Ciao a tutti! Hi, everybody! I'm back for another Thursday Thirteen, where I'm sharing some of my favorite book-to-film adaptations. Most of these are films I saw after I'd read the book, a few I read after seeing the film, and only one is a film where I haven't read the book at all.
It's worth noting that some adaptations were quite faithful to the source material and others weren't. In fact, one of my picks was actually "disowned" by the author, in that he asked they change the names of the characters and of the film itself because he didn't think the screenplay could do it justice. Do you know which film/book it is?
(I'll share the answer at the end of the post.)
If you have a little time to kill (heh, that's a little book-to-film humor for ya), I hope you'll have a look at these clips - I've tried to find the best quality version for each one, but some are too old to have a good trailer available on YouTube.
And so, now, please allow me to share with you
It's worth noting that some adaptations were quite faithful to the source material and others weren't. In fact, one of my picks was actually "disowned" by the author, in that he asked they change the names of the characters and of the film itself because he didn't think the screenplay could do it justice. Do you know which film/book it is?
(I'll share the answer at the end of the post.)
If you have a little time to kill (heh, that's a little book-to-film humor for ya), I hope you'll have a look at these clips - I've tried to find the best quality version for each one, but some are too old to have a good trailer available on YouTube.
And so, now, please allow me to share with you
Thirteen Books-to-Film I Love!
1) First off, a Stephen King classic! (To be fair, I could have done nearly the whole list using only Stephen King stories, but I thought better of it.)
2) Next, a film which I still watch compulsively whenever I find it on TV. It truly had a profound effect on me at an impressionable age. I've been a fan of John Irving ever since. (Fun fact - Irving has a cameo as the wrestling referee in the film.)
3) I saw this film the day it was first released in theaters, and I'm not embarrassed to admit I still get chills when I watch the trailer. Michael Crichton created a classic which endures, in my humble opinion.
4) This film just might qualify as an addiction for me. I've watched it so many times I have literally lost track of my viewings. I have the DVD in the US. I have the DVD in Italy. If I come in at any point of the film on TV, I have to watch it all the way to the end. Irvine Welsh's characters really came to life in this film, and now I can't read their stories without picturing these actors in the roles.
5) I saw this with a friend of the family - she vowed never to go to a film with me again. I took that as a sign of the quality of the film as opposed to the quality of my company. *ahem* A genuinely creepy novel made into a supremely disturbing film. Another Stephen King classic.
6) To be fair, it might not be the best film on this list, but I really enjoyed it anyway. I admit I wasn't disappointed in the transition of this book to the big screen, but it would have been impossible to make a film as good as the source material.
7) It's the '80s in a nutshell; a slimy, scary, spectacularly twisted nutshell. Casting Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in this adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' novel was a stroke of genius, as he gave the character all the nuances necessary to elevate the shallow go-getter to someone we start rooting for in spite of ourselves.
8) Another John Irving adaptation - this time of his novel A Widow For One Year - this film actually only depicts (approximately) the first third of the book. I had read the book long before seeing the film, but that doesn't make the story any less compelling.
9) Another film I compulsively watch is Fight Club, based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel. I don't know what it is about the film, but once I start watching it, I'm compelled to see it through to the end. Surprisingly, I haven't read the novel yet, but I have read a few of his other works. (I really need to add it to my TBR pile.)
10) Yet another John Irving adaptation (he even has a cameo as the stationmaster!), The Cider House Rules won two Academy Awards, for Best Adapted Screenplay and for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine).
11) Another brilliant film, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. Stark, bleak and utterly without hope, it features Javier Bardem's chilling portrayal of a hitman on a mission. Tommy Lee Jones is also a wonder to watch; his final scene is particularly memorable to me, love it or hate it.
12) This film, an adaptation of Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, came along at precisely the right moment of my life. I'd already enjoyed the story (it was originally published in King's collection, Different Seasons), but the line "Get busy living, or get busy dying" hit home with me in a most unexpected way. An all-time favorite film.
13) As crazy as it sounds, Watership Down is one of the most important films I ever saw, if only for the effect it had on me. After becoming (essentially) obsessed with the movie, I sought out the book, and I can say it truly did change my life. I even wrote about it!
Well, I hope you've enjoyed these trailers. If you guessed that Simon Birch was the film "disowned" by John Irving (it was nominally based on his heartbreaking masterpiece A Prayer for Owen Meany), you guessed correctly! Well done!
And now, I hope you'll indulge me just one last time.
No, it's not a trailer...
But I hope you'll agree...
This is one actor who's worth the price of admission!
Italian actor, Raoul Bova.
Ciao for now!
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