Tuesday Talks: Movie Adaptations

Goodreads Group for Tuesday Talks

Today's topic is movie adaptations that you've enjoyed more than the books they were based on.  Like many people, I prefer usually prefer the book to the movie and not vice versa.  (I also prefer to read the book before I see the movie, though I have had instances where watching the movie prompted me to buy the book.)

Therefore, my list for this topic is quite short...

1.  Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

It's been awhile since I read the book (high school?) and saw the movie, but I remember that it did fall into this category.  It's not that I didn't enjoy the book at all, but I definitely preferred the movie.  Hugh Grant and his accent may or may not have had something to do with this, but I feel like Renee Zellweger did a good job making the character a bit more likable.

2.  Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

I read The DaVinci Code and loved it, so my next move was to pick up Angels & Demons, which is actually the first book in the Robert Langdon series.  I found the first half quite slow and not really what I was expecting (too much science for my personal taste).

The movie seems to speed through the parts that I didn't like and get right to the action of the story.  And for some reason, the mis-casting of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon bothered me much less in this movie than in The DaVinci Code.

3.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

There are few books that I loathe more than this one (on pretty much every level), so the movie had to be a step up.  I found it to be a snoozefest but at least not quite as offensive.


And even though the following two are not movies, I must mention...

1.  Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

The show has long been my guilty pleasure, but I picked up the book a couple years ago to fulfill my obsession during the off-season.  The girls in the book seem so much younger than in the TV show...unsurprisingly, since the actresses are all older than the characters they play (except for Alison, I think).  I didn't continue the book series, since I just prefer the way the actresses have developed their characters on the show.

2.  Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

The book was pretty good, but ohmygod, the TV miniseries with a youngish (30s) Pierce Brosnan?!  Awesome!  My mom stayed up late 3-4 nights taping this on VHS when I was a little girl, and I finally found it on DVD through Amazon a few years ago.  Adventure, romance, little moments of humor, and of course that accent!  

I think I shall watch it tonight. :)