Alan Kercinik has been a Chicagoan his whole life and a dad since 2009. He finds it easy to relate to his two boys, since he still likes most things from his childhood. All opinions here are his own, to the relief of his wife, employer, family and majority of his friends.
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Hollywood has a long, proud history of ripping off adapting stories from all kinds of source material. Toys. Videogames. Comic books. Websites (supposedly, there is a Facebook movie in the works.) Board games. Even the NOW IN DEVELOPMENT Hong Kong Phooey, an obscure cartoon about a karate-kicking DOG with the voice of Scatman Crothers, maybe best known as the poor, sad janitor from The Shining. Thanks, Entertainment Weekly, for pointing out this latest sign of the approaching apocalypse.
I was thinking about this last week, watching the latest Harry Potter. The books were huge. But the movies. The movies make them feel so much bigger, somehow. So, in honor of Harry, Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander, The Time Traveller’s Wife and all the other movies that started life in another form, here are five of my favorite books to movie, in no particular order. Share yours in comments, if you dare.
Stand By Me
Stephen King-inspired movies have ranged from the ridiculous (that werewolf movie with Corey Haim) to the sublime (Shawshank Redemption). But his short stories usually fare pretty well, and this flick, based on the short, The Body, fares best. This coming-of-age movie has three things going for it. Kiefer Sutherland at his creepy, toughest, young best. An argument about who could win in a fight, Superman or Mighty Mouse. And a story about friends who bond on their way to seeing a dead body.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
There are a ton of people turned off by these movies, not interested in wizards and faeries and Orcs. Which is too bad. Because they are chock full of valor, bravery, heroism and lessons of what it means to be a man. (Forget the Judd Apatow man-child transformation flicks. None of those guys are fit to carry Legolas’s tunic.)
East of Eden
The book that turned me on to Steinbeck, I went through this crazy period where I read almost everything he’d written within six months. But the book, as much as I love it, is almost too sprawling. The movie focuses on only a portion — the troubled, competitive relationship between brothers, Cal and Aron Trask. Keep Rebel Without a Cause. This is James Dean’s best flick, one that ages considerably better than his other work.
The Princess Bride
William Goldman wrote the book and the screenplay, so that may be why this makes the transition so easily. What is not to love about this movie? Two love stories (one between Westley and Buttercup, the other between a grandfather and his grandson) crammed with humor, action and more quotable, memorable dialog than almost any other movie ever made.
Adaptation
This one is just plain kooky weird, which is why I love it. Charlie Kaufman is trying to adapt Susan Orlean’s novel, The Orchid Theif, into a screenplay and having a hell of a time, while his hack, twin brother, Donald, is laughing it up. Less an adaptation as a meditation on the art of writing and trying to finish a job you just don’t feel you have the skill or ability to tackle, it’s pretty funny, sad and affecting. (And a Nic Cage movie I can get behind, as compared to the crap he’s made for the past five years. Two National Treasure movies? Really?)
4 comments
Matt Hanneman says:
July 27, 2009 at 1:39 pm (UTC -5 )
I like the addition of the clips! Princess Bride is a favorite of mine.
Matt Hanneman says:
July 27, 2009 at 8:39 am (UTC -5 )
I like the addition of the clips! Princess Bride is a favorite of mine.
Lara Kercinik says:
August 25, 2009 at 11:16 pm (UTC -5 )
Been awhile since your last post – fans are standing by…
Lara Kercinik says:
August 25, 2009 at 6:16 pm (UTC -5 )
Been awhile since your last post – fans are standing by…