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| A weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves |
(Not so) funny story. My days, minus Mondays, all are the same and therefore I hadn't realized it was Thursday until I started seeing other bloggers' Thursday Movie Picks posts. At which point I told my lazy and tired ass, "Oh, shoot! I'll join next week". But then I thought, "Damn, I have to work tonight. How about doing a least a fun thing today?". So here I am, with three films adapted from novels I loved.
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Plot: When the ageing patriarch of a famous crime family, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), decides to retire from business, a series of unfortunate events start happening to the family and soon a war begins between the well-known families.
This film is a masterpiece. Probably, arguably the best gangster movie ever made. I can't believe there are people in this world who not only have not seen this but have never heard of it (that person would be a colleague of mine). And it is the adaptation Mario Puzo's novel deserved.
The Godfather (1972)
This film is a masterpiece. Probably, arguably the best gangster movie ever made. I can't believe there are people in this world who not only have not seen this but have never heard of it (that person would be a colleague of mine). And it is the adaptation Mario Puzo's novel deserved.
Gone Girl (2014)
Gillian Flynn's novel is terrific and so is David Fincher's film. It is so tense and suspenseful and the acting is great, especially Pike's performance.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Plot: Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself in mortal danger again, this time more than ever, as dangerous murderer Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) escapes from Azkaban and goes after him.
If the Prisoner of Azkaban is not your favourite Harry Potter movie and/or you don't consider it to be the best of the series, you should probably see a doctor because you are not fine. Yes, it is not a hundred per cent faithful adaptation but it's definitely the best a fan could hope for. Not to mention that this is the film that set the tone and aesthetic for the rest of the Harry Potter movies.
We match on Gone Girl!
ReplyDeleteThe doctor told me I'm okay, because I think POA is my least favorite of all the HP movies lol. Cuaron was just the wrong director for that movie and Pink Power Granger was too much for me.
I LOVE your other picks though. I recently read The Godfather and really liked it too. I'm debating reading the other ones even though they're written by a different author.
I skipped the other books because of that. I'm afraid they'd be like imitations or something. I don't know.
DeleteI am not huge lover of The Godfather(sorry) but i do recognize why it is considered a classic and it is so well acted. Gone Girl is such a twisted tale and very well done. I love Harry and all the films with this one being one of the best.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't love The Godfather, but at least you liked the acting :)
DeleteGood choices!
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not a rabid fan like some The Godfather is a towering achievement of tone, story, pace and acting. It captures the novel without being a slave to it.
While I thought Rosamund Pike was great in Gone Girl the entirety of the movie didn't really do much for me. It was fine but I've never had the urge to revisit.
I liked the Harry Potter series, when they came out I traveled alot and listened to them all on audio book read by Jim Dale which added a great deal, but I was not that person who was salivating for the next one to show up. As far as the films they got better as they went along but I can't honestly say I recall all the details of Azkaban specifically. Again it's been a long time since I saw any of them.
The theme is so vast that I decided to winnow it down by focusing on one author's work that has been adapted. I went with my favorite John Steinbeck but I've used some of his before so I chose one very famous one that is assigned in school all the time and two more obscure works.
The Moon is Down (1943)-During WWII a Norwegian mining town falls under Nazi domination because of its strategic location. The commandant attempts to bring the townspeople to his mindset through gentle persuasion, instead the citizenry form a clandestine underground to combat the enemy.
Of Mice and Men (1939)-Two migrant workers, the clever George (Burgess Meredith) and the strong but feeble minded Lenny (an exceptional Lon Chaney, Jr.) drift through Depression era California relying on each other’s friendship to get them by until a turn of events leads to tragedy.
The Wayward Bus (1957)-In a remote California backwater a collection of downtrodden people-chief among them hard luck bubble dancer Camille (Jayne Mansfield), traveling salesman Ernest (Dan Dailey), bus driver Johnny Chicoy (Rick Jason) and his insecure alcoholic wife Alice (Joan Collins) embark what starts as a routine bus trip but ends up being a journey of discovery both good and bad.
I haven't seen that version of Of Mice and Men (only the one with Sinise and Malkovich) but I loved the novel. It was so touching and heartbreaking.
DeleteThe Gary Sinise version is excellent as well. The story is so solid and basic that as long as they don't try to embellish it too much film versions turn out well.
DeleteThat is so true! I will check out the version you picked sooner or later.
DeleteAwesome list! Honestly, my favorite Harry Potter book is "Goblet of Fire," but I haven't seen any of the movies yet (I know, I should have seen them by now)!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Thursday Movie Picks!
Ronyell @ The Surreal Movies and TV Blog
How is that even possible?! Please watch them asap!
DeletePrisoner of Azkaban is both my favorite Harry Potter book and film. BTW, what did you think of The Crimes of Grindelwald? I thought it was fucking shit. I think J.K. Rowling has gone George Lucas on her fans.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you! I barely understood what the film was about. It may have something to do with me falling asleep several times while watching it lol it was so damn boring!
DeleteSuch good picks! Gone Girl was such a great movie and they did a good job of taking the book to the big screen.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteGone Girl is such a fantastic book and the movie, God I wish Fincher was making more movies we didn't get a new one from him since that one!
ReplyDeleteI know right! It's such a shame :(
DeleteYES for Prisoner of Azkaban! Easily the best book and movie of them all. I'm still salty that we're getting a terrible Fantastic Beasts series instead of one little spin-off movie about the Marauders.
ReplyDeleteThat one would have been so much more interesting! Especially if you consider that trash The Crimes of Grindelwald was.
DeleteI like Gone Girl too. Can't wait for another Flynn book, apparently it's supposed to be a Hamlet retelling.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for it either!
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