I’ve been thinking about this lately while trying to find new films on Netflix, and new books for the Kindle, and it’s kind of funny.
Thriller/Mystery: I love these in film (particularly the late 80’s through 90’s style), even the crappy ones with Chazz Palmanteri. But I tend to get bored easily reading thriller or detective novels. Does Joseph Wambaugh count? I do like his books, mostly, and The Choirboys film was great.
Documentary/pop science or sociology: Love the books, turn off most films. The films always seem either too ADD or dumbed-down, even if I enjoyed the original writing. This applies whether I agree with any ideological bent or not.
Science Fiction: I adore SF short fiction, and I have a little collection of vintage anthology magazines. But I usually get a headache from rolling my eyes every five minutes if I read a novel or watch a film. Exceptions include Arthur C Clarke, Phillip Dick, *some * Asimov, Bradbury…I guess the films tend to be better budget. I’ve read so much short fiction by lesser-known authors that I have a hard time keeping them straight, though.
Horror: See Science Fiction. Stephen King is kind of an exception, though I like him best when he’s channeling Bradbury. As far as his film adaptations, though, the ones I enjoy are from his short fiction (The Shining was good, though).
Comedy: I can’t remember the last comedic film I enjoyed. Again, the big comedies from the 80s (Eddie Murphy, John Candy, Aykroyd, et al.) were great, but I can’t get into the newer stuff. I still enjoy some modern stand-up, though. And I’ll always give a funny piece of writing a whirl.
Musicals: Generally, I can’t watch these for long as a film–going to the theater is a bit different. But I very much like some of the music out of context. Guilty pleasure: I still listen to the Dick Tracy soundtrack a few times a year.
I could go on, but those are the big ones for me. I can’t be the only one out there…how about you?