Films that are better than the books they are made from?

octatonic

monquixote said:

octatonic said:

I'm a huge fan of BEE so maybe I am biased but American Psycho is as close to a perfect novel as I can think of.

I thought it was very clever for the first few pages then it just keeps repeating the same scenes over and over again.

It is quite postmodern- and a criticism of contemporary culture.

IMHO the repetition of scenes is a way to describe how monotonous and dull contemporary culture can be.

'Things change but it is just the same old shit' etc.

Clarky's new band uses a phrase from the book as their album title: "This is not an exit".

Lixarto

American Psycho?

Easy - they're both a pile of shit.

octatonic

Lixarto said:

American Psycho?

Easy - they're both a pile of shit.

Massively disagree.

You don't strike me as a fan of post-modernism though.

Bellycaster

octatonic said:

Thanks belly, it came to mind reading the movies thread.

Interestingly Stephen King said he hated the film of The Shining- said it was 'cold', which he didn't write the book to be.

@octatonic

Yep, I have heard he didn't like it too much. I'll never know what I would have thought of it had I read the book first and in a way I'm glad I didn't, which may sound strange, but I think it is a piece of Cinematic Genius. It may be more down to the visual aspects of how Kubrick portrayed the Hotel, the Scenery etc.

It may just appeal to me on a visceral level or perhaps it's a mixture of many things.

There's something about Kubrick's films that fill me with awe. Especially 2001: A Space Odyssey

Back to The Shining, I doubt it will change my mind about the film if I read the book, so I'm going to have to put that on the list of stuff to do.

I suppose it just has to be done

monquixote

octatonic said:

monquixote said:

I thought it was very clever for the first few pages then it just keeps repeating the same scenes over and over again.

It is quite postmodern- and a criticism of contemporary culture.

IMHO the repetition of scenes is a way to describe how monotonous and dull contemporary culture can be.

'Things change but it is just the same old shit' etc.

Clarky's new band uses a phrase from the book as their album title: "This is not an exit".

That's one interpretation. 

The other is that he had enough material for a novella, but spun it out over more pages because it's hard to sell something that isn't novel length.

octatonic

monquixote said:

octatonic said:

monquixote said:

I thought it was very clever for the first few pages then it just keeps repeating the same scenes over and over again.

It is quite postmodern- and a criticism of contemporary culture.

IMHO the repetition of scenes is a way to describe how monotonous and dull contemporary culture can be.

'Things change but it is just the same old shit' etc.

Clarky's new band uses a phrase from the book as their album title: "This is not an exit".

That's one interpretation. 

The other is that he had enough material for a novella, but spun it out over more pages because it's hard to sell something that isn't novel length.

That is a bit cynical.

Have you read Less Than Zero, Glamorama, Rules of Attraction, The Informers or any of his other novels?

It isn't really a fair criticism.

You're entitled to make it of course.

monquixote

octatonic said:

That is a bit cynical.

Have you read Less Than Zero, Glamorama, Rules of Attraction, The Informers or any of his other novels?

It isn't really a fair criticism.

Nope, only thing of his I've read as I didn't think much of American Psycho.

It might be unfair, but it was my genuine thought whilst reading it. 

What would you recommend as a better example?

ICBM

Logan's Run, for definite. They completely changed the plot and made it at least vaguely credible, which the book isn't.

I haven't actually read The Shining either - not really a Stephen King fan - but I had a look at the synopsis, and there's no way the book can be better than the film - the plot in the film is much better, even if it's stripped back - but the point is more about the imagery, I think. On the other hand I am a Kubrick fan so I may be biased.

I could easily believe the Godfather is better than the book. The book would have to be one of the all-time classics of literature to be better than the film.

I'd also agree that Blade Runner is better than Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

2001, not sure - they were written in parallel, although there are slight plot differences. I think on balance the film is better, but it's a close call.

octatonic

monquixote said:

octatonic said:

That is a bit cynical.

Have you read Less Than Zero, Glamorama, Rules of Attraction, The Informers or any of his other novels?

It isn't really a fair criticism.

Nope, only thing of his I've read as I didn't think much of American Psycho.

It might be unfair, but it was my genuine thought whilst reading it. 

What would you recommend as a better example?

I'm not sure my recommendation would count for much because I'd suggest re-reading American Psycho. ;-)

The Informers is a collection of short stories- maybe start with that?

Lunar Park is brilliant- quite autobiographical (B.E.E is a character) but different to the rest of his novels.

Maybe the Rules of Attraction- it is different to American Psycho- more like Less than Zero (which is great too)- less psychotic, more structured narrative.

Take your pick, I love them all.

CabbageCat

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

randomhandclaps

CabbageCat said:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Totally disagree.  In the book the falling food is far less literal.  It is a metaphor for hope and to a lesser extent peace.  When hope rains down on the community it breeds an apathy and lack of any ambition to work harder for a better world.  It eventually causes a breakdown in social structure which leads to the apes taking over.  The film massively bails out at the ending, where the book ends with Flint's Dad killing himself in an auto-erotic hanging and we I left to decide for ourselves whether it was intentional.  Also in the book Samantha Sparks is a complete dog, but is up for anything.

RocknRollDave

The Life of Brian

axisus

ICBM said:

Logan's Run, for definite. They completely changed the plot and made it at least vaguely credible, which the book isn't.

Good call! I loved that film as a teen (jenny agutter!). I bought the book and it went very naff and confusing by the end. The film was much better.

frankus

Much as I like Phillip K Dick - the man is so much of a legend there's only once that one of his novels has been made into a film - all the other attempts are on short stories - where people (often wrongly suppose they) can't fuck it up.

Do Androids Dream is a different book to Blade Runner the film - both are good in different ways.
We can remember it for you wholesale is a less of a roller coaster ride than Total Recall (the original).

Also The Harry Potter films - Around the time Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was written, she either fired her editor or he told her to start writing movie scripts. So all the subsequent films are better than her scripts.

Shark_Eyes

Do androids dream of electric sheep, and Blade Runner are essentially two different stories, same with most of Phillip K. Dick's stories that have been translated into film. They tend to cut out a lot of the more cerebral parts to make a slicker film, except for 'A Scanner Darkly' which is almost exactly like the book. @frankus BTW A Scanner Darkly is an adapted novel.

bertie

Debbie Does Dallas

Col_Decker

Lord of the Rings

frankus

I forgot Scanner, I've watched it a few times and I liked it... great cast.

Screamers... hmmm mmm they still tinkered with it too much

EricTheWeary

I have only read about 5 books so a difficult one but Hannibal. IIRC the plot in the film made more sense than the book.

MrsTheweary has also said Blade Runner. I haven't read the book.

DaVinci Code is a difficult one as both book and film were pretty awful.

[ hmm, if I've only read 5 books and they included Hannibal and DaVinci this probably isn't saying much about me 8-} ]

And although not a film the tv series Dexter significantly upped the game from the original novel.

[ the other two books were really, really intellectual, honest :ar! ]

randomhandclaps

bertie said:

Debbie Does Dallas

You obviously didn't have the pop-up version.