(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!

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.

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)

I'm pretty stingy with my A+s.

Let's see that list.

What makes the Strega A+ List?

Susan Sontag once had a conversation with Kurt Vonnegut and he said that only he and Margaret Mitchell should be happy with the filmed versions of their books. (Slaughterhouse Five in his case.)

But Ellroy also liked L.A. Confidential, and rightly so. I think it's better than the book. It helped that Curtis Hanson was obsessed with the project and worked on the screenplay for several years to get it right.

The Outsiders?

High Fidelity was an extremely non-faithful film which worked pretty well, and I write as someone who adored the book.

Ok, looking at the list I have here at work.

A Raisin in the Sun Howard's End A Passage to India Grapes of Wrath The Color Purple

These I haven't read, but the adaptations are great films Dangerous Liasons Out of Africa

Ones I consider both, but others may not. KB's Henry V Watership Down The Remains of the Day Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Catch-22 The Black Stallion

I'd say it's almost always less annoying!

cool, thanks.

Princess Bride is on my A+ list. I liked the movie Slaughterhouse Five, I'm not sure what about it makes me not think of it as 'great'. Dangerous Liaisons would be A+ if not for Keanu. Were those really his best takes? argh.

High Fidelity was an extremely non-faithful film which worked pretty well, and I write as someone who adored the book.

I think so too. I thought it captured the spirit of the book quite well.