Nicole in London reviews the Last King of Scotland. She thinks it's worth seeing. I believe her. But I won't be going. See, I already read the book. I read the book, I can't see the film. This is something I learned about myself a long time ago.
I only get annoyed by the pesky differences and perceived dimunition of the work. I feel compelled to tell my companion(s), "See, in the book this what happened." Or "I can't believe they left ______ out. It was a pivotal moment in the book." Or "Now, you see that didn't happen in the book - it couldn't have happened because the X couldn't be the killer, oops sorry - you didn't know that..." So then not only am I annoyed, so is my companion and potentially everyone seated around us.
And then I walk out of the cinema saying "Man - I wish I'd never gone, the book was much better and now it's all twisted up in my head."
By the way, Giles Foden's Last King of Scotland is an excellent book. It's been a while since I read it, so I can't give a comprehensive review. But it was powerful and compelling, exciting and disturbing asked what cost of going along with the flow?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
This is true about every book-made-movie based off of Stephen King's stuff, too.
Does this also apply to the Bond movies and one of your very favorite authors? I ask because I generally feel the same way about books and movies, but some are exceptions.
Sorry, Genderist, but I tend to think most movie versions of Stephen King novels are pretty good. I like the books better, but I think the movies stand up on their own. With Bond movies I think it's even more pronounced -- the movies are better.
Bond is better on the big screen than the printed page -- even if written by someone as esteemed as John Gardner. Anyway, that's my thought.
ah, that's too bad, but I understand. Sometimes I end up liking the movie more than the book (Wonderboys) other times I am terribly disapointed. I think because of my background I just accept that certain things won't be there- or may be there for an adaptation. (But I still get royaly pissed when they f it up)
I didn't know about the book until the film came out, so I've added it to my mental 2007 reading list.
I see so few films in the cinema, so I have to make sure that I'm going to really enjoy it.
Last year, for example, I saw Walk the Line. And that's it. (I did enjoy it).
Post a Comment