Books into movies

[Deena]

I recently finished Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnecut (i highly recommend it) so this weekend I rented the movie bearing the same name.  I wouldn't suggest seeing the movie unless you have read the book, or you would be highly confused.  I was disappointed with some of the details they omitted and some they just added in.  Seeing this movie has gotten me to thinking.....  I am a huge fan of Jack Kerovac (On the Road, Dharma Bums, Desolation Angels, Tristessa).  I started wondering if anyone has made any movies of his works.  I would like to see them if someone has.  If anyone knows about any, let me know.

Muchos Gracias,
Deena

[systemcr4sh]

Slaughterhouse 5 was a great book. His movie SLAPSTICK was also made into a movie. Why they would make a movie about such a book with all the erections, farting and incest I dunno. But it doesn't translate well.

[peter johnson]

re: 2 topics:
i own the video of slaughterhouse five, and find it one of the few fims around that is actually superoir to the book for a variety of reasons.  i found the book to be too bare-bones, for one thing.  milos forman, the czech director, had a lot of firsthand knowledge of the collapse of the wehrmacht around the time of the battle of the bulge & really fleshed the film out with historically accurate details.  one example:  this is one of the very few pictures about world war 2 that gets the uniforms of the germans & allies, the weapons, the clothing of the civilians, & the attitudes of the combatants 100% correct.  just one example:  vonnegut does not have any reference at all in the book to the world-weary resignation of the camp commandant -- resplendant as he is in his world war 1 uniform, sans swastikas of any kind/recruited at the time as part of the german policy of volksstrum, or peoples' war.   this is terrific and accurate attention to detail that the book lacks.
topic 2 :  there was a movie made in the "60's of one of kerouac's first books:  the subterranians.  i have never seen it, but know it exists.
also, check out the sissy spacek/nick nolte film about kerouac/neal casidy/carolyn casidy -- "heartstrings"(?) -- can't really recall title, but it's heart-something.
peter johnson

[John]

>check out the sissy spacek/nick nolte film about kerouac/neal casidy/carolyn
>casidy -- "heartstrings"(?) -- can't really recall title, but it's heart-something.

 IMDB says it's Heart Beat (1980)

[J.R.]

On The Road has been in development at countless studios many times. Every now and then some hot young star will be rumored to be starring in an adaption,  then nothing will be heard of it.

I have pretty much mixed reactions when it comes to film adaptions of books I've read-

The Fellowship Of The Ring- A pretty faithful adaption, which manages to mostly adhere to the book yet remain accessible to those who haven't read it. I am a little disappointed that Tom Bombadil was left out, though. Much of what was excised involves the hobbits on their own, journeying to their meeting with Strider. It helps keep the movie's length down, but the hobbits are the main characters, so it's debatable.

A Clockwork Orange- So faithful to the book it almost seems unnecessary. The additions of gratuitous sex and nudity are questionable to me. I'm convinced Kubrick was a pervert. An overrated, pretentious pervert.

Fahrenheit 451- The film adaption is French. 'Nuff said as for quality (it's lame).

[raj]

I agree that Clockwork Orange & LotR are the best book adaptaions, Slaughterhouse 5 a close second.

I think the violence & nudity/sex in CO are necessary.  They are in the book, and they really point up just how bad (evil) Alex really is.  In the latter half of the story, he can be a sympathetic figure, you just have to remember he really does deserve everything that happens to him.  The nudity was never presented in a fun "random gratuitous breast shot" manner.

[Deena]

I will definetly look out for heartbeat and the subterraneans.  I'm actually shocked that On the Road hasn't been made into a movie, but I bet it would be impossible to capture that book on film and do it justice.  Also, I know there is a movie about Neal Cassidy called "Last time I committed suicide" it stars Keanu Reeves (i know everyone hates him but i like him, mainly cuz i think he is hot) and it really is a good movie--Keanu is not in it a whole lot.  Thanks guys!

Deena
"the moon is out the stars invite i think i'll leave tonight"

[Mofo Rising]

I'm not really a big fan of SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5.  It's good and all, but it's not my favorite Vonnegut.  Oddly enough, in crappy movies, having the main character shown with a copy of SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 was used as shorthand to let us know that they are smarter than they appear.

A Vonnegut adaption I'm quite fond of is MOTHER NIGHT.  It stars Nick Nolte as the Nazi spy.  It was directed by Keith Gordon, who you may remember as Goofy 80's Guy from the movies CHRISTINE and THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN.

But Nick Nolte was also in a terrible movie adaption of BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS.  That movie was a pile of crap, but at least it wasn't nearly as bad as SLAPSTICK.  SLAPSTICK actually beat out TROLL 2 as the most comically inept piece of filmmaking I have ever seen.  (The link leads to my previous comments on the movie.)

I'm usually alright with adaptions between mediums, as long as it's understood that they are two different works and must each stand on their own.  I'd prefer it if less works were made into movies, if only because the entertainment industry likes to put forth the view that movies are the be-all end-all of entertainment.

I'd like to see someone make Kim Newman's ANNO-DRACULA into a mini-series.

[peter johnson]

know what i hate?  that short films have nowhere to go/nowhere to be shown.
i'm in the imdb for a stupid little short film i did (in through the out door)-- and not for any of the features.
2 vonneguts:  ess, from welcome to the monkeyhouse, & next door, from same, by respected texas art-house types -- jennifer dean for one -- & who will ever get a chance to see these things?
on a positive note, i do love the neil gaiman adaptation of neverwhen.
peter johnson

[Deena]

You know you'd think that in the liberal college town I live in and go to school, that they would have some kind of short films screenings and/or arthouse theather.  The injustice I say!

Deena

[lester1/2jr]

The movies are always way too faithful to the book example: American Psycho and Pollock.  Neither of them really had the balls.  they should have been done by Something weird in 1965, too bad neither had been writtn yet.

[John]

>know what i hate? that short films have nowhere to go/nowhere to be shown.

 Put em up on the net and charge a buck a download.