Poodletail asked what movies I thought surpassed the books they were based on.
The very first one that popped into my mind was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).
That's almost an unfair example:
a movie by a painter vs. a book by a paralyzed writer (Jean-Dominique Bauby) who has to blink his one remaining eye to select a letter.
But then, art, like life, is unfair.
Images can tell (some) stories better than words, and Schnabel is a visual filmmaker.
Some movies are better because their book told a good story but wasn't well written, like the Harry Potter series.
Full disclosure: I'd probably think (almost) any movie with Alan Rickman was better than a book.
Sometimes a movie just nails it, even though the book is also excellent. I'd rewatch To Kill a Mockingbird before I'd reread it, even though it's a good book. (Actually, I'm a little reluctant to rewatch it, fearing it won't hold up...)
Still, those opening shots, at least, remain perfect: I can hear the sound of the objects in the box--(Hollywood-style moviemaking relies way too much on movie music instead of sound).
Some futuristic/ alternative world stuff is hard to write (read) without getting bogged down in description and can be far better on screen, like 2001: A Space Odyssey (or--this is debatable--but I prefer Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a movie) or Blade Runner:
I just saw the new Mad Max (Fury Road), and a book could be a better vehicle to convey the inner life of the characters, but you sure couldn't get better vehicles.
I want to think more about this, but I've got to write an index.
* * * Can you think of a movie that is better than the book?
The very first one that popped into my mind was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).
That's almost an unfair example:
a movie by a painter vs. a book by a paralyzed writer (Jean-Dominique Bauby) who has to blink his one remaining eye to select a letter.
But then, art, like life, is unfair.
Images can tell (some) stories better than words, and Schnabel is a visual filmmaker.
Some movies are better because their book told a good story but wasn't well written, like the Harry Potter series.
Full disclosure: I'd probably think (almost) any movie with Alan Rickman was better than a book.
Sometimes a movie just nails it, even though the book is also excellent. I'd rewatch To Kill a Mockingbird before I'd reread it, even though it's a good book. (Actually, I'm a little reluctant to rewatch it, fearing it won't hold up...)
Still, those opening shots, at least, remain perfect: I can hear the sound of the objects in the box--(Hollywood-style moviemaking relies way too much on movie music instead of sound).
Some futuristic/ alternative world stuff is hard to write (read) without getting bogged down in description and can be far better on screen, like 2001: A Space Odyssey (or--this is debatable--but I prefer Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a movie) or Blade Runner:
I just saw the new Mad Max (Fury Road), and a book could be a better vehicle to convey the inner life of the characters, but you sure couldn't get better vehicles.
Charlize Theron and her rig
I want to think more about this, but I've got to write an index.
* * * Can you think of a movie that is better than the book?
