In which our heroine ponders silver screen adaptations

Recently, in conversation with my college roommate who is the only person I know who reads more than I do, I asked if she'd read TWILIGHT.

"No, but I've seen the movie."

Say what? When was the last time you saw a movie that wasn't a pale shadow of the book? While I admit having stood in line to see the midnight debuts of the first two Twilight movies, they sucked in comparison to the book. That kind of silly movie is only good watching with a packed audience of fans, who have all read the books and all cheer when a new character walks on screen. I would like to throttle people who haven't read the Harry Potter books, but have seen the movies. Although the movies are pretty good, they can't cover the sheer genius of the books.

Sometimes I think authors shouldn't let their books be desecrated by movies. Can a large paycheck really be worth seeing your art pulverized on the big screen? Anyone see "The Seeker," which was looooosely based on one of my favorite middle-grade novels, THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper? Painful, even though it starred the delightful Ian "Swe'gen" McShane. "Matilda" the movie was a dud. "Where the Wild Things Are" was a complete failure. What can one expect from a picture book?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy seems an unusual exception, but I only read the first book and found it tedious (I was much younger). I will also admit, embarrassingly, that I have not read any Jane Austin, only seen the movies. I'm okay with that. Perhaps the key to enjoying these films is not having read the book first. "The Golden Compass" movie was enjoyable, but still not as rich as the book.

Awesome Sci-Fi Romance author Linnea Sinclair announced the other day on facebook that her novel, DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES, has been optioned for film. Maybe she should insist on Peter Jackson for the job. Cassandra Clare's MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series, which I loved, has also been optioned.

Have you seen any movies based on books that you liked? Any that you hated? Any books you would like to see made into movies?

Turning Books Into Movies

When I was in 8th grade I adored my oldest sister.  I still love her to pieces but thank God for her I don't follow her around like a puppy any more.  Of course she lives halfway across America so that makes it difficult as well. Ann had just graduated 12th grade and hung around with her friend Kathy and dammit I wanted to do everything they did.  

One of those occasions that I remember so damned well was when they were going to go see the Danielle Steele movie The Promise.  It had come out in the theaters and they wouldn't take me with them!  How dare they?!  They thought they were being quite clever and decided to give me the book.  They said that when I was done with the book they would take me to see the movie.  Well I finished that puppy in a day - of course they were shocked - but they still wouldn't take me with them.  (Ok, Ann took me eventually)  Now being in 8th grade I thought The Promise was a fab book so I was extremely excited to see the movie...which was crap.  I mean as far as I'm concerned it was utter and complete shite.   This was a poorly done "made for TV" movie that shouldn't have even aired on TV.  I was so stinking disappointed I could have screamed!

Another time this happened was many years later after having read Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  A great thriller that I loved.  I was totally excited to see that it was coming out in theaters.  Oh. Dear. Lord.  Suckage.  Seriously people?  You thought that was good enough to release? And then they changed the end of the movie to make it more fantastical.  Ug.  


Now I realize that no movie can truly capture the emotions that we feel while reading and no one person can be in my brain seeing the way I picture things (thank heavens) but it would be nice to see a close approximation to how events are described in the book.  Wouldn't it?

There are exceptions to the rule of course.  The first one that comes to mind is Jurassic Park (which my 12 year old watches every time it's on).  I thought they did a really great job of that one cuz let's face it, the book was so involved there was no way they were going to get every little nuance in the book taken care of in the movie.  There's also Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility which are incredible.  

Overall though, I've learned the hard way that some books are just better as books.  What books have you read that were turned into movies that you loathed?  Or on the flip side, what books were turned into movies that you adored?