There are a ton of book to movie adaptions - hundreds. However, I am going to limit this list to movies that I have seen and books that I have read. I'm tempted to include movies of books I haven't read, but then I couldn't really say for certain if it was a good adaption, only that I enjoyed the movie.
1. Memoirs of a Geisha: The book is fantastic and the movie is right behind it.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl was my favorite author growing up. This movie was spot on.
3. Les Miserables: I read the entire novel in French class then watched the movie - maybe it's because we devoted so much time to studying Hugo's classic that I feel like it belongs on this list, but I don't think the movie nor the book should be missed.
4. A Little Princess: Seriously. Loved the book and may have loved the movie even more. Of course I read the book circa 1995 and fell in love with the movie shortly thereafter.
5. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: A book and movie that is both heartbreaking but truly touching.
6. Harry Potter Series: Some movies are better than others but overall I feel like they've done a great job with the movies, and we all know the books are gems.
7. Orlando: I find anything written by Woolf to be amazing, and the movie lived up to the book in my opinion.
8. 10 Things I Hate About You (Adaption of The Taming of the Shrew): The Taming of the Shrew is my very favorite Shakespeare play and while the movie 10 Things I Hate About You is loosely based on the work, it's still awesome.
9. Polar Express: A childhood favorite of mine, the movie is great and perfect for Christmas time.
10. The Notebook: Yes I read this book in the 9th grade and cried my little eyes out. Today I still love the movie, but don't know if I could stand the book.
Honorable mentions:
The Witches, Roald Dahl
Jumanji, Van Allsburg
I also want to take this opportunity to list movie adaptions that are set to release in 2011 whose books I loved:
Water for Elephants (Gruen)
One Day (Nicholls)
The Yellow Wallpaper (Perkins Gillman)
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.
I had no idea Fried Green Tomatoes was a book! *Must go investigate*
ReplyDeleteI loved Fried Green Tomatoes (the movie) - it is one of those that I must watch whenever I catch it on TV. But I've not read the book, so I kept it off my list.
ReplyDeleteI love your list and I need to see/read some of these (Memoirs of a Geisha). I almost included 10 Things on my list as well. I do love that movie...
ReplyDeleteL.L., It is and it's good!
ReplyDeleteSarah, I know I've seen the movie many times. I always cry during the train scene at the beginning.
Red, 10 Things is awesome, and Memoirs of a Geisha is a very interesting book.
Ah, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: I agree with you 100% on that choice. Fried Green Tomatoes is a spot-on pick too. Off to rent Orlando (or Netflix it, I suppose)! Thanks for your list, Brenna.
ReplyDeleteOh, you are so right about the Witches! It terrified me when I was little. Thought the ending is a bit :S - why did they need to mess with it?
ReplyDeleteSo many people have recommended Water for Elephants - must get that. Also must watch A Little Princess - didn't know that was a film! Very excited.
Lyndsey
Wonderful list, Brenna! I have seen 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and loved the movie! I loved the performance of Gong Li, who is one of my favourite actresses, though she played the role of the 'villain' Hatsumomo in the movie :) But I liked the book more than the movie. I love '10 Things I Hate About You'! I haven't read 'The Taming of the Shrew' though. Interesting to know that it is your favourite Shakespeare. My favourite Shakespeares are 'Twelfth Night' and 'Hamlet'. I haven't read or seen 'The Notebook' but I have seen another movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel - 'Message in a Bottle'. It was beautiful and made me cry.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favourite books-and-movies combinations are 'The Jane Austen Book Club' (I liked both the movie and the book, but liked the movie more), 'Mansfield Park' (I loved the movie! Frances O'Connor is wonderful! Harold Pinter comes in the movie too!), 'The Prince of Tides' (I haven't read the book - it is so big! - but the movie was awesome!), 'Hamlet' (the book is one of my alltime favourites and the Laurence Olivier directed movie version is awesome!), 'The Maltese Falcon' (I liked the book, but I loved the movie - it has Humphrey Bogart, need I say more :)), 'The Three Musketeers' (I loved the book. Gene Kelly brings his dancing skills to sword-fighting and the movie is a pleasure to watch).
I also love 10 Things I Hate About you -- I love the father and my favorite part is when Kat reads the poem in class. I always get choked up. So sad that Heath Ledger died.
ReplyDeleteAnd I did not know about The Yellow Wallpaper movie! That was a really creepy story, I don't know if I'd want to actually watch it on a big screen. Must investigate.
I also loved Memoirs of a Geisha (both book and movie). For the longest time I didn't realize that 10 Things I Hate About You was based on Taming of the Shrew. I enjoyed the movie and the play and I can see how they are related.
ReplyDeleteWell....I also have read zero books out of that list Brenna! How about that? I have seen some of the movies though. The Potter films are amazing.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Fried Green Tomatoes was a book. I'll definitely be looking for that! Also, i'd totally forgotten about A Little Princess. I absolutely loved both the book and film as a kid!10 Things would have been top of my list except i've not read The Taming of the Shrew yet
ReplyDeleteI love 10 Things I Hate About You. To this day, I still aspire to be like Kat. LOL. The only thing stopping me from reading The Taming of the Shrew is that a) I find it intimidating and b) I've heard it's quite sexist. Also, I love the film adaptation of The Notebook, but I couldn't finish the book. It was too sappy for me. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have Charlie, 10 Things, and Harry Potter in common. I don't know about Little Princess, I love that book and not sure the movie did it justice, especially with changing the ending. I liked The Secret Garden movie version better! Little Princess is a tough book to make a movie of though.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see how they do with One Day. I like Anne Hathaway but I'm always a skeptic with movies of books.
Such a perfect list! I literally agree with every choice except #7 and that's only because I haven't read and seen it yet. I think we must be quite close in age, because I loved The Little Princess when that movie was released, 10 Things I Hate About You came out while I was in high school and it was an instant favorite and I read The Notebook before I ODed on Sparks sacchrine writing and grew to hate him.
ReplyDeletep.s. How did I not know The Yellow Wallpaper was being made into a film? I just finished that the cast looks perfect! I'm looking forward to Water for Elephants and One Day too.