Book Ripley isn't enigmatic, at least not in an interesting way. Enigmatic doesn't have to mean 'will do anything and it doesn't make sense because you can't relate to him'.
Rubbish book > Good movie
- Thread starter gabi
- Start date
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I'm going to play a trick shot and say 'We can remember it for you wholesale' which was a standard little PK Dicks short with nice idea BUT Total Recall is way more entertaining- Michael Ironside!
also this is lol:
also this is lol:
Reno
The In Kraut
I don't love the film, because as I said, the book can't be filmed, but on its own terms it works and stays true to the spirit of the novel. They could never have gotten the film released then, if it had stayed true to the violence of the novel, so that compromise was unavoidable.
What is more of a problem is that the novel is full of literary conceits that can't be translated into film without going completely avant garde. The chapters alternate between obsessive consumerism, listing brand names, satirical essays of 80s musical "geniuses" like Phil Collins and Whitney Houston and chapters of insane violence. The novel has a rhythm, rather than a conventional plot.
There is talk of a remake, because every horror film more than ten years old now gets remade and because since the likes of Hostel and Saw, they can get away with a lot more violence wise.
Orang Utan
Acceptable through usage
I think the film did a great job in emphasising Bateman's dickhead-ness, one aspect of which is his violence, but only one. His ultra-competitiveness, his musical dorkishness, his reverence for labels. All these are as much a product of the society which made him a killer. His being a killer is unremarkable really. Unremarkable enough for him to admit it and for no one to notice or give a shit. All they care about is money and who has the most ridiculously ornate business card.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
pretty sure he takes an axe to a working girl
TruXta
tired
Isn't it all in his head tho? Or is it just some of it?
Reno
The In Kraut
He probably isn't (in the book and the film). It turns out that most of the plot takes place in his head, but within the subjective reality that is his fantasy and which comprises the whole book/film until the end, he is a killer.
TruXta
tired
The Octagon
Stop...Hammertime
Good shout, I remember reading the short story and not expecting it to be quite so short, thought I'd accidentally missed the remaining chapters
Interested to see the Colin Farrell-starring remake coming soon.
In a similar vein, I reckon the film version of Starship Troopers exceeds the book
Orang Utan
Acceptable through usage
I thought the book of LTROI was well more over the top in terms of horrific setpieces but in a good way. The author's other book, however, was truly awful. I hope they don't make it into a film.
While we're on the Swedes - the Larsson thrillers are quite badly written (or translated) and I think Larsson has questionable attitudes to women (in the guise of being a liberal, supposedly non-sexist, anti-misogynistic 'decent' bloke).
The films (of the first book) are better and less creepy.
While we're on the Swedes - the Larsson thrillers are quite badly written (or translated) and I think Larsson has questionable attitudes to women (in the guise of being a liberal, supposedly non-sexist, anti-misogynistic 'decent' bloke).
The films (of the first book) are better and less creepy.
Reno
The In Kraut
In a similar vein, I reckon the film version of Starship Troopers exceeds the book
Agreed, though I never made it through the whole novel of which the film is a thorough subversion.
Reno
The In Kraut
Handling the Undead had a great start, but lead nowhere and was a total snooze. There is a French film called Les revenants/They Came Back which has a similar premise and which I rather like.
Rock Bottom
Second Wind
Alphaville and Kiss Me Deadly were both adapted from rather average pulp novels (apparently, I haven't read either).
Balbi
Hey, Dean Yager!
Good shout, I remember reading the short story and not expecting it to be quite so short, thought I'd accidentally missed the remaining chapters
Interested to see the Colin Farrell-starring remake coming soon.
Total Remake worries me. Having the dad from Malcolm in the Middle as Cohagen is good, but it's really lacking in Ironside
Reno
The In Kraut
Alphaville wasn't based on a novel. The lead character Lemmy Caution was taken from a series of pulp novels and from films where he was also played by Eddie Constantine. Godard's idea was to use a character who was an uncomplicated Bond style hero and to put him into a dystopian world as a haunted, ageing man.
Generation kill, even tho I finished the book but not the show...
Oh, and I think its tragic that they didnt manage to get the "chocolate covered urinal cake" scene into American Psycho.
dilute micro
esse quam videri
Planet of the Apes - the book reads like it was written by a 5th grader.
Shawshank was a massively overrated movie in itself, imo. No idea why it's so revered, was it a quiet year in the oscars or something? Havent read the book tho.
I think tho, that this exercise has proved to me that there's no such thing as a movie that's better than the book (again, imo).
The Octagon
Stop...Hammertime
Shawshank was completely ignored by critics and award ceremonies, it picked up a following on home release.
to your second point too.
Reno
The In Kraut
Shanshank is THE most overrated movie. According to IMDB, it's the greatest movie ever made. It's one of the films I judge people's movie taste by. If anybody tells me that it's one of the greatest films ever made, I will point and laugh at them.
gabi, have you read Jaws and The Godfather and watched the films ? There is a reason why they are classics of American cinema, but not literature.
Shawshank was completely ignored by critics and award ceremonies, it picked up a following on home release.
We will have to agree to disagree.
that movie was a cesspit of american schmaltz. and im yet to see evidence of a movie that was better than the book. each to their own tho.
Orang Utan
Acceptable through usage
Rightly so too. Unfortunately, it has been revered by plonkers since. Schmaltzy arsewank.
Shawshank was completely ignored by critics and award ceremonies, it picked up a following on home release.
Orang Utan
Acceptable through usage
You probably have. You just weren't aware of the book.
GarfieldLeChat
fucking awesome but wrong
any of the harry potter films are infinitely better than the craptastic books they are based on....
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