Actually, the only time that Martin Lawrence was ever funny was the time he was rushed to the hospital (this was about a year or so ago in Los Angeles, IIRC) for heat exhaustion and dehydration because he had been jogging in 95° weather wearing heavy sweats and refused liquids during his workout. I could only laugh at the sheer idiocy.
What was even funnier about the whole incident was that the local news played the tape of his girlfriend calling 911. It went something along the lines of this:
GF: Martin Lawrence has collapsed and needs an ambulance immediately!
911: Who?
GF: Martin Lawrence! The actor!
911: Oh. I don’t know who that is, Ma’am. What is the problem? (rest is usual 911 conversation)
I always wondered if the girlfriend just thought that the stretch ambulance with the sunroof was going to show up just because she mentioned his name…
The novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.
The movie, Great Expectations, modernized to a fare-thee-well and starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
The novel, Great Expectations, BASED ON THE MOVIE STARRING GWYNETH PALTROW!!! ARRGGHHHH!!!
As for Starship Troopers, I actually kind of preferred the movie. It was the first movie my husband and I saw together. He’s such an incurable romantic.
Actually this is a question about a series of books some other posters have been mentioning.
You see, I have read about Donald Westlake and Dortmunder in another book. It was fictional characters that were discussing them, so I thought(mistakenly obviously) that they were just a contrivance. So, how many of these Dortmunder books are there? Which is first and/or best? If I want to read them, where do I start?
My class just finished reading The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne. Now, this was a very good book, in my opinion, and there have been many movie’s made that are based on it. On of them stars Demi Moore as Hester. So, ok. It might’ve been ok, but they added in scenes like Demi in a bathtub just kinda in awe of her own nudity. Not true to the character at all, but I think she just likes to strip. Also, they cut out the last part of the book to make it more romantic and happier.
I almost choked when our english teacher told us this. It’s an awful, awful thing.
(If there’s one thing I take seriously, it’s books. Don’t mind me.)
Usually, if a book is turned into a fine film, look for the author as screenwriter. “The Princess Bride” has already been mentioned. William Goldman wrote both the book and film. Hell, any book that Goldman adapts (his own or others) usualy turns into a fine film. I’m sure he’s had a few clunkers, but I recall enjoying his screenplay for “Misery.”
But I’m sure there are exceptions. Sometimes a book needs to be changed to fit a visual medium, sometimes the author may be too close to his novel to adapt it well.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the WORST adaptation of a book ever: ** Simon Birch *. Never heard of the book? That’s because it’s “based” on John Irving’s * A Prayer for Owen Meaney, one of my favorite books of all time. When Irving read the treatments, and realised they removed any mention of Vietnam, he questioned the director on this. He was informed that they felt the Vietnam “subplot” confused the story. Irving removed his name from the project, and since he owns the copywrite to the NAME Owen Meaney, they had to change the name of the main character and the title. Go John! He then wrote the screenplay for Cider House Rules, which – while it lacked the more complex plot points – didn’t suck.
Hey, what about The Bridges of Madison County? The movie was BETTER the book. (not terribly hard, but still…)
Baker, I’m not sure how many Dortmunder books there are since I have just grabbed them to read as I’ve found them I think most or all of them may be out of print, so you may want to check your local library.
Here’s a link to a Westlake page that has a bibliography. The ones that are Dortmunder books (that I know of - I haven’t read them all): Don’t Ask; Why Me?; What’s the Worst That Could Happen?; Drowned Hopes; Nobody’s Perfect. One I did not see on the list is called (I think) Bad Habits.
If you like Dortmunder, I also highly recommend “Smoke”, which is about the best invisible man novel I’ve read. I also liked “Humans” which a much more serious apocalyptic novel. “Trust Me On This” and “Baby, Would I Lie?” are great inside looks at the tabloid industry.
Hey, wait. This is the Pit, right? Does that mean I have to say something pitworthy before submitting? Okay. “Starship Troopers” sucked dirty donkey dicks in a closet sideways. Verhoeven is a hack. Phooey.
lucie, thanks for the info. I don’t think the link came through but I will do a search later. What I should do is just go to one of the out-of-print sites and enter Westlake’s name and see what pops up. I agree about Starship Troopers. I’d mentioned it in an earlier post on this thread.
IIRC, the movie “Simon Birch” actually had some cumbersome credit on screen to the effect:
“Based on a character from 'A Prayer For Owen Meaney” by John Irving. Admittedly, I think I saw this in prit or TV ads, as I, after hearing Irving’s comments (my favorite modern author), did not see the film.
SwimmingRiddles, you make a great point that I only lightly touched upon. Some films (an extremely small number) are actually superior to the books they’re based upon. I have one or three in mind but if you would like to start a thread for such, I will wait and give you first shot at it.