1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?
Perhaps Lord of the Rings, comparing the books to the movies directed by Peter Jackson. Maybe followed by Schindler's List and The Princess Bride.
2. The worst?
The first that came to mind was Breakfast at Tiffany's. Take the movie alone, and it's fine. But compare it to the book and the movie's ending totally screws up Capote's message.
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference?
In most (maybe all?) cases, it did not make a difference (Examples, again: Lord of the Rings, Schindler's List.) I try not to read the books or watch the movies with the same mindset because going through a film being nitpicky is a waste of two hours.
Of course, these questions have me pondering movie novelizations, i.e. books-from-movies rather than movies-from-books. Personally, I avoid movie novelizations like the plague. Exactly who reads them anyway?
Onesome: The-- Food Channel: Yummy Goodness or Food Pr0N? Who do you like to watch (or love to hate)?
I do not have a TV so I can't watch anything. But I suppose shows about food and cooking are probably some of the few things I would watch if I had one.
Twosome: Food-- in the Summer? Cooking in the kitchen? Any tips to beat the heat for those in the gang literally baking in the heat?
Cook as little as possible. Eat food that can be taken straight out of the refrigerator.
Threesome: Channel-- some coolness our way: what is your favorite Summertime beverage (yes, mixed drinks work too...).
I read the novelization for "Alien" way back in the day, because I worked at a tiny mid-west theatre, and we weren't going to get it for a while, so I picked up the book.
Though it was a fun read, it's as dismal as you'd expect. It is just the movie, with a couple scenes that probably made the cutting room floor. (For instance, there's a scene where one of the crew remembers having sex with a hooker in zero-g, and the hooker got ill because they couldn't stop spinning.)
A friend of mine reads the novelizations of Star Wars movies and swears some of them are better than the movies. Extra scenes and clarifications of what's going on in the background, and names given to unnamed characters in the films and such. Basically it's for people that are Star Wars detail oriented.
