Guardian’s 50 Best Adaptations were released the other day and the everyone is chiming in with their lists. I figured ‘why not join the fun?’. My annotated list:
1984 [b]
Alice in Wonderland [m]
American Psycho [m]
Breakfast at Tiffany’s [m]
Brighton Rock
Catch 22 [b]
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory [m]
A Clockwork Orange [m]
Close Range (inc Brokeback Mountain)
The Day of the Triffids
Devil in a Blue Dress
Different Seasons (inc The Shawshank Redemption) [m]
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Bladerunner) [m]
Doctor Zhivago
Empire of the Sun
The English Patient
Fight Club [m]
The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Get Shorty [m]
The Godfather [m]
Goldfinger [m]
Goodfellas [m]
Heart of Darkness (aka Apocalypse Now)
The Hound of the Baskervilles [b]
Jaws [m]
The Jungle Book [b]
A Kestrel for a Knave (aka Kes)
LA Confidential [m]
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Lolita
Lord of the Flies [b]
The Maltese Falcon [m]
Oliver Twist
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest [m]
Orlando
The Outsiders
Pride and Prejudice
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Railway Children
Rebecca [m]
The Remains of the Day
Schindler’s Ark (aka Schindler’s List) [m]
Sin City [bm]
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
The Talented Mr Ripley [m]
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
To Kill a Mockingbird [bm]
Trainspotting [m]
The Vanishing [m]
Watership Down
As with most people, I’ve seen much more than I’ve read.
Catch 22 should probably have an asterisk. I read maybe 70% of that book and skimmed the rest. It started off fairly humorous, but then lost some of it’s steam.
In a list of 50 (that’s actually 51) I figured there would be a couple spots for Tolkien and Shakespeare. I mean, Baz’s Romeo + Juliet was pretty cool right?
There are only two entries on the list where I’ve read the book and seen the adaptation: To Kill A Mockingbird and Sin City. The latter ‘book’ was aided by lots and lots of pictures. The former, I didn’t truly appreciate till the second viewing/reading. The first double dip of Harper Lee’s classic was naturally during high school. I think I nearly fell asleep. Now, I have to say that Gregory Peck is the best movie dad ever. The lesson as always: high school kids know nothing. I’m guessing it’s these same kids that got Scary Movie 4 to the 40 million mark this past weekend. But wait, Mike, didn’t you watch Scary Movie 1 & 2 on opening weekend? Yep, which only further proves my point. I know just a little bit more than nothing.
I’ve somehow managed to avoid any version of Pride and Prejudice. The funny story with that is I had recommended it to my sister a while back, at least a couple of years ago. She finally got around to reading the book, and reported back that it was indeed, an enjoyable book. Expecting further discussion, at which I really couldn’t contribuite to, she finally exclaimed “You recommended a book you haven’t even read?” Hey, a majority of girls seemed to like that book. I was playing the percentages. Anyways, she has since sent the book back to me. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten to it yet. I’m too busy writing the script for Scary Movie 5!
