A lot, I think, depends on how you define "great".
I want to torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured someone, they didn't even have chainsaws.
Angel ,'Chosen'
Buffista Movies 7: Brides for 7 Samurai
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Toddson - Apr 20, 2011 7:09:54 am PDT #14156 of 30000
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
erikaj - Apr 20, 2011 7:20:04 am PDT #14157 of 30000
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
Yeah. "great fun," which, imo, GWTW still is, though exposure to politics and history have tarnished it from my "Twihardesque" devotion at, like 13 or so. But it's not Great, as in "I was changed after viewing this," such as, say, The Wire or Perseopolis or "The Godfather(okay book, amazing film)
Laga - Apr 20, 2011 7:32:46 am PDT #14158 of 30000
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
I hated Berlin Alexanderplatz. I couldn't finish it.
Kathy A - Apr 20, 2011 7:48:32 am PDT #14159 of 30000
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
Matt the Bruins fan - Apr 20, 2011 7:58:50 am PDT #14160 of 30000
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
The first Terminator movie was written before the advent of the World Wide Web. If Skynet did in fact attain self-awareness, I trust that thanks to 4Chan it is currently constructing a robot for the express purpose of erasing its own memory banks.
smonster - Apr 20, 2011 8:24:12 am PDT #14161 of 30000
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
I would include Room With a View as a great movie from a great book, personally.
megan walker - Apr 20, 2011 8:26:07 am PDT #14162 of 30000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
(Is it annoying to discuss these sorts of things with someone who's never had a film class?)
On the contrary, I'd say it's almost always less annoying!
Strega - Apr 20, 2011 8:30:12 am PDT #14163 of 30000
I wonder why filmmakers feel the need to tackle 'unfilmable' books.
If I was at home I could get the exact quote, but Cronenberg has said something like he always wants to film the unfilmable. But he is a bit of a special case.
It may also be worth noting that Ballard was very impressed by the movie. I do get what Hec & Tommyrot are saying about how Ballard's style is key to the book, but think Cronenberg breaks some rules for film narrative to mimic that effect. I haven't seen it in a while... I'm not sure I would say Crash is great, but it'd be in consideration.
But I wouldn't say The Princess Bride is a great movie, either. I enjoy it, I have lots of affection for it (and even more for the book), but... I dunno; I'm pretty stingy with my A+s.
megan walker - Apr 20, 2011 8:33:30 am PDT #14164 of 30000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
From my book salon list on "Best Picture" Adaptations, here are some arguably great books that Academy voters thought were good enough for the top prize:
All the King’s Men
(Robert Penn Warren)
All Quiet on the Western Front
(Erich Maria Remarque)
The English Patient
(Michael Ondaatje)
Gone with the Wind
(Margaret Mitchell)
Hamlet
(Shakespeare)
A Man for All Seasons
(Robert Bolt)
No Country for Old Men
(Cormac McCarthy)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
(Ken Kesey)
Out of Africa
(Isak Dinesen)
Pygmalion
(George Bernard Shaw)
Rebecca
(Daphne du Maurier)
Schindler’s Ark
(Thomas Keneally)
Tom Jones
(Henry Fielding)
DavidS - Apr 20, 2011 8:34:37 am PDT #14165 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I'm pretty stingy with my A+s.
Let's see that list.
What makes the Strega A+ List?