Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new ‘top ten’ challenge is posted – anyone can join in. This week’s topic is a freebie so I’ve picked my top ten book to movie adaptations.
I’m the person that won’t see the film unless I’ve read the book. And most often I prefer the book (or perhaps I simply prefer the experience of reading rather than watching a film?!). But in some cases, films are PERFECT translations of the book, the characters and scenes unfolding just as you imagined. And sometimes a film not only does a book justice but makes it better. Yes, really. My top ten book to movie adaptations are the books that I think rocketed into awesomeness thanks to a fabulous film…
1. A Room with a View – a Merchant Ivory masterpiece.
2. Gone with the Wind – Vivien Leigh IS Scarlett.
3. Anne of Green Gables – perfection.
4. Twilight – honestly, the book isn’t the greatest thing ever written… but that first kiss… wowsers.
5. Red Dog – despite the saying ‘never work with kids or animals’, this book/film about a dog is brilliant.
6. Puberty Blues – an Australian classic. Still as relevant today as it was then. The film makes the book all the more scary.
7. Alice in Wonderland – I loved this movie simply because it was mostly from my preferred Alice story – Through the Looking Glass.
8. Bridget Jones’s Diary – don’t you love it when casting is spot on?!
9. The Hotel New Hampshire – the eighties Brat Pack… I miss you! And of course a list is not complete without John Irving (it was really a tie between Hotel and Cider House Rules).
10. And although not released yet, I have GREAT hopes for Baz Lurhman’s The Great Gatsby and the upcoming movie of Les Misérables.
Honourable mentions to The Outsiders, White Mischief, The Joy Luck Club, The Reader, Atonement, All the Rivers Run, Less Than Zero, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Romeo & Juliet, The Devil Wears Prada, Pride & Prejudice (BBC series), About a Boy, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (The Dangerous Liaisons) and The Lovely Bones.
I’ve watched a lot of these movies, but haven’t read the books – I’m an either one or the other type person (usually).
OH MAN how I have not seen A Room With A View? AND Les Mis looks truly epic, I cannot wait. Great TTT!
Stop everything! Go and find a copy of Room with a View. AMAZING. Beautiful. Funny. Romantic. You might have a little happy/sad cry at the end.
So we didn’t have any overlap, but we ALMOST did. I very nearly put Anne of Green Gables on mine (I didn’t because it’s technically a miniseries, but I LOVE it SO MUCH) and I did give a shout-out to Bridget Jones! And I’m totally with you on salivating over the upcoming Les Miserables movie. It’s my favorite musical of all time, and it looks like the movie will be incredible.
Yes, Anne was cheating a little… which is why I didn’t cheat with the BBC mni series of Pride & Prej as well 😉
I LOVE the Anne of Green Gables movies!!! I watched those as a kid so many times, before I even knew they were books 🙂
I had read Anne when I was little – the mini-series was on when I was a teenager. It was perfect – exactly how I’d imagined Anne. I have recently bought the series on DVD for my daughter (ahem…actually for me).
Les Misérables has me on pins and needles. I loved the book and the show! But what a great list over all!
Les mis looks epic, doesn’t it?! Some interesting casting choices but I can’t wait. I saw the show (many, many years ago) and loved it. Read the book (before I saw the show of course!) and also loved it!
LOVE your list! Red Dog is amazing 😀 So good. Have you watched the Puberty Blues tv series as well? I’m soooo excited for Les Mis!
Have you read Red Dog? Equally beautiful book – the year I read it, I loved it so much I bought multiple copies for Christmas presents – one of those stories that everyone loves.
I did watch the tv series of Puberty Blues – I thought it was excellent (although not quite as gritty as the movie!). I also thought the bits of the storyline that they added into the tv series were very well done, seamless.
I actually didn’t like The Cider House Rules, but it has more to do with my dislike of Tobey Maguire than the movie. He is just one of those actors that irritates me. The Hotel New Hampshire made my list again this week (literary characters to name your children after), Anne of Green Gables is on the list too..
I know what you mean about Tobey Maguire (is it because he looks soooo young?) but for me Michael Caine made up for it… and the fact that the movie was visually beautiful… and the fact that Irving didn’t attempt to cram the whole book into his screenplay.
I can’t stand seeing the movie before reading the book. I’m currently reading Cloud Atlas before the movie comes out, and I was really disappointed to see that the trailer for the movie was a little spoiler-y. I really like Bridget Jones.
Yes, I often find myself quickly reading books ecause the movie looks good (hence why I missed Hunger Games when it was on at the movies!)
I’m in love with the film adaption of A Room with a View; it’s stunning! And, in addtition to Pride and Prejudice, and Les Mis, I can’tn WAIT WAIT WAIT to see Anna Karenina! It’s got Keira Knightly & Jude Law and looks incredbile!
Happy top ten!
Room with a View is without doubt my favourite movie ever – lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. Haven’t seen the shorts of Anna Karenina – will have to hunt it down.
Great list! I totally agree with Bridget Jones, they captured the characters and tone perfectly. 🙂
Loooove the Anne of Green Gables movie! And Puberty Blues is a great adaptation.
Anne of Green Gables, YES!
My TTT: http://shelversanon.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-10-tuesday-rewind-top-ten-bookish.html
Yes, The Great Gatsby and Les Miserables look fantastic. I hope they live up to the expectation!
Not a fan of Twilight, but I will agree that the movie is way better than the book. But for the most part, I am not a fan of movie adaptations. But if I have to pick one, I go with the Harry Potter series because I think the character casting was just fantastic.
Further to top ten post about bookish confessions…. I’ve never read Harry Potter… Or seen a Harry Potter movie… or likely to!
Great list! I admit, I’ve seen the ITV adaptation of A Room with a View but not the Merchant-Ivory version in its entirety yet *blushes* I looooove the Bridget Jones’ Diary movie though =)
Thanks for dropping by my blog yesterday =)
I’m also totally jazzed for The Great Gatsby. It looks like it really captures the exuberance of the jazz age in a way that the first movie didn’t .
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