Friday, November 18, 2011

Based on a novel by....

In honor of.....*drum roll*....Breaking Dawn Part 1 opening today (WOOHOOO...YAY....SO EXCITED!!!) I thought it would be a great time to discuss one of my favorite things which is Books turned into Movies.

Now, I know, most of the time movies are not as good as the books. I'll concur with that because there isn't any way possible to include every detail from a book into a movie. They would be 10 hours long. However, I absolutely LOVE seeing characters and scenery that I imagined in my head come to life even if it's different than what I imagined. Here are some of my favorite adaptations (not in any particular order):

THE TWILIGHT SAGA
I first read the first Twilight book before I knew they were making it into a movie. After reading it I got online to see about the rest of the books and discovered that they were casting for the movie. I was so excited because I fell in love with the first book. Not because of Edward...well somewhat because of Edward but mainly because you live through Bella and fall in love with the characters. Plus it's a love story and I'm a sucker for love stories. The movies have all been very faithful to the books which has become much more of a norm Thank God. Thank you Harry Potter!


which leads me to....

HARRY POTTER
There are NO WORDS for the the Harry Potter movies. David Heyman who produced all the films has my utmost respect and admiration for turning one of the greatest written book series and the most wonderful story into AMAZING films. Also hats off to Stuart Craig who was the production designer for each film. He brought The Great Hall, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and so on to life. I still get goosebumps when I see the Great Hall come onto the screen. Universal Studios fashioned a theme park off of his design. I mean, how cool is that? I'm sure at some point someone will think about remaking these films (for money sake) but I sincerely hope that NEVER EVER HAPPENS.




THE LORD OF THE RINGS
EPICNESS! That's all you can say about this adaptation of the beloved series. I read LOTR a very long time ago and never in a million years thought anyone could ever pull off a tolerable cinematic representation (at least not live action). Was I ever so wrong. Peter Jackson created such an extraordinary film (I think of all 3 as 1). The actors became the characters and no one will ever be able do these movies better. And they shouldn't try.


PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005)
There are not many people I know that don't like P&P. Even those who don't care for it still respect that it's a huge part of literary history. I've seen many adaptations however the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen is the best in my opinion. It captures the tone of the book and again the actors bring the characters to life. The fact that it was entirely filmed in England just makes it perfect. The Mist!


THE HUNGER GAMES
I know I know...it's not even out yet. However, have you seen the trailer for it? It's perfect. I teared up about 10 times. Not many trailers can do that. If you haven't read The Hunger Games run out today and get the series. No seriously...stop reading this blog and GO. I really believe that because of recent adaptations of books to movies that THG has been done well. Shewwwwww. :)


What are you favorite book adaptations?

No comments:

Post a Comment