50 Best Book-to-Film Adaptations
Books, Film 04/19/2006 |Another “X greatest Y” list has appeared. This, of course, means it’s meme-time!
Working from the Guardian’s list of the 50 best book-to-film adaptations (discussion as to what films should or should not be on this list is in progress over at kottke.org), I’m tagging each line with a B if I’ve read the book, and an M if I’ve seen the movie.
And with that, we’re off… 1. [BM] 1984 2. [BM] Alice in Wonderland 3. [M] American Psycho 4. [M] Breakfast at Tiffany’s 5. Brighton Rock 6. [B] Catch 22 7. [BM] Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (I don’t know which movie adaptation this list refers to, but I’ve seen them both.) 8. [M] A Clockwork Orange 9. Close Range (inc Brokeback Mountain) 10. The Day of the Triffids 11. Devil in a Blue Dress 12. [BM] Different Seasons (inc The Shawshank Redemption) 13. [M] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Bladerunner) 14. Doctor Zhivago 15. Empire of the Sun 16. The English Patient 17. [BM] Fight Club 18. The French Lieutenant’s Woman 19. Get Shorty 20. [M] The Godfather 21. [M] Goldfinger 22. Goodfellas 23. [BM] Heart of Darkness (aka Apocalypse Now) 24. [B] The Hound of the Baskervilles 25. [BM] Jaws 26. [BM] The Jungle Book 27. A Kestrel for a Knave (aka Kes) 28. [M] LA Confidential 29. [M] Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Again, which movie version isn’t specified. I’d assume the Michelle Pfeiffer/John Malkovich/Uma Thurman version, but I’ve seen some of the other adaptations also.) 30. Lolita 31. [B] Lord of the Flies 32. [M] The Maltese Falcon 33. [B] Oliver Twist 34. [M] One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 35. [BM] Orlando 36. The Outsiders 37. [M] Pride and Prejudice (Again…which version? Sigh.) 38. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 39. The Railway Children 40. Rebecca 41. The Remains of the Day 42. [M] Schindler’s Ark (aka Schindler’s List) 43. [M] Sin City (Interesting…a graphic novel made the list.) 44. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold 45. [M] The Talented Mr Ripley 46. Tess of the D’Urbervilles 47. Through a Glass Darkly 48. [BM] To Kill a Mockingbird 49. [M] Trainspotting 50. The Vanishing 51. [BM] Watership Down (Um…I thought this was a list of fifty…?)
“I Still Want Ya” by Outer Mind from the album Best of Rave, The Vol. 2 (1992, 7:38).
[See also: Meme: Watch These Movies | Zoom | Happy birthday to me! | Quick Review: ‘Salem’s Lot | As brevity is the soul of wit… ]
3 Responses to “50 Best Book-to-Film Adaptations”
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Michael Hanscom
jer@nyquil.org
April 20th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Good Meme.
April 20th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
The list was expanded for Watership Down!!! I could barely make it through the book, though I did because it was a member’s choice in a book club we were in at the time. I can’t imagine sitting through a movie of RABBITS, especially if it is a close adaptation of the book! I would hope a movie version would be creative (and better).
You could probably get half a point for Oliver Twist, as you were in Oliver — oh, is there a movie version other than the musical?
I was reluctant to see The English Patient from the previews, but we got it through Netflix and became true fans of it. If it’s not on your list, please add it on.
Love to you, my movie watcher!
April 20th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
50 Best Film Adaptations Meme
A meme where you tag a list of the 50 best book to movie adaptations to see how many you’ve seen and/or read.