junctionalfunkie
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 2,710
Reading through the other thread, I realized that most cinematic adaptations of novels, etc. are fucking horrible. I could think of a lot more books in this list than in that one, myself, (Matt Damon and Co. already ruined one of my all time favorite books, All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy ten years ago! That movie sucked soooo bad!! But the book is excellent!).
Conrad's War by Andrew Davies. This British book was my favorite book in the world in the late 70s. It is the story of a young boy who loves to play soldier and war, until he suddenly starts slipping into another Dimension or something where he's actually engaged in battle in WWII! He comes to realize that perhaps war is more ugly than glamorous, etc.
The book could easily be adapted into a childrens' film, and, in the hands of even a mediocre director, the anti-war subtext could be quite obvious, without being heavy-handed about it.
The reason I would not want Conrad's War to be made into a film is that I prefer to keep my memories of that book to specific time and place in childhood. Even if the movie were fantastic, I probably would never watch it.
Well, maybe....
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. Amazing novel. They could do it justice (perhaps), but it would have to be a major miniseries or something, in order to get anywhere near all the beauty, detail, subtexts, ongoing stories, development of characters over the courses of their lives, etc. etc. ad infinitum. It would literally take like 12-16 hours.
And if they weren't willing to do it that way, I'd rather they not even try.
Infinite Jest could be made into a reasonably coherent film, albeit a long one. My main source of relief that it never will be cinematized is that the unwashed masses simply don't care about or understand about stories as complicated as like. Also, there are no explosions. Anyway, I think we can all agree, for a multitude of reasons, that IJ is "off-limits." I sure hope DFW never sold the movie rights to it.
Has any one read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time? That's sorta one that could go either way.
What else?
Conrad's War by Andrew Davies. This British book was my favorite book in the world in the late 70s. It is the story of a young boy who loves to play soldier and war, until he suddenly starts slipping into another Dimension or something where he's actually engaged in battle in WWII! He comes to realize that perhaps war is more ugly than glamorous, etc.
The book could easily be adapted into a childrens' film, and, in the hands of even a mediocre director, the anti-war subtext could be quite obvious, without being heavy-handed about it.
The reason I would not want Conrad's War to be made into a film is that I prefer to keep my memories of that book to specific time and place in childhood. Even if the movie were fantastic, I probably would never watch it.
Well, maybe....
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. Amazing novel. They could do it justice (perhaps), but it would have to be a major miniseries or something, in order to get anywhere near all the beauty, detail, subtexts, ongoing stories, development of characters over the courses of their lives, etc. etc. ad infinitum. It would literally take like 12-16 hours.
And if they weren't willing to do it that way, I'd rather they not even try.
Infinite Jest could be made into a reasonably coherent film, albeit a long one. My main source of relief that it never will be cinematized is that the unwashed masses simply don't care about or understand about stories as complicated as like. Also, there are no explosions. Anyway, I think we can all agree, for a multitude of reasons, that IJ is "off-limits." I sure hope DFW never sold the movie rights to it.
Has any one read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time? That's sorta one that could go either way.
What else?
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