Topic: Books that Should be Movies

I would love to see any of Robin Jarvis books made into movies

Allthough, if they ever come back I will just be mad about how Little they follow the plot , so meh.

it's possible to like something but still feel that another version of it is better. thank you for reading something into my words that I didn't say, though — since that's not what I said at all, I'm going to ignore the fact that you chose to insult it.

A film based on a book will only ever be one persons perception of said book. and, will never be the same as your own perception. hence why book>film.

Your welcome, just doing my job.

Here's the real problem with movies vs. books:

Movies take your imagination away from you. What you're getting is the producer's idea of what people want to see. (book adaptations are usually big budget films, therefore the directors are rarely there for anything but technical understanding of how movies are made. The room to be creative, unless you're a "legendary" director, is next to zero).

Books, on the other hand, force people to engage a part of their brain that (as evidenced by Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, and forums) far, far too many people have forgotten how to use.

Therefore by default books are the more engaging medium from the end user point of view.

you seem to have mistaken me for someone much more amused. i didn't really find that funny, and i still don't :/

i'm not sure that's true. a movie adaptation entails the input of many people: screenwriter, director, the actors involved. whilst it is true that a movie will never be the same as your own perception/interpretation, i have seen movies of books i've read and enjoyed them. i've also been enticed to read a book due to seeing the movie.

there are actors who bring amazing things to roles: i have enjoyed watching alan rickman as snape, for example. not all book-to-movies are done well, but enough are that the two arts can exist off each other in a number of cases.

Well it certainly wasn't meant to be insulting. Lighten up, geez...

The ideal way to make a movie is the way Chris Nolan is doing it now. He comes up with a story, he has his brother cowrite the script with him, and then he can project his vision competely on-film. You see absolutely everything the story-teller intends you to see. You get original stories designed for film.

Book-to-film adaptions are usually a lot of fun (I eat up the LotR trilogy), but the book is always going to be "better" simply because the movie is incomplete and will in some ways be inaccurate with the author's vision.

@Mickeymac I didn't get the joke either.

On most instances I would agree with you here, however, I think your point best applies to movie adaptations of previous works. They face the problem of producers who are in the business for the sake of the business rather than the sake of art, as is (usually) the director's place. When a movie is created to be a movie, though, it's an entirely different story. When you have people working together to put together a film for the sake of moving its viewers, something very beautiful can happen, just as it can with a well-written book, a strongly developed videogame, a brilliantly produced song or a fantastically put-together graphic novel. Not to mention, sculptures, paintings, photos and scores of other sorts of art.

When an artist knows how to best take advantage of their chosen medium, and they do so... it's VERY hard to objectively put one form of art over another in terms of potential or quality.

I prefer books. Movies tend to not stay truthful to their more literary counterpart, and they often change things up drastically. Although I don't blame the directors, movies usually have a span of 2 hours to squish everything into. The books, however, have a limitless capacity.

This I agree with, and I suppose the point I should've made earlier.

Ender's Game.

There's an awful lot of naked in that book...sounds like perfect bait for a Hollywood blockbuster.

the title of the thread is 'books that should be movies'... i think his point was well directed as-is. :3

Every bit o' this. In the case of LotR, I honestly don't have the patience to read those books, so the movies gave me all of the experience I wanted and served as a magnificent substitute.

It's very easy for things to get lost in translation to a movie, and it might make you dislike it for that if you've read the book. Bottom line: original movies (my favorites being Inception and The Incredibles) are always the best kind of movie, unless I don't care to read the book in which case an awesome adaption will do just fine.

@tbd: Yeah, it was directed just fine. I'm not trying to troll anyone or start debates or off topic conversations. His post just read to me as a blanket statement. Maybe it was not, but it could be interpreted that way. Just trying to add a viewpoint to the discussion. If you'd rather I be more on topic:

They're not something terribly well-known, but I'd love to see L.B. Graham's Binding of the Blade series get movie adaptations. They're some of the most fun fantasy I've read in a while and they seem written as if the author had films of the action playing in his head that he just translated to words. They'd be an easy series to make into the newest surprise hit blockbuster franchise.

I'd love to see Marvel and DC licensing some more specific live-action comic movies, as well. There are graphic novels with not only very entertaining storylines, but deep ones as well, filled with political, ethical and philosophical questions that those not into comics would enjoy, as well. Particularly, I'd pay a goodly sum to go see a Marvel Civil War or (Nick Fury's) Secret War movie. DC's Kingdom Come would also be a fantastic choice.

I second this, mostly because I had trouble imagining what was going on when I read it. Watching it would give it more context for me.

A film is the vision of a director and his/her DOP.

I apologise; I should have clarified that that was the kind of movie I was talking about.

I certainly didn't mean to imply film as a medium could not be thoughtful - as someone who has majored in film back in the day I well know the artistic potential of film, and indeed I've had many fine debates/ philosophy sessions over various films.