I would have to say that books and movies are two of my absolute favorite things.
So when there is a movie adaption of one of my favorite books, count me in… even if it means that I will end up utterly disappointed, mad with world, crying my eyes out (most of the times), making me momentarily loose all the faith in the human race.
Favorite Movie Adaptations (by no particular order):
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – This is probably my favorite book trilogy, I cannot tell you how much of a nerd I am concerning LOTR. Peter Jackson dusted off the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, published in the mid-’50s, in a film trilogy that boasted a first-rate cast and never-before-seen special effects, especially in its creation of Gollum, a CGI creature voiced and embodied by actor Andy Serkis. It won a well-deserved Best Picture Oscar, among others, for the final 2003 installment. I will admit that I watch this trilogy every single month (sometimes more than once :P)
- The Harry Potter Series – I grew up reading these series and I LOVE the books and the movies, some a little more than others, still I love them. Though they occasionally suffered from being too close to a literal interpretation of the books, the Harry Potter movies by and large proved that a fantasy series could be brought to the big screen in glorious, engaging, humanized detail and satisfy the vast majority of its all-ages readership.
I’m a big fan o J.K.Rowling and I’m thankful to her every single day for welcoming me to the wonderful world of literature.
- The Notebook – I like to consider Mr.Sparks one of the biggest romance writers of our generation.
The heartbreaking 2004 adaptation of Mr.Sparks’ first novel about a lifelong, tortured love affair made Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams instant stars. Subsequent Sparks books-to-films have not fared as well. As a Notebook book fan, I have to say that the movie in my honest opinion the movie is really faithful. - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – So.. An adaptation and a Hollywood re-make. I wouldn’t usually touch this with a ten foot barge poll and initially I got on my high horse and said, ‘No.. Not even going to watch it when it comes to DVD.’ Having seen the Swedish trilogy I was already annoyed because I believed they just didn’t come up to scratch to the extraordinary trilogy of books by Stieg Larsson. What made me give it a try was what my two of my friends said, both lovers of the book too, when they came back from watching it at the cinema. They said it was good and that they really enjoyed the watch, but I wasn’t inclined to believe them. Then I asked, How did it end?’ ‘It ended as it did in the first book.’ they told me. Well.. this grabbed me. The Swedish films missed out this part, which devastated me because it missed out one of the most interesting character developments that then make the next two books so interesting. The American version’s dedication to the preservation of the literature and even the locations and settings is something that blew me away. I loved the story from the books an this film doesn’t mess with it. Brilliant.
- Requiem for a Dream – Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream is arguably one of the best anti-drug films to come out of Hollywood in the past few decades. Based on the acclaimed Hubert Selby Jr novel of the same name, the film explores addiction in its purest form. The beauty of the film is that it itself is an addiction that sucks you in with its brilliant script, soundtrack, characterization, and cinematography until you’re hooked, and then the inevitable happens. Like Trainspotting, the film projects the effects that drugs has on the mind on screen, but unlike the Danny Boyle classic, there is no bleak humor, there is no comic relief at all. This film simply injects itself into your veins and stays there for a very long time.
So far these are the ones that make my Top 5 favorites.
I do have to say that I’m looking forward to a few movie adaptations coming out this year, such as:
- The Fault in Our Stars,
- Divergent,
- The Maze Runner,
- The Giver,
- Gone Girl,
- Mockingjay.
Books, I Love you. 