spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,519
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Post by spiderwort on Jun 3, 2020 2:16:04 GMT
These are only a few of mine: East of Eden (1955) - Screenwriter Paul Osborn wisely convinced director Elia Kazan to do only the last quarter of this great John Steinbeck 600+ page novel. One of my favorite novels and one of my favorite films. Brideshead Revisted (1981) - British mini-series of the Evelyn Waugh novel, starring Jeremy Irons in one of the most faithful adaptations of any written work I've ever seen. Vastly superior to the 2008 two hour film version, and a must-see for anyone who missed it when it first aired. It's available on-line, even for free in a couple of places. Shane (1953) - a beautiful adaptation of Jack Schaefer's beautiful novel, the final passage of which I will cherish forever. Hud (1963) - an extraordinary adaptation of Larry McMurtry's first novel, "Horseman, Pass By." I'm sure that anyone who loves the film would also love the novel. It's remarkable. Double Indemnity (1944) - the film is a masterpiece of the noir genre, but the novel is a masterpiece in its own right, with an ending that's completely different from the film. The final page is utterly breathtaking. I'd copy it here, but it wouldn't make sense to anyone who hasn't read it, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone who does - which, btw, I highly recommend.
I have more, but I'll stop with these for now.
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Post by bravomailer on Jun 3, 2020 3:38:11 GMT
David Lean made a wonderful film from Great Expectations.
I liked Mike Nichols's Catch-22, though many do not.
The Godfather, of course.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 3, 2020 3:51:20 GMT
All versions of favorite being the one I just finished watching again.
Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella aka
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Bargle
Sophomore
My incredibly life-like self-portrait
@bargle
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Post by Bargle on Jun 3, 2020 10:41:09 GMT
The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart The Hunger Games Trilogy The Andromeda Strain
There's others I liked very much, but these stayed close to the source material, which many adaptations don't.
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Post by Zos on Jun 3, 2020 10:45:04 GMT
The Outlaw Josey Wales...From the book Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter ( A KKK leader)
The Final programme by Michael Moorcock
Cloud Atlas
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jun 3, 2020 12:28:28 GMT
Not a movies but a mini series
Our Mutual Friend (1998) Sense and Sensibility (2008) War and Peace (2007 and 2016) It should be said that the 2007 one is not a very good adaption but i still really enjoy it. Pride and Prejudice (1980 and 1995) Wives and Daughters (1999)
There are others too but those are the once i will mention.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jun 3, 2020 13:12:32 GMT
Not a movies but a mini series Our Mutual Friend (1998) Sense and Sensibility (2008) War and Peace (2007 and 2016) It should be said that the 2007 one is not a very good adaption but i still really enjoy it. Pride and Prejudice (1980 and 1995) Wives and Daughters (1999) There are others too but those are the once i will mention. Oh, man you've read a lot of great novels there! I've only read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. Always meant to read WAR AND PEACE, but even when I was young I found the page count daunting. And I don't think I've seen any of those mini-series, though I know that often that's the best medium to present those kinds of stories. That said, I really love the 1995 version of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, which won Emma Thompson an Oscar for her adaptation of the novel. Talented woman, she. I also found the page count of War and Peace daunting, but when i got started it was a very easy read.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Jun 3, 2020 15:38:08 GMT
I wouldn't go as far as saying that I loved these novels or that the film adaptations are favourites of mine, but these are some titles that I have enjoyed in both forms:
The Martian
The Eye of the Needle
Le Mystère Henri Pick The first Lisbeth Salander book About a Boy Juliet, Naked The Harry Potter books
If we include television, then #1 would definitely be "Game of Thrones" and #2 "The Last Kingdom".
Some books that I did love but whose film adaptations not so much:
Love in the Times of Cholera Dune The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Finally, a movie that I liked a lot but whose source material I didn't: the second Bourne movie. I read the book after watching the movie and thought it was crap.
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Post by Carl LaFong on Jun 4, 2020 20:25:50 GMT
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is pretty faithful to the novel. Even lifts some of the dialogue straight from the book. It’s my favourite film.
Double Indemnity - hard to know which I prefer more, the book or film. Both brilliant.
I wouldn’t say I loved the novel on which Hitchcock’s Vertigo is based, but it is a decent read.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Jun 4, 2020 23:32:46 GMT
I liked the mini series of the Bourne Identity with Richard Chamberlain, The Harry Potter series, The Da Vinci Code, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Delores Claiborne, The Martian, and Bell Book and Candle (its not a novel but a play but I love this movie).
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Jun 5, 2020 0:10:07 GMT
Interesting question because you usually like one more than the other. I think the best example of liking both for me is V For Vendetta. They're two different things (one is about anarchy and Thatcher England, the other is about Bush America and tones down the anarchy theme) but both are great at what they're trying to do.
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Post by Carl LaFong on Jun 5, 2020 11:59:01 GMT
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is pretty faithful to the novel. Even lifts some of the dialogue straight from the book. It’s my favourite film. Double Indemnity - hard to know which I prefer more, the book or film. Both brilliant. I wouldn’t say I loved the novel on which Hitchcock’s Vertigo is based, but it is a decent read.
Glad to see another fan of "Double Indemnity", Carl. I've read all three of the famous James M. Cain novels - that one, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and "Mildred Pierce," and I believe without a doubt that "Indemnity" is his masterwork. It's so interesting about Cain's standing as a writer. Back in the day, he was considered to be just a pulp fiction writer and not someone to take very seriously. But by the 1970s doctoral students were writing their dissertations about him. Don't know if that's still true today, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were.
Yes, I have those three novels in one volume. DI is probably my fave but I love the other two as well.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 5, 2020 15:03:03 GMT
I think a new adaptation done as a miniseries or television drama in the mold of Westworld would be awesome though.
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mmexis
Sophomore
@mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Jun 7, 2020 4:43:20 GMT
Amadeus
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Post by poelzig on Jun 7, 2020 6:58:47 GMT
LA Confidential. Love the James Ellroy novel and consider Ellroy one of the most talented writers of the last 50 years. However, I thought LA Confidential was too complicated and detailed with too many characters and subplots to ever be adapted successfully. I was wrong. Brilliant movie.
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Post by poelzig on Jun 7, 2020 7:03:11 GMT
Interesting question because you usually like one more than the other. I think the best example of liking both for me is V For Vendetta. They're two different things (one is about anarchy and Thatcher England, the other is about Bush America and tones down the anarchy theme) but both are great at what they're trying to do. I really enjoyed the movie and the comics and I totally agree with you. Allan Moore does not. Great writer but damn is that guy a curmudgeon
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Post by theravenking on Jun 7, 2020 12:03:08 GMT
LA Confidential. Love the James Ellroy novel and consider Ellroy one of the most talented writers of the last 50 years. However, I thought LA Confidential was too complicated and detailed with too many characters and subplots to ever be adapted successfully. I was wrong. Brilliant movie. I love both the book and the movie, even though my favourite parts from the book didn't make it into the film. I liked Jack Vincennes' plot strand the most in the book he is a more complex and tragic character in the novel.
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Post by amyghost on Jun 7, 2020 15:31:03 GMT
I'd list both The Godfather and Jaws as requiring almost a separate category: Film adaptations that were actually better than the rather pulpy and trashy novels they were based on.
I'd probably also include The Exorcist under that category, though I might concede that the source novel was slightly more literate than the above two.
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Post by poelzig on Jun 7, 2020 20:45:26 GMT
I'd list both The Godfather and Jaws as requiring almost a separate category: Film adaptations that were actually better than the rather pulpy and trashy novels they were based on. I'd probably also include The Exorcist under that category, though I might concede that the source novel was slightly more literate than the above two. Excellent point. If I remember correctly, The Godfather book spent a LOT of time talking about how huge Sonny's dick was. The movie gave a brief nod to that when his wife is bragging to the women at the wedding about how blessed Sonny is by holding her hands wider and wider apart. Sonny is banging a really ugly fat bridesmaid at the time.
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Post by amyghost on Jun 8, 2020 19:14:18 GMT
I'd list both The Godfather and Jaws as requiring almost a separate category: Film adaptations that were actually better than the rather pulpy and trashy novels they were based on. I'd probably also include The Exorcist under that category, though I might concede that the source novel was slightly more literate than the above two. Excellent point. If I remember correctly, The Godfather book spent a LOT of time talking about how huge Sonny's dick was. The movie gave a brief nod to that when his wife is bragging to the women at the wedding about how blessed Sonny is by holding her hands wider and wider apart. Sonny is banging a really ugly fat bridesmaid at the time. I think the novel actually opens with the scene of Sonny putting it to the bridesmaid, who suffers from some gynecological anomaly that's also described in more detail than anyone really needs, lol. I wouldn't say Puzo's book is the worst thing I've ever read, but compared to the subtleties of the film, it comes off as fairly mediocre at best.
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