A friday five post

Since I just surprised myself by having a lot more to write than I ever thought I could have, I guess I'll go ahead and repost this to my various blogs, journals and thingywhatsers. Keep in mind, this was written for a group in which they don't know me very well, so a lot of this is old news to most of you.

I know this is ridiculously long, sorry.

[01] What book has been made into a great movie (or tv series, etc)?

Although I have not seen it, it seems that Martin's Game of Thrones has translated well, which is amazing to me because I can't freaking STAND his writing.  But I guess it goes to show you what someone with real imagination and vision can do, getting past his usually incredibly boring writing and characters to create something visually appealing to many people.


[02] What book has not translated well into other media?

Although as a general rule everyone usually says the book is always better than the film, I actually view the two as completely separate entities, and I try to avoid comparing them.  I mean, the most recent version of  Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton one) did not resemble the book at all, and had some serious bzuh moments (the Mad Hatter's dance at the end - what the fuck? *cringe*) for the most part I enjoyed the hell out of the movie most of the time because it was fun and gorgeous and had lovely costumes.  Movies are an entirely different thing for me than books, and I watch them for different reasons than I read books.

[03] What novel would you like to see as a film?


Good Omens (Pratchett/Gaiman) is my perennial favorite to harp on, because a film version has been promised so many times.  It was supposed to be made by Terry Gilliam years ago, and I'm sure he would have done a fantastic job.  Now that Neil Gaiman is popular and Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's, and three of his books have already been made into made-for-tv movies in England it looks as though they're doing "Good Omens" as a tv series in England, but that's still 'next year.'  Who knows.

That said, I think I will never seen a screen adaptation of any of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but it could be gorgeous and fun - there's plenty of intrigue, explosions and romance. It seems made for screen.

[04] What literary character do you enjoy seeing envisioned on the big screen?

Hm.  This is a really hard one.  I would dearly like to see the movie of  "Master and Commander," because I've been reading the books with a group read thing over on MandC_read - we are almost at the end of the series (and will be starting over again after reading "21" if anyone wants to join, *hint-hint*.  It's a very easy format to keep up with, just read a chapter each week and join the discussion on the weekend.)  but I digress, because really I think this question is meaning to as which character I have in the past enjoyed seeing.  The fact is, all of them.  Even if I didn't approve of the way they came out, even if the movie barely resembles the book, to me, I love seeing books made into movies.  I will often want to watch the movie even if I hated the book. :)  I love these recent Sherlock Holmes movies, and the TV series of  "Sherlock," even though they bear so little resemblance to the literary Holmes that I almost wish they'd chosen different names for the characters. 

BUT, I've got to say I notice (well, only because Eor points it out to me) that my real love is always for secondary characters.  In the Harry Potter movies, I adore Ron and Neville, in nearly all the Holmes adaptations if I'm going to be annoyed or delighted it will be because of how Watson gets portrayed.  (Seriously, Nigel Bruce, what were you thinking?)

[05] Are you likely to read a book before or after seeing the film upon which it is based?

I'm likely to have already read the book and to consider re-reading it before seeing the film, but then to decide that's a bad idea, because I don't want to be comparing.  Or, I'll hear the movie is well-liked and I might read the book and then never get around to seeing the film, as I did with Tipping the Velvet.  That's because after reading the book, I can't really bring myself to care - that book was the worst conglomeration of every damned lesbian cliche and stereotype the author could dig up. 

Or then again there's my weird fascination with re-reading all the Oz books because I love reading fanfics of "Tin Man", which was a sad, ridiculous, execrable Sci-Fi (or however they spell it this week) adaptation, completely missable except for the interactions between the Scarecrow and Tin Man characters - the Scarecrow character (called Glitch in "Tin Man") was played by Allen Cumming and was delicious in every little nuance.  Obviously the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were a couple, right?  They are 'inseparable' in the books, and that just gives fuel to my evil desires to see more (and more and more) Glitch/Cain romance. ;)