from book to movie, be sure to visit the Mid-Continent Public Library "Based on the Book" list. You can also find it on the ALD website's Movies & Music page.
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6 comments:
I have two favorites that every person should check out; well I guess they are sort of "guy" movies. My favorite by far is Fight Club, and the book of the same title by Chuck Palahniuk. These are both my favorite movie and favorite book. Another one near the top of my list is 25th Hour by David Benioff. And the movie, starring Ed Norton is amazing also. One problem, ALD does not carry this book, but it is well written and the movie does the book justice. Please check out both of these and let me know what you think.
My feelings about books into movies may not be the same as everyone else's. But for me it's important that the movie follows the book as closely as possible. I would give thumbs up to the Harry Potter movies, Lost Moon (Apollo 13), and Memoirs of a Geisha. However, I have more that are thumbs down: Seabiscuit, The Perfect Storm, Flags of Our Fathers, all of the Bourne's, The Indian in the Cupboard (a disaster). There are quite a few books made into movies which I haven't read, but have seen the movie, so I don't really want to mention those. Hope I don't sound too negative! Don't mean to
susan - paging thru life said...
A great movie classic (and one that truly follows the book written by A.B. Guthrie) is "The Big Sky" - directed by Howard Hawks and starring Kirk Douglas. Although it is a black and white film, it is one of the best films ever about the era of the fur trappers and how they lived. It was filmed on location (the Snake River and the Grand Tetons) in 1952
Of course the best of all is "Gone with the Wind" which vividly and flawlessly captures all of Margaret Mitchell's magnificently drawn characters.
Susan C.
Stephen King has to be mentioned here because so many of his books have been made into movies. Two of my favorites are from his book Different Seasons- an excellent read with 4 different novellas. Two of these were made into great movies- Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (made into The Shawshank Redemption)and The Body (made into Stand by Me). Then of course there's The Shining- who can forget Jack Nicholson's "Heeere's Johnny!" I don't really care if the movie follows the book exactly, as long as it's a great movie!
I agree with Cheryl in the respect that a movie should follow the book closely, especially the ending. When Jodi Picoult last spoke at the Tattered Cover, she said a movie is being made from her book,"My Sister's Keeper" and even though she had sold the rights,she was told that the movie ending was going to be different than her novel. She confronted the director, was banned from the set, kept up her reasoning for not changing her ending and the director finally agreed to film both endings and test market it to audiences before he decided. We'll have to wait until it's released to find out.
One movie that very closely followed the book was "Silence of the Lambs" and book of the same name by Thomas Harris. The book was very detailed and so little was actually NOT included in the film. One that totally disappointed me was "Night Sins" by Tami Hoag. They completely changed some of the main characters and totally ruined the story. The book was great, the movie, not so much. I usually am ok with them taking some artistic license as long as the basic characters stay the same and they don't botch the story if it is a good movie!!
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