Hosted by: The Broke and Bookish
I learned a lot of things making this list:
1. There are so many books I didn't know had been made into movies! I am torn between excitement and apprehension.
2. As much as I harp on hating movie adaptions, clearly I'd forgotten how many of them I loved as I had a hard time narrowing down this list to 10. And here I was thinking I'd be doing a half and half list!
As always, this list is in no particular order.
1. The Princess Bride - This is the only movie to my memory that I loved more than the book. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I watched to movie every week well into my teens (Cary Elwes *swoon*)
Book
Movie
2. James and the Giant Peach - I read every Roald Dahl book I could get my hands on when I was a kid, and of course James and the Giant Peach is a standard! I was torn between picking this, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Matilda which were all excellent movies, but the artwork in the movie for this was really beautiful (and I liked Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator more anyway). On a sidenote, The BFG has always and will always be my favourite Dahl children's book (but I've never seen the movie)
Book
Movie
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - This is a standard on everyone's list (or at least everyone I know). The film cemented Atticus Finch in everyone's mind as best dad ever (and of course Gregory Peck is fantastic), and is known as one of the best films of all time. The book is a classic in its own right and is a must-read if you managed to get out of high school without reading it.
Book
Movie
5.
Lord of the Rings - I feel like this is going to be mentioned in a lot of lists
(or I hope it is)! While the movies left out a lot of what happened in the
books, I feel like they were an excellent overall representation of the novels.
The novels themselves are so dense it would be impossible to include everything
in the movies. It's been close to a decade since I last read them, but I
remember becoming completely absorbed into the story!
6. Pride and Prejudice - As you can see from the book cover, I don't mean the Colin Firth movie, and before anyone gets outraged, it's simply because I've never had the chance to watch the Colin Firth version (although I really, really want to!) The book is another one of my all time favourites and to be honest while I loved the film, it's the soundtrack that really sold me. Thibaudet is a fantastic pianist, and clearly a beautiful composer as well.
Book
Movie
7. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett is another childhood favourite of mine. I loved both this and A Little Princess, but that movie can't compare to The Secret Garden. The gardens were so beautiful! And it's another great soundtrack (can you tell I'm a musician?). I had a huuuuuge crush on Dickon, and of course it has the great Maggie Smith!
Book
Movie
8. Fight Club - This is another instance where I watched the movie before I read the book and again wouldn't have liked the movie if I had. They completely changed the ending! That being said I thought both endings were really cool, so it wasn't all bad. Starring the wonderful Edward Norton as well as Helena Bonham Carter who is amazing in everything was pretty much sold me.
Book
Movie
9. Stardust - Surprisingly, I may actually like the movie more than the book (so I kind of lied about Princess Bride being the only one). I really enjoyed both though. Again, I watched this before I read the book, so clearly this is working well for me! Michelle Pfeiffer is deliciously evil and oh my goodness Robert DeNiro as a gay pirate...priceless!
Book
Movie
10. Howl's Moving Castle - While I enjoyed the book a lot more than the movie (mostly because the book makes sense and the movie doesn't), there are so many great things about the movie! Particularly Billy Crystal as Calcifer in the English dub (although I hate, hate, HATE Christian Bale as Howl and Calcifer is therefore the only reason I watch the dub). And of course it is a Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film, so it's going to be awesome. (Any guesses on my two favourite Studio Ghibli films?)
Book
Movie
And that's it for this week! What was on your TTT?
I think I like Stardust better than the book, too. I love howl's moving Castle but haven't read the book. Please visit my blog, I am doing a Blogoversary giveaway. Anne@Head Full of Books
ReplyDeleteYou really should read Howl's Moving Castle! It's like reading a whole new story that vaguely reminds you of a movie you once saw...
DeleteHowl's Moving Castle felt like a completely different story to me, like they just made a movie with the same general idea but a completely different tone. On the other hand, it was still good.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I forgot The Secret Garden for my own list! I cried buckets at that movie.
Yeah I was torn about putting Howl's Moving Castle on the list as I really just...didn't get it. I finally realized it was based off a book and when I read the book I was like...what? It's like the difference between movies being "based on a true story" and "inspired by a true story". I couldn't tell you why I still like to rewatch it since I like the book so much more, but there you are (and it's the reason I decided to let it make my list. Inexplicable attraction is reason enough haha)
DeleteGreat list! And I totally agree with you about Christian Bale! I would guess your favorite two Studio Ghibli films are Spirited Away and...A Castle in the Sky. :) Mine is Princess Mononoke - hands down.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!! Shannon @ Rex Robot Reviews
Well you nailed Spirited Away on the head! It was my first Studio Ghibli I saw after Howl's Moving Castle (and is the reason I started looking into the others). I think I watched Castle in the Sky at like 2 in the morning so I honestly can't remember much of what happens in it. Definitely need to rewatch it haha. And surprisingly I've never been able to watch Princess Mononoke! If I do get a chance to get my hands on it would you recommend dubbed or subbed?
DeleteLove your list, especially Fight Club and Stardust. I'm starting to think I could have expanded my list to about 20 entries, looking at everyone else's.
ReplyDeleteYeah we should have done what Writer of Wrongs did and just make an unlimited list haha
DeleteGood list! I forgot all about the Secret Garden, but I did love that movie too
ReplyDeleteI think it's on most people's "oh yeah I forgot about that but I really liked that movie too" list haha
DeleteI love so many of the books and movies on your list! The one that has to get my shout-out, though, is The Secret Garden. I LOVE that movie. I find it so soothing and it's my go-to movie when I feel sick or unhappy and of course I do a re-watch every spring. I'm so glad you've got it on your list! -Kate
ReplyDeleteWeird, maybe it was some sort of mom conspiracy to put this on when you were sick! A plot that secretly made us want to eat chicken noodle soup when Colin was sick and having soup...subversive techniques...
DeleteHe did eat soup in there somewhere didn't he?
Stardust is such a fun, entertaining movie! And I prefer the book Howl's Moving Castle to the movie version too – I read the book first and it's just so unbelievably charming. The movie's not bad, but very different from the original.
ReplyDeleteI like how you put that - the movie's not bad, just very different. I think a lot of us get so absorbed in the original tale that we take changes in movies very, very badly (although really, with the hundreds of movie adaptions out there we should be used to it by now)
DeleteI like that version of Pride and Prejudice too! I do have to watch the Colin Firth version one of these days though. People are very seriously devoted to that movie, aren't they??
ReplyDeleteNow I'm feeling like it's time to watch The Princess Bride again...
It's like the Colin Firth version has a feisty fandom base that people don't know about until they say something that crosses them!
DeleteIt's always time to watch The Princess Bride again haha. I was really excited as I had to leave all my VHS tapes at home, but my roommate has a dvd version, so now I can watch whenever I want!
Hrm, your favorite Studio Ghibli movies? I'll go with Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Although you gotta love those totoros! - Meg
ReplyDeleteClearly I really need to watch Princess Mononoke as two people have mentioned it. Spirited Away is definitely one, but my other favourite is the lesser know The Cat Returns. The English dub version has Cary Elwes (who is just as swoon worthy as a cat), Tim Curry (no explanation needed), and Anne Hathaway (who is a surprisingly good voice actress). I'm not usually into dubs, but this was AWESOME
DeleteSuch a fab list, and totally matches up with a bunch of favorites I forgot to mention :) First, TOTALLY spaced on all of the Roald Dahl adaptations - James & the Giant Peach was so wonky and beautiful, but I also loved Matilda & Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder version). Thanks for the refresher - now I want to go watch those!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd absolutely agree about the music in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice - so beautiful. It's one of the few instrumental soundtracks I've ever purchased. I think the only other one is Lord of the Rings, and I'm happy to see we are in agreement there also :)
& of course thank you for visiting our TTT as well ;)
Sam @ Mad But Magic
I just realized all three of you commented on this! I feel special :)
DeleteYeah a soundtrack can really make a movie for me. Have you seen The Painted Veil? Crazy depressing, but it stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton and the soundtrack is TO DIE FOR. It's done by Alexandre Desplat who has done Moonrise Kingdom, Harry Potter 7, and like 20 other movies you'll recognize probably. The Painted Veil might be my favourite soundtrack actually, although I say everything is my favourite haha.
LOVE The Princess Bride. (It's arguably the most quotable movie in history.) I love that version of Pride and Prejudice. Keira Knightley in period films= awesome and Matthew McFayden (I think that's his name) is so dreamy!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I think I could probably recite the film in its entirety haha. I'm a huge Keira Knightley fan..I think the only thing I've seen her in I didn't like was Atonement. And oohhhh man Matthew McFadyen is so yum! I'm just starting watching him in a BBC series called Ripper Street which is quite good.
ReplyDelete