Saturday Evening Movie Thread 08-01-2020 [Hosted By: Moviegique]

The Book Wasn't Better

I just got through reading Fay Weldon's 1983 feminist "classic", The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil, and it got me to thinking about revenge pictures. But then I started thinking about how the Meryl Streep/Roseanne Barr movie had little to do with it, and while basically forgettable, was almost certainly a better time than the nihilistic power-fantasy of the book. Like, I don't remember the movie much, and if I were casting it from the descriptions in the book I'd be casting Jessica Lange or Jane Seymour across from Geena Davis (in 198, or Kristin Bell and Gwendoline Christie today, but I do remember being pleasantly surprised by Streep's comedy chops (normally I can't stand her) and Barr's sympathetic portrayal.

The book is not funny; it's not fun. The number one word used to describe it is "wicked" and I tend to agree that that fits, if we emphasize more the medieval qualities of the word and less the modern campiness. In short, the book wasn't better.

Which is a topic someone had brought up on Twitter recently: The book is always better, right? No, not even close. Insofar as you're comparing apples and oranges, you can certainly measure the impact of a movie versus a book, and perhaps more importantly your own experience of the two. One need not look farther than Alfred Hitchcock to see an entire catalog of movies that were better than the books.

Or, as my music prof David Raksin used to call him: "That fat, old man."

For example, just prior to She Devil I had read Psycho, which is fine, solid book that the movie hews surprisingly close to—and which is a footnote in horror history compared to the movie. I mean, I could read it again easily—it's a brisk 150 pages—but I almost can't believe I won't see the movie several more times in my life. Alongside The Exorcist, it typically ranks as the greatest horror movie of all time. It isn't something I necessarily agree with, personally, but if we're measuring impact, Psycho is the grandfather of every slasher movie for the past 60 years. And speaking of The Exorcist, is the book better? Maybe. But it also has nowhere near the impact of the movie, which is the father of every possession move of the past 45 years.

Sometimes a movie follows the book very closely and comes out better, for whatever reason. I enjoyed Silence of the Lambs as a book, but was surprised at how little it added to the movie. I had heard that it goes more into the motivations and psychology of the two serial killers, but when reading it, I didn't really get the sense I knew them any better. (By contrast, the book Psycho plays a lot more with Norman Bates' psychology as part of justifying its unforunately-forever-spoiled-shock-ending.) Lambs is one of the great movies, but is Thomas Harris' book going to join the canon of great books? Some classic noir exmaples: Double Indemnity practically reads like a screenplay for the Billy Wilder movie but I'd rather watch the movie. Laura minus a few twitchy details is fine but nowhere near the classic the film is.

The late Philip Seymour Hoffman fit, physically, the description of Norman Bates by Robert Bloch.

Sometimes a movie follows the book and improves on it by leaving out things that wouldn't work in filming, but also are pretty awful in print. The Godfather famously contains chapters devoted to one of the girl's search for a penis that can fill her cavernous vagina. Jaws wisely leaves out the soap opera sexual dalliances and focuses on The Shark. Never Cry Wolf makes its main character likable—a tactic used by Jurassic Park, I'm told, and by many movie producers smart enough to realize hating someone for two hours doesn't usually make for big box office.

Sometimes a book switches up quite a few things but manages to convey both the essence of the novel and qualities of the director to make something epic. Wizard of Oz has many of the qualities of the first book, in terms of tone and setting, though it diverges in a lot of major ways. (The Oz series is also wildly inconsistent from book to book.) Hayao Miyazaki manages to really capture the flavor of Howl's Moving Castle while ultimately giving us something pure Miyazaki. I have to re-watch Hitchcock's The Vanishing Lady—the movie that brought him to the attention of Hollywood—to decide if it falls into that category, because the novel is one of the greatest thrillers I have ever read and the movie is not all that faithful to it. The many, many versions of the novel Dracula tend to fall into this category, which could be a topic unto itself. Ready Player One is probably best left unmentioned.

Nobody appropriates culture like Miyazaki. So great.

And then sometimes a movie is so superficially connected to the book, it's just a different thing. A classic example of this would be Stanley Kubrick's The Shining which borrows everything from the Stephen King book except plot, atmosphere and characterizations. It's also up there alongside of Psycho and The Exorcist on greatest-of-all-time lists. It is said that Philip Dick wept when he saw Ridley Scott's Blade Runner because it was so exactly what he envisioned, but the script wasn't even originally based on the novel, it shares none of the plot points, and the central thesis of the book, if actually applied to the movie, renders the movie a muddle. Still, it's one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi films of the '80s—though possibly just due to set design.

The Howling is a fairly typical '70s horror paperback turned into a fun and campy practical effects spectacle, and there are many, many cases of so-so books being turned into so-so novels where the only connection between the two is mediocrity. What is perhaps most interesting is that following the book faithfully or abandoning it completely has no apparent bearing on the final quality, except to disappointed fans of the book.

What films do you love that exceed the book in some ways? I'm currently reading "They Came From Outer Space" which is a collection of novellas and short stories that were turned into sci-fi/horror movies ("The Thing", "2001", "This Island Earth", etc.) so I'm getting a good sampling of hits and misses on both sides.

I think the hole in his forehead is from when he gave Dee Wallace "a piece of [his] mind".

Posted by: OregonMuse at 07:59 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I vow not to make another "Prometheus" joke.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 07:59 PM (Dc2NZ)

2 Not sure what to watch

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:00 PM (6f16T)

3 Howl's Moving Castle!

Posted by: vmom 2020 cancel all pronouns at August 01, 2020 08:01 PM (TOyHQ)

4 I vow not to make another "Prometheus" joke.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

Liar liar pants on fire!

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 08:01 PM (axyOa)

5 I don't think I've heard any Prometheus jokes, Eris.

I don't see that Prometheus is a laughing matter.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:02 PM (CcUfv)

6 Top of my head?

None.

Lord of the Rings movies were an abomination.

I'll ponder the question now.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 08:03 PM (x8Wzq)

7 Like throwing a hotdog down a hallway.

Posted by: Sonny Corleone at August 01, 2020 08:03 PM (wqv28)

8 hey
in early

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:03 PM (iTXRQ)

9 Well, "Jaws", of course.

"The Man in the High Castle" was much better than the book (until the wretched fourth season) because, while Dick's novels have great ideas, the character development is a bit sparse. "Screamers" was a pretty good telling of "The Second Variety".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:03 PM (Dc2NZ)

10 The latest movie for me that I did not even bother to see was American Assassin. The casting was completely the opposite of what I pictured.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:04 PM (2DOZq)

11 1 I vow not to make another "Prometheus" joke.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 07:59 PM (Dc2NZ)

Well this post wasn't written by the Prometheus fan boy.

How about a Star Trek the motion picture joke? Oh wait that was the whole movie.

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:04 PM (sTaSr)

12 the Hobbit. even more so.

Me not Peter Jackson fan.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 08:05 PM (x8Wzq)

13 Miyazaki is amazing.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at August 01, 2020 08:05 PM (NWiLs)

14 I have never seen Jaws. And I am 29.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 08:05 PM (x8Wzq)

15 been watching Versailles
it's addicting

Posted by: vmom 2020 cancel all pronouns at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (TOyHQ)

16 The Great Santini was a pretty good adaptation.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (2DOZq)

17 Bridge Over the River Kwai

Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (786Ro)

18
is this the Prometheus joke thread?

Posted by: AltonJackson at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (DUIap)

19 Psycho II is the best 20 years after the original sequel ever. Not sure if there is a book involved.

But Psycho II is a model for how to resurrect old IP.

Posted by: blaster at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (ZfRYq)

20 Night of Living Dead on Comet
Dog Day Afternoon on Movies

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:07 PM (6f16T)

21 I've read the unabridged Moby Dick and seen the movie with Gregory Peck, screenplay by Ray Bradbury, many times

I still think Ahab is the good guy

liked both book and movie

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:07 PM (iTXRQ)

22 What films do you love that exceed the book in some ways? I'm currently reading "They Came From Outer Space" which is a collection of novellas and short stories that were turned into sci-fi/horror movies ("The Thing", "2001", "This Island Earth", etc.) so I'm getting a good sampling of hits and misses on both sides.

I've had that book for years and years.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at August 01, 2020 08:07 PM (oVJmc)

23 Bridge Over the River Kwai
Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:06 PM (786Ro)

I hated that story. King Rat was a good movie and book.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:07 PM (2DOZq)

24 I'm holding out for a movie version of A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. That would be the cat's pajamas.

Posted by: Eromero at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (XhWtx)

25 Star Trek II is a good adaption of Moby Dick.

Posted by: blaster at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (ZfRYq)

26

I think this applies to Planet of the Apes too. The book was okay but the movie was much better and the ending with Chuck Heston damning us all to hell had more of an impact than anything in the book

Posted by: TheQuietMan at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (/TNvV)

27 I thought "The Ten Commandments" was a lot more fun than the bare-bones telling in the Bible.

*dodges thunderbolt*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (Dc2NZ)

28 Blaster--

The RLM guys do a retrospective of all the "Psycho" sequels. I liked II quite a bit. It and the other sequels had nothing to do with Bloch's sequel novels.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (CcUfv)

29 Movie better then book?
Easy, Last of the Mohicans

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:09 PM (6f16T)

30 is this the Prometheus joke thread?
---
Alas, no.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:09 PM (Dc2NZ)

31 Any movie based on a PKDick book is better than the book. Even Blade Runner.

( *runs away* )

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:10 PM (pJwvL)

32 The Ninth Gate far exceeds The Club Dumas (though I enjoyed it too).

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 08:10 PM (H5knJ)

33 Interestingly, The Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes were written by the same guy; Pierre Boulle.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:10 PM (yQpMk)

34 With the exception of "Lolita", all of Kubrick's movies are better than the books they're based on.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (ja/kn)

35 I think this applies to Planet of the Apes too. The book was okay but the movie was much better and the ending with Chuck Heston damning us all to hell had more of an impact than anything in the book
Posted by: TheQuietMan at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (/TNvV)
---

I read this when I was a kid, and agree. One thing they should have incorporated into the set design was how the apes crossed streets swinging on monkey bars instead of a crosswalk. I still remember that!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (Dc2NZ)

36 Mr. Peebles--

I've also had "They Came From Outer Space" for years. I decided to read it next (I'm reading all my books, in year four of this project...) because Jim Wynorski had his security guard reading it in "Chopping Mall" which I just watched on Joe Bob's Last Drive In.

Wynorski (director of such other classics as "Deathstalker II" and "Bare Wench Project") edited the book.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (CcUfv)

37 also just today I watched Mutiny On The Bounty (1935) with Charles Laughton & Clark Gable

it has island girl sideboob- not bad for 1935

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (iTXRQ)

38 My favorite all time book Captains Courageous was actually not a bad movie even though it could never live up to the book to me personally. Maybe that's why i had no complaints because I had no expectations.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (2DOZq)

39 well the book was french author pierre boule, he also wrote the source of 'bridge over the river kwai, it was more allegorical, it was more from the perspective of the apes, in that sense, it was a little like the tim burton version,

Posted by: thomas hobbes at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (hMlTh)

40 Actually read alot of Exodus today, while the 10 Commandments is a great movie, they left out alot.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:12 PM (6f16T)

41 "No Country For Old Men" the movie is better than the book.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:12 PM (ja/kn)

42 Thank you for the post. Interesting to think about which movies are at least equal to their book versions. Easier to think of movies that fell short. ReadyPlayerOne, as you said, one of my favorite books, very difficult to make into a movie, the nerdy game details that I loved, difficult to communicate in a movie-I felt like it was a very different movie, but it had to be. Enders Game, another favorite, where it is difficult to set up in just a two hour movie. I recently finished all of the Bond books, very interesting, after first seeing all the movies. I will think some more.

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (nMGVc)

43 I thought of "Last of the Mohicans"...mentioned it on Twitter...but I haven't read the book and Michael Mann movies do nothing for me.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (CcUfv)

44 A man was sitting in a theater with a frog on his shoulder. An usher shined a light on him and snarkily said, "is the frog enjoying the movie?". The man answered, "yes, he is". The usher replied, "I find that hard to believe"
The man said, "me too, he hated the book".

h/t Welcome Back Kotter jokes.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (o1Bgo)

45 I remember thinking that the porter girls in The Bridge over the River Kwai were the hottest women I had seen up to that point in my life.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (yQpMk)

46 A Prayer for the Dying is a good flick with a pre-lunacy Micky Rourke as an IRA killer on the run after he blows up a bus full of kids by accident. Friend of mine likes the movie too, but unlike me has read the book; he says the film is much more better.

Posted by: eastofsuez at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (U2zca)

47 Wynorski (director of such other classics as "Deathstalker II" and "Bare Wench Project") edited the book.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (CcUfv)

Wait, there's a movie called 'Bare Wench Project'?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (pJwvL)

48 All quiet on the western front. The book was a compelling read, the movie interminably boring.

Posted by: Nodnol at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (E6+d2)

49 My biggest regret about my use of time during the whole pandemic is that I WASTED so much time trolling Netfix and Amazon to glean anything worth watching that I hadn't already seen.

Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 08:15 PM (k+h+d)

50 I have always wanted the sequel to "The Kite Runner"

" A Thousand Splendid Suns" was even more compelling.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:15 PM (xjYds)

51 >I thought of "Last of the Mohicans"...mentioned it on Twitter...but I haven't read the book and Michael Mann movies do nothing for me.
Posted by: moviegique

check out the 1936 version- Hawkeye is played by

RANDOLPH SCOTT

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:16 PM (iTXRQ)

52 I read this when I was a kid, and agree. One thing they should have incorporated into the set design was how the apes crossed streets swinging on monkey bars instead of a crosswalk. I still remember that!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:11 PM (Dc2NZ)

That would have just looked like people in costume using monkey bars. Also they were relatively primitive still. Aren't they a modern society in the book?

Maybe if they take the reboot to that point it will have that.

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:16 PM (sTaSr)

53 I suppose a bit off topic. But a question about the movie Kellys heroes

Since this is a bit of a military blog (?). Thank you to the person that suggested Kellys Heroes, someone from the group. Really interesting movie. Bit of escapism after some of the more difficult ones I have seen lately about WW2 (ex. Brody/Pianist). Great to see some of those actors again. Some had long careers.

Here is my question: Scene one or two in the movie:

Telly Savalas, gets off the radio, starts yelling at Clint Eastwood: I thought I told you to bring me some good looking kid, not this fat sausage chewin wino.

Clint Eastwood: Well, if you were looking for a young boy, you should have sent somebody else Joe.

Ummmmm...sounds like some ghey/pedo stuff? Hollywood sneaking this stuff in even back then? With Savalas and Eastwood? You guys are going to think I am crazy. But if you watch this scene, everything is said in a very serious way. In the light of our very Kevin Spacey perspective, very strange. (If they wanted someone for interrogation, Clints choice of a guy that looked, to me, like a low level officer is perfect-not something to yell about. Why else would Telly want a good looking boy than for sadistic gay sex?).

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 08:16 PM (nMGVc)

54 A bit surprised that you didn't mention "The Last of the Mohicans", adapted from Fenimore Cooper's famously turgid novel. I have read that the Daniel Day Lewis version relies more heavily on the version done in the 1930s, which I have not yet, sadly, seen. In any case, I'm a huge fan of the former; the framing of shots is so carefully done in many cases as to look like oil paintings. Plus, as a troper noted on TV Tropes, the score is frickin' huge. Two scenes making use of the fiddle tune "The Gael" are just compelling.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:16 PM (UAMe5)

55 To be honest , if I thought a book was just okay I probably wouldn't watch the movie.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:16 PM (2DOZq)

56 Okay, I have punched up Cartel Land (2015).

I'll bet it is a sweaty movie.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (yQpMk)

57 Deathstalker is a great film, provided you like terrible schlock swords and sorcery movies from the 80s. So much T&A. So much.

Deathstalker II is effing terrible. It recycles some footage from the first one and completely forgot how critical all that T&A was to the plot.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (H5knJ)

58 Ohhhh, so Bridge ORK and Planet ofA is the same movie.

The zombie genre has come a long way for sure

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (6f16T)

59 I had planned on discussing an unusual movie that I saw a while ago, Ingmar Bergman's movie of the Mozart opera The Magic Flute. And now I see the theme of revenge. (And although this is not from the Bergman movie) Revenge as in the beautiful Queen of the Night Aria from the second act. I had heard this many times but could not understand the German lyrics and could not see the visual clues. Here mom is trying to convince daughter to murder mom's estranged husband, that is, daughter's father. So in this beautiful aria, a whole lot of evil is going on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBeBjqKSGQ

Bergman's film is at times a trip to the opera house and at other times is very intimate and personal. The sets and costumes are wonderful. I had much the same experience watching this as I did hearing Shakespeare's The Tempest; I was expecting a fairy tale, and these are fairy tales, but I found a lot more.

Incidentally, politically incorrect. The part of an evil Moor is played by a cracker in makeup.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (+y/Ru)

60 Wait, there's a movie called 'Bare Wench Project'?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (pJwvL)
---
Here are some movies for your Criterion collection!

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691061/?ref_=tt_ov_dr

I assume you already own "Busty Cops II" and "The DaVinci Coed".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (Dc2NZ)

61 Jaws of course, everyone thinks that I think. Goodfellas was superior as an art form than the book Wiseguy, because of Scorsese and the acting. But the script pretty much came directly from the book.

No Country for old Men is no Goodfellas, but it is the same situation. The book reads like a screenplay.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (o1Bgo)

62 OT: correction burn in 6 minutes.

Posted by: Braenyard at August 01, 2020 08:18 PM (QPcUQ)

63 Wait, there's a movie called 'Bare Wench Project'?
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (pJwvL)

Links for goodness sakes , it's like I don't know you people anymore!

Posted by: Khan-nor at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (6Brkl)

64 What is the Planet of the Apes movie where the human survivors live underground and have a nuclear weapon and holographic mind control? Reminds me of what we may end up becoming.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (2DOZq)

65 Everyone says Jaws but Benchly's " Rummies" should not be overlooked.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (xjYds)

66 48 All quiet on the western front. The book was a compelling read, the movie interminably boring.
Posted by: Nodnol at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (E6+d2

Which one?

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (sTaSr)

67 What is the Planet of the Apes movie where the human survivors live underground and have a nuclear weapon and holographic mind control? Reminds me of what we may end up becoming.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (2DOZq)
------
Beneath the Planet of the Apes?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:19 PM (UAMe5)

68 What is the Planet of the Apes movie where the human survivors live underground and have a nuclear weapon and holographic mind control?

Beneath.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (oVJmc)

69 I didn't know up until a few years ago that Shane was adapted from a book. I read it recently and it is really good. A short read too, just a little over 100 pages. Well worth your time.

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (xPl2J)

70 No Country for old Men is no Goodfellas, but it is the same situation. The book reads like a screenplay.

That's Cormac McCarthy's style. No exposition, no backstory, things just are. He barely describes scenes. There's a mesa, you know what they look like, so, there's a mesa.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (yQpMk)

71 moviegique Last of the Mohicans movie is not even close to the book. A good read but not the same story.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (6f16T)

72 Svengoolie's showing Werewolf of London (A-oooooooo!).

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (oVJmc)

73 I assume you already own "Busty Cops II" and "The DaVinci Coed".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (Dc2NZ)

Thank goodness Eris is here to save the day!

Posted by: Khan-nor at August 01, 2020 08:21 PM (6Brkl)

74 I'd like to nominate "Lifeforce", but I haven't read the book. On the other hand, there's Mathilda May - so yeah, I'm-a go with "Lifeforce".

Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:21 PM (786Ro)

75 Also, if you like revenge flicks, Jodie Foster's "The Brave One" is basically the girl version of "Death Wish"

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (iTXRQ)

76 Empire of the Sun was a good movie I thought, so I bought the book. It was boring.

Posted by: george at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (A6+C6)

77 I thought "The Ten Commandments" was a lot more fun than the bare-bones telling in the Bible.

*dodges thunderbolt*
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:08 PM (Dc2NZ)

I'm fine with the original text, but a few Frazetta illustrations wouldn't be out of place.

Posted by: hogmartin at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (t+qrx)

78 Ben Hur, the book, was a boring slog. The Heston movie was vastly superior. The book ruined fiction for me.

Posted by: BCM89292 at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (K7FWT)

79 It is said that Philip Dick wept when he saw Ridley Scott's Blade Runner because it was so exactly what he envisioned, but the script wasn't even originally based on the novel, it shares none of the plot points, and the central thesis of the book, if actually applied to the movie, renders the movie a muddle. Still, it's one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi films of the '80s-though possibly just due to set design.

==

The books is a mess. I disagree that it does not share at least some plot points. Of course I need to know what plot points they are talking about. Futuristic - dystopian and mutilated Earth ? Dreams of otherworlds, androids and humanity ? Movie, of course, is better than the book.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (zr5Kq)

80 Randolph Scott, you say? I'll check it out!

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (CcUfv)

81 I'm fine with the original text, but a few Frazetta illustrations wouldn't be out of place.
Posted by: hogmartin at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (t+qrx)
---
I've said this for like forever!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:23 PM (Dc2NZ)

82 DB, watched it again just the other day.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:23 PM (xjYds)

83 Heard of a new movie which sounds good, shame Tom Hanks is in it
Greyhounds I think it's called, a WWII navy movie.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:23 PM (6f16T)

84 I'm fine with the original text, but a few Frazetta illustrations wouldn't be out of place.
Posted by: hogmartin at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (t+qrx)
---
I've said this for like forever!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:23 PM (Dc2NZ)
------
You haven't seen Gustave Dore's woodcuts?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:23 PM (UAMe5)

85 If Deathstalker had been a book, it would have been a pop-up book. And all the pop-ups would be tits.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 08:24 PM (H5knJ)

86 Get Shorty. The movie was much better.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 01, 2020 08:24 PM (L9P9s)

87 The Robe was a better book than movie.

Fight me!

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:24 PM (yQpMk)

88
No Country for old Men is no Goodfellas, but it is the same situation. The book reads like a screenplay.

That's Cormac McCarthy's style. No exposition, no backstory, things
just are. He barely describes scenes. There's a mesa, you know what
they look like, so, there's a mesa.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (yQpMk)

that book in particular read like a screen play to me. Some other McCarthy novels such as Blood Meridien come off as unfilmable. I know this is not the topic at hand, but one of the most disappointing book adaptations I have ever seen was All the Pretty Horses. Of course the list of movies that were lesser than the book is pretty long.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:25 PM (o1Bgo)

89 @70...you're right, but NCFOM was stripped down even more than usual McCarthy. And it's more or less contemporary setting kept the dialect and rhetorical flourishes to a minimum. Think I read somewhere that McCarthy had discussed the plot of the book with the Coens while he was writing it. They may even have bought the rights prior to publising.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:25 PM (ja/kn)

90 >DB, watched it again just the other day.
Posted by: Ben Had

the sideways look she gives that guy in the elevator is scary

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (iTXRQ)

91 Double Indemnity

-
Two movies in which the femme fatale makes a memorable entrance by walking downstairs.

Double Indemnity
Scarface

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (+y/Ru)

92 Best Literature I've seen on a screen in a while: "What Dreams May Come". Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. VERY Dark. Best creative non-CGI graphics in ages. It seems remarkably negative unless and until you get to the end and actually understand the heroism involved. But like a lot of Good Literature., you actually have to THINK about the story on several levels afterward to recognize the depth of what you just saw.

Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (k+h+d)

93 Black Robe was a better movie then book.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (L9P9s)

94 Oh Crikey, ya'll are going to make me go to " Out ofAfrica" really?

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (xjYds)

95 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a shit book. If it wasn't linked to Bladerunner, it would be utterly forgotten today. Dick has some good novels, but this isn't one of them.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (H5knJ)

96 I don't know if it was the Randolph Scott version, but I recall watching an old version of Last of the Mohicans as a kid, some of the scenes scared the crap out of me.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (o1Bgo)

97 I think the Connery Bond films qualify. Frequently, the movie used just the title and character names. I'd rather rewatch the movies than reread the books.

There's just something about a man with a white cat.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (u/nim)

98 You're quite right about Jaws being a far better movie than the trashy book by that Benchley fellow. I watched it a while back after finding it in my dvd collection. It is a great flick.

Robert Shaw stole the show, of course, as Quint, but all hands put in solid performances. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it in a while.

Posted by: eastofsuez at August 01, 2020 08:27 PM (U2zca)

99 Stephen King hated Kubrick's "The Shining". Kubrick's reaction? "Good."

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:27 PM (ja/kn)

100
whatever happened to Randolph Scott?

Posted by: The Statler Brothers at August 01, 2020 08:27 PM (DUIap)

101 Three boilermakers and The Man From High Castle still sucks.

Just sayin

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 08:28 PM (axyOa)

102 >Heard of a new movie which sounds good, shame Tom Hanks is in it
Greyhounds I think it's called, a WWII navy movie.

don't know why it's a shame, it's a great movie, very no-nonsense flick about trying to cross the Atlantic with Nazi u-boats trying to kill you

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:28 PM (iTXRQ)

103 runner--

The "Blade Runner" movie is a detective story--I mean, it's basically an homage to noir--whereas I think Deckard in the book is an insurance agent of some kind? There's nothing action/adventure about the book, as I recall, and I'm actually kind of impressed by the Computer RPG of it which tries to marry up the book and the movie and sorta succeeds.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:28 PM (CcUfv)

104 Howard Hawks knew Ernest Hemingway, and bragged to him that he could make a great movie out of his worst book. He did just that a few years later when he made "To Have and Have Not", which famously paired Bogart and Bacall for the first time. However, Hawks also threw out almost all of Hemingway's plot, and instead made what was called "Casablanca in the Caribbean."

It was a good call, it was much much better than Hemingway's book. A few years later, Michael Curtiz convinced Jack Warner to let him try making it again, since Warner still owned the rights to the book and arguably it had never actually been filmed yet. He made a great film noire movie out of it, "The Breaking Point" in 1950, which was closer to Hemingway's plot, but still changed quite a bit. (John Garfield starred, and he probably would have gone on to be a much more well known star if hadn't died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 39.

both movies were better than Hemingway's original.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (V2Yro)

105 All quiet on the western front. The book was a compelling read, the movie interminably boring.
Posted by: Nodnol at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (E6+d2

Which one?
Posted by: Buzzion

I thought the John Boy Walton version was pretty good.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (+y/Ru)

106 McCarthy's The Road was a better book than movie. And again, no backstory. Something really bad happened and now the world is shit but what that was is really left unexplained.

Apropos of nothing, I really enjoyed The Timetraveler's Wife book, and I downloaded the movie a long time ago but haven't watched it. I think I am afraid it will disappoint.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (yQpMk)

107 29 Movie better then book?
Easy, Last of the Mohicans
Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:09 PM (6f16T)

Yes to infinity. I made it about twenty pages in and lapsed into a coma.

Posted by: Gem at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (kIHih)

108 Whatever happened to "The Statler Brothers'?

The Oak Ridge Boys.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (xjYds)

109 I think the Connery Bond films qualify. Frequently, the movie used just the title and character names. I'd rather rewatch the movies than reread the books.

There's just something about a man with a white cat.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (u/nim)
------
"The Spy Who Loved Me" was, I think, the first book where Fleming specifically stipulated that they should just use the title and throw away the plot (he realized that it wasn't very good). Although the screenwriters had taken liberties (to put it mildly) with the plots prior to that one.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (UAMe5)

110 >Oh Crikey, ya'll are going to make me go to " Out ofAfrica" really?
Posted by: Ben Had

excellent flick, Brian Dennehy is great as the continent of Africa

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:30 PM (iTXRQ)

111 TCM comments on "Beneath the Planet of the Apes":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayAAMrVgDKE

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:30 PM (Dc2NZ)

112 "The Godfather" should have had something about the Cavernous Vagina. Sonny knocking the bottom out against the door just didn't cut it.

I knew a lady once whose vjayjay was normal until she got excited. Then holy smokes! It was like it had a life of it's own.

She had a ball thingee which resembled three racket balls strung together, one larger than the other and so forth, which you gently rammed up in there and then pulled them out. She loved it.

Never knew what you called that thing.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (Z+IKu)

113
Apropos of nothing, I really enjoyed The Timetraveler's Wife book, and I downloaded the movie a long time ago but haven't watched it. I think I am afraid it will disappoint.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 08:29 PM (yQpMk)
--
Good movie, but The Book Was Better.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (Dc2NZ)

114 Iraq invaded Kuwait 30 years ago today.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (RU4sa)

115 Moviegique, thanks for recommendation of ..Korean drama (from last time you hosted). I enjoyed it.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (zr5Kq)

116 78 Ben Hur, the book, was a boring slog. The Heston movie was vastly superior. The book ruined fiction for me.
Posted by: BCM89292 at August 01, 2020 08:22 PM (K7FWT)

Never saw the newest version by the fact that all they focused on in the marketing was the chariot race tells me all I need to know that they did not understand what was important in the movie.

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (sTaSr)

117 @ 97...not sure about that. The early Bond books are all better than the movies. Connery's Bonds are ludicrous, and only seem not so cartoonish because of the over the top camp of the Moore era. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a possible exception. A really good movie, arguably better than the book, kept from being great only by Lazenby's amateurish performance.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:32 PM (ja/kn)

118
Iraq invaded Kuwait 30 years ago today.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (RU4sa)

I was thinking about this earlier. Then I looked and Wikipedia says it was August 2nd, which doesn't match my memory.

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:33 PM (xPl2J)

119 MrObvious--

"What Dreams May Come" is one of my favorites. No idea as to whether it's better than Matheson's book but...maybe? It would be one of the few filmings of his stories that was, though. ("I Am Legend"/"Omega Man"/"The Last Man On Earth" anyone?)

And I agree the use of CGI. It reminds me of the Asian films: They're not trying to fool you, they're trying to be pretty.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:34 PM (CcUfv)

120 > The early Bond books are all better than the movies. Connery's Bonds are ludicrous,

I think the Connery-era Bond girls were the hottest

imho ymmv

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:34 PM (iTXRQ)

121 Going out to see if I can see the space station, bit cloudy now

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:34 PM (6f16T)

122 I was thinking about this earlier. Then I looked and Wikipedia says it was August 2nd, which doesn't match my memory.

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:33 PM (xPl2J)

---

2 August 1990, at 2AM local time (7PM EDT on 1 August)

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:34 PM (RU4sa)

123 92 Best Literature I've seen on a screen in a while: "What Dreams May Come". Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. VERY Dark. Best creative non-CGI graphics in ages. It seems remarkably negative unless and until you get to the end and actually understand the heroism involved. But like a lot of Good Literature., you actually have to THINK about the story on several levels afterward to recognize the depth of what you just saw.
Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (k+h+d)

I love that movie, and part of the reason is that Richard Matheson is undoubtedly my favorite scriptwriter of the last 60 years. "What Dreams May Come" was Matheson's philosophical capstone to his life, and his entire body of work. (Matheson wrote the book, someone else did the screenplay, but under Matheson's direction)

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 01, 2020 08:35 PM (V2Yro)

124
There's just something about a man with a white cat.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 08:26 PM (u/nim)

Yes! I so agree.

And especially in an oversized stuffed leather chair.

Posted by: George Soros at August 01, 2020 08:35 PM (sy5kK)

125 Nice out I think

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:35 PM (6f16T)

126 I thought the LoTR movies followed the books pretty well. Jackson recreated them pretty much how I Imagined them to be. I liked all three movies. Very well done.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 08:35 PM (Fs5vw)

127 Never knew what you called that thing.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy

---

Ben Wa balls.

I don't know why I know that.

Posted by: Tonypete at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (Rvt88)

128 118
Iraq invaded Kuwait 30 years ago today.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (RU4sa)

I was thinking about this earlier. Then I looked and Wikipedia says it was August 2nd, which doesn't match my memory.

Posted by: Mark1971

30 year reunion for VII Corps coming up.
Always a great get together.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (axyOa)

129 >Never saw the newest version by the fact that all they focused on in the marketing was the chariot race tells me all I need to know

you should also skip the Christian Bale 'exodus'-type movie he made a few years back- complete dreck

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (iTXRQ)

130 Never saw the newest version by the fact that all they focused on in the marketing was the chariot race tells me all I need to know that they did not understand what was important in the movie.
Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (sTaSr)

Meh to disappointing. Watch the old one instead.

Posted by: Gem at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (kIHih)

131 Can't disagree more about "Silence of the Lambs." While the movie was very good, the novel is many degrees superior. I remember full passages from Harris' book more than 30 years after I read it. There was a tornado warning, with sirens blaring, going on when I reached Hannibal Lecter's jailbreak sequence. I kept my nosed plunged in the book, which was far scarier.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (NvFiZ)

132 LukasTheHunter22 is asking NASA what space smells like

Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (786Ro)

133 Stephen King's books are often bad enough that it's not hard to do better than the source material. Or at least to do a schlocky movie that plays up what a joke the original was (Langoliers anyone?).

Stand By Me was leagues ahead of The Body for instance.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 08:37 PM (ykYG2)

134 Never saw the newest version by the fact that all they focused on in the marketing was the chariot race tells me all I need to know that they did not understand what was important in the movie.
Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (sTaSr)

Meh to disappointing. Watch the old one instead.
Posted by: Gem at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (kIHih)
------
Plus the awesome score by Miklos Rosza.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:37 PM (UAMe5)

135 Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (axyOa)

---

Been 17 years since my first OIF deployment.

Reunions will not be a thing.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:37 PM (RU4sa)

136 Router picking up way out in my front yard

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:38 PM (6f16T)

137 I read somewhere that outer space smells like burnt meat and metal

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:39 PM (iTXRQ)

138 @120...Ursula Andress is certainly Bond girl top 3 and mid sixties styles are more pleasing than seventies anything goes. But Moore era girls are better, imo...Barbara Bach, Maud Adams leading the pack. Craig's girls have been great too...Eva Green may be all time #1.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:39 PM (ja/kn)

139 The "Blade Runner" movie is a detective story--I mean, it's basically an homage to noir--whereas I think Deckard in the book is an insurance agent of some kind? There's nothing action/adventure about the book, as I recall, and I'm actually kind of impressed by the Computer RPG of it which tries to marry up the book and the movie and sorta succeeds.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:28 PM (CcUfv)

Deckard is a bounty hunter in the book. He is sent to kill androids - like in the movie, who escaped. Deckard is married in the book, there is a lot of space given to his dysfunctional relationship with his wife and black market livestock. Dick dances around empathy and how that is something that separates androids and humans. Very clear in the movie.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:39 PM (zr5Kq)

140 126 I thought the LoTR movies followed the books pretty well. Jackson recreated them pretty much how I Imagined them to be. I liked all three movies. Very well done.
Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 08:35 PM (Fs5vw)

I thought so, too. They looked right to me.

The Hobbit films are the travesty.

Posted by: Gem at August 01, 2020 08:39 PM (kIHih)

141 The Daily Wire@realDailyWire
DC Mayor Exempts John Lewis Funeral Attendees From City's Quarantine Restrictions

-
Regarding why attendees at Lewis' funeral escaped the strictures of self-quarantine, Bowser Press Secretary Susana Castillo characterized the ceremony as an essential government activity, telling Just the News on Friday, "Government activity is essential, and the Capitol of the United States is exempt from the Mayor's Order."

The mayor's office still deems the funerals of regular people non-essential activity, however.

-
OK, I'm back to thinking about revenge again.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (+y/Ru)

142 SMH, Anniversary's will. Three years, this MoMe?

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (xjYds)

143 runner--

Glad to hear it. I feel like they're having a great run in Korea.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (CcUfv)

144 Lolita's greatness is Humbert's narration, something a movie couldn't capture. Moby Dick is a campy, OTT book, but the movie will lose Melville's prose, focus on the plot and Ahab's splendid hubris.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (4vNgL)

145 it's hard even to compare Total Recall with We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. Verhoeven has a habit of leafing through the source material and then doing whatever the eff he wants.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (ykYG2)

146 Forest Gump was better than the book.

Posted by: tmitsss at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (GvnZd)

147 How can anybody smell space and live to tell about it?

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (xPl2J)

148 I think Tom Hanks palling around with Epstein and becoming a Greek citizen renders him Forever Uncleeeean.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (L9P9s)

149 The mayor of DC is named "Bowser"? Seriously?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (UAMe5)

150 you should also skip the Christian Bale 'exodus'-type movie he made a few years back- complete dreck
Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:36 PM (iTXRQ)

x1000

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (zr5Kq)

151 The Lonesome Dove miniseries was better than the book. Being perfectly cast had a lot to do with it.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (y7DUB)

152 My top three worse book to movie films are

Lords of Discipline - very disappointing
Legend of Bagger Vance - more disappointing
Shooter ( Point of Impact) - A travesty

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (2DOZq)

153 AClockwork Orange was a much better movie.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (L9P9s)

154 142 SMH, Anniversary's will. Three years, this MoMe?
Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (xjYds)

---

I hope so.

Depends on what happens in this lunatic asylum we call a country between now and then.

I fully expect a full lockdown again in Oct.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (RU4sa)

155 "The DaVinci Coed"

Oh my.

How was the book?

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (ykYG2)

156 99 Stephen King hated Kubrick's "The Shining". Kubrick's reaction? "Good."
Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:27 PM (ja/kn)

I like King's book much better. The movie sucked the big one.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (Fs5vw)

157 All quiet on the western front. The book was a compelling read, the movie interminably boring.
Posted by: Nodnol at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (E6+d2

Which one?

All of the film versions...I think it accurately depicts the tedium of life in the trenches, but compelling film this does not make.

Posted by: Nodnol at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (E6+d2)

158 On the other hand, some projects follow the source material to the letter, and are better for it. The inspiration for the great series Justified was a short story by the late, great Elmore Leonard titled Fire in the Hole. The show tracked that little tale almost verbatim at the start. The big change was that when the protagonist shot his nemesis in the show he survived. In print he was DRT (dead right there).

Posted by: eastofsuez at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (U2zca)

159 The Exorcist was better in print

Posted by: REDACTED at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (JgrP5)

160 @86 --

Oh, yeah! And I liked the book.

The movie creates its own atmosphere. Rule of Cool, as TV Tropes says.

The music helps. Plus it's fun to see so many familiar faces.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (u/nim)

161 I like King's book much better. The movie sucked the big one.
Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (Fs5vw)

I don't know you.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (zr5Kq)

162 I read somewhere that outer space smells like burnt meat and metal

I bet it's a bit of shock entering the Space Station. A lot of people been sweatin' in there a long time.

Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 08:43 PM (2nFxy)

163 How can anybody smell space and live to tell about it?
Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (xPl2J)

You capture it in a preserve jar and bring it back into your ship. I thought everyone knew that.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at August 01, 2020 08:43 PM (2DOZq)

164 Nothing, too cloudy

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (6f16T)

165 128 118
Iraq invaded Kuwait 30 years ago today.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:31 PM (RU4sa)

A good friend had just arrived at the embassy, and her husband was due to got a week later. She got stuck there and he was a nervous wreck back here.

I think she was the person who was asking for tuna recipes, because all they had for the six months they were stuck on the compound was pool water and tuna.

Posted by: Moki at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (/H+aK)

166 The Lonesome Dove miniseries was better than the book. Being perfectly cast had a lot to do with it.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (y7DUB)

Both were masterpieces.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (o1Bgo)

167 Has anyone seen the movie Mr. Jones about Stalin starving the Ukrainians and Duranty lying about it? I just found out about it today and have it reserved at the lie-bury.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (y7DUB)

168 SMH, my comms fail. Three years for you and Ex-ex this time.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (xjYds)

169 Missed Movie thread last time cuz we we were having a movie night.

We saw two good Asian movies:

From Japan:

"Kidan: Pieces of Darkness"

This is a ghost story anthology with 10 stories at about ten minutes each.

Being an anthology- some of the stories are weak, some good, and some very good.

The movie was made on a shoe-string budget, so most of the efx are practical, which is fine by me. and these are old-style short stories. There isn't a lot of gore. Mostly, these stories are made to creep you out or give you a chill.

Not great, but entertaining with a few stories that will stick with you.

Next from Korea:

"The Chase".

Man, what a crowd-pleaser! Expect to see this movie stolen and turned into an American version.

The story concerns a crusty old landlord, whose older renters are dying. An older ex-cop, one of his renters tells him this looks just like an unsolved serial murder case from 30 years ago and we're off.

Great twists. Great acting- a movie like this cannot work without great actors. Great characters. Great plot. Great tense directing. Good character-based humor and motivation.

If either of these movies appeal to you, you can find them streaming now on Netflix.

We also saw a good thriller on Netflix from Korea this week titled -

"Svaha: The Sixth Finger"

This one wants to be an existential-religious creep out thriller along the lines of "The Rapture" or "Frailty".

I'm not going to describe this in too much detail or the various twists may be spoiled.

The story concerns a girl, who when born had a demonic twin that for nourishment in utero was eating her leg. She's older now, in the story, and more than anything just wants a normal life, which is pretty much impossible.

Our main character is a Christian minister whose job it is to expose religious frauds on TV. He has his eye on what appears to be a Buddhist cult. And has started his investigation.

There may be a serial killer on the loose.

This all blends together and is resolved in a very satisfying way. It's a bit too talky and could use more action throughout. But that's the nature of this kind of film. It wants the implications of it all to overwhelm you and creep you out.

Korea has a large number of both Christians and Buddhists, and this movie works the seams between them. And not, as you would expect in a Hollywood product, to Christianity's continuous detriment.

I suspect if you're a Buddhist, this movie would provide maximum creepiness.

Check them out.

Posted by: naturalfake at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (dWwl8)

170 How can anybody smell space and live to tell about it?
Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:40 PM (xPl2J)

It's the smell on the suits and in the airlocks after returning from a spacewalk or lunar EVA.

Posted by: hogmartin at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (t+qrx)

171 A good friend had just arrived at the embassy, and her husband was due to got a week later. She got stuck there and he was a nervous wreck back here.

I think she was the person who was asking for tuna recipes, because all they had for the six months they were stuck on the compound was pool water and tuna.
Posted by: Moki at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (/H+aK)

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (zr5Kq)

172 The Thing is better than 'Who Goes There'.

I actually like The Omega Man better than 'I am Legend'.

L.A. Confidential, the movie, is better than almost everything James Ellroy has written.

And, of course, Clue the movie is way funnier than the board game.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (d1uFV)

173 The BBC did a miniseries of "The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil" in 1986.

It was shown on PBS. It's darker than the Streep-Barr movie, and probably more faithful to the book.

Posted by: Wethal at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (ZzVCK)

174 158 On the other hand, some projects follow the source material to the letter, and are better for it. The inspiration for the great series Justified was a short story by the late, great Elmore Leonard titled Fire in the Hole. The show tracked that little tale almost verbatim at the start. The big change was that when the protagonist shot his nemesis in the show he survived. In print he was DRT (dead right there).
Posted by: eastofsuez at August 01, 2020 08:42 PM (U2zca)

-----------------------------

Odd Thomas was another one that followed the source material pretty closely. I enjoyed both the book and the movie.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at August 01, 2020 08:45 PM (CAJOC)

175 Space smells like cheese. That's where the Moon's at.

Posted by: klaftern at August 01, 2020 08:46 PM (RuIsu)

176 Read American Sniper a year before the movie came out. Book way better. Would not get over the casting of his wife as I had met her.

Posted by: NZFrank with a M2 at August 01, 2020 08:46 PM (/ZcZu)

177 149 The mayor of DC is named "Bowser"? Seriously?
Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (UAMe5)

yep. my son makes constant references to Super Mario when he sees her name.

Posted by: Moki at August 01, 2020 08:46 PM (/H+aK)

178 Clint Eastwood is a master at making great movies from mediocre books, including The Outlaw Josey Wales (Gone To Texas).

Posted by: ogmrobvious at August 01, 2020 08:46 PM (5r780)

179 Mark1971: they did a look at all the gasses in the near-vacuum of space (near here), calculated the proportions, then mimicked the proportions at earth pressure (1 bar, I think) and got someone to stick his (or her) nose in the jar.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 08:46 PM (ykYG2)

180 Yeah, I have a whole "revenge" thing for next time, if anyone's interested.

Re "Blade Runner": read it twice, seen the movie 3-4 times, I've never been able to connect them.

Re "LOTR": I've been known to rant at length on my distaste for Jackson's movies. But people love 'em, so what do I know?

Re "Lambs": Far be it from me to contradict the author of the Necronomicon, but I enjoyed "Silence" the book but it didn't make much impression on me.

Kind of a funny story: I read "Red Dragon" right around the same time, and kept having these feelings of deja vu. Realized about halfway through, I'd seen the (Michael Mann) movie "Manhunter", which hadn't made much of an impression on me, but did hew to the plot close enough to where I recognized it.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:47 PM (CcUfv)

181 NZFrank,, I have always had questions about her.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:47 PM (xjYds)

182 @167...yes, it's good. Duranty comes off as not merely a useful idiot, but a totally depraved scumbag. These things do have their ironies. One of the producers is named Chalupa, sister of the Clintonista who was taking dirt from Ukrainians in DC about Trumpworld in 2016.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 08:47 PM (ja/kn)

183 the Pulitzer prize should be given out instead of the Nebulas.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 08:48 PM (ykYG2)

184 The Lonesome Dove miniseries was better than the book. Being perfectly cast had a lot to do with it.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (y7DUB)

Both were masterpieces.
Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (o1Bgo)

Someone here told me McMurtry meant it to portray the Rangers negatively which goes to show how a work can achieve a life of its own.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:48 PM (y7DUB)

185 I liked the Silence of the Lambs the book and The Silence of the Lambs the movie - I think they got as close as you can get to text. Almost no deviation. From what I can remember.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:48 PM (zr5Kq)

186 Trainspotting, both better and more accessible than the book.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (d1uFV)

187 149 The mayor of DC is named "Bowser"? Seriously?
Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (UAMe5)

I can top that.

The head of Nintendo of America is named Bowser.

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (sTaSr)

188 168 SMH, my comms fail. Three years for you and Ex-ex this time.
Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (xjYds)

---

*smiles*

Two years.

Added to the 22 years before.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (RU4sa)

189 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? probably already mentioned in comments 1-165, is so superior to Who Censored Roger Rabbit? it is a different timezone.

The book has moments, but the newspaper-style toons have word-balloons to deal with, and the interaction between toons and people is not as fluid and simple. The plot is similar, but Zemekis' movie, by moving the toons to motion-picture, really blows things wide-open.

Who Framed Rober Rabbit? is perhaps unintentionally (once said my someone else or two, but I've adopted this POV) the last of the "Chinatown" trilogy.

Not a kid's movie, if you want to capture all of the layers. Riotous.

And the book doesn't have Christopher Lloyd skulking about!

Posted by: Wry Mouth at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (N55zD)

190 *smiles*

Two years.

Added to the 22 years before.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (RU4sa)

happy anniversary.

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (zr5Kq)

191 @109 --

Yes, "The Spy Who Loved Me" was a lousy book. Hot sex scenes, and teenage me appreciated that. (Working from memory here.)

I can appreciate Fleming trying something different, but it didn't work.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (u/nim)

192 The Wizard of Oz [the original book, written at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego] is a story about turn-of-the-century monetary policy; an allegory dressed up as a childrens' story.

Funniest thing, William Jennings Bryan is supposed to be the cowardly lion...

The shoes were silver, but they used red in the movies for visual effect, as silver doesn't show up well.

Note: Oz stands for ounce, like ounce of gold.

Posted by: Lt. York at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (IFazp)

193 Larry McMurty is an asshole and you can tell him I said so. Fucking revisionist prick.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (d1uFV)

194 The mayor of DC is named "Bowser"? Seriously?

-
Better than "Spot" or "Rover" I guess.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (+y/Ru)

195 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Movie and climactic plot point way better in the movie, missing in the book.

Posted by: Porko at August 01, 2020 08:51 PM (fDzQR)

196 happy anniversary.
Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (zr5Kq)

---

It was back in June.

Didn't do anything, of course.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:51 PM (RU4sa)

197 Router picking up way out in my front yard

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:38 PM (6f16T)

Mine barely works in the house.

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 08:51 PM (eTZoJ)

198 Maybe one day, we'll be able to eat at a restaurant again.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:52 PM (RU4sa)

199 >>The Book Wasn't Better

The books you cite are insubstantial. Your conclusion is, as a result, foregone and inarguable.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 08:52 PM (XzT/D)

200 The Drinker has put some great review/essays out recently. Jaws being one of them.

I was just laughing remembering about Lucy and her huge vag issues in the Godfather. I think I read that when I was nine or ten (we just ended up reading whatever my mom was reading at the time) and the scene between Sonny and Lucy at Connie's wedding really shocked me. But I did think for many years that her issue was something women really had to worry about. When I re-read it as an adult I realized how ludicrous that whole subplot was, as well as Johnny and the bitchy wife he couldn't quit. There was a lot of dumb in Puzo's book.

Posted by: Gem at August 01, 2020 08:52 PM (kIHih)

201 Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:49 PM (RU4sa)

{{{SMH}}}

I hope and pray that you have many many more!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (eTZoJ)

202 also, ZOD.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (XzT/D)

203 >DC Mayor Exempts John Lewis Funeral Attendees From City's Quarantine Restrictions

which means they know there is no danger
and we know they know
and they know we know they know

yet the charade continues

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (iTXRQ)

204
Larry McMurty is an asshole and you can tell him I said so. Fucking revisionist prick.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:50 PM (d1uFV)

I don't doubt it. I tried some of his other novels and could not get through any of them. He was one and done as far as I am concerned.

Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (o1Bgo)

205 World War Z!

Ducks and runs

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (sTaSr)

206 202 also, ZOD.
Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (XzT/D)

That was assumed.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 01, 2020 08:53 PM (A5zUN)

207 Hrothgar sitting in far end now and it often cuts out right here.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (6f16T)

208 Buzzion, you haven't seen "Unthinkable"

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (xjYds)

209 Two rather glum books that were given the Hollywood perk-up treatment --- An American Tragedy and The Natural.

The Hollywood version of the former, A Place in the Sun, was made awful by the sentimentalization. Butchered the whole story. (It didn't help to cast Shelley Winters as the murder victim. Who doesn't want to kill Shelley Winters?)

The Natural, OTOH, was a better movie than the book, IMO. The book's cynical ending falls flat, while the movie's magical last scene has become legendary.

So, when people ask whether Hollywood should change endings/stories to perk them up, I say --- it depends.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (M/9m0)

210 I prefer the film versions of True Grit.

Maddie is a fucking lying bitch and a load in the book...who at least gets some comeuppance by losing a limb by being a dumbass.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (d1uFV)

211 69 I didn't know up until a few years ago that Shane was adapted from a book. I read it recently and it is really good. A short read too, just a little over 100 pages. Well worth your time.
Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 08:20 PM (xPl2J)

Shane, the book, really has a depth and nuance that the movie screwed up. The author, Jack Schaefer, was in the theater for the premiere, and when Alan Ladd showed up as Shane, Schaefer said (out loud), "Who the hell is that?". But he is said to have liked the movie.

Posted by: FloridaMan at August 01, 2020 08:55 PM (Mhces)

212 168 SMH, my comms fail. Three years for you and Ex-ex this time.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:44 PM (xjYds)

Didn't Moron time start with the first TxMoMee?

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 08:55 PM (eTZoJ)

213 I recall that the plot of Diehard II, the one at the airport, was based on a book. And I know I read the book but don't remember much about it. Iirc, Bruce Willis's John McClane character isn't even in the book. Maybe that's why I don't remember much about the book.

Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:55 PM (786Ro)

214 I'd be willing to believe Meathead's "Stand by Me" was better than the King short story it was based on, which means I didn't read the story and won't.

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 08:55 PM (y7DUB)

215 The BBC series Life and Loves of a She-Devil is all about the ex-wife destroying everything she can to get her revenge. The judge with the closet BDSM fixation, yeah she is there. The sodden priest, played by Tom Baker, yeah she destroys him. All to destroy her husband. What she does to the woman who stole his heart, is just as reprehensible. And in the end she about destroys herself through surgery to become the woman who stole her husband just to keep hurting her husband.

'Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned' does not adequately describe this story.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (Yviqg)

216 It was back in June.

Didn't do anything, of course.
Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 08:51 PM (RU4sa)

You were a June bride ? Here you go - "June Bride", "in this film, Bette Davis plays the editor of a fashionable woman's magazine, who plans a feature on a "typical" Midwestern marriage. She assigns her aide Robert Montgomery to cover the story. However, Montgomery devilishly upsets the apple cart: he convinces the bride's younger sister to elope with the groom. "

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (zr5Kq)

217 Shane is a pretty good movie.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (A5zUN)

218 102 >Heard of a new movie which sounds good, shame Tom Hanks is in it
Greyhounds I think it's called, a WWII navy movie.
don't know why it's a shame, it's a great movie, very no-nonsense flick about trying to cross the Atlantic with Nazi u-boats trying to kill you

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:28 PM (iTXRQ)

What a coinkydink, we watched Greyhound just last night. It's 90 minutes of intensity. Hanks may be a left-wing dickhead, but he can act convincingly.

Mrs. Muse enjoyed it very much.

OregonMuse says check it out.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (7m7+9)

219 I could probably be persuaded an "Omega Man" vs. "I Am Legend" though the former is so groovy and dated.

BOTH versions of "The Thing" are better than the story, with the Hawks/Nyby version taking only the barest elements of the story, and the Carpenter version being a lot more faithful. But currently reading "Who Goes There" and it's easily the best J. W. Campbell story I've read.

As for "Wizard of Oz," I've heard the arguments that it's about the gold/silver standard (the slippers in the book are silver, not ruby) but I've never seen evidence I could follow.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (CcUfv)

220 Hrothgar sitting in far end now and it often cuts out right here.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (6f16T)

I added a range extender, but the improvement is marginal

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (eTZoJ)

221 OregonMuse says check it out.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (7m7+9)
-------
Where can it be found?

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (UAMe5)

222 137 I read somewhere that outer space smells like burnt meat and metal
Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:39 PM (iTXRQ)

Event Horizon is just future history then.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (d1uFV)

223 Does this count as a movie? Dragon X is coming home soon, will undock in another hour or so. NASA feed:

https://bit.ly/3hZE2tn

Better than the book. I remember how captivated I was by the launch and docking. Reading about it had not excited me in the least. Watching it brought back a bit of that old Apollo 11 wonder I felt as a kid.

Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (KfC1e)

224 Hrothgar, this will be year 5. MoMe V.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (xjYds)

225 The Bridges of Madison County was a sappy read that had me thinking "someone should fire the editor." However, Clint Eastwood somehow managed to turn it into a much better film.

Posted by: Cooper Wesley at August 01, 2020 08:58 PM (Q0Ghc)

226 >OregonMuse says check it out.

yes that's the word: intense
it's a little over 90 minutes and never lets up

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 08:58 PM (iTXRQ)

227 First Blood is better than the book.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 08:58 PM (d1uFV)

228 I thought American Psycho was a movie that was better than the book. Left more things vague and toned down some of the more over the top graphic scenes.

Posted by: brak at August 01, 2020 08:58 PM (6YnYH)

229 We also saw this week two good movies:

"The Art of Self-Defense" -

A dark comedy about gamma male gets mugged and in order to learn how to defend himself joins a very intense karate gym.

Good acting and directing, Good plot line with twists. Some good laughs. Intense scenes. And, Bonus!, horrible situations.

Streaming on Hula now.

"Impetigore" - an Indonesian horror movie.

A woman toll booth operator is nearly murdered by a maniac. The maniac tells her some things that cause her to return to her home village, however everyone in the village wants to kill her.

Nice twists with ghosts, a horrible curse, flaying, and Indonesian magic shadow puppets.

Good acting for the most part. Some great intense scenes. Good scares. Nice plot with twists.

The neat thing about seeing all of these foreign horror movies is that their mythology and folk tales are very different from ours. It makes for a more surprising horror movie than Hollywood same/same crapola.

Streaming on Shudder.

Check them out.

Posted by: naturalfake at August 01, 2020 08:58 PM (dWwl8)

230 "I think the Connery-era Bond girls were the hottest ..."

Thunderball has an unbelievable hotness quotient, as well as being the first, and to my knowledge, only,. "Bond Girl Neapolitan" (Blonde, Brunette, Redhead).

Posted by: ogmrobvious at August 01, 2020 08:59 PM (5r780)

231 I read somewhere that outer space smells like burnt meat and metal

Until that one wise guy sneaks a can of Goya beans on board...

Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 09:00 PM (8eSmR)

232 You were a June bride ? Here you go - "June Bride", "in this film, Bette Davis plays the editor of a fashionable woman's magazine, who plans a feature on a "typical" Midwestern marriage. She assigns her aide Robert Montgomery to cover the story. However, Montgomery devilishly upsets the apple cart: he convinces the bride's younger sister to elope with the groom. "
Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 08:56 PM (zr5Kq)

---

Seen it, but thanks anyway.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:00 PM (RU4sa)

233 >>outer space smells like burnt meat and metal

In space, no one can hear you grill/thrash.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 09:00 PM (XzT/D)

234 I felt The Hobbit desecrated the book.

Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (8eSmR)

235 No Country for old Men ... reads like a screenplay.
Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (o1Bgo)
===
I noticed that immediately, and I had a prepublication review copy. For whatever reason, that is what he did.

Posted by: Gilded Age II, now with comprehensive surveillance, 24/7 propaganda, and fake science! at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (BRkq2)

236 OM maybe I will, love war movies just tired of Hanks playing Tom Hanks.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (6f16T)

237 Oh, good heavens:

Busty Cops (2004)

Max (Nikki Nova), Chloe (Jesse Jane) and Ashley (Katie James) specialize in sexy undercover work after expertly trained at the Busty Cops Academy. The crime-fighting cadets' first assignment takes them on to the set of a Hollywood porn film.

Director: Jim Wynorski (as Harold Blueberry)
Writer: William McRoy (screenplay)
Stars: Nikki Nova, Angela Little, Jesse Jane

Can't wait for the Criterion edition.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (7m7+9)

238 There is another 'last man on Earth' movie out there with Omega in the title, but I forget its full title.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (Yviqg)

239 Thunderball has an unbelievable hotness quotient, as well as being the first, and to my knowledge, only,. "Bond Girl Neapolitan" (Blonde, Brunette, Redhead).
Posted by: ogmrobvious at August 01, 2020 08:59 PM (5r780)
-------
Thunderball has excellent Bond girls, a plausible scheme and a hands-on villain. The assassination attempt at the health spa is unbelievably dumb, though.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (UAMe5)

240 Been 17 years since my first OIF deployment.

Reunions will not be a thing.
Posted by: SMH

The reunions will come.
As will the tears. Over time.
And the smiles.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (axyOa)

241 Silk Stalkings is underrated.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (d1uFV)

242 Shane, the book, really has a depth and nuance that
the movie screwed up. The author, Jack Schaefer, was in the theater for
the premiere, and when Alan Ladd showed up as Shane, Schaefer said (out
loud), "Who the hell is that?". But he is said to have liked the
movie.

Posted by: FloridaMan at August 01, 2020 08:55 PM (Mhces)

After I read Shane I got Schaefer's Monte Walsh, which was also made into a movie. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (xPl2J)

243 >>The books you cite are insubstantial. Your conclusion is, as a result, foregone and inarguable.

Some of them are quite substantial, containing many pages.

If you're saying I didn't include books that were better than the movies, well, yes, that was the point: To refute the notion that "the book is always better."

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (CcUfv)

244 Ben Had, in what way?

Posted by: NZFrank with a M2 at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (/ZcZu)

245 That movie trilogy shat Orc offal over The Hobbit.

So much for a simple heist story.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (Yviqg)

246 Hrothgar, this will be year 5. MoMe V.
Posted by: Ben Had at August 01, 2020 08:57 PM (xjYds)

So year 4 ATMM (Anno Texas Moron Meetup).

SWIDT?

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (eTZoJ)

247 But did you find "Blood Woods" (2017) better than the book?

Posted by: Brian Dennehy in Hunt of Red Octobrr at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (ufJfM)

248 >>235 No Country for old Men ... reads like a screenplay. Posted by: Quint at August 01, 2020 08:17 PM (o1Bgo)

It suffered from the handicap of having been written by a shitty novelist.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (XzT/D)

249 >>'Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned' does not adequately describe this story.

All I know is Fay Weldon must be exhausted most of the time, with all that nihilism.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (CcUfv)

250 When router died last year looked into a repeater with 3 base stations, thought it would be nice one each end of house and in out building but didn't get it.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (6f16T)

251 Recently read 'All you need is kill' which became 'Edge of tomorrow '. Both versions were good. Tons of changes. I enjoy rewatching the first half of the movie, but once Cruise is out of the loop, I'm not a big fan.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (x8Q/V)

252 > "I think the Connery-era Bond girls were the hottest ..."

from "Dr. No"

https://tinyurl.com/bond-james-bond

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (iTXRQ)

253 I thought Inglourious Basterds was better than WWII.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (+y/Ru)

254 The reunions will come.
As will the tears. Over time.
And the smiles.
Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (axyOa)

---

No, they will not.

Not all units are the same.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (RU4sa)

255 Logan's Run was a decent book, I think the movie works better. The book is quite different.

Posted by: Darth Randall at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (uD6Ca)

256 234 I felt The Hobbit desecrated the book.
Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 09:01 PM (8eSmR)

I downloaded the "Tolkien edit" version that combined all of the Hobbit movies and edited out as much of the extraneous crap as they could. It wasn't too bad, lasted about 3.75 hours. We watched it on election night 2016. When it was over (about 11pm Pacific time), we glumly turned on the TV for the election results, and, holy shit...

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (7m7+9)

257 >>Some of them are quite substantial, containing many pages. Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (CcUfv)

Indeed.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 09:05 PM (XzT/D)

258 I thought Inglourious Basterds was better than WWII.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (+y/Ru)
------
If we're going that route, I thought "Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood" was better than the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 09:05 PM (UAMe5)

259 moviegique

I would think Fay would have offed herself by now...

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:05 PM (Yviqg)

260 @192 --

Oz stands for ounce, like ounce of gold.

Also happened to be the label on Baum's filing cabinet (O-Z).

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (u/nim)

261 It suffered from the handicap of having been written by a shitty novelist.
Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (XzT/D)
===
Blood Meridian will outlive your great great great great grandchildren.

Posted by: Gilded Age II, now with comprehensive surveillance, 24/7 propaganda, and fake science! at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (BRkq2)

262 Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (6f16T)

My network needs a total replacement, so I decided to pass on investing another dime in infrastructure until I have a decent framework.

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (eTZoJ)

263 The Princess Bride is my all-time favorite movie, but I absolutely can't stand the characters in the book.

Posted by: California Girl (not Caligirl) at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (L9+g/)

264 I remember the tv movie "Genesis II". I don't think it was ever a book

Mariette Hartley had two belly buttons.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (Z+IKu)

265 I recall from when I was a freshman or sophomore in college that Catch 22 and M*A*S*H came out at roughly the same time. The great film critic Judith Crist came to our campus and said the contrast between the 2 movies was that Catch 22 was a great book and a so-so movie while M*A*S*H was a so-so book and a great movie. I agreed with her on Catch 22, and never read the book of M*A*S*H because of what she said.
Another take might be on novelizations of movie scripts. I recall finding Hank Searls' adaptation of Jaws 2 to be astonishingly good as a novel.

Posted by: ameryx at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (0O5t+)

266 "The Last Detail" was a decent book, better movie.

Posted by: Zod at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (XzT/D)

267 I never comment but I couldn't stay quiet on this one. The Princess Bride movie was much better than the book. Almost unbelievably bad book but a great, fun movie.

Posted by: Down in the holler at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (0iH/9)

268 The two belly buttons, Gene Roddenberry getting revenge on the censors.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (Yviqg)

269 No, they will not.

Not all units are the same.
Posted by: SMH

True.
But I choose to believe that we all wind up at Fiddler's Green at some point. I like to think a few buddies just got there early to save us some seats.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (axyOa)

270 Phil Dick died about four months before 'blade runner' had its theatrical release, so whatever he saw was probably a bit different than the final (then) cut. He was also not in great health and more than a little out of it mentally. He'd gotten little reward for his efforts up until that point, so seeing anything attributed to his works was likely highly cathartic, regardless of how little it might resemble the source material.

I never met Dick but I had several older friend who knew him pretty well. for all his reputation he was a surprisingly conservative guy in some ways, such as writing an anti-abortion story in the wake of RvW, and another distopian story about a future in which Dianetics (it wasn't a religion yet) took over the world, with much of civilization collapsing as a result.

The really remarkable thing about 'The Howling' is the actor in that picture. Believe it or not, that's Robert Picardo, best known as the Emergency Medical Hologram in 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (AJKgl)

271 Not all units are the same.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (RU4sa)

True dat!

BUT, you have us...

oh wait

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (eTZoJ)

272 I remember the tv movie "Genesis II". I don't think it was ever a book

Mariette Hartley had two belly buttons.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at August 01, 2020 09:06 PM (Z+IKu)
-----
That was Roddenberry making up for all the belly buttons he couldn't show on Trek.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (UAMe5)

273 Finally forced myself to watch the rest of Parasite, after letting it sit in my DVD player for a month. It got a bit better towards the end, but still was just not my cuppa. No way was it a Best Picture. Well, except for Park So Dam, who is just smoking, in a babyfaced Korean sort of way.

It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a farce, which I generally dislike, or a really dark commentary on society, which I dislike even more. Time to go watch some Midnight Diner to recover my equilibrium.

Posted by: pep at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (v16oJ)

274 True.
But I choose to believe that we all wind up at Fiddler's Green at some point. I like to think a few buddies just got there early to save us some seats.
Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:07 PM (axyOa)

---

Sometimes, I think they were the lucky ones.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (RU4sa)

275 OregonMuse--

A lot of the guys who churned out fun grade Z fare in the '80s and '90s did not fare well in the post "Blair Witch" world. Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski, David Decouteau, etc.

I mean, I don't think they're hurting for money but the kinda wild days of freewheeling indie videos while still being able to turn a buck seem to be over.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (CcUfv)

276

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - the book was told third person through the eyes of Chief Bromden (Juicy Fruit Indian).

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (aKsyK)

277 from "Dr. No"

https://tinyurl.com/bond-james-bond
Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:03 PM (iTXRQ)

Great scene. Which is why I thought it was stupid for the new Bond movie that had Daniel Craig playing Texas Hold 'em poker in a European casino. Baccarat is the game for suave Europeans, everybody knows that.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (7m7+9)

278 Does take of thrones count?

Posted by: J gault at August 01, 2020 09:09 PM (qI5fY)

279 >If we're going that route, I thought "Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood" was better than the Tate-LaBianca murders.

well-played

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:09 PM (iTXRQ)

280 It amazes me for how popular (and forced-read) Gatsby is, there has never been a good adaptation of it, at least faithful to the book. The Redford/Farrow film should have every last copy burned. They always make Gatsby too old and Daisy is all wrong.

Posted by: G at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (dy/m/)

281 Great scene. Which is why I thought it was stupid for the new Bond movie that had Daniel Craig playing Texas Hold 'em poker in a European casino. Baccarat is the game for suave Europeans, everybody knows that.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (7m7+9)
-----
Baccarat is a crappy game for people who want to lose large amounts of money in a hurry.

Not that I'm biased or anything.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (UAMe5)

282 After I read Shane I got Schaefer's Monte Walsh, which was also made into a movie. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

-
The book suffers a bit from Ben Hur disease; it's just too long. It begins when Monty, as a child, runs away from his step father. It is very authentic and believable, though.

I liked the Tom Selleck movie better than the Lee Marvin movie.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (+y/Ru)

283 https://tinyurl.com/y66pb3sy

Roberts' life movie can't escape the book.

Posted by: deplorable unperson - refuse to accept the Mask of the Beast at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (luzVb)

284 Best Literature I've seen on a screen in a while: "What Dreams May Come".
Posted by: MrObvious

My favorite movie. I don't watch it often because I start crying about 5 minutes after it begins and stop crying about 2 hours after it ends. Love it.

Posted by: G. Gnome, Pickled Watermelon Rind Raider Queen at August 01, 2020 09:11 PM (OQcPl)

285 At the end of Once Upon A Time I refused to watch cos I could not bear the thought of the smoking hot Sharon Tate!/ Robbie Margo getting cutup. A work mate was saying it's hilarious. Wait wut? Went back and watched it all. Awesome.

Posted by: NZFrank with a M2 at August 01, 2020 09:11 PM (/ZcZu)

286 @239...better movie: "Thunderball" or "Never Say Never Again"?

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 01, 2020 09:11 PM (ja/kn)

287 One book I always wanted to read from a movie was Walkabout, the premise of the Book is totally different in its American kids and a miss understanding has them walking the length of Australia.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:11 PM (6f16T)

288 >Great scene. Which is why I thought it was stupid for the new Bond movie that had Daniel Craig playing Texas Hold 'em poker in a European casino....
Posted by: OregonMuse,

I think the final Craig/Bond film is in covid-imposed limbo

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:11 PM (iTXRQ)

289 #265
The original M*A*S*H* novel is worth reading, as it's actually about the Korean War, rather than Vietnam. Robert Altman used the book as an excuse to make the movie he wanted to make but didn't think the studio would allow to proceed if they knew what he intended.
I've always been annoyed that Altman made a complete hash of the fantastic National Lampoon story 'The Incredible Mind-roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs'.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (AJKgl)

290 >>255 Logan's Run was a decent book, I think the movie works better. The book is quite different.
Posted by: Darth Randall at August 01, 2020 09:04 PM (uD6Ca)

I have been wondering about that. A lot of y'all are mentioning books that are on my list "to read".

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (CcUfv)

291 ameryx,

Read the book The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Wing.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y6d3tbb7

Author speculates that Heller felt guilt for finagling a way to get rotated home early while everyone else saw the number of missions needed to be rotated home rise. So he wrote Catch-22.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (Yviqg)

292
I think Tom Hanks palling around with Epstein and becoming a Greek citizen renders him Forever Uncleeeean.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 01, 2020 08:41 PM (L9P9s)

Hopefully. He's the most over rated actor ever and a lefty douchebag. I'd love to hear the dirt on him with Epstein who did not kill himself

Posted by: TheQuietMan at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (crQG9)

293 I mean, I don't think they're hurting for money but the kinda wild days of freewheeling indie videos while still being able to turn a buck seem to be over.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:08 PM (CcUfv)

Well, they're all on SyFy now. Sharknado, Two-Headed Shark Attack, Three-Headed Shark Attack, etc. They're up to Six now, last I checked.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (7m7+9)

294 259 moviegique

I would think Fay would have offed herself by now...
Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:05 PM (Yviqg)

I assume she lives for making others miserable.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (CcUfv)

295 The Harry Potter movies are better than the books. Rowling needed an editor to cut out half of the nonsense like they did in the movies.

Posted by: G. Gnome, Pickled Watermelon Rind Raider Queen at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (OQcPl)

296 So are all these movies that are supposed to be released in theaters gonna get streamed?

Who's gonna go to theaters now?

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (RU4sa)

297 As far as "The Princess Bride" goes, there is an interesting dichotomy. I'm sure there must be someone, but I've never met him, who likes both.

But I get it: The movie is whimsical and charming. I haven't read the book, but what I've read of Goldman is cynical and off-putting.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:13 PM (CcUfv)

298 The Natural, OTOH, was a better movie than the book, IMO. The book's cynical ending falls flat, while the movie's magical last scene has become legendary.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 08:54 PM (M/9m0)

As much as I like the book, I'm not "in love with it", as many of the snooty literary types are.

But the revised ending ruins the author's story.

Additionally, I have a dislike for the story, as the damn movie was jammed down our throats during the filming here in Buffalo.

Posted by: browndog at August 01, 2020 09:13 PM (BgMrQ)

299 The book the movie "the thing from outerspace" was based on was great.

Posted by: getting the banned back together, wish i had a watermellon and a television at August 01, 2020 09:14 PM (4G+8y)

300 Sometimes, I think they were the lucky ones.
Posted by: SMH

Naa.
It was merely the way it happens.
Like many, I was inches from joining some of my buddies. But it didn't happen.
Took a long time to figure out that that was the way it is.
Capricious? Sure.
But it does nothing to diminish the lives lost, or gained. We move forward.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:14 PM (axyOa)

301 History of the World, Part II is better than the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition combined. Fight me.

Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 09:14 PM (786Ro)

302 #285
I saw 'Once Upon a time In Hollywood' in Simi Valley, just a short drive from the Spahn Ranch site, with an audience mostly old enough to remember the era, albeit as children. The laughter at the climax was more intense than at any comedy I've seen in a long time.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (AJKgl)

303 Baccarat is a crappy game for people who want to lose large amounts of money in a hurry.

Not that I'm biased or anything.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, of the sloop John B. at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (UAMe5)

Maybe so, but Euroweenies play it. It's like soccer. Both teach the weenies that everything is shit, you'll get nothing but shit all of your life, and nothing you can do will ever change that.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (7m7+9)

304 Walkabout
Posted by: Skip
Our teachers took our whole class to the movie. Maybe sixth grade. It haunts me to this day. I lived in Oz for three years, and it was excellent, so I always think about it as a future option. But the movie...it worries me. Side topic: what were the teachers thinking?

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (nMGVc)

305 The 1950s 'Quo Vadis' was better than the book, I felt. Not nearly as rambling, and it made Marcus Vinicius more of a war hero slowly learning that there's a strength beyond mere muscle and sword. In the book, he came across as a bit of a weakling. That scene in the movie where he has the idea of rescuing the crowd trapped by the burning of Rome by going into the sewers - and where he's the last one through the grate as the buildings collapse over them - that was so perfect for his character, I couldn't believe that it wasn't in the book at all! In the original story, he just stumbles around a smouldering Rome for a few days, looking for Ligeia, until he's overcome by heat stroke and has to be rescued by some Christians.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (1YIDD)

306 So you are saying Fay is a Karen.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:16 PM (Yviqg)

307 Ligeia?

Tomb of?

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:17 PM (Yviqg)

308 brownies in 4 minutes

or another kitchen disaster- I'll know when I open the oven door

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:17 PM (iTXRQ)

309 Jenny. A. Gutter.

Bunk.

Posted by: getting the banned back together at August 01, 2020 09:17 PM (4G+8y)

310 Read the book The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Wing.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y6d3tbb7

Author speculates that Heller felt guilt for finagling a way to get rotated home early while everyone else saw the number of missions needed to be rotated home rise. So he wrote Catch-22.
Posted by: Anna Puma

I quite liked that book and was surprised to learn that many of the most unbelievable parts were true.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:17 PM (+y/Ru)

311
Both teach the weenies that everything is shit, you'll get nothing but shit all of your life, and nothing you can do will ever change that.
Posted by: OregonMuse

Coming soon to a country near you.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 01, 2020 09:18 PM (aKsyK)

312 Being There was better as a movie than as a book. The Birds was better as a book than a movie. Still good though.

Posted by: Vivi at August 01, 2020 09:18 PM (11H2y)

313 Well, they're all on SyFy now. Sharknado, Two-Headed Shark Attack, Three-Headed Shark Attack, etc. They're up to Six now, last I checked.

Wynorski has Cobragator coming up, so that sounds pretty SyFy. Fred Olen Ray seems to be doing Hallmark Christmas movies. Decoteau seems to be working for Lifetime.

It's a living.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:18 PM (CcUfv)

314 Seven Days in May was much better as a movie than as a book. The plot got streamlined and the tension is sustained throughout. It probably didn't hurt that the screenplay was done by Rod Serling.

Posted by: MichiCanuck at August 01, 2020 09:19 PM (OuxIR)

315 -----"Thunderball has excellent Bond girls, a plausible scheme and a hands-on villain. The assassination attempt at the health spa is unbelievably dumb, though."

The plot hinges on Bond coincidentally being at the same health spa as a spectre agent to recover from injuries at the hands of another spectre agent. Bond gets on to him because of a tong tattoo, just like he later figures out an assassin's identity because of an ostentatious"I am a spectre assassin" gold ring.
The movie was clearly edited several times, making a mess of the timelines. You are right about the scheme, but it's the spectacle, Connery's charisma, and the perfect amount of refusal to take itself too seriously that makes Thunderball so rewatchable. That and the Bond girls.

Posted by: ogmrobvious at August 01, 2020 09:19 PM (5r780)

316 #255
I regard the book of 'Logan's Run' as a precursor to the cyberpunk genre. Nolan was pretty much trying to do John Brunner dialed up to 11 and hit upon something that wouldn't be fully realized until a decade later.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:20 PM (AJKgl)

317 From what I've read, Puzo put the sex scenes in "The Godfather" on the advice of a publisher who said those would sell the book. Puzo was reportedly embarrassed by those parts.

I'm glad the movie omitted Luca Brazi's back story. Ghastly stuff.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 09:20 PM (u/nim)

318 As for Howl's Moving Castle. Yes it is a Miyazaki adaptation. However once you realize that old lady is actually running the empire and started a war that has killed many people just to get Howl to come back, the bloom is definitely off that rose.

It is not my favorite Ghibli movie.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:20 PM (Yviqg)

319 280 It amazes me for how popular (and forced-read) Gatsby is....
Posted by: G at August 01, 2020 09:10 PM (dy/m/)
===
Because it's short and easy?

Posted by: Gilded Age II, now with comprehensive surveillance and fake science at August 01, 2020 09:20 PM (BRkq2)

320 But the movie...it worries me. Side topic: what were the teachers thinking?

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (nMGVc)

Don't have a clue, but there is a mystery there.

I worked with an Aussie ex-pat married to a US serviceman. He son was a really good kid and came to work for the same company.

One fine summer day, he came in and said "I am going to take time off to go walkabout!" He came back from Oz about 18 months later and said he had enjoyed every minute of it!

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (eTZoJ)

321 Steve McQueen in The Reivers
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064886/

Ryan O'Neil in Paper Moon

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0070510/

Both movies very faithful to original book and both fun movies.

Posted by: pouncer at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (Jjybm)

322 >>So you are saying Fay is a Karen.

Oh, yeah, no doubt. It's kind of infuriating when people use their talent this way, but it's certainly not uncommon.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (CcUfv)

323 The Hunger Games movies improve on the books a lot.

Jackson's LOTR movies don't improve the books but took from the books what made an epic set of movies.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (fBR9E)

324 I'm watching Lynch's "Dune" just for the costumes and set design. I'm shallow like that.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (Dc2NZ)

325 Yay, SMH and Ex-Ex!

Posted by: Eromero at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (XhWtx)

326 I guess it was actually Lygia - didn't take the time to look it up! She was named after her country, which I always thought was somewhere near Greece, but it seems Lygia in Roman times was a territory near Poland.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (1YIDD)

327 What would propel you, Oregon Muse, to waste your time on the drivel that is "Feminist Classic" anything. And to your point about revenge stories, do you understand there is first an injustice, and injury, an insult not balanced in the whole by a response? If you understand that then you recognize the nature of conflict in the human experience, and that is not suffering a loss of revenge but one of victory and the companion celebration. I point you to "Flags In the Dust" for more detail.

Posted by: William Faulkner at August 01, 2020 09:22 PM (AsjQP)

328 [The Power of One]

Book was better than movie, although movie has epic soundtrack.

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:22 PM (oZuI0)

329 Ghibli films are pure genius. I never knew Howl's Moving Castle was a book. I have a big collection of Miyazaki's movies, and they're mostly far better than Disney on a technical level. They're all light years better from a wholesomeness standpoint.

As far as books, one book I liked better than the film was Total Recall. Can't remember who wrote it, but I think it was a novelization of the movie, written years later. It filled in a lot of holes left by the screenplay.

Thanks for the great content, Movigique!

Posted by: Taqiyyologist at August 01, 2020 09:22 PM (j3jZX)

330 "Lambs" is a good book, but not nearly as frightening as "Red Dragon," the first of Thomas Harris' serial killer novels. By the same token, the first film adaptation of "Red Dragon," Michael Mann's "Manhunter," was far superior to the later version with Edward Norton.

John Huston spent half of his career trying to film unfilmable novels. "Moby Dick" and "Wise Blood" turned out ok, though.

Numerous people have optioned "Confederacy of Dunces" for the screen, but it's too complicated for a feature film. It might work as an 8 or 10 part miniseries.

Posted by: Darwin Akbar at August 01, 2020 09:23 PM (JFCvK)

331 Enjoy the movie Eris.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:23 PM (Yviqg)

332 I think 'Die Hard' was better than the book it was based on, 'Nothing Lasts Forever' by Roderick Thorpe. At least, that's my opinion. I wonder if I would think that if I had read (and enjoyed) the book first.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:23 PM (JHbSi)

333 Said on Book Thread for as great of a movie the Cain Mutiny is the Book is sooo much better

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:23 PM (6f16T)

334 I quite liked that book and was surprised to learn that many of the most unbelievable parts were true.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:17 PM (+y/Ru)

A most excellent book.

Posted by: Commissar Hrothgar -Your Rulers Have, and Deserve, Different Rules! - at August 01, 2020 09:23 PM (eTZoJ)

335 321.
Thank you for reviving both the Reivers and Paper Moon!
Excellent examples.

Posted by: Dan Patterson at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (AsjQP)

336 324 I'm watching Lynch's "Dune" just for the costumes and set design. I'm shallow like that.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (Dc2NZ)

They were quite good, I have to give it that.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (NWiLs)

337 Oh, hockeh is back!

Woo hoo!

Currently Penguins are down 1-0 --yaaaaayyy!

Gotta stay up late to watch my first Jets game (vs. Flames) in ~six months, though.

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (oZuI0)

338 I've seen it before, Anna. When it came out, and when SciFi showed the extended version with deleted scenes and inserts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (Dc2NZ)

339 Maybe so, but Euroweenies play it. It's like soccer. Both teach the weenies that everything is shit, you'll get nothing but shit all of your life, and nothing you can do will ever change that.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:15 PM (7m7+9)

----------

I always saw baccarat as the game for people who wanted to be seen playing baccarat.

Poseurs, in other words.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (wPVhA)

340 I'm watching Lynch's "Dune" just for the costumes and set design. I'm shallow like that.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (Dc2NZ)

Lynch nailed the feel of the Dune universe. I saw the new Dune movie sets and while not cheap like the miniseries, just don't look right.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (fBR9E)

341 Jackson's LOTR movies don't improve the books but took from the books what made an epic set of movies.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (fBR9E)

I nearly walked out when I saw Fellowship of the Ring the in theater. The other two were even worse.

Omitting the Scouring of the Shire was the last fucking straw.

Yuge buckets of blech!

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (x8Wzq)

342 >>However once you realize that old lady is actually running the empire and started a war that has killed many people just to get Howl to come back, the bloom is definitely off that rose.

It is not my favorite Ghibli movie.

Miyazaki is interesting. He deplores war but he almost always shows it as two sides with competing philosophies in conflict, i.e., he never has vengeance in mind, even when (as here) the person he's exciting sympathy for is kind of a monster. I think his WWII years were formative.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (CcUfv)

343 Eris,

Francesca Annis as the Lady Jessica.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (Yviqg)

344 327 What would propel you, Oregon Muse, to waste your time on the drivel that is "Feminist Classic" anything. And to your point about revenge stories, do you understand there is first an injustice, and injury, an insult not balanced in the whole by a response? If you understand that then you recognize the nature of conflict in the human experience, and that is not suffering a loss of revenge but one of victory and the companion celebration. I point you to "Flags In the Dust" for more detail.
Posted by: William Faulkner at August 01, 2020 09:22 PM (AsjQP)

I'm going to refer these questions to the estimable moviegique, who wrote the content for the thread. I just published it.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (JHbSi)

345 A movie that took substantial liberties with the source material is 'John Carpenter's Vampires'. That he made his name part of the title is a bit of slap toward the author. John Steakley's 'Vampire$' has stuff that makes for a good book but would have been difficult to do justice in an action move.
Steakley's other memorable novel 'Armor' would also make a great movie but would be regarded as unoriginal because it has been ripped off so much.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:26 PM (AJKgl)

346 I bet it's a bit of shock entering the Space Station. A lot of people been sweatin' in there a long time.
Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 08:43 PM (2nFxy)

I read from one of the astronauts reports that it's constantly recycled air and it has a weird combination of "an odor" and "an ozone tang" to the smell....and as soon as you get busy on your job it's forgotten, because your totally focused on your job and not screwing up the fact that someone spent millions on you getting there.

Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 09:26 PM (k+h+d)

347 Anyone else watch the Netflix series Hannibal?

It wasn't bad, but once Hannibal mentioned that he stopped practising, I thought, how the hell does he get enough money to pull off all the shit he's doing?

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:26 PM (oZuI0)

348 So the space station smells like a U-boat after 30 days at sea.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:27 PM (Yviqg)

349 Jackson's LOTR movies don't improve the books but took from the books what made an epic set of movies.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:21 PM (fBR9E)

--------

I always thought that the best thing The Mouse could have done with Star Wars was to hand it over to Peter Jackson with $100 million.

But Kathleen Kennedy had other ideas.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:27 PM (wPVhA)

350 When the LOTR movies were being made here in NZ about 10 years ago, a friend from Zud Afrika was working as s set painter. She said it was 3 years of insanity. I remember she had enoumous sweater puppies so I never listened properly.

Posted by: NZFrank with a M2 at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (/ZcZu)

351 I always saw baccarat as the game for people who wanted to be seen playing baccarat.

Poseurs, in other words.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:24 PM (wPVhA)

--In Vegas, baccarat is pretty much just for high rollers from what I've heard.

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (oZuI0)

352
There have been a hundred documentaries based on the Gulag Archipelago, but nobody directs a feature film about it, because theater audiences don't pay for a horror movie that actually makes them puke in terror.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice, Dei Gratia, Coloradum Omnium Rex, Fidei Defensor, Americae Imperator at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (Tm4zg)

353 Yeah, but by omitting the scouring of the shire, they had still more time to devout to freakish quasi-midget man-child Elijah Woods gazing moist- and empty-eyed upon the world like a cicada that has been hijacked by a mind-controlling fungus.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (H5knJ)

354 A recent example of film being better than book is 'Babylon Berlin', which I mentioned in last week's Book Thread. The German series is exciting, intriguing and captivating. The book is just a pedestrian police procedural. It furnished character names and a bare plot outline; everything interesting was invented for the series. The book was so boring I actually gave up reading it with just 30 pages left to go!

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (1YIDD)

355 348 So the space station smells like a U-boat after 30 days at sea.
Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:27 PM (Yviqg)

I have heard that the ISS smells like a rest-stop in Huntington Beach.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (x8Wzq)

356 Omitting the Scouring of the Shire was the last fucking straw.

Yuge buckets of blech!
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:25

Agreed. Kind of an important part of the book. I was also a bit miffed about the omission of Bombadil and Goldberry.

Posted by: Taqiyyologist at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (j3jZX)

357 348 So the space station smells like a U-boat after 30 days at sea.
Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:27 PM (Yviqg)
---

Like diesel and sausage farts? That's what I took from the book.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (Dc2NZ)

358 Jackson butchered The Hobbit way worse than he did LOTR.

It was still entertaining, but the book is way more fun, and way shorter.

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (oZuI0)

359 #332
The book was a sequel to what became the movie 'The Detective', starring Frank Sinatra. Due to contractual obligations they had to offer first right of refusal on the lead to the then 73 year old Sinatra.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (AJKgl)

360 I very much love The Hunt for Red October, and the film was as good as the book, IMO.

Posted by: Wyatt Earp at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (oJp6K)

361 The last (I think) Miyazaki movie about the guy who designed the Zero was weird.

It was sort of straight bio, which makes it weird by Miyazaki standards.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (gd9RK)

362 Oh, by which I mean "Das Boot".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (Dc2NZ)

363 2001, I thought the book was better

Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 09:30 PM (xnF/J)

364 Like diesel and sausage farts?

"Mein Fuhrer! It smells like victory!"

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:30 PM (Yviqg)

365
362 Oh, by which I mean "Das Boot".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (Dc2NZ)

--------

I remember that. A dark, film noir study on four days in the life of a kraut shoe salesman at a boot convention in Stuttgart.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:31 PM (wPVhA)

366 >> What would propel you, Oregon Muse, to waste your time on the drivel that is "Feminist Classic" anything. And to your point about revenge stories, do you understand there is first an injustice, and injury, an insult not balanced in the whole by a response?

I'm sitting here thinking "Wait, 'Busty Cops' is a feminist classic?" and then realizing the poster thinks Oregon Muse wrote the post and he's talking about "She-Devil".

I'm sure I've written (a lot) about my project to read all my books, most of which were bought at library sales 30 years ago. (That's right, I was buying library books when I was very nearly conceived.)

A few, thankfully not many, have turned out to be political garbage. All I knew about "She-Devil" was that it was a kinda cute, mostly forgettable romcom-y type flick. So, lesson learned. Not the first bad book I've read, and certainly not the last...at least not with "Ready Player Two" on the horizon...

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:31 PM (CcUfv)

367 Oh, by which I mean "Das Boot".
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Would a remake be "Das Re-Boot"?

Posted by: Admiral Miklos Horthy at August 01, 2020 09:31 PM (QzkSJ)

368 As far as "The Exorcist," William Peter Blatty's novel was excellent and very cinematic. His masterpiece, however, might be "The Ninth Configuration," whose film adaptation Blatty directed himself.
Blatty also wrote the novel, "John Goldfarb Please Come Home," which is hilarious. The film adaptation is hilarious too, and maybe the most Un-PC movie ever made. The film is almost never shown except sometimes, TCM will run it on "Richard Crenna Night." If released today, it would spark a jihad.
Blatty also wrote the screenplay for "A Shot in the Dark," the best Clouseau movie and, to this day, absolutely hilarious.

Posted by: Darwin Akbar at August 01, 2020 09:31 PM (JFCvK)

369 >I have heard that the ISS smells like a rest-stop in Huntington Beach.

I imagine it's pretty funky in there, space air-conditioning or not

no showers, and they have to stow the poop
space farts
in space no one can hear you say 'who cut the cheese?'

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:32 PM (iTXRQ)

370 I thought of "Last of the Mohicans"...mentioned it on Twitter...but I haven't read the book and Michael Mann movies do nothing for me.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 08:13 PM (CcUfv)

Even Thief?

Has the same criminal idea in Heat where you have to be willing to leave everything behind at the drop of a hat, but Caan makes you BELIEVE it. DeNiro is obviously acting the part, but Caan IS a criminal in Thief.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at August 01, 2020 09:32 PM (CW4Ad)

371 Seven Days in May was much better as a movie than as a book. The plot got streamlined and the tension is sustained throughout. It probably didn't hurt that the screenplay was done by Rod Serling.
Posted by: MichiCanuck

They may have been commie assholes but Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster made some great movies.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:32 PM (+y/Ru)

372 298--- ...But the revised ending ruins the author's story.....
Posted by: browndog at August 01, 2020 09:13 PM (BgMrQ)
--------------------------
Absolutely. Poor Malamud.

But I maintain that the movie itself is much better for it.
Sometimes Hollywood schmaltz works better than sophomoric cynicism.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:32 PM (M/9m0)

373 Late to the game tonight. If MikeM's still here...here's my take (I didn't see any other replies):

Big Joe was looking for info on how best to spend a 3-day pass on debauchery, not military Intel. Hence the request for a young, good-looking kid - such would be more likely to know where and how to find such entertainment.

Kelly was still looking for information of military value (initially, anyway), hence his capture of the older officer.

i don't there was anything more to it than that.

Posted by: goatexchange at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (AZKJa)

374 Well, they're all on SyFy now. Sharknado, Two-Headed
Shark Attack, Three-Headed Shark Attack, etc. They're up to Six now,
last I checked.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (7m7+9)

The sad thing is SyFi was trying there for a few years to get back to doing actual science fiction. They had a few hit-or-miss miniseries. They also ran some decent series. Then they went all woke, all the time and it's dead. You get more science fiction on Comet. There is so much they could do, but they can't because of the woketards. I would do a series based on Heinlein's juveniles. With some tweaking, you can put them all in the same universe. Also, you can give it that 50's veneer by saying this is an alternate universe.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (fBR9E)

375 the only reason any of The Christmas Carol movies match the book is that most exactly follow the dialog

Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (xnF/J)

376 I imagine it's pretty funky in there, space air-conditioning or not

no showers, and they have to stow the poop
space farts

---------

Tesla has a very effective fart scrubber onboard.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (wPVhA)

377 >>Ghibli films are pure genius. I never knew Howl's Moving Castle was a book.

It is, and a good one.

>>As far as books, one book I liked better than the film was Total Recall. Can't remember who wrote it, but I think it was a novelization of the movie

Well, the "Total Recall" itself was based on a Philip K. Dick story. The novelization of the movie was by Piers Anthony.

>>Thanks for the great content, Movigique!

Thanks for reading, Taqi!

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (CcUfv)

378 "I've just folded space from Ix, and boy are my flippers tired!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:34 PM (Dc2NZ)

379 Would a remake be "Das Re-Boot"?
Posted by: Admiral Miklos Horthy

Das Boot II: Resoled.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:34 PM (+y/Ru)

380 Well, the "Total Recall" itself was based on a Philip K. Dick story. The novelization of the movie was by Piers Anthony.
------

So that's why she had three boobs.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020 09:34 PM (Dc2NZ)

381 I've heard the excuses for leaving out the Scouring of the Shire - too anticlimactic, not enough time, etc. But Jackson really didn't understand what Tolkien was really talking about. The point of that whole episode, at the end of all the adventures, was to show that adventure isn't ONLY for heroes. We ALL have some important part to play in the fight for Good against Evil. It isn't just kings and people with magic rings and swords who have to do the work - it comes to everyone. And everyone DID fight in the end. That was what I hated the most at the end of ROTK - that Jackson turned the Shire into an ignorant backwater of ungrateful bumpkins who didn't know or care about the great War of the Ring, instead of tough veterans who had their own role in the story.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at August 01, 2020 09:35 PM (1YIDD)

382 Agreed. Kind of an important part of the book. I was also a bit miffed about the omission of Bombadil and Goldberry.
Posted by: Taqiyyologist at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (j3jZX)

Funny thing. I read The Lord of the Rings to my sons when they were young.

They did not know what to make of Bombadil. Frankly, I have pondered that as well. Still, when I re-read the books, I kind of love that segment. Tolkien wrote that part on purpose.

I think it was a kind of operational pause, to allow the Hobbits to gather their wits. And Bombadil was most certainly an Elder of some sort.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:35 PM (x8Wzq)

383 I think a good movie Hollywood is not thinking about- and should- is a biopic on Bob Hope

Posted by: DB- just DB. Bird= the word at August 01, 2020 09:36 PM (iTXRQ)

384 Treasure Island, I kinda feel the book is better. But, slightly. The movie is fun.

Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 09:37 PM (xnF/J)

385 Treasure Island, I kinda feel the book is better. But, slightly. The movie is fun.
Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 09:37 PM (xnF/J)

----------

Pirates of the Caribbean is actually better than the ride.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:38 PM (wPVhA)

386 like a cicada that has been hijacked by a mind-controlling fungus.

In many ways, this is the story of Barack Obama.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at August 01, 2020 09:38 PM (ykYG2)

387 Darwin Akbar--

Glad to see somebody else agrees with me about "The Ninth Configuration".

IllTemperedCur--

Yeah, it started with "Thief". I didn't like it. Didn't like the characters. Didn't see the point of the story, etc. etc. But mostly over the years I've realized that, as with Scorcese, I just don't care for Mann.

Epobirs--

John Carpenter's name heads all of his movies because he has a fan base. Not really a slap at anyone else.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:39 PM (CcUfv)

388 Movies better than the book:

Hunt for Red October
Master and Commander
The Sacketts (movie combined two books - The Daybreakers and Sackett)
The Big Red One

Posted by: Pave Low John at August 01, 2020 09:39 PM (AYKEr)

389 The first two seasons of The Man in the High Castle do better than the book. Seasons three and four blow everything up in a panic of realizing they made a sympathetic Nazi character.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:39 PM (fBR9E)

390 91
Two movies in which the femme fatale makes a memorable entrance by walking downstairs.

Double Indemnity

oh? are we talking left indemnity and right indemnity here?

Posted by: Anachronda at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (kf5Ci)

391 Keptain, I kint git no pewer to the fart scrubbers!

Posted by: Zombie Scotty at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (EgshT)

392 Big Joe was looking for info on how best to spend a 3-day pass on debauchery, not military Intel. Posted by: goatexchange
Ahh, that makes perfect sense. Thank you. Now I understand.

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (nMGVc)

393 I think a good movie Hollywood is not thinking about- and should- is a biopic on Bob Hope

If done well, yes. But He was a patriot so.. won't happen.

Posted by: Jewells45 at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (dUJdY)

394 375 the only reason any of The Christmas Carol movies match the book is that most exactly follow the dialog
Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 09:33 PM (xnF/J)
-----------------------------------------
Short books make better movies.
Discuss!

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (M/9m0)

395 oh? are we talking left indemnity and right indemnity here?

-
And the valley between.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at August 01, 2020 09:41 PM (+y/Ru)

396 The 1988 film, Die Hard was adapted from NOTHING LASTS FOREVER is a thriller written by Roderick Thorp.
The book was good, the movie great. Still worth a read.

Posted by: Holly at August 01, 2020 09:41 PM (BeME3)

397 Oh, man. Dr. Mabuse. Yes.

"The point of that whole episode, at the end of all the adventures, was to show that adventure isn't ONLY for heroes. We ALL have some important part to play in the fight for Good against Evil."

That's the point of the whole damned book, I'd say.

I don't fault people for liking LOTR, but to me it comes off like an extended superhero flick.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:41 PM (CcUfv)

398 Logan's Run book Gun - Six shooter: Ripper, Homer, Tangler, Nitro, Vapor, Needler

Logan's Run movie Gun - Generic hair-dryer laser....
zzzz

Book > Movie

Posted by: deplorable unperson - refuse to accept the Mask of the Beast at August 01, 2020 09:42 PM (luzVb)

399 Big Joe was looking for info on how best to spend a 3-day pass on debauchery, not military Intel. Posted by: goatexchange

Ahh, that makes perfect sense. Thank you. Now I understand.

Posted by: MikeM at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (nMGVc)
Plus Kelly worded it in a perv way simply to insult Big Joe.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:42 PM (fBR9E)

400 There have been a hundred documentaries based on the Gulag Archipelago, but nobody directs a feature film about it, because theater audiences don't pay for a horror movie that actually makes them puke in terror.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice, Dei Gratia, Coloradum Omnium Rex, Fidei Defensor, Americae Imperator at August 01, 2020 09:28 PM (Tm4zg)

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is pretty good.

That fella from "Dr. Zhvigao" was in it. 1970 something.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at August 01, 2020 09:43 PM (Z+IKu)

401 398 Logan's Run book Gun - Six shooter: Ripper, Homer, Tangler, Nitro, Vapor, Needler

Logan's Run movie Gun - Generic hair-dryer laser....
zzzz

Book > Movie

-----------

I only wish I had a clue about what you're talking about.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:43 PM (wPVhA)

402 Oh, Moviegique, I'll tell you one Hitchcock movie that was VASTLY inferior to the book: The Birds.
The Daphne DuMaurier story, which I read first, was much scarier, much moodier.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:44 PM (M/9m0)

403 398
Logan's Run book Gun - Six shooter: Ripper, Homer, Tangler, Nitro, Vapor, Needler

Logan's Run movie Gun - Generic hair-dryer laser....
zzzz

Book > Movie

how do you feel about the tv series?

Posted by: Anachronda at August 01, 2020 09:44 PM (kf5Ci)

404
Das Boot II: The Cobbler Strikes Back

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice, Dei Gratia, Coloradum Omnium Rex, Fidei Defensor, Americae Imperator at August 01, 2020 09:45 PM (Tm4zg)

405 Short books make better movies.
Discuss!
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (M/9m0)

--Short books that I've read that come to mind:

Gulliver's Travels

The Hobbit

1984

The Prince (JK --not sure if ever made into a movie but would be interesting)

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:45 PM (oZuI0)

406 Oh, Moviegique, I'll tell you one Hitchcock movie that was VASTLY inferior to the book: The Birds.
The Daphne DuMaurier story, which I read first, was much scarier, much moodier.
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:44 PM (M/9m0)

---------

I watched The Birds last night on TMC after not seeing it for several decades. I didn't get it. What was the point?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:45 PM (wPVhA)

407 @Cicero - HTH

Books
In the novels, these guns carry six rounds of varying types of ammo (tangler, nitro, vapor, ripper, needler and the most popular - Homer). Homers are the popular rounds of choice. These rounds sense body heat, and upon impact, ignite every pain nerve in its victim, causing instant death.

Film
In the film, only one type of shot is fired, which kills the target. When fired, flames erupt from the sides of the barrel. It has a much larger ammunition capacity of 120 firings, good for approximately six weeks of normal use. Instead of firing solid projectiles, the gun shoots charged particles. A single shot is enough to kill a human or destroy certain obstacles.

Posted by: deplorable unperson - refuse to accept the Mask of the Beast at August 01, 2020 09:46 PM (luzVb)

408 Candy was outstanding literature; the movie didn't stand a chance. /s

Posted by: FloridaMan at August 01, 2020 09:46 PM (Mhces)

409 Cutting Bombadil was the right choice. However interesting (and I think that's debatable too), Bombadil is a detour. It doesn't advance the story at all. I think people tend to overlook how much of Fellowship gets left out or highly condensed. Almost the first half of the novel takes place in the shire or its immediate surroundings.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at August 01, 2020 09:46 PM (H5knJ)

410 402 Oh, Moviegique, I'll tell you one Hitchcock movie that was VASTLY inferior to the book: The Birds.
The Daphne DuMaurier story, which I read first, was much scarier, much moodier.
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:44 PM (M/9m0)

Getting to that one!

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:46 PM (CcUfv)

411 I don't fault people for liking LOTR, but to me it comes off like an extended superhero flick.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:41 PM (CcUfv)

Tolkien created Samwise Gamgee based on what he saw in the Great War. Just a young enlisted man willing to sacrifice everything because of devotion to the one he served.

Sam is the best part of LOTR.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:47 PM (x8Wzq)

412 Short books make better movies.
Discuss!
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at August 01, 2020 09:40 PM (M/9m0)

Has there ever been a movie based on Night by Elie Weisel?

Posted by: Brother Northernlurker just another guy at August 01, 2020 09:47 PM (lgiXo)

413 Most of Steinbeck's books were short.

I have not seen all versions of Of Mice and Men, but the most recent was okay. Dialogue in the book was still better.

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (oZuI0)

414 Hunt for Red October movie left out some of my favorite parts:
A-10 Maryland ANG flare attack on Soviet cruiser.
Yak-38 bort 106 almost vs F14s.
The movie does give stock footage of 1950's ramp strike.

Thankfully the underwater movie is great.

Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (x8Q/V)

415 389 The first two seasons of The Man in the High Castle do better than the book. Seasons three and four blow everything up in a panic of realizing they made a sympathetic Nazi character.
Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:39 PM (fBR9E

Actually the worst part of the series is that the communists were the ultimate victors.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (Fs5vw)

416 #317
That gets into another interesting subject: authors famous for mainstream works who have an inner geek to indulge. Mario Puzo wrote the first draft for what was split into Superman and Superman II. His novelization included the plot from both movies and showed he really knew the material. For example, when baby Kal-El is sent away from the exploding Krypton, this is observed by the Guardians of the Universe, who run the Green Lantern Corps. They fully understand the implications of a Kryptonian on Earth and make plans to keep an eye on the situation.
Another example is John Jakes. He wrote several fantasy science fiction novels ('Monte Cristo #99' was a favorite of mine as yout) but that was a tough way to make a living back then. He became hugely successful in the 70s with the 'Kent Family Chronicles', starting with 'The Bastard', with a lead character who interacts with major historical figures of the American Revolution. The last book concluded in 1890 but Jakes originally intended the series to reach the then current day, around the Bicentennial. He suggested the next to last generation of the Kents would be a man named Jonathan and his wife Martha, and they'd adopt a baby they found on a spaceship crashed into one of their cornfields...

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (AJKgl)

417 358 Jackson butchered The Hobbit way worse than he did LOTR.

It was still entertaining, but the book is way more fun, and way shorter.
Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:29 PM (oZuI0)

I've always wondered if someone could edit the hobbit movies down to the classic animated version that I would always catch on tv in the 90s. They had also done a version of Return of the King. And all I can remember about that is the song "Frodo of the nine fingers."

Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (sTaSr)

418 Minority Report was a better movie. I did enjoy the short story, however.

Posted by: Darth Randall at August 01, 2020 09:49 PM (uD6Ca)

419 Pave low john I would totally disagree on Master and Commander, the movie is one of my 10 favorites but the books have so much more in them. Last of the Mohicans is in my top 10 movies as well.

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:49 PM (6f16T)

420 Actually the worst part of the series is that the communists were the ultimate victors.
Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (Fs5vw)

---

Good enough reason for me to never watch it.

Posted by: SMH at August 01, 2020 09:49 PM (RU4sa)

421 I'm a Bombadil fan.

My daughter made this meme:

https://twitter.com/bitmaelstrom/status/1104206178710515712

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:50 PM (CcUfv)

422 After I read Shane I got Schaefer's Monte Walsh, which was also made into a movie. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
Posted by: Mark1971 at August 01, 2020 09:02 PM (xPl2J)

I just finished it. I really liked it. Monte (and Chet) are memorable figures. Laugh and cry.

Posted by: FloridaMan at August 01, 2020 09:50 PM (Mhces)

423
how do you feel about the tv series?

Posted by: Anachronda

I think that the size of the post-apocalyptic Earth was very limited compared to the books.
So much world to explore but they kept fucking around in the dome cities.

Posted by: deplorable unperson - refuse to accept the Mask of the Beast at August 01, 2020 09:50 PM (luzVb)

424
I definitely like LOTR, but the Scouring of the Shire.... yeah, that needed to be there to make Tolkien's point, but I can see why Jackson deleted it. From a movie narrative standpoint to have another battle at the end, after the big climax of the huge battles at Minas Tirith and the Gates of Mordor would be problematic.

I wonder what Christopher Lee thought about that. Lee was a serious Tolkien devotee, reading LOTR at least once a year for decades before getting the part of Saruman. He should have just mentioned what a man sounds like when he's stabbed, and let Jackson come to his own conclusions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx52kCxzllc

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at August 01, 2020 09:52 PM (CW4Ad)

425 Question:

Tom Bomadil vs. Tim Benzedrine?

Submit your arguments on punch-cards, or one of them new-fangled "floppy disks."

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:52 PM (x8Wzq)

426 Oh, by which I mean "Das Boot".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 01, 2020

My 'ol man started his sub career in '37. He said Das Boot was the most realistic sub movie ever made.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:52 PM (axyOa)

427 I've always wondered if someone could edit the hobbit movies down to the classic animated version that I would always catch on tv in the 90s. They had also done a version of Return of the King. And all I can remember about that is the song "Frodo of the nine fingers."
Posted by: Buzzion at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (sTaSr)

--From the animated version, I remember the song "The Wearer of the Ring."

I kept repeating the refrain when I was best man and getting my friend ready for his wedding, LMAO. (He was a huge LOTR geek.)

Posted by: logprof at August 01, 2020 09:52 PM (oZuI0)

428 Sam is the best part of LOTR.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:47 PM (x8Wzq)

I always point out that Robert Howard was a 6'+ 200# big dude, and Edgar Rice Burroughs bore a striking resemblance to Tarzan. Hobbits are, to my mind, comfortable English countrymen, and Frodo (or maybe Bilbo) is what an English professor would be if called to a great purpose.

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:53 PM (CcUfv)

429 #398
The Marvel comics series, which continued after the movie adaptation, sought to explain that disparity. The gun with its six different loads, a bit reminiscent of Green Arrow or Hawkeye's trick arrows, had been discontinued early in Logan's DS agent career for reasons. After the crash of the cities he goes back to his old locker, where his old gun is waiting for him.
The series got canceled with that issue, so we never got to see it in use or what else the writer had in mind to import from the novels.

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (AJKgl)

430 Actually the worst part of the series is that the communists were the ultimate victors.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (Fs5vw)

In the most contrived manner possible.

Posted by: WOPR - Clown World Timeline Thinks This Timeline is Insane at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (fBR9E)

431 And as it seems to Jackson time wasn't a issue or film length what was the problem?

Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (6f16T)

432 Here is my final thoughts on the Peter Jackson LOTR and Hobbit movies:

Fucking shit. Garbage. Filth.

Never. Again.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (x8Wzq)

433 @493 --

Apparently Hope was a skirt-chaser, so Hollywood could focus on that to smear him.

Would Hope fans, me included, go see that? Doubtful.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 01, 2020 09:55 PM (u/nim)

434 Movies better than the book:

Master and Commander

I can't agree with this because once you get used to O'Brian's oddly dense prose where lots of things happen in very few words, it's weirdly unique in a refreshing way. That said, the movie got me over the hump in appreciating said prose and I always thought of Jack as Russell Crowe (Maturin kind of faded into something else, particularly after he snagged his incredibly hawt wife).

Posted by: Captain Hate at August 01, 2020 09:55 PM (y7DUB)

435 I saw Seven Years in Tibet and thoroughly enjoyed it. Picked up the book and it was a disaster. The written story was like a salesman's call report - just a dry series of facts. The movie was well told and beautifully set.

Posted by: BobL at August 01, 2020 09:55 PM (/uVq8)

436 Here is my final thoughts on the Peter Jackson LOTR and Hobbit movies:

Fucking shit. Garbage. Filth.

Never. Again.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons

Now damn it Pug.
Don't mince words. Don't hold it in.
Tell us how you really feel.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 01, 2020 09:56 PM (axyOa)

437 BOTH versions of "The Thing" are better than the story, with the Hawks/Nyby version taking only the barest elements of the story,

=============

There's actually a third version of the Thing, with a female lead. It's terrible.

Posted by: FloridaMan at August 01, 2020 09:56 PM (Mhces)

438 Here is my final thoughts on the Peter Jackson LOTR and Hobbit movies:

Fucking shit. Garbage. Filth.

Never. Again.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (x8Wzq)

-----------

So, nuanced then?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at August 01, 2020 09:57 PM (wPVhA)

439 Last comment for the night (I'm going to bed): The BBC modern series reboot of "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch is without question one of the best combinations of Cast, Writers and Production to come down the pike in ages. If you havn't seen it....just go binge watch it. It's really THAT good.

Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 09:58 PM (k+h+d)

440 There's actually a third version of the Thing, with a female lead. It's terrible.
Posted by: FloridaMan

Is it one of those that airs at 3am on Cinemax?

Posted by: Prince Ludwig the Deplorable at August 01, 2020 09:58 PM (SfYbS)

441 My daughter made this meme:

https://twitter.com/bitmaelstrom/status/1104206178710515712

And on a side-note, I see that twitter has removed the "#BillClintonIsAPedo" trend. It was up for over an hour.

Posted by: t-bird at August 01, 2020 09:59 PM (8eSmR)

442 438 Here is my final thoughts on the Peter Jackson LOTR and Hobbit movies:

Fucking shit. Garbage. Filth.

Never. Again.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 09:54 PM (x8Wzq)

Sounds like an opinion. And we all know what those are like.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 09:59 PM (Fs5vw)

443
My 11th-grade English teacher made us watch Das Boot, oddly enough. He also made us read and write about this essay by JB Stockdale:

https://tinyurl.com/yxbdg62w

This one stuck with me for life, because it's genuine. I know a lot of people dunk on him for his run with Perot, but he had a lot of interesting things to say, and while I thought about stoicism before this, the essay brought it into focus.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice, Dei Gratia, Coloradum Omnium Rex, Fidei Defensor, Americae Imperator at August 01, 2020 09:59 PM (Tm4zg)

444 I saw Seven Years in Tibet and thoroughly enjoyed it. Picked up the book and it was a disaster. The written story was like a salesman's call report - just a dry series of facts. The movie was well told and beautifully set.
Posted by: BobL at August 01, 2020 09:55 PM (/uVq

I did not read the book, but I really like the movie. Keep in mind the book was written by a German (or Austrian, whatever).

I was held captive.

I tried to escape.

failed.

Tried again.

Eventually succeeded.

Met the Dali Lama.

I found him acceptable.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons at August 01, 2020 10:00 PM (x8Wzq)

445 #423
Budget limitations. Shooting in dressed up shopping malls was a big money saver. 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' used the Century City Plaza for a lot of its outdoor shots, because it was a sort of futuristic looking place back then.
The vehicles from the Logan's Run TV series were stored in a yard visible from the main drag in my childhood home town, Thousand Oaks. The old TO Civic Center, an odd looking place, appeared in a lot of TV and movies, such as being the building that housed Proteus IV in 'Demon Seed'. This was amusing but but it also diminished stuff a bit. "Oh look, Steve Austin is assaulting the local seat of government."

Posted by: Epobirs at August 01, 2020 10:00 PM (AJKgl)

446 Met the Dali Lama.

I found him acceptable.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons

How bout his handicap?

Posted by: Prince Ludwig the Deplorable at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (SfYbS)

447 >>There's actually a third version of the Thing, with a female lead. It's terrible.

I don't acknowledge that one. I think most of the modern remakes are going in the dustbin. (Although I think there was even a sequel to this latest one?)

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (CcUfv)

448 ONT IS NOOD

Posted by: Skip, the guy who says NOOD at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (6f16T)

449 Porno alert:

Unless Tamny Bruce, the Downs Syndrome actress in "American Horror Story" has an identical twin, she is in several segments of "Exploited Amateurs," a hardcore porno website.

Posted by: mnw at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (Cssks)

450 ONT is go.

Posted by: Prince Ludwig the Deplorable at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (SfYbS)

451 Read the book The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Wing.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y6d3tbb7

Author speculates that Heller felt guilt for finagling a way to get rotated home early while everyone else saw the number of missions needed to be rotated home rise. So he wrote Catch-22.
Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:12 PM (Yviqg)
===
Interesting.

Posted by: Gilded Age II, now with comprehensive surveillance and fake science at August 01, 2020 10:02 PM (BRkq2)

452 439 Last comment for the night (I'm going to bed): The BBC modern series reboot of "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch is without question one of the best combinations of Cast, Writers and Production to come down the pike in ages. If you havn't seen it....just go binge watch it. It's really THAT good.
Posted by: MrObvious at August 01, 2020 09:58 PM (k+h+d)

Cumberbatch is an insufferable leftist douche but I'll agree with your assessment. Very enjoyable series.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 10:03 PM (Fs5vw)

453 >>Sounds like an opinion. And we all know what those are like.

In fairness, I give about 400 opinions in the OP and 99% of what has followed in the comments is opinion.

It's kinda what we do here.

OTOH, the nood'll be up shortly if it's not already so I'm going to sweep the pool and talk at y'all later!

Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 10:03 PM (CcUfv)

454 I liked Bladerunner better than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I liked the theatrical release best, maybe because I like 40s era detective stories with narrative.

I liked The Godfather movie and book equally but the book did tend to drone on about stuff that had nothing to do with the "family business"

I liked Interview With a Vampire, the book s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y better than the move. The book edged it out because i didn't like the Hollywood Ending of the movie.

I liked The Maltese Falcon book better than the movie.

my two cents.

Posted by: Rihar at August 01, 2020 10:04 PM (+PABY)

455 Cumberpatch. Fucking auto cucumber.

Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 10:05 PM (Fs5vw)

456 "The first military submarine was Turtle (1775), a hand-powered acorn-shaped device designed by the American David Bushnell to accommodate a single person. It was the first verified submarine capable of independent underwater operation and movement, and the first to use screws for propulsion."

Posted by: runner at August 01, 2020 10:07 PM (zr5Kq)

457 Going out to see if I can see the space station, bit cloudy now
Posted by: Skip at August 01, 2020 08:34 PM (6f16T)

Passes over me tonight at 9:46MT. 4 minutes visibility at 81 degrees. Has passed directly over the past two consecutive nights. Amazing really.

Posted by: JC. Idaho bot. at August 01, 2020 10:11 PM (377Zs)

458 Starship Troopers

Is the book better? Yes.

Will I watch the movie many times? Also yes.

Would you like to know more?

Posted by: RoyalOil at August 01, 2020 10:14 PM (xnF/J)

459 Actually the worst part of the series is that the communists were the ultimate victors.
Posted by: Justsayin' at August 01, 2020 09:48 PM (Fs5vw)

No, I think the worst part of the series was that the commies were all noble and altruistic and shit. In other words, like no commies that have ever existed anywhere at any time.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at August 01, 2020 10:17 PM (JHbSi)

460 When it comes to The Caine Mutiny the novel is superior, however Humphrey Bogarts nervous Captain Queeg is still spectacular and convincing even nearly 70 years on.

Posted by: PUE 206 at August 01, 2020 10:22 PM (D/SYi)

461 Francesca Annis as the Lady Jessica.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2020 09:25 PM (Yviqg)

Oh yeah.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at August 01, 2020 10:26 PM (ufFY8)

462 Movies that were better than the books? Two come to mind of the top of my head:

The film of "Elmer Gantry" (1960), written and directed by Richard Brooks and starring Burt Lancaster, is much better than Sinclair Lewis's muckraking novel. Gantry in the book is a Bible-thumping hypocrite, painted with the broadest of brushes (for example, he rapes his wife on their wedding night). In the movie, Gantry is a much more nuanced character, one with a third dimension; and the character based on Aimee Semple Macpherson is very interesting in her own right. See the movie; don't bother with the book.

The film of "The Devil in a Blue Dress" (1995) is, IMHO, much better than Walter Moseley's book. Written and directed by Carl Franklin and starring Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins and Don Cheadle as "Mouse" Alexander, it's a good thriller and a fascinating portrait of WWII-era Detroit.

Posted by: Brown Line at August 01, 2020 10:28 PM (S6ArX)

463 You missed the most obvious example. Orson Wells' "Touch of Evil". The movie was based on a novel Orson found in a train station. He called and pitched a film version of the book without reading it, because he needed a project - any project. After greenlighting the movie, Orson actually read the book, found it stupid, and wrote an original script.

Posted by: Bill Vallely at August 01, 2020 10:30 PM (+gbRp)

464 Two movies better than the book come to mind: A Good Year, and Practical Magic. Sorry if someone else mentioned these, but I got impatient a little while past 200 comments.

Posted by: Nancy at 7000 ft at August 01, 2020 10:39 PM (0tmoY)

465 For info on the Wizard of Oz, read "The History of Money" by Jack Weatherford, pp 174-177.

It's tied in with the gold standard and bi-metalism, Coxey's Army [the march on Oz is a recreation of this march.] The Populists, Leslie Kelsey [The Kansas tornado.] and so many other things.

It's quite easy to see the story as what Baum intended; an allegory on monetary policy.

Posted by: Lt. York at August 01, 2020 11:12 PM (IFazp)

466 Met the Dali Lama.

I found him acceptable.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, of the Butte Mahons

How bout his handicap?

Posted by: Prince Ludwig the Deplorable at August 01, 2020 10:01 PM (SfYbS)

A tremendous driver, the Lama.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2020 11:29 PM (yQpMk)

467 Crichton's books which were made into movie flops (13th Warrior, Congo, Sphere) were better than said flops.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at August 01, 2020 11:46 PM (vuisn)

468 John Carpenter's name heads all of his movies because he has a fan base. Not really a slap at anyone else.
Posted by: moviegique at August 01, 2020 09:39 PM (CcUfv)

Having your name on the actual movie seems more of an EGO thing than anything else.... IMHO

It's tacky and dumb for a director to do this.... just my 2 cents.....that said.... I love the movie The Thing. Classic scifi horror at it's best....

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at August 01, 2020 11:56 PM (JRutc)

469 #289 Thanks! Just ordered the book on Kindle.

Posted by: ameryx at August 01, 2020 11:57 PM (0O5t+)

470 Shindler's List movie > Shindler's List book

Much better.

Posted by: waepnedmann at August 02, 2020 12:14 AM (YHWoe)

471 "Piece of Cake" film > book of same name.

"The Wedding Cake" film > ditto.

Neither one has anything to do with cake, btw.

Posted by: mnw at August 02, 2020 12:30 AM (Cssks)

472 Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe is the novel that Die Hard is based on. The character is older than John McClain, and has a different name, IIRC.

The same character is in another book that was made into a movie called The Detective starring Frank Sinatra. So when reading NLF I pictured a Sinatra-like figure instead of Bruce Willis.

Otherwise, the movie follows the book pretty closely.

Posted by: Elliot at August 02, 2020 12:42 AM (k94B5)

473 74 I'd like to nominate "Lifeforce", but I haven't read the book. On the other hand, there's Mathilda May - so yeah, I'm-a go with "Lifeforce".
Posted by: Hands at August 01, 2020 08:21 PM (786Ro)

-----

I have read the book, and you're right.

Posted by: Gordon Winslow at August 02, 2020 12:46 AM (KajJN)

474 "Red Dragon" is Thomas Harris' best book.

Posted by: OCBill at August 02, 2020 01:22 AM (Ij9pi)

475 moviegique:

Re: Michael Mann, You might give the TV movie The Jericho Mile a shot. Peter Strauss, Ed Lauter, Roger E. Mosley (Magnum's TV), Billy Greenish and... Brian Dennehy!

Great flick, storytelling, acting, etc. Done before his mannishisms overwhelmed his abilities. (Also, you are wrong about Thief. It is awesome.)

Posted by: ogmrobvious at August 02, 2020 01:23 AM (vqIC5)

476 My first experience of book not equal movie was when I was 8 with "101 Dalmatians." Disney movie was better.

Another in the same category was "The Man who Fell to Earth." Movie by Nicholas Roeg much better although the book was decent.

In the other direction was the Gettysburg battle story - "The Killer Angels." Book much better than the cheapo movie.

A biography where both were great was "Truman" written by David McCullough and the HBO movie starring Gary Sinese. The scene where VP Truman arrives at the White House and is told FDR is dead and that Truman was now president during the final months of WWII was deeply moving. Truman was suddenly to assume tremendous responsibilities that FDR had in no way prepared him for. Sinese got the sense of burden through to you.

Posted by: Whitehall at August 02, 2020 03:21 AM (+H4Dp)

477 #462 Brown Line.
Devil In a Blue Dress YES. And the look at intact black American family is an unintended consequence (maybe?) of the movie. The best sound track I've heard.

Posted by: Dan Patterson at August 02, 2020 03:45 AM (AsjQP)

478 #366
Movieque
In receipt of your response and thank you for that. My error and I blame my late night interest in bourbon for the oversight.

Posted by: William Faulkner at August 02, 2020 03:52 AM (AsjQP)

479 I must add, though, that my question about revenge remains unnoticed and that begs another if I may?
Does the theater allow for a more, or for a lesser, exposition of narrative? I suppose it does depend some on the depth of the readers' mind, or of the movie-goer, but to the point of revenge and its satisfaction or lack of it: unless an explanation for the character's acts is provided any violence can only be attributed to the meanness lying in in his heart.

Posted by: William Faulkner at August 02, 2020 04:14 AM (AsjQP)

480 Loved your thoughts on movies that are better than the books. One for me is "One True Thing" starring Meryl Streep and Renee Zellweger. It's based on the book by Anna Quindlen, and when I read the book I was surprised to discover that one of the wonderful themes in the movie -- that less isn't more, more is more -- was not in the book. The movie elevated a rather predictable heartbreaking story by incorporating that leitmotif. The father, an English prof, keeps counseling that "less is more" in writing, while the mother is flamboyant and embraces life. The daughter, who is closer to her father, eventually comes to see that her mother is right - more is more. That was completely missing from the book, which dwelled more on the assisted suicide question (still a big part of the movie).

Posted by: Libby Sternberg at August 02, 2020 06:56 AM (FuhIF)

481 Two classic books that Hollywood can never get right, even after multiple tries:

1) The Great Gatsby
2) 1984

With each, something gets lost in translation.

PS: No one mentioned GWTW, so I will. The book is long and tedious... the movie is glorious. Just my two cents.

Posted by: Cooper Wesley at August 02, 2020 07:28 AM (Q0Ghc)

482 Contact. The movie was so much better than the book. Personally I consider it one of the best sci-fi flicks ever made (Even though it is such a slow starter...). So much irony in the movie that was never touched on in the book.

Posted by: James R Fleming at August 02, 2020 08:29 AM (Owprs)

483 Gorky Park.
The movie stripped out a lot of whining and extraneous nihilistic thoughts, streamlined the plot, and fixed the pacing

Posted by: Deep Thought at August 02, 2020 10:33 AM (WR/Tp)

484 ogmrobvious -- Prolly not gonna watch that but I'll keep it in mind.

Re Devil In A Blue Dress: Yeah, I reviewed that here a couple of years ago. I haven't read the book but I think it's overlooked in a lot of ways.

Wm. Faulkner -- I confess I didn't understand your question about revenge. But I may make it the topic for next time, although I'd like to do a straight-up review if I can find an open movie theater.

Libby -- "One True Thing" That sounds a lot better than the movie, actually, which I didn't hate but felt manipulated by. I often feel that way with Streep.

Re GWTW: It occurred to me but I haven't read it.

Posted by: moviegique at August 02, 2020 12:01 PM (CcUfv)

485 "Iron Giant." Miles ahead of the book.

Posted by: MW at August 02, 2020 12:46 PM (gWtVa)

486 I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it yet, but The Getaway, the "real" version with Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, was 17-times better than the book.

Posted by: H at August 02, 2020 01:46 PM (xsOo5)

487 I thought "Silence of the Lambs" was a book written AFTER the movie came out, it's almost identical.

PK Dick's book (novella really) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep has enough content for 3 movies, Bladerunner uses about 1/3 of it, but has the setting pitch-perfect. A bunch of his books are movies, with 2 of the greatest still "in the works" (Valis and Ubik) some for 20+ years though :/

Posted by: 5cats at August 02, 2020 01:47 PM (xrNb9)

488 "Let the Right One In" (the original movie, not the clunky American re-make "Let Me In") is far superior to the novel that it was based on.

Posted by: JT at August 02, 2020 02:27 PM (15zwm)

489 The OZ books are infinitely better than the movie or any other adaptations - including the bullshit "continuation" written fan-fiction by a man who was upset that the OZ books were primarily written around female protagonists and now published as actual OZ books. If the original movie hadn't decided to make it all a dream, it could be forgiven. Unfortunately, it didn't and therefore it fails to meet the book's standard.

Miyazaki should never have touched Howl's Moving Castle. He destroyed a sweet story about personal growth and relationships by tainting it against a background of war, just to make his personal political points. Sure, the art is beautiful, but the politics just soured the whole thing.

Posted by: soulpile at August 02, 2020 05:22 PM (rwZk1)

490 Per Cooper Wesley:

"PS: No one mentioned GWTW, so I will. The book is long and tedious... the movie is glorious. Just my two cents."

The book was much more real-to-life I thought. The movie glamorized too much of it, sometimes as a Southern Belle in the beginning and sometimes as Wonder Woman/tough cookie deeper into it.

Posted by: Whitehall at August 03, 2020 01:02 AM (+H4Dp)

491 Howl's Moving Castle sucks as a Diana Wynne Jones movie.

Look, a lot of the flick is good, and good Miyazaki. But a lot of it is FREAKING INDULGENT MIYAZAKI. (Oh, let's do the same thing that I've done in 5 better films, because I'm tired.)

He cut the mystery, and replaced it with bombing scenes. He cut the ENTIRE ENDING, and replaced it with some kind of fairy tale apocalypse.

I was disgusted and disgruntled, because there was nothing stopping Miyazaki but Miyazaki. (And he obviously disliked the idea of showing modern Wales as a pretty nice place, for whatever reason.)

Posted by: suburbanbanshee at August 03, 2020 12:06 PM (sF8WE)

492 how can you do a post like this without mentioning Lynch's Dune?

Posted by: Edwin at August 04, 2020 02:22 PM (Tuxc/)

Processing 0.05, elapsed 0.0579 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0218 seconds, 501 records returned.
Page size 263 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.