Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Top Ten Best/Worst Book To Movie Adaptations

For a list of past and future Top Ten Tuesday topics and to find out more about Top Ten Tuesday, click here!

Today we are talking about our best and worst book to movie adaptation experiences!

BEST



1. Jamie says: The Hunger Games I seriously can't wait to see Catching Fire!! I didn't think the adaptation was perfect and I wished a few things were different but overall I thought this was great!
2. Jamie says: Matilda I loved this book as a child and I thought the movie was awesome!
3. Jana says: The Da Vinci Code I love the Louvre and the Vatican! And I really like Tom Hanks.
4. Daisy says: The Notebook I felt like this stuck very true to the story as it is in the book and it's just beautiful.
5. Daisy says: Pride and Prejudice I'm talking both the TV series with Colin Firth AND the 2005 adaptation with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen (especially the last one is VERY dear to my heart and just thinking about it makes me want to watch it again!), they're just very well done and SWOON Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy proposing to Lizzie!!
6. Tahleen says: To Kill a Mockingbird Go ahead, watch Atticus Fitch, played by Gregory Peck, give his closing arguments. I defy you not to get emotional.

WORST


1. Jana says: Twilight - Does this even need an explanation? When Edward sparkled, it looked like his face was all wet and hairy.
2. Jana says: Beastly - This was just not good. At all. Mary-Kate Olsen as this witch. Bad choice. And Vanessa Hudgens? No...
3. Bridget says: The Shining (Stanley Kubrick's 1980 version was so bad that Stephen King backed a 1997 miniseries that was much closer to his original intention and is far better, in my opinion, than Kubrick's version.)
4. Bridget says: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I saw this in the theater, and I was so upset about the terrible adaptation that I almost cried and have refused to see any Harry Potter movie in the theater since. I also gave up on the movies altogether after watching Order of the Phoenix one night when I was bored and had nothing to do.)
5. Tahleen says: A Wrinkle in Time. I haven't seen it, but it's because I can't bring myself to. Madeleine L'Engle thought it was awful, and a young library user refused to read this book because she saw the movie and hated it so much. Heartbreaking.

69 comments:

  1. I agree with The Hunger Games being a best, and I also listed Goblet of Fire as a worst. By far my least favorite HP adaptation.

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  2. I thought Hunger Games was awesome, too!!

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  3. The Hunger Games and To Kill a Mockingbird were on my list as well! I haven't read The Shining yet, but I've heard that the film adaptation was pretty bad in comparison to the book. I've watched both the film and miniseries, and while it's good that they made it more accurate, I really liked Jack Nicholson in the movie. He was successfully cray.

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  4. The Harry Potter movies are on my worst list (except for the 6th) and The Hunger Games is on my best. Despite it being one of my FAVORITE books as a kid, I've never seen the Wrinkle in Time movie. Now I have no plans to do so.

    My TTT

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  5. no matter how much everyone pokes fun at twilight (myself included)... i will be the first to admit it is a guilty pleasure of mine! hahaha lame, wet, hairy, sparkly skin and all!

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  6. Pride and Prejudice is a great choice! It reminds me that I should have included the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre on my list. If you think Matthew MacFadyen is hot, you should check out Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester.

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  7. I loved P&P movie, too. I thought it was better than the book. :)

    my TTT

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  8. Daisy - I agree with you about the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, except one thing: I have a prejudice against Keira Knightly in historical roles, though I did like her in Anna Karenina. The reasons why are worthy of a master's thesis.

    Bridget - I'd not heard about the miniseries of The Shining. I'm interested to see it, as I found the book much less frightening than the Kubrick film.

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  9. I never even knew there was a Wrinkle in Time movie --can't imagine it being any good. Wonderful book, though! I actually liked The Shining, even though it scared me halfway to death when I was a kid. The Hunger Games made my "best" list... and I'd say we have a pretty different take on the Harry Potter movies!

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  10. The 2005 Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite movies of all time. I watch it so often it's crazy. I also loved the movie adaptation of The Hunger Games and I can't wait for Catching Fire!

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  11. I agree with most of the items above, but I really didn't like the adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. I like Tom Hanks, and I like Audrey Tautou, but the pairing of the two totally grossed me out--I spent a lot of the film horrified at the thought of them eventually getting it on. Also, who approved Tom's hair? Awful!

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  12. I LOVE the Pride and Prejudice film but I actually really like Goblet of Fire - you're right that it doesn't stick to the books that closely but the cinematography is gorgeous.

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  13. I included all of the twilight movies in my worst category. I really liked Beastly but I haven't read the book so it's my To Be Decided section. I'm a huge fan of Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer!

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  14. Great top ten! I loved P&P 2005 too, it's one of my favourites.

    My TTT:
    http://evelinesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday.html

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  15. The Hunger games is on my reading-list, but somehow I havn't managed to pick it up. Don't know why, since I keep reading so much good about it.

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  16. I haven't even read Beastly but I found the movie really boring. I hope the book is better. Same goes for I am Number Four. *yawn*

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  17. I agree with you on Harry Potter. So many people love that movie, but compared to the book, it did not work for me.

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  18. Good ones. Shame on me for forgetting TKAM, especially since it and the book, well Atticus Finch anyway, figured so prominently in my current favorite mg novel. Now that I'm considering old films, there' How Green was My Valley to consider.

    brenda

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    1. Brenda, what MG novel is that? I'll have to read it!

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  19. Argh! I am so mad at myself for not putting the Matthew McFadyen version of Pride and Prejudice down since that is a movie I can watch and swoon over any day of the week! Oh, the shame!

    I try really hard to set my movie adaptation expectations super low or, like in the case of the HP moview and the HG movies, I try to hold them as separate entities from the beloved books... but it doesn't always help.

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  20. I agree with the 05 Pride and Prejudice and The Hunger Games... both are on my list. I haven't seen or read The Shining, but I believe I heard that Stephen King didn't care for the movie.

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  21. Pride and Prejudice 2005 made my list too, as did Hunger Games, and I didn't like the Beastly adaptation.

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  22. We have a few similar ones!

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  23. LOVED this weeks topic! P&P made my best list as well!
    Danielle @ Coffee and Characters
    http://www.daniellecromero.blogspot.com

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  24. I can't believe I forgot about To Kill a Mockingbird! I just rewatched it recently, too. One of those book/movies that is required in school, but just gets better as you get older.

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  25. The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Pride and Prejudice made my list too. I also think Nicholas Sparks' books seem to translate well to film. I haven't read Beastly, but I tried to watch the movie and turned it off about 15 mins. in.

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  26. Holy crap how could I forget to put Twilight in my "worst" list?? I had Hunger Games on my worst list though. In felt like they took too much liberty with the POV. Really looking forward to CATCHING FIRE though!

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  27. I had HUNGER GAMES on my worst list b/c I felt like they took too much liberty with the point of view. I can't believe I forgot to include Twilight in my worst!!

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  28. Glad Twilight made so many lists! One I forgot to incude but loved is "The Time Traveler's Wife" -- great adaptation!

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  29. I totally forgot about Twilight. Maybe I just blocked it from my memory.
    My Top Ten

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  30. My first week... I am truly looking forward to participating. Thanks for hosting this meme!!

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  31. I agree that P&P has had some great adaptations and that Twilight is one of the worst. I think the HP movies got better as they went forward, but they will never even come close to the books. Great list!

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  32. I think I tried to block the existence of Twilight out of my mind... which is why I forgot to put it on my list. Much love for Matilda, though! :)

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  33. Oh, I forgot all about A Wrinkle in Time! Probably deliberately; I was really annoyed with it at the time. As for the Harry Potter movies, we'll have to agree to disagree! Yes, they took some liberties, but I thought they did a really good job overall.

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  34. Great list. I focused on only best today because of time, but I find myself agreeing with some of your worst.

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  35. OMG, thank God someone else didn't like the HP movies - I thought I was going to be crucified today for putting them on my worst list. LOL - on the other hand, apparently I'm going to get crucified for not liking the Keira Knightly P&P (A&E version all the way!) :-)

    This was a great topic - I hope we do it again sometime. Or maybe movie adaptations of plays? That would be fun, too!

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  36. The Hunger Games and Pride & Prejudice made my best list, too! While I'm not a fan of the first, it seemed like they did a good job getting it to the screen. But I LOVE Pride & Prejudice. :)

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  37. Great List- now that you have mentioned Pride and Prejudice I remembered that I LOVE the Sense and Sensibility adaptation...Sheesh so many good ideas.
    Here is my TTT
    http://hauntedgravebooks.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-ten-tuesdays-best-and-worst-movie.html

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  38. oooh, I can't believe I forgot Matilda!!

    I'm with BRB, I love me some Twilight as a guilty pleasure, it's definitely a "sick day on the couch" movie for me!

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  39. I also put The Hunger Games and The Notebook in my best! This was a fun week. I probably could have come up with 10 each!

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  40. I can't believe I forgot Twilight. Even if I hadn't read the book, I would've found that movie awful. And I've avoided watching Beastly and A Wrinkle in Time because I just know I will be so disappointed with them.

    Personally (and I know I'm in the minority here), I think the third Harry Potter movie is my least favorite of all of them. Goblet of Fire wasn't much better, but Prisoner of Azkaban seemed so much worse.

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  41. Great list. I really love TO Kill a Mockingbird, and most of your bests. I didn't know there was a Wrinkle in Time movie, but it would have to be all KINDS of awesome to live up to the book, so I don't doubt that it was a disappointment. :D

    My TTT

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  42. I STILL haven't seen The Hunger Games - must try harder!

    LOVED The Shining film though - shame you guys didn't!

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  43. All the Twilight movies would be on my list. And I agree with A Wrinkle In time. We watched it on netflix. It was a horrible disappointment.

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  44. I almost couldn't think of enough just because I forget that books have been made into movies. I went looking for a list and said "Oh, right, that's an adaptation. And that one. I've seen that. I've seen that one. How did I forget all of these?"

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  45. The Goblet of Fire also was a disappointment to me as it had been the longest book so far, but at the time was shortest movie! And they left so many good things out. I also had Hunger Games in my worst list, too much wrong.

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  46. Jaime I can't believe I forgot Matilda, I absolutely LOVED that movie, and it's still one of my all-time favourite childhood books! I've actually got the Roald Dahl box set that my step kids are now reading...not an original from when I was a child though LOL

    Bridget I can't believe that you dislike a Harry Potter movie!!! LOL

    TTT

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  47. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird too. It was a great film.

    Pride and Prejudice 1995 is way better than the 2005 version. It's more historically accurate, and Jennifer Ehle just IS Elizabeth Bennet. And Colin Firth...come on. It's also more true to the book. Much of the dialogue is directly from it.

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  48. Great list- I know the Shining is seen as a classic in American film, but it is an awful adaptation- I actually think many of King's books fall short when turned into movies (except Misery and Shawshank-2 amazing movies)

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  49. Great list- I know the Shining is seen as a classic in American film, but it is an awful adaptation- I actually think many of King's books fall short when turned into movies (except Misery and Shawshank-2 amazing movies)

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  50. It looks like we have polar opposite tastes. Lol. This was a good topic though. It reall made me think. :-)

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  51. Lovely, so many posts to go to to check out other people's favourite/ worst movie adaptations! I had hoped to catch Wrinkle... on movie, but darn, that plan's foiled now.

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  52. Lovely, so many posts to go to to check out other people's favourite/ worst movie adaptations! I had hoped to catch Wrinkle... on movie, but darn, that plan's foiled now. :)

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  53. I've love all the movie adaptations of Nicholas Sparks's books (yes I am a complete sucker for cheesy romance) but I haven't read anyone of them. I guess I really need to change that!

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  54. This is my first week! I've been reading Mary's (Mary Had a Little Book Blog) for a while now, and decided to give it a try on my blog! My blog is a little mix of everything. Recipes, home preschooling, crafting, and books (:

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  55. I am SO excited for Catching Fire! I didn't add it to my list this week because I think that they first book and movie pair well with each other, but still! Can't wait!!

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  56. Thanks for the inspiration. I love thinking up my list and thinking about the adaptations I liked and did not like.

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  57. I am such a huge fan of Matilda! That movie just makes me so happy! I loved the book too, but they did such a fabulous job with the movie :) Also, I ADORE Pride and Prejudice! But my fave is the Colin Firth version:)

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  58. Stephen King ranking on Kubrick is like Kelsea Grammar ranking on a winning Formula One driver. Have you SEEN some of the dog movies he's done the screenplay for versus the ones he wasn't allowed to touch?

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  59. Lots in common with your list - we did Stephen King adaptations too, and Pride & Prejudice of course :) Thanks for the great topic!

    Sam @ Mad But Magic

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  60. I also had The Hunger Games and To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite movie of all time! Price and Prejudice and Matilda are also very good!

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  61. This was much harder than I thought it was going to be!

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  62. Poor Twilight films. They have such bad source material that it's no wonder they're not brilliant!

    Sarah

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  63. The Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief movie was terrible too, I'm hoping they do a better job with the Sea of Monsters.

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  64. Definitely joining this fun starting this Tuesday at http://ramblingsonreadings.blogspot.com/

    EXCITED

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  65. I agree with the potter movies,there all horrible adaptations.The worst for me:dh2 hbp gof poa ootp dh1 cos ss.

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