Can a bad adaption really count if it came from a bad book?
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/best-and-worst-movies-based-on-books-20130508
Best and Worst Movies Based on Books
Edward Norton and Brad Pitt in 'Fight Club'
20th Century Fox Film Corp/courtesy Everett Collection
May 8, 2013 4:30 PM ET
Translating great literature to the silver screen is no easy feat. There are
the all-important questions, like how much CGI can we afford, and is Demi Moore
free? Some adaptations, like one out this weekend, "choke on their own excess,"
losing nuance one glitter flake at a time, while others manifest lands of
sloping mountains, bubbling rivers and pointy ears so vividly that even the
closest readers could have never imagined their majesty. Below, we take a look
at the best and worst of recent memory.
Fight Club (Good)
In David Fincher's interpretation of Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel, the director
takes audiences inside the body of story's narrator, Jack (Edward Norton) –
both physically and emotionally. Pushed to the edge of sanity by a dull white
collar job, the unhampered Tyler (Brad Pitt) encourages Jack to start a fight
club. At the time of its release in 1999, Peter Travers wrote, "Fittingly, the
striking first image of Fight Club puts us literally inside Jack's brain.
Driven by turbocharged music from the Dust Brothers, the camera swoops and
dives around a vast network of nerve cells."
Atlas Shrugged (Bad)
Trapped in development purgatory for decades, Ayn Rand's fourth (and longest)
novel finally made it to the big screen in 2011, albeit hastily, from director
Paul Johansson. Travers wrote, "Ayn Rand's monumental 1,168-page, 1957 novel
gets the low-budget, no-talent treatment and sits there flapping on screen like
a bludgeoned seal." Part II arrived quietly in 2012, and Part III is due next
summer.
Clockwork Orange (Good)
Director Stanley Kubrick uses extreme wide angle lenses in this Academy
Award-winning take on Anthony Burgess' 1962 novella, conveying a dream-like
quality and allowing audiences to delve into the deluded mind of sociopath Alex
(Malcolm McDowell). Burgess wrote in Rolling Stone in 1972 he was satisfied
with the adaptation: "I can say at once that the story and the movie are very
like each other. Indeed, I can think of only one other film which keeps as
painfully close to the book it's based on – Polanski's Rosemary's Baby."
The Bonfire of the Vanities (Bad)
Starring Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith, this adaptation of Tom Wolfe's
best-seller follows Sherman McCoy, about bond salesman whose master of the
universe status can't help him beat a hit and run rap. At the time of its
theatrical release in 1990, Rolling Stone wrote, "Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel about
the Greed Decade was penetrating, prophetic and incisively satirical. Director
Brian De Palma's $45 million film version of the book is superficial, shopworn
and cartoonish."
Trainspotting (Good)
Based on Irving Welsh's titular cult novel, director Danny Boyle paints the
graphic pains (and pleasures) of a smack habit in 90s Edinburgh with the help
of stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner and Jonny Lee Miller. Back in 1996, Peter
Travers called it, "90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast
inject right into the vein." A sequel starring the original cast is the works,
timed for the film's 20th anniversary.
To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive:
Click Here
Battlefield Earth (Bad)
Based on L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 novel, fellow scientologist (and sci-fi fan)
John Travolta was determined to film this story of humanity revolting against
enslavement and extermination by an alien race in the year 3000. In 2000, Peter
Travers wrote, "Star John Travolta, buried in alien makeup and an
incomprehensible script, offers up a film tribute to the sci-fi novel by
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and makes life hell on earth for audiences."
No Country for Old Men (Good)
Tone faithful to Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, the Coen brothers imbue Anton
Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a.k.a. the cold-blooded assassin with the world's
worst haircut, with true creepiness. At the time of its 2007 release, Rolling
Stone said, "Not since Robert Altman merged with the short stories of Raymond
Carver in Short Cuts have filmmakers and author fused with such devastating
impact as the Coens and McCarthy."
The Scarlet Letter (Bad)
Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 story of adultery in mid-17th century Boston has
long been a favorite of English classes and Hollywood studios. But Rolland
Jaffe's 1995 interpretation is a favorite of few. Caveated in the opening
credits as "freely adapted," it's a campy bodice-ripper starring Demi Moore,
Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall – too insubstantial, even for a substitute
teacher day.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Good)
Director Peter Jackson makes his first of six cinematic forays into Middle
Earth with this epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1954 novel of the same
name. Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom, you not only feel
Jackson's enthusiasm for hobbits, but also see the furry feet, pointy ears, and
twinkling gossamer.
The Lorax (Bad)
Dr. Seuss' environmental morality tale tells of a city kid searching for a real
live tree. In the process, he encounters the Lorax, a grumpy creature fighting
to defend his existence. Last year, Peter Travers wrote, "This 3D, animated,
idiotically musicalized version of 'The Lorax' thoroughly debases the genius of
the good doctor's book, adding characters, twisting plot points, and replacing
Seuss subtlety with Hollywood frenzy."
To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive:
Click Here
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