Books and Movies Based on Them

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marilyn peake
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Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by marilyn peake » December 8th, 2009, 10:33 pm

Just wondered if anyone here has seen the movies for THE ROAD or WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, and what you thought of them.

THE ROAD is one of my absolutely favorite books and I wasn't at all disappointed by the movie. I thought it was excellent! I thought Viggo Mortensen as the Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the Boy did an amazing job. And the scenery was perfect - very bleak. The innocence of the Boy and the incredible goodness of the Man really came through in the movie. Loved it!

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is one of my favorite children's books and I loved that movie, too. Thought it really captured the mood of the book, as well as the psychological world and imagination of children. I saw this movie twice in the theater and plan to watch it again on DVD.
Marilyn Peake

Novels: THE FISHERMAN’S SON TRILOGY and GODS IN THE MACHINE. Numerous short stories. Contributor to BOOK: THE SEQUEL. Editor of several additional books. Awards include Silver Award, 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.

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Mira
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Mira » December 8th, 2009, 11:44 pm

I haven't seen either of these yet, but plan to see Wild Things over my break. I don't know about the Road. It looks scary....Is it scary?

Also, I suspect it does not have a happy ending, which...well, I like happy endings. I'm glad that the Road is good though - Cormac McCarthy deserves a good vehicle.

In all of my experience, there is only one movie that was better than the book - the Wizard of Oz. I've never seen another movie I thought was better - although maybe Wild Things will be one. :)

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marilyn peake
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by marilyn peake » December 9th, 2009, 1:28 am

Mira,

Well ... yeah ... the movie of THE ROAD was scary and dark, very dark actually, but with hope - like the book. It was definitely Cormac McCarthy.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was somewhat dark, like its book, but it was also really sweet and very funny at times. Showed the wild nature of kids before we become more socialized.
Marilyn Peake

Novels: THE FISHERMAN’S SON TRILOGY and GODS IN THE MACHINE. Numerous short stories. Contributor to BOOK: THE SEQUEL. Editor of several additional books. Awards include Silver Award, 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.

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Mira
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Mira » December 9th, 2009, 10:28 am

Okay, you sold me on Wild Things.

The Road....thanks for telling me it was scary.. I watch scary movies at home, where I can turn them off and take a break. Maybe I'll wait for DVD. :)

There are alot of good movies based on books that are coming out. I'm looking forward to them.

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Uncle Gus
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Uncle Gus » December 11th, 2009, 12:48 am

THE ICE HARVEST by Scott Phillips

Crime-noir, funny as hell (if you like the darker edge of your funny-bone). One of the best, hands down. Although I did enjoy the book more than the movie.

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Marla Warren
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Marla Warren » December 11th, 2009, 7:01 pm

Question:
Do you prefer to read a book before you see a film, or do you prefer to see the film and then read the book?

Myself, I prefer to see a film first and then read the book. Films subtract, books add. When I see a film where I have read the book already, I have to see the film twice. The first time I'm coming to terms with what the film isn't, the second time I can appreciate the film for what it is.

I put off reading The Lord of the Rings because I had heard that the Peter Jackson film trilogy was coming out. A former professor of mine, a Tolkien scholar, said, "The problem with seeing the movies first is that when you read about Aragorn in the novels, you'll be picturing Viggo Mortensen in your mind."

I replied, "And this is a problem how?"
“Good writing should be smooth, clear and short, and the art of saying little in much must be avoided at all costs.”
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lovelylj
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by lovelylj » December 12th, 2009, 7:12 pm

Do you prefer to read a book before you see a film, or do you prefer to see the film and then read the book?
I perfer to read the book first then see the movie. That way I understand more than what I'm seeing, I know that they can't put the whole book into movie format so if there's a character who has more going on than what you see in the movie you get a full picture as to why that character is the way they are instead of going like, "We'll he's jerk and I hate him." But if you read the book you'll know why he's a jerk and maybe you won't hate him as much.

I wish that I knew that White Oleander was a book before I saw the movie.

I don't like watching the movie and then reading the book because I'll expect to read scenes from the movie in the book. The whole thing rubs me the wrong way.

In some cases, like Jumper the movie is so different than the book you kinda wonder why they didn't just say it's a different main character all together, lol.

I'm glad to read the book before the movie, in Anne Rice's case, they smashed The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned together probably because the first half of TVL there was not much excitment going on but I still think Queen of the Damned (while still awesome) suffered from a lot of lack of backstory.

Dexter, Gossip Girl, and FlashForward were all based on books but I haven't read those, but I think that because with a book you have so much time to think the characters out and you have more time to flesh the story out for it to make sense to the reader, the reader doesn't have to guess (that happened off screen). The outline is already done for the tv/film production crew. I think the same will apply to a lesser extent to comics too.

But if I find out a book is going to be made into a movie and it's something I want to see, I'll read the book first. Sometimes I don't want to see the movie. I liked Great Gatsby and Age of Innocence so much I don't think I could see a movie version, lol

Breakfast at Tiffany's was a novella but I didn't know it and I saw the movie first. I feel like I've ruined it if I see the movie before I read the book, like I'm out of order.
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Rick Daley
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Rick Daley » January 4th, 2010, 2:57 pm

I haven't seen THE ROAD yet, but I've read the book twice and I'm eager to watch the movie. I enjoyed WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, and so did both of my sons (ages 8 and 5).

I think STAND BY ME is one of the best book (novella)-to-film adaptations. THE SUM OF ALL FEARS ranks as the all-time worst on my list. It was a great book, but when Harrison Ford bowed out of the production and they changed the age of Jack Ryan's character to suit Ben Affleck they removed every shred of credibility for that character's actions. That and the corny Hollywood ending. Hated. That. Movie.

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Crystal
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Crystal » January 4th, 2010, 3:05 pm

I haven't seen either of them so I can't comment on them.

However I do prefer to read the book then see the movie. With that being said I am often disappointed by the movie. A few that really stand out to me as theatrical disappointments are :
1. My Sister's Keeper -- nothing like totally changing the ending and making it such a waste of my time. I was soooo made at the film makers for taking their little detour.

2. Twilight--they added things rearranged things and so on. It was quite a blah movie in my eyes. Now they did do better the 2nd try with New Moon.

If you are going to make a book a movie...please stay true to the book. I understand that making a 500 page book a movie would be quite long and things have to be cut but come on...

Ok off my soap box, sorry.
Working my very first attempt at a mystery novel. 1st draft

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Jaime
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Jaime » January 5th, 2010, 10:56 am

Crystal wrote:
A few that really stand out to me as theatrical disappointments are :
1. My Sister's Keeper -- nothing like totally changing the ending and making it such a waste of my time. I was soooo made at the film makers for taking their little detour.

2. Twilight--they added things rearranged things and so on. It was quite a blah movie in my eyes. Now they did do better the 2nd try with New Moon.

If you are going to make a book a movie...please stay true to the book. I understand that making a 500 page book a movie would be quite long and things have to be cut but come on...

Ok off my soap box, sorry.
My problem with New Moon was: Ooh, look, they're in Italy . . . ooh, look, they're home again! Some of my favourite scenes in the book included the plane ride home and Alice's conversation with Charlie (which didn't even happen in the movie)! But I guess they can't please everyone!

There is one movie which I thought was waaaaaaay better than the book, though, and that was THE NOTEBOOK. I saw the movie first, then read the book . . . I was quite disappointed.

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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by LydiaSharp » January 24th, 2010, 1:48 pm

Haven't read the book yet, but the film version of Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice, re-titled Sins of the Mother, is going to air on Lifetime Movie Network, Sunday February 7. I've ordered the book and hope to read it before then.

I've had bad experiences in doing so previously, though. I thought the novel version of The Lost World by Michael Crichton was leagues better than the movie, and I'd read it first. However, the reverse happened for the original, Jurassic Park. I loved the movie so much that I read the novel, and enjoyed that, too, even though it made much more sense than the film. Some movies are meant to be an entertaining visual experience above anything else, and I think Jurassic Park did a stellar job with that aspect. And you knew just enough of the plot for it all to stick together. In the book, the plot was much more clear and focused. I can't help but think I wouldn't have enjoyed the movie as much if I'd read the book first, though. The two had some huge differences, and my high expectations would not have been met.

The other thing is that when you read a book, your visualization of the characters is unique to YOU. When you watch the movie, you're seeing someone else's adaptation of the same person. Usually similar, but sometimes different enough to annoy you. If you watch the movie first, your visualization will automatically be whatever was in the movie when you go to read the book, hence your imagination is held back in a way. There's good and bad on both sides of the coin, I guess.
Lydia Sharp
Science Fiction * Fantasy * Women's Fiction
http://www.lydiasharp.blogspot.com

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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by beacon22 » January 24th, 2010, 3:30 pm

Rick....

I totally agree about The Body being made into Stand by Me. It's a great novella and a great movie. I think that's one of the best done books to films that I have seen.

Has any one seen The Lovely Bones yet? I went yesteday, and while I was excited to see how the book could translate into a movie, it didn't do the book justice. However, I don't think you ever could because it's the writing that makes that book so good. My boyfriend thought I was nuts after watching the movie for liking the book, but I think Sebold's talent is in her language....how else can you make the story of the murder of a 14 year old girl sound beautiful?
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by casnow » January 24th, 2010, 3:42 pm

I've not seen THE ROAD (I heard they were making it a movie, but I didn't know it was out yet). I think it will be interesting to see if it looks like how I pictured the book.

One of the earlier posts mentions the show "Dexter", which is one of my favorites. The first book and the first season were somewhat similar, but after that they diverged A LOT. There were a few lines here and there, and some of the murders were similar, but the plots were 100% different. Had the second book been first I guarantee it wouldn't have been the smashingly successful TV show that it is now.

There have been lots of movies that have disappointed me after reading the books, and lots where I thought there was just enough originality that I was super excited.

One book that I really want to see made into a movie is "The Jansen Directive", which was one of the last books written by Ludlum (and not co-authored). The first thing I thought when I put it down was, "damn, this would be an awesome movie."

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Scott
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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by Scott » January 25th, 2010, 6:30 pm

Curious as to how they'll adapt Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm reading it now, and it's just starting to get going in the final quarter of the book. It's considered both Gothic fiction and science fiction but the first 3/4s of it is closer to the 90's sitcom "My So Called Life" than either of those two genres.

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Re: Books and Movies Based on Them

Post by kelly.morgan » January 26th, 2010, 1:08 pm

I read first. If I know there's a movie coming out that looks interesting, I hunt the book down first so I can read before seeing it.

I do the same thing to my kids. When Harry Potter was first coming out in the movies, I read the Sorcerer's Stone to them before they could see it. Shockingly, they appreciated being able to imagine for themselves first and either agreed with the director's take or didn't.

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