...of either a book or character?

I'm currently enjoying watching LONGMIRE, based on the series of books by Craig Johnson. I've not read his stuff yet, but will be sure to do so soon. I also think JUSTIFIED is a stand out show, based of course on Elmore Leonald's Raylen Givens character.

What's your favorite, or most disappointing TV/Movie/Screen adaptation?

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Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer gets my vote. Matthew McConaughey was well cast as Micky Haller.

Liam,

I agree. He did a great job with the role. Fun movie. I have the book, but its still on my TBR pile.

Big fan of Connelly though.

David DeLee

Great discussion (usually said by some spam bot just before the pyramid scheme or dating site advertisements come barreling down. But this time said by an actual person - I don't care what the census form I only half read and filled out incorrectly says - and with from the heart sincerity)

Favorites in no particular order:

Homicide: Life on the Street. Though the book was non fiction I always appreciated how the tv show kept the tone of the book but not at the expense of overall entertainment.

- Devil in a Blue Dress. Though I pictured Easy Rawlins looking more like Danny Glover when I first read it with Raymond "Mouse" Alexander in the Wesley Snipes camp the awesome performances of Denzel Washington (Easy) and Don Cheadle (Mouse) along with movie narrative choices that made the story flow smoother than I thought it would makes this one of my personal faves.

- Shaft. Though, in all honesty I only knew the character through the film series and did not read the books until maybe 10 or so years ago. This is one of those instances where the changes made to the source material (the book) on its way to the screen is an improvement as the smooth, but rough edged, Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is much more layered and easier to root for than his book counter part (At least as far entertaining me goes). 

Wow. Shaft. Now there's a blast from the past. Didn't know it was adapted from a book series. Interesting.

I'm a big fan of both Denzel and Cheadle so I'll have to check out Devil in a Blue Dress. Don't know how I missed not seeing it.

Also didn't know Homicide was based on a book. For some reason I never got into the show. Not sure why, especially when I was such a huge fan of HILL STREET BLUES. Something I thing of as similar. Might have to think about picking up the DVD's if they're available.

I checked out the latest Bond SKYFALL, yesterday. Excellently done movie. Thought they did a great job bringing the series back to its roots, making Bond both human and vulnerable. Really enjoyed it and it made me a Bond fan again.

Also thought I'd add how much I enjoy THE WALKING DEAD. Adaptation from a graphic novel, of course. Great human drama, especially this season.

Wow. Shaft. Now there's a blast from the past. Didn't know it was adapted from a book series. Interesting.

- Yes. Written by Ernest Tidyman who I believe wrote the screenplay - or if not the screenplay the treatment ... I would have to research it - to the first two movies as well (Shaft and Shaft's Big Score). He also wrote the script for the French Connection and was instrumental in building what is arguably among one of the best chase scenes/sequences filmed at the time (which I only mention because he helped choregraph a similar - and in tis own way - awesome (car) chase sequence in Shaft's Big Score). Anyhow, the Shaft of the book series is a clean shaven (no moustache) bruiser that dresses more like a dock worker and fits the physical and two fisted mold Jim Brown would have played in the 70's. I always appreciated that Gordon Parks Sr. made him a smooth ladies man that could navigate back alleys, hipster scenes and posh offices with equal aplomb. I don't think the character of Shaft would have endured the same had the film makers stayed a bit more true to the literary version.

 

I'm a big fan of both Denzel and Cheadle so I'll have to check out Devil in a Blue Dress. Don't know how I missed not seeing it.

- Very good, very fun, movie (in my opinion, of course). I think Cheadle is awesome as Mouse which is a testament to him because when I heard he was cast I couldn't wrap my mind around how the guy from "The Golden Girls" spin off (which I had known him for "by face" though I knew him as "Hey. It's THAT GUY!" based on his work in movies like "Colors") was going to pull it off. I once heard that HBO was going to adapt another Easy Rawlins tale (with different actors, of course) but never found if that was just a rumor, already happened, or is set to.  

 

I checked out the latest Bond SKYFALL, yesterday. Excellently done movie. Thought they did a great job bringing the series back to its roots, making Bond both human and vulnerable. Really enjoyed it and it made me a Bond fan again.

- Agreed on all points. First Bond movie in a while that had me cheering in my seat.

 

Also thought I'd add how much I enjoy THE WALKING DEAD. Adaptation from a graphic novel, of course. Great human drama, especially this season.

- Funny thing is I started to mention this in my original post - was an avid follower of the comic book up until issue 60- but convinced myself to keep my list "crime/sleuth" related. But YES i'm 100 percent in agreement. Thus far this season has me anticipating each new episode. Again great post(s) and hope all is well, David.   

 

Well one has to have read the books and watched the screen adaptation of said books. There are many films and tv shows I've loved, but haven't read the original book form. So what I have read and watched and loved have been- 

Wire in the blood based on the Tony Hill series by Val McDermid and Harry Potter. Oh and I adored The Lord of the Rings adaptation and the film release was probably the most exciting film experience in my life. There have probably been others, but I can't think right now.

I'm a huge Philip K. Dick fan, but I do prefer Blade Runner to Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep. I read Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but the Milos Forman movie adaption cemented Jack Nicholson's maniacal McMurphy in my mind. I love Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange just as much as the Kubrick movie. The movie The Dead Zone is an improvement on the Stephen King novel, with an excellent Christopher Walken, just as Kubrick's The Shining is superior to the King novel, but, while the movie is excellent, Shawshank Redemption is slightly less moving than the King novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Kick-Ass the movie is slightly more fun than the graphic novel. The Pope of Greenwich Village was much better than the novel by Vincent Patrick. Papillon the movie impressed me more than Papillon the novel. Perfume the movie was pretty good at conveying smell in visual images, but the novel's prose is superior. Shogun the miniseries is flawed but impressive, but the novel is excellent (although Clavell's King Rat is a superior novel, with an also excellent movie adaption.

Disappointing to me, as a Philip K. Dick fan, are the movie adaptions of We Can Remember It For You Wholesale [Total Recall] and Paycheck. A Scanner Darkly was pretty good, but not as good as Dick's story. And Minority Report [movie], while visually impressive, seems only to have tentative connections to the excellent short story by Dick.

So not to throw fuel on the fire, but I saw JACK REACHER last week and I enjoyed it. There I've said it. :)

But serious, forgetting the physicality limits of Cruise as Reacher for the moment, I thought he did a fine job portraying the intensity of the character. I've read several Reacher novels but have not read the book the movie was based on yet, ONE SHOT. I was glad for that because I think knowing the mystery and its resolution beforehand would have diminished the movie watching experience for me.

But otherwise, a fine time at the movies. IMO.

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