Confession: I barely ever watch movies.
I’ve read 200 books this year and they don’t get read by themselves, my friendly fiends. I don’t have time to watch movies which is a sad fact of life.
And if there’s something that genuinely strikes fear in my bones, it is the whispered words of: look this book is being made into a movie. How about…how about we panic now? I can’t even count how many book-to-movie adaptions have been so horrendous I just sat there screaming. And that’s because there are A LOT OF HORRENDOUS ADAPTIONS, not because I can’t count very high. I’m great at counting. I’m practically a Count to be honest.
I just love books, I really really really love books. And when they get RUINED by a horrible movie adaption, my soul breaks. So even though there are good adaptions * I still mostly yell “NO NO NO I DECREE IT NOT BE SO” ** whenever I hear of one of my favourite books getting adapted.
But do I still try and watch book-to-movie adaptions? Yes. Apparently I like pain. And there ARE some good parts about movie-adaptions! THERE ARE. And bless you (and me, obviously) for I am about to give you a glorious list.
I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday for their prompt “Movie Freebie” and I’ll list 10 pros and cons of YA book-to-movie adaptions which is obviously going to be fun because we all love pros and cons lists! And I’m completely being a rebel today! But that’s fine because when it comes to discussing something I frequently panic over (aka adaptions) THEN HECK YES I AM A RABID MONGOOSE AND HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AND I’M GONNA THROW ‘EM ALL AT YOU. SIT TIGHT, SUSAN, HERE WE GO.
* Here are some adaptions I loved: The Help, The Book Thief, Catching Fire, The Giver, The Maze Runner, Game of Thrones, The Fault in Our Stars, City of Bones, Matilda, A Series of Unfortunate events, Lord of the Rings.
** Hey it rhymes! Someone give me a cookie I’m so clever!
#CON 1: MOVIES CAN BE INSUFFERABLY BORING.
I have the attention span of a wayward grape * and after an hour of watching a movie, I’m generally actually scrolling #bookstagram or napping or summon the dark dragon forces to give them instructions on what planet I want to take over next. Like GET TO THE POINT, please, movie.
Books are just more concise about a lot of things. A book gets to say “the road stretched far so he began walking” which is much nicer than watching 2.4 hours of them walking something. AM I TALKING ABOUT LORD OF THE RINGS? WHO CAN KNOW.
* I don’t know what this means either?? But yet it feels accurate??
#CON 2: WHAT IS UP WITH THE SOUND.
Can we just talk for a moment about how movies really wish to torture our ears? Because it’s the worst.
Actual Accurate Representation of A Movie’s Sound Levels:
Movie: *EXPLOSIONS! SHOUTING! LOUD MUSIC! BOOM!*
Me: Woah that’s intense and I have sensitive ears. I’m turning the volume waaaaay down.
Movie: *actors start whispering*
Me: Okay I’ll turn it up–
Movie: *BOOM LOUD MUSIC*
Me: Would you just–
Movie: *whispering*
Me: I HATE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN AND DISHONOUR ON YOUR COW AND MY EARS ARE TOO TRAUMATISED FOR THIS NOW.
You know what? No. I’m going to read a book where no one is yelling at my sensitive ears or whispering into their scarf so I’m forced to ask my family for translations.
#CON 3: A LOT MORE IS LEFT OPEN TO INTERPRETATION.
People think reading is more work but hahhaha #NON. Books are easier. THEY TELL YOU THINGS. They say in black-and-white what people are feeling, what they’re thinking, and wha his oceanic golden fiery beautiful etc. etc. etc. eyes are conveying.
Whereas in movies there’s long stagnant pauses and meaningful looks and I’m like “SO IN THE BOOK WE WOULD HAVE INTERNAL MONOLOGUE HERE BUT IN THIS MOVIE I’VE GOT NO CLUE.” Cutting out the interior bookish monologue is almost always disastrous. And spoken backstory??? Like how does anyone even understand Game of Thrones without having read the books? I ASK YOU.
#CON 4: IT’S NEVER HOW YOU THOUGHT IT’D BE.
That’s the thing with books: they’re really personal! We all imagine them differently and different parts of the book will speak to different people. Like, for instance, the scene in The Fault In Our Stars book where they discuss if scrambled eggs are sad about always being a breakfast food REALLY SPOKE TO MY SOUL. Did they cut it out? Yes. Despicable.
And then there are just so many other changes. And someone is acting differently to how they did in the book. AND THAT ONE HAS THE WRONG HAIR. And dialogue that was funny on the page is now awkward and stilted said out loud…and basically it’s an overwhelming conglomeration of NOT. WHAT. YOU. IMAGINED.
#CON 5: THE FILM MAKERS DON’T READ THE BOOK.
I mean, I’m surmising here. But I’m guessing that’s what happens or how the flippity freaking flop did Annabeth end up with brown hair? Or like how that book is about TEENAGERS in HIGHSCHOOL so what is this 30-year-old kumquat doing on this screen?
Actual Conversation Amongst Film Makers:
Film Makers: This book would make an epic movie!
Film Makers: Should we read it?
Film Makers: ….
Film Makers: NAh.
I know they say “adapted” and “based on the book” but these days it’s more like “hEY WE’RE USING THE SAME TITLE AND CHARACTERS NAMES BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS NEGOTIABLE LOL!”
Look I’ve taken an oath not to thwack people so hard they end up on Jupiter, so I’m going to have to delegate my rage. Stay tuned. It will be done.
#PRO 1: EPIC SOUNDTRACKS OF AWESOME.
Because all your life is missing is epic music playing constantly in the background to warn you when something amazing or terrible is going to happen. It’s a fact. You know it. I know it. My pet kraken knows it. So adding heartbreaking cello chords to a death scene IS REALLY GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MY LEVELS OF LOVE FOR SOMETHING.
#PRO 2: EXPLOSIONS AND ACTION ARE BETTER.
I hate hate hate admitting something is better on screen than in books, because….do I have to revoke my booknerd card??? Do I have to lock myself away in a library for 90 days and apologise to all the paperbacks I’ve offended? I FEEL BAD OKAY!?
Yet the truth remains. It is 100000 x more awesome to watch something explode on the screen than it is to read about it. Plus you get that whole effect of the slowly-walking-away-without-looking-back-at-explosion effect on the screen which is downright awesome.
#Epic
I actually don’t really like reading long action scenes in books??? Because what the heck is going on Susan? Let me laugh nervously and skip to the end where everyone is DEAD because that’s fun. And yet I LOVE battles/fights/explosions in movies. Best part. Basically when my dad says, “Shall we watch a movie?” I say “HOW MANY THINGS GO KABOOM?” because that is my criteria for movie-watching.
#PRO 3: HELPS IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A DULL IMAGINATION.
Look I’ve confessed this before, but I don’t have the best visual imagination ever. I am a visual person. So I didn’t even know there was a wall around Chicago in Divergent until I saw the movie.
Actual Conversation between Sister And I While Watching Divergent:
Me: Woah what is up with that wall, eh? That’s so unexpected!
Sister: It was in the book????
Me: What.
Sister: DID YOU NOT READ THE ACTUAL BOOK????
I read it twice, in fact. Haha. There’s a wall! Fancy that!
So yes I am imagination-challenged at times. And sometimes it’s handy to actually HAVE a movie give a character a face (I never imagine faces either) or SEE the layout of the castle or get to APPRECIATE the detail of an epic costume because I’d been just imagining everyone in jeans and various coloured tee-shirts. Forget that it’s the 14th century. Don’t annoy me with your details.
#PRO 4: IT MAKES YOU GO READ THE BOOK.
Because yes I do commit the bookworm taboo, on occasion and go see the movie first. But sometimes I don’t even know it’s a book?! I didn’t know Mary Poppins or How To Train Your Dragon or The Help was a book until last year??!
#BookwormShame
Or, in the case of City of Bones, I tried the book, got confused after 2 pages, abandoned ship, watched the movie, reread the book = NOW I AM SO OBSESSED WITH THE SHADOWHUNTERS THAT I OWN 14 CASSANDRA CLARE BOOKS AND WANT MORE.
#PRO 5: IF IT’S REALLY REALLY BAD AT LEAST YOU CAN LAUGH.
Instead of, you know, crying. And I’m aware this is the worst “pro” to ever appear on a list BUT I RAN OUT OF THINGS AND I HAD TO COME UP WITH 5. But I literally can’t think of many good reasons why book-to-movie adaptions should exist.
I laughed half way through Insurgent before deciding I needed to go calm down because it’s not actually a comedy and I was about to LOSE MY MIIIIIIIND.
Truth is: I usually avoid book-to-movie adaptions.
I do want to see Miss Peregrine’s, however…and I’m excited about Illuminae, Red Rising, and Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda. And GAME OF THRONES IS KINDA AWESOME WITH THOSE DRAGONS THERE. (I’m aware it’s a TV series but shhhh.) But otherwise I cannot even express how badly I want them to do adaptions better.
Like if they try to adapted my FAVOURITE BOOK and it’s horrible — it will literally tear out my heart and stomp on it with boots made out of the spikiest of sea coral and then burn it with the fire of a thousand suns all squashed into a microwave and set on highspeed for 90 days until it explodes and the whole world dissolves into the void. (I’m not dramatic, no.)
Also here’s a better idea: Let’s cancel movie adaptions and have RESTAURANT ADAPTIONS where we go eat the delicious food as described in books. #winning
*reads RESTAURANT ADAPTATIONS*
It’s official: Cait for president of the world. I mean, Dragon Queen of the universe.
SEE? I WOULD MAKE PERFECT WORLD RULER. SOMEONE GET ME MY CROWN.
I love some movie adaptations, not all of them because like you and most readers around the world, I have this fear that they would ruin the story instead. Which is a common case. I understand why you prefer not to watch them and it’s nice that you still find the pro in watching them! I wrote a post about what good movie adaptations should have and I admit it’s rare to see a film that fits all requirements I listed there.
It’s good that you could still laugh watching Insurgent. I spent most of my time in the theater hating scene after scene. It’s brutal; I didn’t even bother to watch Allegiant.
And yes, I ended up reading The Help after watching the film. The film was sooo good, so thank goodness for that.
Film soundtracks are life. I can’t imagine if the world never heard of Hedwig’s Theme.
Even though it’s HARD, I always try to separate the film from the book. It doesn’t always work, but at least I can say I’ve tried 🙂
Yes! There’s always good and bad parts to these kind of things right?!? And like I would be missing out sooo much if I hadn’t have seen The Book Thief or grew up with the Narnia movies. <3 SO THEY ARE GOOD!! But I just get so freaked that they'll ruin amazing films. I used to like the Divergent books but then the films....uguughghgh. I didn't even finish Insurgent. It's rapidly surpassing Percy Jackson in terms of "HOW DID THEY LET THIS NONSENSE HAPPEN".😂
The Harry Potter soundtracks are AMAZING. I've listened to them and not even seen the movies yet.😂
So true. And also, I THINK YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH JUPITER. Well I am obsessed with Saturn so that excuses everything. *shrugs* I watched Harry Potter #1 and Insurgent only and the latter one was horrible, so I abandoned it in the middle and started watching Hotel Transalvynia instead. #greatchoice
Plus I love the soundtracks!! Have you listened to the Kung Fu Panda ones?? They are great!! (I am obsessed with pandas and animation movies too)
WHAT?!?!? WHY WOULD YOU THINK I’M OBSESSED WITH JUPITER NOW???
*glances at like every post has ever written*
*mentions Jupiter in all of them*
I’m sure that’s normal. AHEM. And omg I abandoned Insurgent in the middle too so you’re not alone.😂 I have a long list of movies that I’ve told people “Oh I’ll finish that later” and like…I literally never do. Although I do like Disney ones!! I know everyone hates Frozen these days buuuut I LIKE FROZEN.😂 And I haven’t listened to the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack specifically, just like while I was watching the movies. I liked the first movie, hehe.
I like a lot of movies but because of my attention span I like tvshows better! Like I can’t concentrate for a 2 hours movie but can spent the whole day watching tvshows episodes, how crazy is that?
And I often read books that are set to become movies when I see the announcement but end up not even watching the movie x’)
Thankfully there are always nice exceptions!
And I loooooooove soundtracks, that’s actually the only music I listen to!
No no I totally get it! I’m the same! If you ask me to watch a 3hr movie, I’ll just groan and say no. But I could totally watch 3 episodes of a TV show and be fine?!?😂 IT MAKES NO SENSE. BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.
Soundtracks are so brilliant though and they can totally make the movie-experience 100000 x better.😍
Okay, this has got to be a thing because I do the SAME thing. Pacing, maybe? TV shows over movies= every time.
I think that I watched five minuets of Insurgent before I gave up. It just wasn’t good. AND DID YOU SEE THE TRAILER FOR ALLEGIANT?!?! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON THERE?!? Confused Anna is confused. Whenever someone announces that a book I like is being adapted into a movie I immediately crawl into a pillow fort with said book whispering comforts into it’s pages because ALL WILL BE OKAY, LITTLE CHEESECAKE. ALL WILL BE OKAY IN THE END.
Ohh, I managed about an hour of Insurgent SO I WIN SOMEONE GIVE ME CHOCOLATE CAKE BECAUSE I NEED IT TO HANDLE THAT NONSENSE.😭 Omg why was it so bad?! I just am going to pretend the Allegiant movie doesn’t exist….which is easy because they didn’t even make the second part?!? What a flop.😳
I just try not to cry when I hear about my favourite books being adapted. Like they want to adapt The Scorpio Races??? PLEASE DO NOT. *huddles in a corner shrieking*
There is ONE movie adaptation that I prefer to the book – Bridget Jones’s Diary – It is better. It’s funnier. Actually, reading the book was a big ordeal after watching the movie, because they were just… meh.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is not bad either. They changed some little details – enough for my “I remember anything I’ve read or watched on screen” stupid brain to star screaming at me that they changed it, otherwise, it was *really* good. The MC’s birth at the beginning is was so close to the movie that I finally got to picture it on my mind.
I have really bad visualization skills, so I get it. I couldn’t imagine how quidditch was played till the Harry Potter movie came out.
I also agree with stopping that book adaptation nonsense. Some days ago I was talking about my favorite series with one of my best friends and when he suddenly said “Kate Daniels should be adapted into a TV series” my inner chip’n dale suddenly became the chick from the Mummy Returns screaming Burn Her! Him! Whatever.
*mutters* ruining my Kate Daniels as they did with poor Dresden. Or worse… starting full of promises and then ending in a big WTF like True Blood.
*rant over*
Btw, if the restaurant adaptation goes ahead, I want some November Cakes, please. I know the book has the recipe, but my oven sucks, and I’m too lazy to undergo all steps.
I’ve seen a few movies that I thought were better, or at least on par!! Like Bridge to Terebithia was AMAZING. <3 And I love all Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland adaptions more than the books heeh.😂 But it's so hard not to zero in on those little changes right!?? Like if they cut out characters or change names. GAH. I always get stuck on one Game of Thrones character because they totally changed her name and it throws me every time. 🙈🙊
And I was the same with quidditch! Ive only seen the 2nd movie...I think...but as soon as they started playing it was an "OOHHHH SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE DOING" moment.😂
I so don't want them to do The Scorpio Races. ThAT BOOK IS ACTUALLY MY LIFE AND IF THEY RUIN IT I WILL BE BEYOND DEVASTATED.😭😭
Speaking of the Scorpio Races… Brain is toying with a post idea about one of the characters… I’ll let you know when it’s up, because I want your input.. since you’re the reason I read it on the first place (and started making others reading it and loving it! LOL)
I have to agree with 99% of this list. Instead of avoiding them I SEEK THEM OUT. I muse love torture too. EXCEPT I COULD. NOT. GET PAST 5 minutes of Allegiant. GAH. I didn’t like the books THAT much after the first buy come on you can at least make it somewhat resemble there book???? *end rant panting heavily*
I don’t know what it is but I HAVE TO KNOW HOW THE MOVIE TURNS OUT! And then I suffer.
*side note:* I should totally post a comment without removing ANY of my typos. YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND NOTHING.
I couldn’t even FINISH INSURGENT.😂 So there is basically no way I’m trying Allegiant. And what’s the point if they’re not even making the second half?! Omg that series was a flop.
HEY TYPOS ARE FINE. YOU’ER TALKING TO THE TYPO QUEEN HERE. Or should I say Tpyo Qeuen.😂
THANK YOU. I’m so glad I’m not the only one XD so many people were excited and I was just like DID YOU EVEN READ THE BOOKS?? I started Allegiant with the following thought process: Me: I am SUPER bored and my mind is mush so let’s watch some movie to make it more mush.
Me. Ooh look Allegiant is out. The first two movies were terrible but now that I’ve started I can’t stop
Movie: NOTHING IN ME HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK
Me: THROWS LAPTOP ACROSS THE ROOM AND BEATS CHEST LIKE THE BEAST THAT I AM
At least that’s what I wanted to do…
YAY FUR US TPYO MSATERS. Also my phone autocorrects words to other words I have never even HEARD of. So you would LITERALLY UNDERSTAND ZERO.
Autocorrect likes to keep our lives FUN and EXCITING and full of PURE NONSENSE I’m sure. *nods sagely*
And omg I thought Divergent was like…okay? But barely. But then Insurgent. *snorts* NOTHING WAS GOOD THERE. NOTHING. But I love it how you’re like “the first two movies are terrible but now that I’ve started I can’t stop” < --- 😂😂 I'M CRY LAUGHING. YOU'RE WONDERFUL.
THAT’S LITERALLY MY LIFE: If it wasn’t for that exact thought process I would have stopped watching the Harry Potter movies after like…the fourth one?? Because I feel like they just started going down hill and I CAN’T STAND DANIEL RADCLIFFE AS AN ADULT FOR SOME REASON. Also his smile is a grimace. I’M SORRY IF I OFFEND ANYONE.
I bow to autocorrect. It knows everything better than all of us. I definitely meant to say rectum instead of recollect. (that happened. #awkward).
I adore your blogging style! Your posts never fail to make me laugh out loud and also nod in agreement. All of these pros and cons are spot-on!
Awww, thankyou!! AND YAY. This means so much to me. EEEEEP.😊
I relate to ALL THE CONS. like no, Book-to-movie adaptations always freak the bejeezus out of me, especially if it’s a book I really love, because like, WHAT IF THEY RUIN IT?!?!
But there HAVE been a few good ones. I thought the Maze Runner was definitely better than the book. And The Help was so good. And Flipped! And Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. (though, all that nonsense with the chewing gum was WHOLLY UNNECESSARY)
IT’S TOO SCARY TO WATCH ADAPTION OF FAVOURITE BOOKS.😩😩 I avoid them like nothing else omg. It’s almost easier to watch adaptions for books I didn’t like because at least the pressure is off.😂
And I loved The Maze Runner book!! But I actually loved the changes they made in the movie…it made things a bit tighter I thought (and cutting out the telepathy was a great move haha😂). AND OMG THE HELP IS SO PRECIOUS.
I haven’t seen The Jungle Book, but apparently the first thing Walt Disney told the writing staff was NOT to read the book. I recently had to read The Jungle Books for uni and, much to my surprise, some of the stories are not about Mowgli.
I also picked up City of Bones after watching the film…still need to reread it. I will get round to it! …Probably not until summer though.
I actually had heard that! I mean, that the movie to book is very different for The Jungle Book…but not that Walt Disney actually told people not to read it. haha.😂
I’m with you. So many book-to-movie adaptations make me deeply sad. Thanks for sharing this fun post!
https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2016/11/books-that-should-have-never-been-made.html
It is a terrifying bookworm tragedy. *sheds tear*
And another totally entertaining post from you Cait!
I actually LOLed at the Accurate Representation of a Movie’s Sound Levels – HOW TRUE IS THAT!?!?!?
And the point about movies being so open to interpretation? I can’t agree more – there’s so much MORE in a book than there is in a movie and honestly? I have no idea how some movies become so wildly popular without AND background whatsoever – so many possible movies I’m talking about here! Game of Thrones – I just have no idea how the non readers bumbled along. I had to sit and explain for HOURS to my husband about what was going on. I still think he has no clue. I mean, he didn’t even understand that Jon was a Targaryen. I mean, seriously! Who did I even marry????
And then there’s the pros…
Soundtracks. OMG I love soundtracks. My life is sooo missing one of those.
Action can definitely be better – so much can happen in such a short time on screen which is just not the case with books.
Also,… How to Train Your Dragon is a book!?!?!? #lifechanger
I haven’t seen Maze Runner but I read the first book and was underwhelmed. It would probably translate really well to screen though. Miss Peregrine’s I’m super excited for although it looks very different to the book (although again, I was underwhelmed here so I can’t explain my excitement for the movie!).
Aaand finally – restaurant adaptations sound like a real winner. Let’s petition for that!
I’M GLAD YOU LIKED THE POST!! *flails happily* 😂
And omg to Game of Thrones. Even having read all the books and watching it I couldn’t help but wonder how everyone else could keep up??? There’s so much not even MENTIONED in the series, like you’re just supposed to know?? I know tons of people watch but don’t read it.😂 SO WEIRD. Hahah.
And yes yes to the action scenes — it actually goes faster in a movie? Whereas in the book it seems like the action scenes go foreeeever and sometimes they’re not that interesting because WHO IS PARRYING WHO HERE AND I AM CONFUSED.😂
They actaully changed the ending of the Maze Runner movie and I thought the movie-way made more sense than the book, actually. haha.😂 I LOVE BOTH THOUGH.
I SWEAR I have the same conversation with the movie regarding the volume- the actual conversation ALWAYS ends up sounding muchly much much like whispering and then BOOM goes the sound effects and I’m like, please save my ear drums, someone!!!!!! But yes, there’s two sides to everything of course, so it does so look amazing when everything just blows up onscreen in a way I would have never imagined it. The characters in my head prefer to go around faceless most of the time too, and gah, who even cares if everyone wears jeans, whatever period they maybe from?! Such trivial details. Meh. TOTES AGREE about the restaurant adaptations, let’s make this a thing already, please!
Ohh characters from books are always faceless for me too! *hi fives for our bad imaginations* 😂 Although even though I don’t actual imagine characters, I’ll still start a movie and be like “YEAH WELL THEY DON’T LOOK LIKE THAT”. Because I’m impossible to please, apparently omg.😂
RESTAURANT ADAPTIONS FTW THOUGH.
YES TO RESTAURANT ADAPTATIONS! Why is this not a thing yet?
Also, I agree with every single one of your pros and cons! Especially the sound one is very relatable. Seriously, is it so hard to have one steady volume?
I both love and hate movie adaptations. I love them because there are some who are done right, so they are reason for me to get my hopes up when a book I love is being made into a movie. Also, it sneakily helps me talk about the books I love with people who haven’t read the book. Because they start tuning out less fast if I’m talking movies than if I’m talking about books (rude). But the truth is that most adaptations are NOT done right. And that means I got my hopes up and my heart broken which is not ok.
Basically EVERYONE has agreed with me over the volume thing!! 😂 Clearly we need to raise ourselves and army and storm the film maker’s palace and ask for some sensibility when it comes to sound in movies?!
And oh oh true about the talking-about-books-vs-movies. Agh to those people who think anyone who talks about books is immediately boring though. But, gah, sometimes the adaptions are a REALLY good way to get people to read the actual book too!! But the movies which totally destroy the books just = 💔💔
I can relate to with all of your pros and cons and I always like it when people take an original approach to TTT, so kudos for that.
I laughed so hard I nearly ended up spraying my computer screen with coffee when I read con #2. This is a particular pet peeve of mine. My mother has actually stopped going to the cinema because of this.
Aww, thanks!! I do try to do some different things now and then, hehe. 😂 I’M GLAD YOU LAUGHED THOUGH. MY WORK HERE IS DONE.
Yeah I usually just avoid them as well haha xD There’s one major exception – I watched the Studio Ghibli adaptation of When Marnie Was There before reading the book and prefer the film overall, but, like, that’s STUDIO GHIBLI (i.e. the love of my life and childhood). They did follow the book quite closely apart from changing some setting and cultural stuff and compacting unnecessary characters though, so I think I’d still advise people to read the book first because that makes it a smoother experience. Watching an animated film and THEN reading the book does weird things with the way I picture the setting and characters, even if I loved it whilst watching xD
You watched The Book Thief before reading it, right? I read it first and definitely prefer the book but interestingly, I assigned the book to a kid I tutor who’d only seen the movie beforehand. I think it helped her with being more interested in the story but it was good to be able to go into the deeper stuff with the book that I couldn’t when analysing the film.
ACTUALLY NO I DID NOT. I SHALL BE IN THE CORNER OF SHAME IF YOU NEED ME. 😂 I wanted to read The Book Thief first…but…I just ran out of time and then the family was watching it and agh agh. But I still cried when I read the book and I knew what was coming.💔💔
Your posts make me laugh so hard!! I agree with the pros! (also I’m in love with the gif of Hugh Jackman. He is a God!) 😛 But I do absolutely hate it when film makers take a book and think ‘what can we do to turn this beautiful book into a dreary mess?’
There are film adaptions i love and those that make me cringe but I try to give movies a chance before i judge them!And I second your idea for Restaurant adaptions 😛 🙂 I’ll be over at The Three Broomsticks having Butterbeer 😀
My Top Ten Tuesday
Bahah, they SO must think that right?!? Because how even do they manage to destroy soooo many book adaptions. IT’S JUST PURE AGONY.😂
uhg, i usally HATE book movies, because I am miss picky and I like my movies EXACTLY like the book, thankyouverymuch. however, lordoftherings isn’t so bad, and I had no idea how to picture Aragorn without it. and don’t critisize pride and prejudice, becuase I never would have been able to get through the book if I hadn’t watched the movies a thousand times. 😛 and pretty much every book I read, I’m like, ‘that would be so cool as a movie!’ but only if I was the director. 😀
Most crazily, ~Olive
Oh I really love the LOTR moves too!! Although I confess I actually like them more than the books.🙈🙊 SORRY TO ALL DIE-HARD BOOK FANS.😂
I don’t have time to watch movies either. I saw another TTT list today were someone listed their favorite movies of 2016 and I thought to myself “wow I don’t think I have seen 10 movies this year, let alone 10 I enjoyed….”
Omg same!! I think I can count on one hand how many movies I’ve even seen this year?! 🙈🙊
The old Humphrey Bogart movie, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ is a good adaptation of the Dashell Hammett novel. The old Wallace Beery movie ‘Treasure Island’ is a faithful adaptation, but those are the only ones I know of.
‘L.A. Confidential’ is the WORST adaptation. The producers chose scenes from several different James Ellroy novels and stuck them together to make a messy film. 🙁
‘Fight Club’ the movie stands on its own, apart from the Chuck Pahluniak novel.
Happy Reading!
~Icky.
I haven’t read/seen any of these BUT I TRUST YOU!! And I’ve always wanted to see Fight Club!
I LOVE this! I feel mostly the same way. I love and hate adaptations depending on a few factors too, sometimes faithfulness to the book but every now and again a really great change is made, like in How to Be Single, I loved all the changes to that, the movie was actually way better. And Forrest Gump was a nightmare book, not sure how that happened. But those are very rare examples and all bookish people know it. I recently got my husband at least listening to audiobooks because reading is too slow for him to keep up with the story (seriously, he listens at 2x the normal pace of the book), but he listened to the Hunt for Red October, which was a movie he’s loved for like 20 years, and when he was done, he just looked at me and said, “That movie is horrible!” I just giggled because I’d been trying to explain the phenomenon for YEARS to him about this very thing.
Anyway, I love the way your rebellion on the topic! So much fun!
Bahah, I’m laughing because I also listen to audiobooks at 2x the speed.😂 LIFE IS BETTER ON FAST-FORWARD, YES?! hehe. But it’s so true! Sometimes the movie DOES improve the book a lot *nods* which is why if I hated a book but see it’s still being adapted…I’m still curious enough to go try it.😂
Some of the movie adaptations are the WORST. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, anybody? Sea of Monsters was better, but if they make any other Percy Jackson films….well, they probably shouldn’t. I think the Twilight movies almost did in this notion forever.
Hunger Games and Harry Potter and LOTR were very faithful. I also like the fact that sometimes, if you honestly don’t know the story is based on a book, then you do have more books to go and read after learning that!
Things blowing up is a great criteria for movies. I feel the same about sci-fi movies – I simply canNOT read all the ridiculously boring science details in a book about, say, outerspace and spaceships… But put them in a movie so I can just SEE what the ship looks like and that an alien fleet is about to attack it, and I’m GOOD.
AGREED, OMG SO MUCH AGREE. I actually nearly liked Sea of Monsters because Luke was freaking wonderful.😂 And they remembered what colour Annabeth’s hair was. Small miracles. *eyeroll to those movie makers* I think they’ve definitely dumped the PJ franchise and thank goodness because they were ruining it so bad.
And yesss, I way prefer sci-fi movies to books!! Give me all the spaceships and time travel and all that on screen, but when books try to explain it, I’m just like “STOP. WHAT IS GOING ON.”
I have issues with books turned into movies. I’m not automatically against them but I’m always nervous if it’s a book I really liked. What drives me crazy is when they change something that didn’t need to be changed. I mean I get that mediums are different and somethings don’t work visually and the whole time constraint but sometimes they add something in or take something out that makes no sense and that’s when I end up yelling at the screen. And then there’s the whole Anne of Green Gables miniseries that Disney did 100 years ago. The first one was accurate, the second one vaguely resembled the book but Anne was still Anne so I was good, the third one changed the time frame, changed the relationship between the characters and threw in some adultry. I’m still livid. Obviously the people in charge had never ever read the book. I still get angry. Great list!
Yes!! It’s the stupid needless changes that are the worst. Like I almost get paring down plots and things because there’s so much to fit in…but like changing a hair colour?? Or a name or something? It just makes me angry.🙈🙊 And AGH, I almost prefer watching adaption from books I didn’t really care about because if I looooove the book IT MAKES THE ADAPTION EXPERIENCE EVEN MORE TERRIFYING.
I also don’t really watch movies, because who has time? (not me) When I do watch movies they’re usually documentaries or Disney (MOANA! BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!) or occasionally chick flicks. I do get excited sometimes, and then my excitment fades because I have a new book to read. So I totally relate. I do like movie action scenes, and movies with friends are way more fun than books with friends, because it’s simeltaneous. I’m one of the people who like to make sarcastic comments as I watch movies. A while ago I watched a movie with my family and annoyed them by saying things like ‘there’s about to be a montage’ and ‘This character is going to fall in love with that character’ and basically predicted the whole thing perfectly.
I CANNOT WAIT FOR MOANA I’M SO EXCITED OMGGGG. *flails for 900 years* And like I have great intentions to watch movies but….I have so much blogging to do so I use all my free time up with that.😂 or reading. Because, ya know, that TBR has demands.
And YES to the sarcastic commentaries. We are the best kind of people *hi fives* 😂
I’ve come to realize that a “perfect” movie adaption cannot exist because to do that it would have to replicate exactly what all of us imagined in our minds which is all different so it would have to be a magic movie theater which SHOULD exist but doesn’t. *sigh*
This also happens a lot with Broadway to movie adaptions, which aren’t really the same as book to movie, but have the same issues of scenes/songs being cut and the characterization being different and yada yada. AND I LOVE MY BROADWAY SHOWS. But I guess when your criteria is “tell a good story all visually under 3 hours” you have to cut some things. *sigh* *again*
And that’s another thing! Books can take days to read but movies only take 3 hours? How does that work out? (Unless you’re the Lord of the Rings or basically any other series adaption.)
My biggest pet peeve is when they not only cut from the original but add their own stuff. Like EXCUSE ME YOU ARE NOT THE AUTHOR. (May or may not be thinking of that part in Two Towers when Faramir decides to take the Ring to Gondor like AU AEHAI EAELA NOOOO. Why did they have to add their own things to that movie? The series is good otherwise.)
Yes! Because every book looks different for everyone, right?! So I get that’s nearly impossible to make a perfect adaption….although I was pretty ridiculously pleased with Catching Fire!! I couldn’t BELIEVE how spot-on it was to the books omg. *flails*
Okay except *coughs awkwardly* I can read a book in 3hrs haha.😂 Sometimes I think I can read a book faster than it takes to watch it!
What books have you read that quickly? I read more quickly than anyone else I know, but you might have me beat there! My problem is, once I put the book down I often forget about it (horrible I know but my attention span is shorter than a rock), so I read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in a night but it took me like 3 weeks to read The Titan’s Curse.
I truly feel meh about adaptations. I think they become too much and movie industry is losing its creativity (with all the adaptations and remakes… I DEMAND SOMETHING ORIGINAL). And I agree about the whole moviemakers don’t read the book. You’re working in ADAPTATIONS damn it. At least read the book so you know how those scenes supposed to look! I think my favorite is Love, Rosie and my least favorite is Divergent.
It’s like we do understand it’s an ADAPTION…but we kind of wanted to see a bit more of the original source omg?!?🙈🙊😂
Definitely agreed on Divergent!! And I still want to read/watch Love Rosie. 😀
Great thoughts as usual. I almost ALWAYS am of the opinion that the books are better than the movies. I do like you last point about laughing…sometimes that’s all you can do to make it through it. Of course, I also get to torment my husband because I am always saying throughout movies…”But in the book…..” “That’s not what happened in the book” and “He/She wasn’t in the book.” I REALLY get on his nerves at times!
Yes, omg I’m the same with the “well that’s not how it happened in the book” commentary going on in every movie. My family probably wants to strangle me too.🙈🙊
I have no problem with them changing sh** in the film. That’s how you know it’s alive – when it moves and changes and is interpreted in soooo many different ways AND STILL SPEAKS TO THE WORLD (still blaming you for the caps btw)
I guess that’s one of the things I lllllooooove about fanfiction 🙂
Also, I see the film before I read the book a lot. I’ve ended up reading sooooo many things because Leonardo DiCaprio made me (dammit Leo!)
And YES I cannot imagine any battles/places very well on account of my sense of direction being shot to hell (thank you dycalculia – it just wasn’t enough for you to stop me telling the time, was it?) so when the book is like ‘he parried to the left, and then the right rear-guard came and…’ dude, I’m already lost!
YOU’RE ALWAYS GOING TO BLAME ME FOR THE CAPS.😂
And I totally get the resemblance between fanfic and movie adaptions…movie adaptions kind of ARE like fanfict sometimes, right?! It’s someone else’s interpretation of the world and all that. Sort of. Kind of? hahah I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M SAYING OBVIOUSLY.😂
And YES! Those descriptions of fight-scenes in books just always lose me. I can’t envision it at all.🙈🙊
“I actually don’t really like reading long action scenes in books??? Because what the heck is going on Susan? Let me laugh nervously and skip to the end where everyone is DEAD because that’s fun. And yet I LOVE battles/fights/explosions in movies. Best part. Basically when my dad says, “Shall we watch a movie?” I say “HOW MANY THINGS GO KABOOM?” because that is my criteria for movie-watching.”
SAME. Exactly the same feelings for me. In books, people are like stabbing each other blowing shit up and my eyes are glazing over because blah blah blah blood, gore etc. But in movies it is fun to watch people stab each other! So… yeah.
“Also here’s a better idea: Let’s cancel movie adaptions and have RESTAURANT ADAPTIONS where we go eat the delicious food as described in books.”
YAAASSSSSSSSSSSSS I will totally back you if you do a Kickstarter for this
*hi fives* Clearly we are AWESOME with our movie priorities. More explosions = the better.😂 And I’ll put the starting-book-restaurants on my to-do list. I’LL GET RIGHT ONTO THAT.
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT MOVIES ARE BORING. Seriously.
But yes, there are many conflicting feelings with regard to books and movie adaptations. The Harry Potter books were basically gutted for film and left SO MUCH out and that happens in every single adaptation I have ever watched.
Action scenes are better on screen, though. Not gonna lie. It can be pretty hard to track on the page just who has the knife and where everybody is and just…that’s the one exception. ONE.
OMG THANK YOU FOR AGREEING. 😂 *hi fives* It just feels very passive to sit there for 2.5hrs doing nothing but watching. 😂 I mean, I do prefer TV series sometimes because they’re faster. But I’m just so impatient and want to get to the point already!! Or I’ll just go read it myself and feel like I’m accomplishing something hehe.
I just did a post about my favorite book to movie adaptations. And I realized that the reasons I love these in particular is either because the book was boring and the movie decided to go a different direction like the Princess Bride or they are sentimental to me. There are a few that are accurate to the books but what I’ve found is its usually because the author is working closely with the project like John Green did for The Fault In Our Stars or Stephen Chbosky did for Perks. When the author is working close and not just observing then the directors take their POV into the creation.
I do agree about loud noises. But that’s for any movie.
Yes! I always feel like if the author is working with the movie and endorsing it, then it’s like waaaay more likely to be awesome. EXACTLY WITH TFIOS!!
OHMYGOSH so true about the volume thing. That is my biggest pet peeve with movies in general. Does no one listen to the movie before it’s released and think ‘Hmm, kinda uneven sound levels here, maybe?’. They make the whispering so quiet, and the big BOOMS so LOUD. It’s usually fine in a cinema where the acoustics are different to watching a movie at home, but you’d hope someone would alter the sound settings on general DVD release or something.
And seriously the one thing that no book can give are those soundtracks sometimes, they change everything if they’re composed well. I love soundtracks. And you’re really right about how adaptations can go the other way and make a viewer pick up the book. I’ll admit I hadn’t read the Harry Potter books before seeing Philosopher’s Stone, but read it after and now – hardcore Pottertard.
I don’t actually mind changes in the movies if I can rationalise it from a filmmaker’s standpoint, like if there’s a subplot that adds to the story but is technically unnecessary to the plot and they’re running over time-wise. It’s when they cut out something actually VITAL and add something completely unnecessary that it really gets me *cough*Half-Blood Prince*cough*.
Really great post, I love how you write 🙂
AGH YES FOR ALL MOIVES. Especially the action ones?!? It drives me crazy every time. Either I go deaf or I can’t hear a thing.😭😂 And it is better in cinemas, but like yes, they should fix it for the DVD versions omg.
And movies have definitely driven me to pick up the books! Like City of Bones?! Omg I loved that movie and shamefully I hadn’t read the book first BUT AT LEAST I BECAME A HARDCORE FAN AFTERWARDS.😂 Same with The Book Thief and Bridge to Terebithia.
And agreed: like if they take out something that didn’t really matter, I’m not spitting chips. Like people were SO ANGRY that Madge Undersee wasn’t in the Hunger Games movies, but like, I way preferred that Katniss gave the Mockingjay pin to her sister. That was so much more poignant and just took out unnecessary characters who didn’t even do anything really.😂
Book to movie adaptions are rarely well done and I usually am upset after watching them and yet I always go back to see the next one in theaters. I sort of hate myself for this. 😛
Hehe, I totally get that though!! It’s like we just keep hoping they’ll do the books we love justice?!?
Yeah exactly. 😀
I´m always so conflicted when I hear about a book that’s getting turned into a movie! I’m always excited, but then I worry about them messing it up, and then 90% of the time I never end up seeing the movie anyway. I think my favorite book-to-movie adaptation of all time is The Book Thief. It’s just so perfect! And the score is beautiful.
THEY DID PERFECTLY WITH THE BOOK THIEF. And by “perfectly” I mean, I’m still sobbing.💔
Laughing so hard about the wall in Divergent right now. To be honest, I’m not sure if I don’t remember either because it’s been so long or if I didn’t catch it while reading. But I REALLY can’t remember a wall.
(but then I often imagine things from books whatever way I want and forget things I don’t like so…)
omg good IT’S NOT JUST ME. I’m going to tell my sister that *nods* That wall was so totally not stated. I mean, they could just say as a chapter heading: DEAR READERS, THERE IS A WALL. And all my problems would’ve been solved. Someone needs to talk to Veronica Roth about this.
I don’t mind too much about adaptations. I went to see Meg Cabot talk YEARS ago, not long after the terrible The Princess Diaries movie came out, and she talked about how she didn’t really care about it. She said that they had made their own story, and she felt that they could do whatever they wanted, because so far as she was concerned, it wasn’t hers any more (I suppose it gets easier to say this when you have been paid lots and lots of money, as I’m sure she was). But something about that stuck with me.
Also, something about watching the Twilight movie made me realise what a shit show that whole thing was (my sixteen-year-old self was shaken to the core that I could have enjoyed something so stupid), and I will be forever grateful for that.
Bahah, YES. I’m sure the money helps.😂 I once interviewed Cornelia Funke and she very openly said she hated the Inkheart movie though hahhha. So yeeeah. I guess it depends on how much the author loves their baby too?? IT would be horribly disappointing to see a bad adaption of your own book though.😭😭
Con #4 & #5. ALL THE WAY. Like how can you make a film so entirely different from the book when you have the book in front of you?? And that’s not even including the whole interior monologue thing… 🙁
Book-to-film movies usually make me SO SAD. I love what you said about books, everyone reading sees the characters and setting a different way, with so many interpretations how can you pick just one!?
~Adaptions I do love, however, are The Help, The Book Thief, LOTR, Anne of Green Gables (even though she’s a tad older), Little Women (the 90’s one) and Series of Unfortunate Events. Not too many. xD
LEAST FAVOURITES??? – ERAGON. What a freakin travesty. Inkheart. Percy Jackson. I didn’t enjoy the Hunger Games books or movies, so I’m kinda a loner there. haha. Divergent was just meh.
The list could go on forever, so I’ll end it here. xD
But Soundtracks = AWESOME!!!
And Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda???? a movie??? EEEEK I hope they do it justice, oh please!
Love this post, as usual <3
OMG I LOVE A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS MOVIE SO MUCH TOO. <33 I always forget about that one!! But I watched it so many times in my wayward youth. (Okay my youth was not wayward, ahem, but shh I must upkeep my evil overlord status.) And The Help was brilliant. And The Book Thief. And LOTR.😍😍😂 So they CAN do adaptions brilliantly! I just think if they read the books more?? That would help???
I actually liked Inkheart at the time, but I think I'd die cringeing now.😂
Urgh, the pjo adaptions make me cry. BUT I do like the Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon films, maybe because I watched them before reading the books. It’s actually a habit of mine, watching a film and wanting more so reading the book. I also think films are a good way to advertise the book even if they shame it and make bookworms sit in a hole, nibbling ice cream and crying to themselves.
Simi
THEY MADE ME CRY TOO. whyyyy did they mangle them so badly. *weeps* I actually think HTTYD is better than the books?! hehe. Okay but I only read the first book and I was mad because Toothless was tiny and Hiccup couldn’t even fly him!😂
Movies based on books are becoming so common — can’t Hollywood think of an original idea? There are the occasional movies that hit the mark (Gone with the Wind for example) but if I have to see Shailene Woodley in another YA adaptation I just may scream! Great post Cait you hit this subject on the nail.
Yes I agree! They’re everywhere! Apparently there aren’t any original screenwriters around anymore?!😂 And omg I think they need to vary their casting. What about Chloe Grace Mortez?!? I swear she’s in EVERYTHING. Hugo, The 5th Wave, If I Stay, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, and there’s another one but I can’t remember.😂 THEY NEED NEW ACTORS OMG.
Dear Cait,
I regret to inform you that your job as a book blogger has been taken by another cake-lover much better than you. You will now have to start a business concerning RESTURANT ADAPTATIONS and also being a genius which you already were BUT, besides the point, CAIT!!!! Actually, scrap the business BECOME A COMEDIAN! I’ll be your biggest fan. And you know what, I’ll be such a loyal fan, I will give cake, sound good?
Okay, I should stop, like now?
Firstly, YES! Movie: *EXPLOSIONS! SHOUTING! LOUD MUSIC! BOOM! And then you are just sitting on your couch like OOOOWWW! And then, you can barely hear it so you have to open up Google Translate!
I honestly don’t think the makers of The Scorch Trials movie had even seen the cover of the real book! LIKE WHAT WAS THAT! They just made up some whole storyline? Here’s me thinking, ‘why is this movie called The Scorch Trials, image IF THIS was the adaptation” . Oh crap, it is!
HEHE! LOVED this post, as always,
Best.
You job manager!! (BE A COMEDIAN NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!)
YES MAKING BOOK-TO-RESTAURANT ADAPTIONS IS VERY HIGH ON MY TO-DO LIST. I ASSUE YOU THE DRAGONS ARE ALREADY ONTO IT. #winning 😂
I haven’t seen The Scorch Trial yet but haha I’ve heard that from a lot of people?! NOOOOO. I loved the Maze Runner so much and I thought it was a pretty faithful adaption! WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE SEQUEL THEN GAH. (But the cast is adorable so. I shall still watch it someday.)
Hey Cait! I totally agree with the sound in movies and reading the books (Percy Jackson caused me pain)! We’re always having to adjust between the action scenes and the super quiet talking (it’s never made sense to me why they do that), especially since I have younger siblings who get really scared. I’m a fan of keeping the volume pretty level and steady. And directors looking at the books (how hard is it to read one little book if you’re going to make a movie out of it!).
I’ve really liked reading your posts. Please keep it up!
omg so much agreement. *hi fives* WHY CAN’T THESE FILM MAKERS JUST READ THE BOOKS?! AHHH *throws cake in the air and runs away to cry* 😂
(And thank you so much! THAT MAKES MY DAY.)
OK, can I just start by saying how entertaining all your posts are?! Because they’re super creative and fun and I love it ^^
AND YES TO RESTAURANT ADAPTATIONS!!!!! SOMEBODY MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!
Also, here’s my Top Ten Tuesday if you want to check it out: https://thehogsmeadereader.wordpress.com/2016/11/15/top-ten-book-to-film-adaptations-for-your-cold-heart/
WELL THAT ABSOLUTELY MAKES MY DAY. THANKYOU. *gives you all the cake you wonderful bean* And omg yes let’s just start petitioning for the adaption restaurants, right!?? IT’LL BE MUCH BETTER.
NONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No movie adaptations ever please not! *
If I read the words “adaptation” and “[book I love]” in the same sentence, I RUN THE OTHER WAY WITH THE SPEED OF A DEER CHASED BY HELLHOUNDS! I mean, (sorry, Cait), but whyyyyy did they have the adapt The Lord of the Rings into movies?!?!?! I LOVE THE BOOKS BY THEMSELVES HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE IT SO?!?!?! I have only seen a few snatches/scenes and heard of outrageous changes they made and I’m like ack no spare me! Also Percy Jackson… No words. Like, merging Annabeth and Clarisse??? Whose idea was that? HOW MUCH MORE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE CAN YOU GET?!? Argh!!!!!
The sound, yes, I can relate! My mom has veerrry sensitive hearing and we are CONSTANTLY doing the up-down-up-down volume gymnastics. My theory is that the more actiony the movie, the more the characters tend to mumble and speak in creepy low voices.
YES! Someone needs to tell the filmmakers to start ACTUALLY READING THE BOOKS before making the movie. I agree 100000% with this!
* Except for the few where they actually improved the book (taking a disappointing book and turning it into a great movie). Which is How To Train Your Dragon and The Princess Bride and that’s about it.
Bahah, YES. I haven’t read The Princess Bride but I think the movie is like the most brilliant thing in the universe of ever.😍 And the HTTYD movie is DEFINITELY better than the bok. Like he didn’t even fly on Toothless?! WHAT.
But omg you’re going to have to forgive me but I hated the LOTR books and fell asleep during the first one haha. But I love the movies. DON’T SPEAR ME.🙈🙊 But dude, nothing was right about Percy Jackson. NOTHING. But they didnt’ merge Clarisse and Annabeth??? So I don’t know where you heard that one! But rest assured that is not true at least. 🙂
But YES petition to have the film makers actually read the books. Please.😭😭😭
I tend to not always go to book to movie adaptations however some I have seen like The Help (book was better) and The Martian( both equally fantastic)! Enjoyed your post.
I really want to read/watch The Martian yet! And omg I loved The Help, both book and movie. 😍
And I TOTALLY get the sound volume thing. And the complete disregard some directors seem to have for remaining authentic to the original story/characters.
It’s like pleeeease make up your mind. ARE YOU EXPLODING MY EARS OR WHISPERING? YOU DON’T GET TO DO BOTH.😂
Adaptations are usually disappointing for me, especially in cases where I’ve read the book first. (The only one I can think of that didn’t totally disappoint was Warm Bodies. The movie–while gory–is just so darn cute. Hahaha… cute and gory. Makes sense, right?)
Sometimes the movie-makers get things right, and sometimes they get them wrong… and sometimes it’s in the same movie. Like Harry Potter. The scenery looked just as I imagined. Hogwarts was pretty perfect. On the other hand, I still think Daniel Radcliffe was one of the worst casting decisions ever. When it comes to movies, you win some, you lose some, I guess.
I am so behind on my movie watching. I’ve read Room, The Book Thief, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, and I’ve yet to see any of the movie adaptations. Oh, and there’s Mockingjay part 2 that I also haven’t seen yet. Speaking of which, I absolutely HATE it when producers divide the last book in two. It’s lazy, it’s greedy, and it makes the first movie really boring because it’s all just setup for the finale. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 almost put me to sleep. I think I’m going to be avoiding those movies on principle in the future (if I know they’re going to do that) because the practice just pisses me off.
Cute AND gory?!? okay I officially need to see Warm Bodies.😂
And omg you don’t see Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter?! I cannot literally imagine anyone else!! hehe. I kind of never really imagined ANYTHING about Harry Potter since I only read it last year and like I know how the movies look already. (Despite, um, needing to see them still. Gee, what am I doing with my life?!)
So I actually bought Room so I could read it before the movie came out. Didn’t the movie come out like half a year ago? *facepalm* 😂 I HAVEN’T SEEN MOCKINGJAY PART 2 EITHER BECAUSE I KNOW WHO’S GOING TO DIE AND I’M NOT READY AGAIN.
Daniel Radcliffe wouldn’t have been my first choice as Harry, but I started reading the books before the first movie came out, so the characters were already pretty ingrained in my imagination. Ron isn’t quite right, either (although I do like Rupert Grint in the role); when I first read the books, I imagined Ron as having much sharper features. Actually, the twins they cast as Fred and George were more how I imagined Ron!
I know what you mean about Mockingjay part 2. Having read the book, it’s just one big spoiler. I’m interested to see how it’s all tied up, but… I gotta kind of brace myself for it, you know?
Omg I agree with u on all of these! Especially the volume issue! I’ll turn it up… turn it down… turn it up… etc.
It’s the eternal struggle right?!?😂
Ok, so, I actually like book-t0-movie/TV adaptations! At least before I see them. Almost always, the book is better, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the movie. In the case of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I thought the movie was brilliant, and stuck so well to the book – but they did have the same writer, who works in movies, so go figure.
However, I saw The Notebook, and completely loved it. To this day, it is my favourite movie. I didn’t know it was based on a book until after, and then read it. Oh my god, I was so bored. Pro for movies: Movies can show things that books only talk about in summery. The book doesn’t include half the movie, it’s all a quick back story that we don’t get to see – I need that build up! The character development! The development of the romance! It’s a huge case of told not shown with the book, and dear god, I hated it. But the movie is incredible, and I cry my eyes out every single time. Better ending, too.
It’s funny how you say you don’t have a visual imagination. I have a really visual imagination, to the point where my imagination takes over when reading, and I’m an invisible, psychic ghost in the story watching everything happening, and hearing everyone’s thoughts. I have been so lost in what I can “see”, that someone next to me was talking to me, and I simply couldn’t hear them. They had to shake me to bring me back to the room. If stories were just words on a page, I would hate reading. I see faces – bone structure, hair style, everything, I hear voices and accents. I was so annoyed when I first saw Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, because HE DOES NOT TALK LIKE THAT! Nor does he have a beard, even if the book says so. And he wears a super cool motorbike jacket (even if the book says it’s a moleskin coat), and has long, greasy, wavy hair – to me, he basically looks like a stereotypical metal fan. That is Hagrid to me. I can see him so clearly. And the movies have this big bearded, bushy guy, talking like a farmer. Not only is it the wrong accent, his voice isn’t deep enough. Robbie Coltrane is not my Hagrid! So, basically, what I’m saying is that I can be really disappointed with a movie, visually. (I actually made my Dad laugh when 13-year-old me leaned over in the cinema and said indignantly “Hagrid doesn’t talk like that!” It’s his favourite story about me and the power of reading.)
This was a great post, Cait! 🙂
Oh oh I forgot to mention Perks! I LOVED THE PERKS MOVIE. <3 I think the excellent cast was a great bonus for that one too.😍 But like they so GOT Patrick and that just afjdksald that made me so happy. I love Patrick so much.
And yes that is a pro for movies *nods* moving it along faster? I felt that way for Game of Thrones too haha. I mean, you watch 1 hour episode and you've burned through 5 hours reading.😂
Yes omg I KNOW. It's bizarre that my imagination is so bad.🙈🙊 I am a visual person, but apparently I'm more of a visual person when I've seen something that I can build on?? I do get lost in my imagination though! I just think I'm mostly borrowing things I've seen on pinterest/movies instead of ever creating something myself. BUT OMG YOU SEE SO MUCH DETAIL. I ADMIRE AND ENVY YOUR IMAGINATION.😂
I like some book to movie adaptations. I get concerned when it’s a book I love though. I want to scream “NOOOOO, YOU’LL MESS IT UP!!!! DON’T TOUCH IT, ITS MINE!” Sometimes they change things like hair color for me or nationality. Like the if I imagine an oriental person they cast an African-American. I’m like “What?!” But I do feel like a lot of people if it doesn’t give a race in the book, most assume it is a white person. My favorite adaptations would have to be The Hobbit, The Hunger Games (all of them), Alice in Wonderland (I don’t care if it doesn’t match up w/the book), The Great Gatsby (which is on my TBR but shhh). I am not in love with Divergent, and I hated The Maze Runner too. I like the cast for divergent it just wasn’t my cup of tea though. Plus I hated The Maze Runner book, and felt the same about the movie. I only read the Maze Runner I did not continue the series. I hate the Maleficent movie, they made Sleeping Beauty really young and really hyper. I felt like I needed to grab her by the shoulder and shake her till she calmed the heck down. I didn’t love the new Cinderella movie they made either. I loved the aesthetics, but I didn’t like the actors they chose. I also don’t like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie sounds just like a Jane Austen book, I guess that was what they were going for (I think Jane Austen would hide under her bed from that movie though). I felt like it is hard enough to read a Jane Austen book I don’t want to hear a whole movie where they sound like one. The outfits were pretty though *positive*.
Have you seen the casting for A Wrinkle in Time?! The cast is like almost fully POC characters and I think that’s amazing!! I’m so excited for it and I hope it lives up to expectations….which are huge because, hehe, I loved that book growing up.😂
I loved The Maze Runner!😂 I thought the cast was all so adorable adfkjasdla. So you can have Divergent and I’ll have the Maze Runner. #CAITLOGIC And I didn’t really click with Maleficent?? Mostly because it looked too CG for me. Like I like effects and all that, of course, but it was overdone. :/ And I didn’t even bother seeing Cinderella because I don’t like Disney princess THAT much.😂 ALTHOUGH I WANT TO SEE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST BECAUSE EMMA WATSON IS AN AMAZING THING.
Oh my gosh, Cait! I laughed so hard!
Particularly loved your “actual conversations”! 😉
Also movies being TOO LOUD and then SUDDENLY TOO QUIET = sooooo true!!!! Oh my gosh, yassss!
THEY ARE DEFINITELY ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS. Not made up for sure.😂
Yeah. I seldom watch movie, too because I prefer reading than watch movie. *high five* Totally agree about cosn no 1 and 3.. I just watched the movie adaptation of Me and Earl and The Dying Girl. The book is funnier than the movie. The movie has done quite good adaptation, but some part are boring. I can’t stand when the scene are silent and there is no internal monologue. Like you said, It is really open to interpretation. But I like the movie ending better than the books.
My favorite movie adaptation is 99 cahaya di langit Eropa (99 lights in Europian Sky). It is Indonesian book. The movie is better than the book because it show lots perspective, the book only show from the main chara.
We are in much agreement. *HI FIVES* I haven’t seen Me And Earl but I do want to!! It’s a pity it’s not as funny as the book though because omg I laughed my head off during that book.😂
I’m glad 99 Lights In European Sky actually is excellent though! It’s a rare thing when a movie outshines the book, right?! I feel that way about Lord of the Rings.😂
Yeah it is rare to find the movie is greater than the book. I have watch Lord of The Rings and I love it but I have not read the book. Hope you can watch “Me, Earl and The Dying Girl” movie 🙂
Yes yes yes!!! The sound is actually terrible. Hahaha i’m so glad i’m not the only one. Also, i’m also like 90 percent sure that non of the actors or directors read the book. Like, they’re not even close to being right half the time.
But yes, movie soundtracks are amazing and it’s cool to see you favorite books come to life. But it also sometimes sucks. Pro and con?
They HAVE to have never read the book right?!? That’s the only thing that would make sense for why they’re always so different.😂
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I WANT TO BE A MOVIE PRODUCER. I want to change the industry with my fabulous director-ing.
Bookworms know better than ANYONE that sometimes movies cAN BE A REALLY BIG #FAIL.. I’ll be the filmmaker that actually READS THE BOOKS. And stays true to the story, I’ll search high and low for the best actors to play our special snowflakes..
I’m currently looking for colleges with film making programs and internships with directors and producers and such…I hope I make the book community proud someday. =*^-^*=
YES YOU SHOULD BE A MOVIE PRODUCER IMMEDIATELY AND CHANGE THE FILM WORLD FOR BOOKWORMS FOR THE BETTER. *nominates you immediately* And like why is it so hard to at least stay mostly true?! Like I get changing up some scenes and stuff…but then when they go for completely different themes it’s just tear worthy.
I have mixed feelings about book to movie adaptations, love some, hate others (and when I say hate, it’s usually a violent murderous kind of hate). They’re never better than the book though. I prefer watching movies that aren’t based on books, less stress!
Agreed! There’s less pressure on the movie to live up to a great book.😂 Although is it just me or are there soooo many book adaptions coming out at the moment?!
This post spoke to my soul, I swear XD
I only know of one movie that is better than it’s book, and that is the Princess Bride. Which is PERFECTION. And the book is less than perfect. So the movie WINS. (something that I never thought I’d say before I read that book.) BUT IN ALL OTHER CASES BOOKS ARE BETTER. END OF STORY. *hands out cake to all that agree*
I agree that the Book Thief and LOTR are really well done though! I’ll give them that. (though I have lots of problems with the LOTR movies. On the whole they’re good. And the Book Thief…. just stop my feeeeeels asdfghjkl)
LOVED this post to pieces XD
–Emmeline 🙂
(and good theme music is surely the best part of movies in general. If I’m finding it’s boring I just close my eyes and then I’m good and feel justified in spending money to go see it 🙂 )
I AM GLAD. VERY VERY GLAD.😂 And omg I haven’t actually read the Princess Bride but I love the movie soooo much. Can we just say it’s the best movie EVER of all?! My sister read the book and then told me not to hahah. I mean, I will one day, but I’m not too enthused to have my vision of the movie ruined.😂
YES I LOVED THE BOOK THIEF AND LOTR SO MUCH. BUT THE BOOK THIEF ACTUALLY BROKE MY SOUL SO.💔💔
I second the nomination for restaurant adaptations. Yum!
LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN ASAP. I need some fictional themed food.😜
I’ll confess: I watch book-to-movie adaptations ALL THE TIME, and actually, I often find I like them just as well (*whispers* if not better) than the book. I’m not sure if this is because of, as you mention, the visualization of the story… or what. But I think I “connect” to the emotion of the story better.
Also THIS: “Plus you get that whole effect of the slowly-walking-away-without-looking-back-at-explosion effect on the screen which is downright awesome.” Hashtag #Epic indeed!
As usual, love this post, Cait. SO (so) well done. And funny. And brilliant. 🙂
I’M GLAD YOU LIKED THE POST. I’ll forgive you for liking the movies better.😂😜
I’m always a mix of excited and nervous when I hear a book I love is being made into a movie. There’s SO MUCH potential for greatness…but also for awfulness. It’s like there’s no middle ground!
I think the strangest thing is that the movie doesn’t necessarily have to be a super faithful adaption to be good. Have you ever read the book/seen the movie of A Little Princess? I love them both, but they’re really different. I think it takes an exceptional director to know what to change about a book in order to make it work as a movie.
And I think it can be hard for us as readers to accept changes, even when we have to admit that they work better on screen.
Agreed!! It either seems to be great or terrible.🙈🙊 And I agree! Sometimes it doesn’t follow the book but is still good…that’s me with The Help! The movie is actually really different to the book BUT I LOVE BOTH SO MUCH. And I have read/watched A Little Princess but not for yeeeeears so I can’t really remember.😜
I’m the same way. Usually I don’t have enough faith in the people putting them together, so I usually tend to avoid them to save myself from the pain I would get watching them. The exception is if the trailer looks amazing or if it’s a book I absolutely love. It’s unfortunate because, like you said, it seems like there have been more bad adaptions than good. 🙁 (And don’t even get me started with the Percy Jackson movies OMG). Thanks for sharing Cait and, as always, fabulous post! <3
LIKE PERCY JACKSON OMG. LET’S PRETEND IT DOESN’T EXIST. *cries for the mangled heap they made of it*
Illuminae will have a movie????????????????????????????????????
Well everything has a movie this days xD
YES YES IT WILL OMG I HOPE IT’S AMAZING. Apparently it’s directed or produced by Brad Pitt?
WAYWARD GRAPE
THAT’S ME.
I actually love movies and TV adaptations (but usually if I watch the thing BEFORE reading the book) as I’m not good at visual imagining. (Unpopular opinion: the Lord of the Rings was a MUCH better film series than book series, so they don’t always get it wrong.)
Re: movies leaving more open to interpretation, I love that tbh! I prefer a nice close-up of a facial expression over a paragraph explaining how someone’s feeling. I feel like with film there’s more showing than telling, and you can use your brain a bit more to understand a character.
I love books and movies/TV, I don’t really have a preference for one or the other, except that I love the visuals in film – eg. I’d much rather SEE a beautiful red dress than read a description of it. Eye candy, I guess.
Nice post though, even if I respectfully disagree!
Omg I will not argue with you on LOTR.😂 I fell asleep trying to read the first book and swore of Tolkien forever haha BUT THE MOVIES ARE JUST BRILLIANT. And I do agree that sometimes it’s nice that movies leave more to interpretation…if one is good at reading facial expressions, which I’m not haha. FAIL TO ME.😂 And yesss, I won’t deny that the beauty of eye-candy is just amazing.
I loathe long action scenes in books, too! I really liked The Golden Compass, but I hadn’t read the book yet and people kept telling me that if I read the book I wouldn’t like it. Well, I have read 3/4 of the book now, and I think I like it even more, but I heard the ending is messed up from what the story is, so I am reserving my final judgment for after that. Ha ha. I love the Harry Potter movies even though the books are better, they did a really good job with them. Fab TTT twist. 🙂
I haven’t seen the Golden Compass movie but I want to because THOSE COSTUMES ARE LITERALLY THE MOST GORGEOUS THING.😍
I’m very meh about book to movie adaptations. Some good ones: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, eh that’s all I got. The Help was also amazing as a book AND a movie. But, mostly? Movie adaptations SUCK. If you don’t get it right, fans will riot. After watching The Hunger Games, I literally turned to my cousin and said that was exactly how I expected the movie to be, like from the book? It was LITERALLY the book come to life, which was epiccccccccc. I also liked Twilight, just the first one though, but I liked it.
One of the most disappointing book-t0-movie adaptations, which makes me eternally sad, was Confessions of a Shopaholic. That is my most favourite book series EVER. EVER. EVER. AND THEY RUINED THE MOVIE. Isla Fisher, who is super talented, was not Rebecca Bloomwood (especially as her accent leaked through all the time *Sadface*), IT IS NOT SET IN AMERICA, FFS, and the only thing they got right was Luke, who was played by Hugh Dancy. He did a pretty good job (although I always imagine Luke as bigger, somehow? Brawnier? Like a PROTECTOR. But who knows?
It actually feels weird to me to watch a movie before I read the book? So I won’t actually watch the Divergent movies until I (eventually??? at some point??? MAYBE???) get around to reading the books.
I am, however, SO excited for the Throne of Glass TV series. I have HIGH EXPECTATIONS.
YESSS THE HUNGER AGMES SO GOT IT RIGHT!! I mean, the first book not so much (although it was pretty good) but HOLY KELP CATCHING FIRE WAS RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING.
Omg I’m sorry fory ou about Confessions of A Shopaholic. *pats shoulder* THAT’S JUST NOT OKAY WHEN MOVIES ABSOLUTELY DESTROY THINGS LIKE THAT.
And I TRY to read the book first.😂 But sometimes I fail. Like I failed for The Book Thief and The Help, but I actually love both those movies a lot. <3 So maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to watch them first?! I just hope they don't copy Game of Thrones with Throne of Glass too much. 🙈🙊
After seeing what they did to poor Percy Jackson, I tend to avoid them too unless I haven’t actually read the book. Apart from The Hunger Games, I can’t think of any other adaptation I really liked. Divergent? Not really. The Giver? Better than the book but the book was disappointing. The Fault In Our Stars? It was too incesty considering Divergent. Miss Peregrine’s is another I want to see, but no one really seemed to like it and I loved that book so now I’m scared.
But the sound thing! Oh bloody hell, we have the same deal watching The Walking Dead. Characters conversing, meeting, planning oh look it’s quiet, turn it up, I can’t hear what they’re saying.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBIES.
I can’t tell you how many times a little bit of pee escaped.
Omg Percy Jackson is like one of those movies we’re all trying to forget exists.😂 HOW WAS IT SO BAD THOUGH?!? HOOOOOW. I mean, except Luke, who was adorable and I love Luke. *nods* I did really adore The Giver movie though!! And The Hunger Games. DIVERGENT WAS HORRIBLE. Probably having 30-year-old kumquats as teenagers didn’t help.
I do kind of want to see the Walking Dead but also maybe not now.😂
Okay so my favourite book-to-movie adaptations are the Hobbit movies. I even *gasp* like them better than the book. BUT! I HAVE VALID REASON FOR THIS! When Tolkien wrote the Hobbit, he left out a lot of important information that makes the story go from a stand alone that may be possibly a prequel, to a proper prequel. He had to go back and fix the Hobbit after he wrote The Fellowship, because things got changed. (Like the elves. In the Hobbit they were seriously cringe-worthy silly elves. And the suddenly in LOTR their all badass and awesome) Peter Jackson (the director) simply added all that information, which is canon, because Tolkien wrote it all down in random places. So while I love the Hobbit book as a book, it doesn’t do it’s job as a prequel properly. The movies make a much better prequel.
OKAY BUT I’M SO EXCITED FOR THE ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES MOVIE. THEY BETTER NOT MESS IT UP. BUT JENNIFER NIVEN IS WRITING THE SCRIPT, SO MAYBE THINGS WILL BE OKAY. I have not seen the Miss Peregrine’s movie yet….but I need to watch it so badly.
I am one of those people who feel concerned, but also incredibly eXCITED AT THE SAME TIME.
OKAY THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE AND I ACCEPT THAT.😂 Although tbh, I’ve only seen the first Hobbit movie. I liked it, but I always find those movies sooooo long and I have the attention span of a small grape.😂 But they are beautifully done. (And Legolas’ hair is glorious.)
I HAVE REALLY HIGH HOPES FOR ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES AND I SHALL CRY IF THEY MESS IT UP BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND BRILLIANT BOOK EVER.
Well, for most books yes but I hate hate hate hate hate when a movie adds in some love interest that wasn’t in the book or changes the whole thing like sjdjdjfjfj whhhhyyyy….
Soundtracks yes and um sci-fi is soooo much cooler in terms of effects
IT’S SO ANNOYING AND FRUSTRATING ARGHHHH. I hear you my friend. *cries with you on the travesty that adaptions often commit*
It really depends for me. Some movies turn out really good and similar to the books. So I love them! Some movies I hate because they’re so dissimilar. And then there are movies like Miss Peregrine’s…. *lol* I really didn’t like the book much, but the movie was awesome! It totally helped that the movie was nothing like the book at all though. But I’m sure the people who actually liked the book will have hated the movie version since everything was changed around, and the entire last half of the movie never happened in the book at all.
I didn’t like the Miss Peregrine’s book either but I was hoping for better things from the movie because of Tim Burton? BUT NO??? OKAY I’LL JUST BE OVER HERE BEING SAD.🙈🙊😂
GAME OF THRONES THOUGH, it’s so epic! Overall, I tend to HATE book-to-movie adaptations. It’s sad that they can’t be more accurate. The best one I can think of EVER would be Harry Potter (the first one) because that book and movie are both perfect <3 Great post!
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
I still need to watch the Harry Potter movies.😂 I mean, look at me confessing I haven’t even seen them?! I HAVE PROBLEMS CLEARLY. Eeep. And Game of Thrones is SPECTACULAR on screen, but the books have a lot more depth I think. I mean, not surprising.😂
i myself am very picky about my book to movie adaptations and approach them with great trepidation 😀 My TTT
THAT IS FAIR. And probably very wise.😂
I usually enter into them hopefully and most of the time I enjoy them a lot. It’s only afterwards that I get angry over the stuff that was ruined {I’m looking at YOU Little Women 198whatever}. I’m very fond of movies in general though and if it’s a good story I can often enjoy it apart from the book it’s adapting.
I’m glad you find a lot of winners!! I mean, I complain, but theeeeen some of my favourite movies ARE adaptions (hello to The Book Thief <3) but it's just like a personal affront when the movie makers ignore the book and totally ruin it, right?! *COLLAPSES IN A RAGE*
I adored The Giver movie! I thought it was nearly perfect. I didn’t even mind that they made Jonas a little older. It just worked and ahhhh! I couldn’t contain my excitement.
As for other book to movie adaptations, I adored Harry Potter except for the Goblet of Fire. I could go on and on and on about how they didn’t even follow the book. There were just so many things wrong with it. Other than that, I enjoyed all the other Harry Potters quite immensely.
I am so picky with book to movie adaptations. I expect it to follow the books perfectly and get royally pissed off when they don’t. lol. I am awful.
AHHH I’M GLAD YOU LOVED IT TOO!! *hi fives* It honestly hit me really hard for some reason and I’ve even re-watched it when I like barely ever do that to any movie?!? And like it worked with Jonas being a teen instead of 12. I mean, I think the actor was still older than a teen but at least he didn’t look too old.🙈🙊😂
I haven’t even SEEN the Harry Potter movies yet. I KNOW RIGHT??! My terrible lack of watching adaptions is very evident here. haha.
Restaurant adaptation=MEEEEEE PLEASSSE!!! I don’t really watch movies much either (because why? There are way better things to do. Also I don’t really watch movies alone, so this =I don’t really watch many movies) . Most book to movie adaptations had upset me, tbh. But some are really good! Even if they don’t stick to the book exactly, they can be really fun to watch. I loved both The Help movie and book, for example (although like you, I watched the movie first). And I’m really excited about Ms. Pergrine, although I haven’t watched it yet (it kind of looks scary, but hey, I can deal). Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda could be so cute, if the actor can do that inner voice thing of Simon’s that makes the book so fabulous. *nods*
YES YES I RELATE. Like it’s much nicer to watch movies with someone else so you can give a sarcastic commentary….not that I would ever do that, ahem. I’m always nice and quiet during movies. #lies 😂 But also there is just so much I can accomplish in 3hrs it takes to watch an epic movie.😂
And The Help movie is actually quite different….but sooooo good?!? I CAN’T LOVE THAT ONE ENOUGH HONESTLY.
And let’s hope they do Simon Vs right.🙈🙊
I used to HATE movie adaptions but that’s recently changed. I started going to the cinema regularly with a friend (2013 was a great cinema year!) and when it came to adaptations, I started going in and watching it WITHOUT considering it’s book counter part. It’s really helped to just think of the two as completely seperate art forms and my appreiciation for film has improved a lot in the last few years.
Everytime I go in ready to compare it to the book, I’m always disappointed. Whenever I just push the book out of my mind for two hours, I enjoy the whole thing a lot more (except for with The Martian, which I had stupidly high hopes for because I love the book),
Astrid
http://www.astridkaniele.com/
That’s totally a better way to go into it!! Like just expect it to be different and it won’t be so disappointing, right?!? *nods* And sometimes like they do make changes that work. Like I LOVE The Maze Runner book and movie, but the endings are wildly different…except I think it was good what they did in the movie? It almost made more sense than the book. haha. 😂
(So did you like the Martian movie?? I need to see/read that one!)
Exactly! Think of it like two different pieces of art and it’s so much easier to acknowledge and accept the differences! 🙂
I LOVE the Maze Runner books and films. I can’t say I prefer one ending to the other, but it is interesting to see how much the endings differ from each other. I will say that the visuals are STUNNING and I’m never going to stop being obsessed with the soundtrack.
The Martian book – hilarious. Must read. One of my favourite books, without a doubt. Definitely quite different to anything I’ve read. I think when I originally read it I compared it to Parasite Positive by Scott Westerfeld because of the sciency bits (which I love love love) but that was my only real comparsion for it.
The Martian movie – an epic failure. A very unsurprising epic failure when you think that a) the Mars landscape can get a little underwhelming after a while. I don’t know about you, but I prefer forests to desserts, b) he’s ALONE on a planet talking to a camera about what he’s trying to do to survive. It’s brilliant in the book, but it doesn’t translate well on screen and c) they left out the BIGGEST and last obstacle in the book that left me on the edge of my seat struggling to breath, OKAY. That was the only way the movie was going to come back from the snooze-fest it was and it didn’t take advantage of that.
I’d recommend the book, definitely, but I can’t in good faith recommend watching the film. ;L
I personally don’t really enjoy movie adaptations once I’ve read the book. I did discover something interesting a couple of years ago, though. We had guests in town and their kids wanted to see The Fault in Our Stars. I wanted to read the book first. So I dove in that night and read as much as I could–only made it about halfway through. I actually ENJOYED the movie because I had no idea how the story would end, but I still got the book experience, which is much more immersive than what you get from a movie.
Oh that is great though! I’m glad you like TFIOS movie and book…and actually I loved the movie for that. I thought they stuck pretty true to the book? And they had a ton of lines out of the book too which was amazing.😍
Hummmm…. well, I have a problem with book-to-movie adaptations, and that’s that most of the books I read don’t make it to movies, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to? Although I will say, 94% of the time I would rather read a book than watch a movie. Oh! Then there’s Narnia. Sorry to the book lovers, but I really just didn’t click with the series when I read it. Like, at all. Which probably has something to do with me not liking fantasy and allegories. BUT! For some reason I like the movies a lot. Like, really, really, really like them.
Overall though, I don’t think I would like many book-to-movie adaptations. Except for the soundtracks. Those are total wins.
Awww, I loved the Narnia movies! AND BOOKS.😂 They were my entire childhood. Oh I think I had the audiobooks on repeat for like several YEARS?!😂 #obsessed But fair enough! Not ever book is for everyone. (Also hopefully you mean the newer movies over the older ones? hehe.)
Soundtracks are just life. *HUGS ALL THE SOUNDTRACKS*
Book-to-movie adaptions scare me too. I’ve just seen so many TERRIBLE ones, and I’ve always been so disappointed. Although I have to admit, whilst I personally didn’t like the City of Bones movie, the books are AWESOMENESS and the tv series is PURE DIVINE BLESSED BEAUTY.
(I may or may not be a bit of a fan. I also may or may not have the Parabatai rune drawn onto my skin with black marker right now.)
PS – Just thought I’d let you know, I created a NEW tag on my blog and have *drumroll, please* tagged you for it! I’d love to see your answers, as some of the questions require a bit of thought, so maybe you’d have a little peek at it?
OMG YAYYY FOR A FELLOW SHADOWHUNTER FAN *hi fives* 😂 I love that series so much!! Which is your favourite series?! Omg I just need flail for eternity hehe. I haven’t seen the show yet, but I do want to. I just have to stop expecting it to be exactly like the movie (I looooved Jace as Jamie Campbell Bower!!)
AND THANKYOU! I’ll definitely check out the tag!
THE SOUNDTRACKS ARE ALWAYS SO GOOD!!! And I’ve definitely had movies make me want to read the books they were based on many times (starting with Twilight back in the day haha). Though I do relate to so many of your cons. I don’t tend to actively search out book adaptions unless a) I haven’t read the book and I’m interested in getting an idea of the story, or b) I’m actually interested in the story and seeing what they’ve done with it. There have been one or two movies I thought were better than the books they were based on (though in typical Bec fashion, I’m blanking on the ones that were better)
Having one of your favourite books adapted is terrifying, but also exciting because it means more fans and more people to discuss the story and fangirl with overall!
FAJSDKALFD SOUNDTRACKS ARE JUST A GIFT TO THIS UNIVERSE. *hugs all the soundtracks* And I probably do the same with picking when I’m going to watch an adaption *nods* Although like earlier this year I specifically read The 5th Wave in time for the movie. Have I seen the movie yet? NOPE.😂 So basically I am the worst even when I have good intentions.
I agree with you in some points. like the sound thing, you know what you can do? Switch on the subtitles, it helps me because when my kid is screaming I can still follow the plot XD.
but you know, stories like Harry Potter and LOTR are great movie ‘adaptations’ because they look soooo pretty. While Twilight, no matter how you tweak it, it’s still crap
Let us avoid the topic of 50 shades of gray all together.
Subtitles could work! Although whenever I watch movies with them, I just end up reading them and not actually….watching.😂 So it kind of defeats the point of watching the movie for me haha. Ahem. I’M TERRIBLE AT MULTI-TASKING APPARENTLY.
TOTALLY totally relate-able post Cait. This is my first time on your blog and I must tell you I loved it.
I so like certain movies but there are more that make me cringe while watching. I do have a good imagination while reading the books, but the movies turn it into something extremely different and that make me wonder…. was that really in the book? That is an instant interest killer for me.
Loved the post! 😀
OH OH HI AND WELCOME!! *gives you all the welcome cake* And I’m so glad you liked my post. 🙂 And yesss, omg it’s so hard when the add stuff that just wasn’t in the book. Or leave important stuff out. Agh. I think there are good adaptions?! But it’s like 1 good adaption to 10003984 horrible ones.😂
I’m so wary of book-to-movie adaptions because of ALL the cons you listed but then there are the pros and GAHHH. These days I tend to only watch the movie if I’ve either enjoyed the book or have been wanting to read it. Though I haven’t read Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them and don’t really plan to, I do want to see the movie because obviously. It’s in the HP-verse. YES PLEASE.
I almost prefer watching the adaptions of the books I didn’t enjoy because then I don’t have mega high expectations.😩😂😂 I’m curious to see the reviews when people have seen Fantastic Beasts!
Cait I think you’ve come up with a winning business proposal, let us open a restaurant with bookish food in it! I always find myself disappointed in bookish adaptations, but when they are actually quite good (like Me Before You) it’s an absolute pleasure! But yeah I wouldn’t recommend Miss Peregrine’s LOL so cheesy.
YES LET’S DO IT!! Honestly I’m confused why someone hasn’t already??? It would be my #1 place to eat.😍
Omg really?!? That’s the worst about Miss Peregrine’s. I expected great things from Tim Burton.😩
“so what is this 30-year-old kumquat doing on this screen?” <———— LITERALLY ME IN EVERY MOVIE. And I mean, I AM an old kumquat and I am STILL not okay with this. Theo James is a fine looking man, but eighteen he is not. Enough! Wasn't that kid in The Giver supposed to be TWELVE? The guy who played him was TWENTY FIVE at the time, Cait. 25! Now, I am no math wizard, but that is MORE THAN TWICE the number of years that he was supposed to be. Just saying.
Also, Yes, movies are dreadfully boring most of the time. I can't. I pretty much exclusively watch book-to-movies if I must partake in a movie. I just don't care about other movies. I don't. And I don't feel bad about it anymore. People used to call me weird, but maybe they're weird (or fine, maybe it's me, but I am fine with it). And YES to the noise. Definitely my least favorite part too- because I can't hear what ANYONE is saying, but then some random gunfire has the neighbors calling the police. Not great.
That said… I loved The Hunger Games. So much. And The 100 is INFINITELY better than the books. I have read two of the books now, so I feel completely confident that my assessment should just be taken as gospel. Plus everyone else agrees. (I am trying to get you to watch it, obviously.) And I liked TFIOS. But I feel you about favorite scenes being cut out. (Looking at you, THG franchise.)
The laughing IS worth it. The most fun I have had reviewing stuff in AGES has been my reviews of Allegiant (so hilariously bad- in a better, less sad way than Insurgent, which was just straight up awful) and The 5th Wave, which wasn't terrible, but still silly. Anyway, I agree with you. As always 😉
Hahahhaha. *cries* I KNOW. I mean, I get that older actors are probably more talented or something (but pfft, I’ve seen talented teen actors) but it gets BIZARRE when they’re in their 30s. Oh except for The Giver. Because he wasn’t acting a 12 year old so I was okay with that.😂 But Theo James looked way way waaaay too old for Shailene Woodley. I mean, they’re both probably the same age, but at least she LOOKED more like a teen. Basically…omg. Book adaptions have a lot to answer for with their weirdness.😂
WE ARE TWINS WITH THE BOREDOM FACTOR. *hi fives* This is why I prefer TV shows too?? Because they seem to get more done in 40mins than a movie gets done in 3hrs.😑
I love this post, Cait. I actually have scheduled Book-To-Movie Adaptions post on my blog. I always prefer book to a movie, but since I started reading a lot and blogging I barely ever watch movies. And I have this fear of the good book being ruined by bad movie-adaptation too.
I actually thing that the sounds gives so much to the story. We don’t have this while reading, and soundtrack definitely can improve the story. Cait, your point “IT’S NEVER HOW YOU THOUGHT IT’D BE” resonates with soooo much.
PS. I usually avoid book-to-movie adaptions too. You are not alone in this, Cait. Thanks so much for posting this. I hope you’ll visit my blog when my post on this matter come alive and support me. It’s not easy for us readers to watch book-to-movie adaptations.
Ooh, I can’t wait to read your post too! *hi fives for our fantastic post ideas* 😜 And I toooootally have the fear of the movie ruining a precious book. Usually I cringe when I watch adaptions. But I mean, THERE ARE SOME GOOD ONES. It just seems like they mangle them more?😂
I love when books are turned into movies because I like seeing how they’ll translate it onto the screen. I like getting to experience a book that I love in a new way! I recently listened to a podcast that talked about faithful adaptations and they believe that movies that have the spirit of a book, but are not exact replicas are the best ones. What do you think? I think that’s true because I like when there are small changes in a movie from the book. It turns it into something that it’s own and becomes more interesting.
Movie soundtracks are the best! I love listening to them when I write because it helps me think about the intense drama haha!
~Sara
I guess it depends on expectations right?! I think most of us bookworms are expecting (at least hoping for😂) a faithful adaption because the original is WHY we fell in love with the story. But being totally honest: not all bookish scenes even translate well into movies. Like all that internal dialogue? That’s hard to put into movies. And like I saw the Bridge to Terebithia movie before I read the book and I secretly lowkey love the changes they made. SO I TOTALLY GET WHAT YOU MEAN!
Have you ever been to Wonderland Recipes? Alison posts TONS of foods related to books. Mostly classics, but her recipes look so incredibly scrumpdilyitious (I have no idea how to even try to spell that) and they’re all related to books in some way, shape or form. It’s not a restaurant, but it sure is yummy to look at!
I HAVE!! I LOVE ALISON’S BLOG SO MUCH!! I always come away seriously hungry though.😂
I always get so excited about book to movie adaptations, but then I lose my thrill somewhere along the way and my chances of actually seeing it are 50/50. Part of the problem is that I KNOW what’s going to happen. I’m just sitting there, listening to the conversation on screen and all I can think is, “yeah, yeah, get to the point!” I have seen some great adaptations, but some of them were just bad. I was not a fan of the Divergent adaptation. I didn’t even watch the final one. Great post.
YES THAT TOO!! It does take out a lot of the surprise when you know what’s going to happen right?!? And I guess it’s really hard to turn off that inner voice that is like “hmm you’re getting this all wrong THEY DIDN’T SAY THAT!!” instead of just enjoying what is there.😂 At least that is ME.
Yes, to so many of these! Especially the trolling bookstagram after an hour – I guess the only thing I have a long attention span for is reading : )
YES ME TOO! *hi fives* Although I have a long attention span for writing too. *nods* And reading. And twitter.😂😂
Hey, I also don’t watch movies! So glad it’s not just me. To be honest, it’s embarrassing to acknowledge it, but I am BORED while watching a movie. Because it’s just so passive. While reading a book, I have to use my imagination, even just use my brain to decode the words. While watching a movie? I just stare. My mind wanders. I can’t concentrate on it.
And then there’s also the time thing. That too.
One of the worst movie adaptations I can think of? Probably The Time Traveler’s Wife. Have you seen it? Couldn’t even bear to watch half of it. Just such a dead story in movie form. Made me sad.
But sometimes I think about how hard it actually is to make a movie from a book! I was just reading Solaris last week and thinking, there’s so much that happens in the characters’ heads, and there would be no way to find out half the story if I didn’t read about it! I know there were two movies, one of which is considered a piece of art. I should maybe check it out, because I’m so curious how they did it now.
Also. Me and boyfriend often make eggs for lunch/dinner! Sunny side up though. That’s my favorite. He says I make damn good eggs. With mushrooms and tomato and other stuff, and bacon, if we have any. So it’s not just all breakfast food!
I also hate it when they pick different looking characters for the movie. The worst case I’ve seen of this is how they made Miss Justineau from The Girl With All The Gifts white, and Melanie black (switched them). Although Miss Justineau had that “strong independent black woman” vibe about her and I felt it was an important part of the character, and Melanie was always pointed out for being white and blonde. And the symbolism of looking like that. AND THEY TOOK IT ALL AWAY, why, WHY??
Haha, older actors playing teenagers 😀 I’ve laughed about that a lot too. Always makes me feel bad too, cause the generic teen looks older than me too (I’m 28), and I’ll never cease to be babyfaced, and then they make it worse by making teens on screen look EVEN OLDER. Gaaaahhhhh
Restaurant adaptations sound damn good.
YAY WE ARE TWINS IN OUR NON-WATCHING-MOVIENESS. (Shh that’s totally a word.😂) I get entirely bored too. I’d rather be doing something myself…although that saying, I don’t mind TV shows as mucH? But I feel like they’re shorter so they don’t have many artistic boring pauses, and they get on with blowing things up.😂
I haven’t seen the Time Traveller’s wife but I heard it’s horrendous.🙈🙊
Tbh, I don’t remember anyone’s skin colour in The Girl With All the Gifts so I can’t comment, hehe. All I remember is zombies. And Melanie wearing cute pink kiddie clothes and eating people. #nice I REALLY want to see that movie though, because zombies = yaaas.
We have no idea whether we’ve commented here already or not, but with our brain hurting we find ourselves unable to care if this is the second time😂😂
We are always really nervous about book to movie adaptions because we want our favourite characters to be done right. We want scenes that we feel are inherent to the plot to be kept in and we want the movie to end up like a train wreck when it had all the potential to be amazing.
Off the top of our head our least favourite book to movie and eventually TV adaption is City of Bones. The movie was horrendous and the show was somehow worse. So many things were changed. The characters. The world. The plot. It’s as if the executives blindfolded themselves and cut the manuscript up with a scissors😟😟
Absolutely awful.
We hear that A Darker Shade of Magic is being turned into a TV series with something like eight episodes and we feel okay-ish with that because we have come to understand that Victoria will be writing the pilot herself. Obviously casting and visuals and the American TV network that it lands on will determine the quality of the end product, but we have hope😊
The Throne of Glass series on Hulu though….
Aww, really?! I LOVED the City of Bones movie! It’s one of my favourites and totally got me into reading the books and, hehe, well, my Shadowhunter obsession is strong now.😂 I haven’t seen the show yet, but I plan to watch it over the December holidays! 🎉
I had heard things about ADSOM becoming a TV series and I confess I’m tooootally scared about it. THAT SERIES IS MY PRECIOUS FAVOURITE AND I WILL CRY FOREVER IF THEY MESS IT UP.😱😱
I totally agree you–movie adaptations can be sooooo tricky! I especially liked the The Fault in Our Stars movie, but I agree, Insurgent was atrocious. And I don’t even like to think about the Percy Jackson movies. *shudders*
Everyone I’ve heard from says Miss Peregrine’s was awesome, so I’m looking forward to seeing that, even though it will inevitably not live up to my expectations.
Also, I have this theory that the Lunar Chronicles would make an absolutely amazing TV series, with the amount of characters and different plot lines that it has. It would be out of this world. (Hahahaha. Sorry I can’t stop myself sometimes)
Anyway, awesome post, Cait!
-Max @ Crazy for YA
*shudders at mere mention of the Percy Jackson movies* They were even worse than the Divergent ones WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING.😂 But like when they do get it right (TFIOS!! The Book Thief!!) it’s really beautiful and worth it. <3
VERY PUNNY. I APPRECIATE ALL PUNS.😂 And I also agree the Lunar Chronicles would be amazing as a TV series. Fingers crossed someone is wise and goes that direction with it?!? There are to many sub-plots to fit into a movie!
I don’t have time for movies either. I have a bunch of books to read! Also hate when the characters look completely different from what they were supposed to be. people complained when a black girl got the role for Rue in The Hunger Games yet Finnick Odair was not bronze coloured AT ALL.
True. The Book Thief movie made me want to read the book. I definitely believe the book is better but the movie did not dishonour the book! *thumbs up*
Also, yes, restaurant adaptations please. Can I have a free meal if I have a copy of the book?
Wait, there’s going to be a Red Rising adaption?! *looks around nervously* This could be GLORIOUS! Or not. . . Man, now I’m scared.
Internal monologue, yes! That is one of the huge things movies lack. And what is with characters trying to speak to each other with their eyes? Is this a TELEPATHY SESSION?! I think not. I liked the Hunger Games adaptions, Katniss doesn’t really talk about her feelings, or plans. So in the book we get this nifty internal monologue. In the movie? Eh, we get Katniss staring off into space while she thinks, a lot.
The soundtracks though are the best part about the movies! I recently listened to Divergent’s soundtrack and was very surprised to love it. 😀
I’M SO SCARED TOO.🙈🙊 Like it has the potential to be awesome?!?! Because SCI FI and STABBY but also they could totally mangle it and I’m soooo worried, argh argh.
And omg the eye-telepathy is hilarious and ridiculous. I mean, my family has no idea what each other means when we SPEAK let alone try to communicate who needs to go grocery shopping through our eyes. Sometimes books live in the clouds a bit.😂
Oh yes, it made Katniss kind of seem really unemotional in the movies right? Because like she was REALLY having all these emotions but she didn’t show it so much so yeeeah. I mean, I do think The Hunger Games movies were good! But that definitely was a drawback.
I’m always curious about movie adaptations because I know they *can* be done well. But most of the time they’re not. I think The Help was done really well. And Catching Fire was actually better than the book. Prince Caspian is my favorite adaptation EVER because they made it different than the book, but it captured the necessary emotional arc of the characters – they just had it play out in the plot differently. Some people really hated that but it’s more important to me to be true to the characters and their arc than the plot (I have a whole post on it – http://anniejacksonbooks.com/story-integrity/).
But I do love action more in a movie. Sometimes I have a really hard time visualizing action or tracking where the characters are in relation to each other and things like cars and stuff… so seeing it in a movie helps a lot 🙂 But it’s all so hit or miss – if the casting is done well it’s AWESOME to see characters come to life and if it’s done badly than it totally stinks.
I loved Prince Caspian movie too!! I was a bit disorientated at first but they did soooo well. The Dawn Treader on the other hand? I’M PRETENDING IT DOESN’T EXIST.😂