Discussion: What are your favorite TV/movie adaptations?
We don’t usually watch the Oscars in our household, but we have some friends staying with us and had a fun evening of watching Hollywood’s premier awards gala on Sunday. Every movie season features adaptations from books, but this year’s crop was especially loaded in that regard:
American Fiction (based on Erasure by Percival Everett)
Poor Things (Alasdair Gray)
The Zone of Interest (Martin Amis)
Killers of the Flower Moon (David Grann)
Oppenheimer (American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin)
And that’s not even all of ‘em. When done well, the best shows/movies add to each other — they don’t detract from the overall experience in any way and in fact add unique layers of understanding to the story.
Off the top of my head, here’s a few of my own favorite adaptations:
Narnia — I really enjoyed the three 2000s films and am excited for Netflix’s new reboot.
Dexter — loved both versions, even though the stories wildly diverged after season one of the show. Ultimately, I think the TV show is actually better.
Dune — the movies really add to the overall Dune experience (I’ve only see Dune: Part One so far).
No Country for Old Men — another one where both the book and movie are utterly superb and serve to complement each other.
Okay, your turn! What are your favorite book-to-screen adaptations?
Two of my three favorite movies are adaptations from books: "The Shawshank Redemption" from Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Crow" from James O'Barr's graphic novel. It would be hard not to mention "The Princess Bride" too, which adapts the frame story so well.
For nonfiction, "Black Hawk Down" was a superb adaptation of Mark Bowden's book. I also stop and watch every time "Catch Me If You Can" is on the channel; the movie really brings Frank Abagnale's story to life.
I loved the four-episode Netflix series adaptation of All The Light We Cannot See and I am looking forward to the upcoming series 'A Gentleman in Moscow.'