OT: Let's talk about movies and TV - Part XXVII

[Lshap]

Author credit, but the book started from The Sentinel novela and imo, the book just offers a better, more complete experience, as most books do.

Foundation... you mean Asimov? I re-read the Robot series a few months back and wanted to get back to foundation, which I haven't read in a quarter century. I barely remember the series, just little details.

As for Shining, despite reading plenty King/Bachman books, I never got around to the book.

Supposedly, they're making The Foundation Trilogy into a series. It was one of my all-time favourite reads when I was young; I can't imagine how they'll pull this off on the screen.

 

[Lshap]

To be fair, Kubrick deserves author credit on the novel, whereas Clarke had nothing to do with the film. I'll have to check out the Rama series. Not much time to read these days but I've been wanting to tackle the Foundation series when I get a chance.

Even if you're not a kubrick fan, you gotta admit the shining >>>> king's shitty pulp novel.

Triple reward points for your Kubrick shout-out. I'm a major fan. 2001 Space Odyssey is maybe a 15-minute edit away from being one the top-10 films ever made. Some of the space sequences are kind of.... overlong, groundbreaking as the effects may have been. As it is, the film has to settle for merely being the smartest movie ever made.

Personal note: My hippie aunt took me to see it in the theatre when it first came out. I was 5 or 6 and was fascinated by what I saw, but had no freakin clue what any of it meant. It took another two decades to realize that everyone had the same experience.

 

[Doc McKenna]

Supposedly, they're making The Foundation Trilogy into a series. It was one of my all-time favourite reads when I was young; I can't imagine how they'll pull this off on the screen.

I have a still sealed in plastic leatherbound edition of this, the martian chronicles, the stars my destination, rendevous with rama and dune. Got them
from Science Fiction book club when I signed up. This is the format of the books(the red/brown dune novel below) I have never read them though I do remember readin dune in softcover and some other books by clarke, bradbury and asimov.

I had hoped to one day have readers in my family. The woman I married, her children, and her grandson, aren't much into books.

 

[Lshap]

I have a still sealed in plastic leatherbound edition of this, the martian chronicles, the stars my destination, rendevous with rama and dune. Got them
from Science Fiction book club when I signed up. This is the format of the books(the red/brown dune novel below) I have never read them though I do remember readin dune in softcover and some other books by clarke, bradbury and asimov.

I had hoped to one day have readers in my family. The woman I married, her children, and her grandson, aren't much into books.

Man, that's beautiful! Those books can be appreciated as a functional testament to great taste, like hanging a favourite painting. Except they're not only decorative. The stories are there, ready to be read, discussed, even mentioned on a message board.

I've got a similar bookcase. Lots of classics that nobody but me has ever/will ever read. And now I'm suddenly getting a Toy Story flashback, imagining all those unloved books talking amongst themselves, fantasizing about being read.

 

[Doc McKenna]

Was there ever a movie better than the novel it originated from?

Maybe Shawshank. What else?

Starship Troopers is obviously better than the book.

Was going to say Starship Troopers, but DA beat me to it. Not a fan of heinlan.

Going to get blasted for this but...I would argue that MOST of GOT is far better on the big screen. I got very tired of purple prose and screen writing style from Martin. He copied Donaldsons(one of my fav authors) first person perspective but left too much world building in his writing. If you don't plan on using the 3rd bannerman of the second house of Dorne later, then don't bother writing in excruciating detail everything about him.

I don't need to know about his slightly lopesided moustache that had crumbs from the great sea eagles quiche that roosts in the isles of greyjoys but needs a vintage lannister wine that is mixed with poppys milk to soothe the stomach because of the high toxins found within the birds egg. Or some garbage like that. His novels are an entire princess pea mattress of overstuffing of non plot moving garbage. All the while ignoring a lot of very interesting premises that could have been pursued in the first novel that he let rot on the vine.

Reminds me of Jordan in that regard, just another wooly headed writer who likely tugs on his braid. I read part of the first novel but switched to audio format and I couldn't skim so it became labourious to continue. I gave up half way through book 4.

Yeah, okay, I'll concede on American Psycho even though it's Ellis' best book, but I prefered by far Clarke's Odyssey than the movie.

I pretty much hated the movie for pacing reasons.

We studied the James Bond series in highschool and most of the books are worse than the movies. Flemming isn't a very good writer to be honest. However they are pulp, so its not really high art, just guilty pleasure for men like a harlequin romance for woman.

I can say without a doubt there are far more bombs from good books that even movies that can match the books, or even be a decent representation of the book.

Lovecraft for me hit the highwater mark with Stewart Gordans From Beyond, Re Animator, and perhaps Carpenters 2 movies inspired from lovecraft in The Thing and In The Mouth Of Madness. I have seen way to many terrible takes on lovecraft. Its too atmospheric. Dread doesn't build on camera even as much as radio can. It needs to be left to your mind to terrify you. Carpenter even said he stopped making movies because its impossible to scare people anymore.

We are very jaded in this day and age. CGI also takes away from a lot of realism in movies. I think its why I enjoy the old Indy movies because the stunts are real and they feel like it. SUre its fake to a degree but has more realism than a 35 minute michael bay action sequence where I don't even know who is fighting what and which team they are on.

 

[Doc McKenna]

Man, that's beautiful! Those books can be appreciated as a functional testament to great taste, like hanging a favourite painting. Except they're not only decorative. The stories are there, ready to be read, discussed, even mentioned on a message board.

I've got a similar bookcase. Lots of classics that nobody but me has ever/will ever read. And now I'm suddenly getting a Toy Story flashback, imagining all those unloved books talking amongst themselves, fantasizing about being read.

I know the feeling. Tens of thousands of dollars in hard media and my family could care less. "Look at this book with pepe." "Nah its on netflix. Lets watch that its probably better than a dumb book!" uggh

Thanks not mine, its a pic off the web. Mine is a little more neat and tidy and I have 4 book cases of assorted novels and RPG material. I sort them on a number of criteria and its a little too OCD. My music is just alphabetical. But the books I put into genre first and certain genres next to others. I have some books on writing (though you would never tell from the rushing I do on this site.) but at one time I wanted to be a writer, but found I would edit far too much after my initial drafts. Eddings said you should write approx 2 pages a day. 6 months to complete a novel without the editing. And concise writing is important. (Hence why I don't like martin and Jordan)

Seeing as I don't even look at a monitor at my job, my skills and evening spelling have diminished significantly in the last 25 years. "If you don't use it, you lose it" is a truism.

 

[angusyoung]

Agreed. The book was great, but it took some unnecessary detours, like the subplot with Brody's wife. Spielberg's depiction was a brilliant laser-beam of suspense.

Excellent memory! I don't remember that much aside from the method of different deaths. I read it before the movie came out and thought it would make a great movie and shortly after the promos began. It did't stop me from swimming in the sea!

 

[Ozmodiar]

I can say without a doubt there are far more bombs from good books that even movies that can match the books, or even be a decent representation of the book.

biggest bomb of a movie from book for me was Catch-22.

 

[groovejuice]

Supposedly, they're making The Foundation Trilogy into a series. It was one of my all-time favourite reads when I was young; I can't imagine how they'll pull this off on the screen.

I've always been a fan of Asimov. All I can say about a Foundation series is that I can only hope it's truer to the original than I, Robot, which was very disappointing.

 

[Doc McKenna]

Man, you weren't kidding. Best to listen to the whole track, it's fantastic. I like that it's also strong on melody, reminds me a little of Jan Hammer.

Is Carpenter Brut a play on the Director. John is actually a very talented musician and composed all the music in his films. So those themes we recognize is from the hand of John Carpenter himself.

I found a lot of this retro synth just a few years ago. I like this track

As an aside, there is that retro 80s movie Kung Fury i think. Its a parody movie while still being awesome for a short. Clicks all the most stupid boxes for a mocking the 80s but still has a serious tone. I love triceracop because you can't have 80s without a cheesy dino thing.

 

[groovejuice]

I agree with both Shawshank and Lord of the Rings! Also Blade Runner is better than "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". The book was very confusing and quite boring.

The author was a Dick.

 

[ahmedou]

 

[peate]

I remember reading Alien a short while before seeing the movie. Book won hands down.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I remember reading Alien a short while before seeing the movie. Book won hands down.

It was called Le 8ieme passagers in French, the novel i mean.

 

[peate]

It was called Le 8ieme passagers in French, the novel i mean.

There's really no one word for Alien in French. I can't think of one.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

There's really no one word for Alien in French. I can't think of one.

Etranger

 

[peate]

Etranger

Stranger, not the same.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Stranger, not the same.

It's both stranger and alien

Also it can stand for Foreigner too

 

[ArtPeur]

nah ... visually stunning, but book still better.... especially towards the end.

good shot, tho.

The long version of the movies were definitely better than the theaters cut. I've read the books and I've seen the movies many times. It looks like a tie but I want to give credit to the movie writers who wrote some new dialogue that is crazy close to the Tolkien books.

But then there are some scenes that I really care less. Same with some stuff from the books I guess.

 

[overlords]

nah ... visually stunning, but book still better.... especially towards the end.

good shot, tho.

I'd maybe concede on the first book/movie. Fellowship is my favorite in the movie trilogy and the biggest slog of a read in the book series. Get out of the f***ing forest, already, you know? Though Bombadil is a character I would have loved to see some reference to in the movies.. I think it's a fair toss up for the other two books/films.

Supposedly, they're making The Foundation Trilogy into a series. It was one of my all-time favourite reads when I was young; I can't imagine how they'll pull this off on the screen.

I bet you they f*** it up.

Triple reward points for your Kubrick shout-out. I'm a major fan. 2001 Space Odyssey is maybe a 15-minute edit away from being one the top-10 films ever made. Some of the space sequences are kind of.... overlong, groundbreaking as the effects may have been. As it is, the film has to settle for merely being the smartest movie ever made.

Personal note: My hippie aunt took me to see it in the theatre when it first came out. I was 5 or 6 and was fascinated by what I saw, but had no freakin clue what any of it meant. It took another two decades to realize that everyone had the same experience.

Really jealous you got to see it at release. It was a few decades before my time It seemed to be a common theme in Kubrick releases for audiences to be split or confused upon first viewings.

If I had to choose a 'favorite' movie, it'd probably be 2001. I can't think of a film that tackles larger themes and executes so well along so many different lines. The writing, the acting, the visuals, the music. Not to mention the ingenuity that went into pioneering the camera work and front screen projection techniques. Eugh. You watch it today and it still looks better than 95% of what's out there.

The only thing that holds it back, IMO, its that it's not exactly an 'easy' watch. You gotta set aside a part of your day and good chunk of your drug budget to fully enjoy it.

Going to get blasted for this but...I would argue that MOST of GOT is far better on the big screen. I got very tired of purple prose and screen writing style from Martin. He copied Donaldsons(one of my fav authors) first person perspective but left too much world building in his writing. If you don't plan on using the 3rd bannerman of the second house of Dorne later, then don't bother writing in excruciating detail everything about him.

Completely agree with you on GOT. I'm on record in these very threads trashing the show as early as season 4 where the writing took a huge dive off a cliff. I took so much shit from co-workers for being a 'hater' because I saw what was coming miles away. The show runners were absolutely clueless and without GRRM's source material leading them by the hand, they had nothing except a nice big CGI budget.

I'm surprsied you didn't take a swipe at GRRM's food descriptions. The man must love to eat

 

[LaP]

There's really no one word for Alien in French. I can't think of one.

Extraterrestre

 

[Runner77]

There's really no one word for Alien in French. I can't think of one.

Extraterrestre.

 

[overlords]

There's really no one word for Alien in French. I can't think of one.

Bibi

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Extraterrestre.

Extra-terrestrial.. y'know, like E.T....

 

[peate]

Extraterrestre

Extraterrestre.

Extra-terrestrial.. y'know, like E.T....

Far out guys. But still not exact. Aliens are terrestrial also.