Tournament of Books

message 1: by Bob (last edited Dec 18, 2023 10:15AM) (new)

Dec 14, 2023 12:58PM

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message 2: by Elizabeth (new)

Dec 14, 2023 01:12PM

Wow Bob, thank you so much! I don’t watch many movies, so had no idea about most of these. They’ll keep me busy!

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message 3: by Audra (new)

Dec 14, 2023 02:23PM

I've only seen No Country For Old Men and Station Eleven. I don't think I would have understood No Country if I hadn't read the book. I watched it again recently on a long flight. So good and so weird.

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message 4: by Lark (last edited Dec 14, 2023 03:11PM) (new)

Dec 14, 2023 03:11PM

Wonderful! Thanks, Bob!

I might be one of the few fans of both Annihilation the book and Annihilation the movie.

I also really loved both Fever Dreams, book and movie.

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message 5: by Kip (new)

Dec 14, 2023 03:31PM

I really appreciated both too. Really nailed it in tone and message even if not scene by scene accuracy. Crazy how many of these I saw prior to children but hope to catch up one day on many of them. Did not realize there was a Fever Dream adaptation. Looks great!

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message 6: by Audra (new)

Dec 14, 2023 03:33PM

Oh I liked Annihilation as a book (I think) I'll have to watch the movie.

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message 7: by Elizabeth (new)

Dec 14, 2023 03:55PM

Kip wrote: "IDid not realize there was a Fever Dream adaptation. Looks great!"

I didn't either! I just watched the first few minutes and I'm already so unsettled I feel like crying. I need to decide if I can handle watching the rest...

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message 8: by Bretnie (new)

Dec 14, 2023 04:25PM

Bob this is amazing!

Loved:
-No Country for Old Men
-The Road
-Annihilation (you're not alone Lark - I thought they were very different but both good)
-Station Eleven
-The Sisters Brothers (although it's more violent and less humorous than the book)

Did not love (but loved the book):
-Fever Dream (the main character's narration was SO different than how I read it in my mind that it didn't hold the same power).
-Cloud Atlas
-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (leaves out MAJOR plot points that explain the ending)

This list gives me some things to add to the queue for the holidays! I'd forgotten about Good Lord Bird, and Pachinko and Fleishman weren't even on my radar.

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message 9: by Elizabeth (new)

Dec 14, 2023 04:33PM

Bretnie wrote: "This list gives me some things to add to the queue for the holidays! I'd forgotten about Good Lord Bird, and Pachinko and Fleishman weren't even on my radar."

I didn’t know about Fleishman either. The Good Lord Bird miniseries was excellent, highly recommend.

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message 10: by Heather (new)

Dec 14, 2023 04:47PM

And I really liked the Fleishman miniseries

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message 11: by Nadine in NY (last edited Dec 14, 2023 05:01PM) (new)

Dec 14, 2023 04:59PM

Wow I have seen only two of these movies! Annihilation (I thought both book and movie were excellent and quite different - which makes sense because I have no idea how you'd bring that book to the screen without making some serious changes) & No Country for Old Men.

I didn't even know about half of the rest.

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message 12: by Lark (new)

Dec 14, 2023 07:53PM

This is incredible, Bob. Thank you. I just saw REMAINDER on the list and I didn't even know it was a TOB book--it must have been before my time. I -love- that book. I'm going to find the movie now.

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message 13: by Kyle (new)

Dec 15, 2023 03:24AM

The BBC Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell miniseries was pretty fun, if I remember it correctly.

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message 14: by Risa (new)

Dec 15, 2023 05:28AM

Thank you, Bob! I’d love to hear from commentariat members about which of these they liked (especially if they’d read and liked the novel first).

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message 15: by Bob (new)

Dec 15, 2023 09:18AM

Edited to add: Life After Life, The Devil All the Time, The Sense of An Ending, HHhH, The Yellow Birds, the Dinner, the Luminaries, Adam, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

I can't believe how many have been adapted! Some of my favorites:
Plot Against America, Fleishman is in Trouble, Good Lord Bird. These were limited series adaptations, too, which is a growing trend I'm loving.

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message 16: by Phyllis (new)

Dec 15, 2023 09:41AM

Bob, this is so much fun - thank you! And chance you are putting this into a spreadsheet that you might share with us?

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message 17: by Elizabeth (last edited Dec 17, 2023 07:23AM) (new)

Dec 17, 2023 07:18AM

So in the past couple of days I've watched Fever Dream and Leave the World Behind. Fever Dream I'd give an A, it got the mood and ramping of horror perfectly. Leave the World Behind I'd give a B- or C. It was definitely entertaining, and I liked the final scene, but it was all just so campy, the dialogue was stilted, I wish they'd had Rumaan Alam write the script. (Or maybe they did and he just doesn't know how to write a realistic movie script.)

But Ethan Hawke was great. And oh my gosh, how on earth does Julia Roberts still look like she's under 40???? When I first saw her, I was thinking she was so young it couldn't possibly actually be her, just someone who looked and sounded like her.

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message 18: by Nadine in California (last edited Dec 17, 2023 09:59AM) (new)

Dec 17, 2023 09:59AM

Nadine in California (nadinekc) | 764 comments

Elizabeth wrote: "So in the past couple of days I've watched Fever Dream and Leave the World Behind. Fever Dream I'd give an A, it got the mood and ramping of horror perfectly. Leave the World Behind I'd give a B- o..."

Elizabeth, I had a different reaction to the movie Leave the World Behind. It was written produced and directed by Sam Esmail, and he has a distinctive visual and narrative style that I first saw in his series "Mr. Robot", and I've developed a taste for it. I DNF'ed the book early on (too many good sentences ruined by piling on too many adjectives for my taste) so I can't fault it for veering away from the book.

I was also impressed by Julia Roberts for aging naturally (in addition to the acting - they were all great). So sad that not having plastic surgery is a sign of courage for women in Hollywood - I don't know if it's the same for actors in other countries. She looks great for 56, but isn't hiding signs of aging - and looks all the better for keeping her 'real skin' ;)

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message 19: by Elizabeth (new)

Dec 17, 2023 10:04AM

Nadine in California wrote: "book.

I was also impressed by Julia Roberts for aging naturally (in addition to the acting - they were all great). So sad that not having plastic surgery is a sign of courage for women in Hollywood - I don't know if it's the same for actors in other countries. She looks great for 56, but isn't hiding signs of aging - and looks all the better for keeping her 'real skin' ;)"

Really? Like I said I thought she looked so young! If I saw her on the street I never would’ve guessed she was 56. I was going to commend a surgeon for making her look younger in a natural, unstretched out way!

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message 20: by Nadine in California (new)

Dec 17, 2023 10:56AM

Elizabeth wrote: "Really? Like I said I thought she looked so young! If I saw her on the street I never would’ve guessed she was 56. I was going to commend a surgeon for making her look younger in a natural, unstretched out way!"

Ha, I didn't think of that one ;) Anything is better than looking like a puffy porcelain doll.

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message 21: by Lauren (new)

Dec 17, 2023 03:56PM

Wow, there are so many! Thanks for making this list, Bob. I hope to find some more gems like Leave the World Behind, although the disturbing effects of that one are still lingering for me…

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message 22: by Mark (new)

Dec 17, 2023 08:06PM

For me, Cloud Atlas is one of the rare great books turned into an even better movie.

Same could be said for Pachinko and Station Eleven, depending on whether you think those books are great.

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message 23: by Mina (new)

Dec 18, 2023 07:16AM

What an great list - Thank You!

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message 24: by Peggy (new)

Mar 05, 2025 11:58AM

I'm wondering if anyone here has watched the TV adaptation of Interior Chinatown. It seemed like an unfilmable book to me, so I'm wondering if it's any good.

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message 25: by Peggy (new)

Apr 07, 2025 12:01PM

I know the Murderbot series is beloved around here--I know I love it--so who is watching the series when it debuts next month on AppleTV? Murderbot is played by Alexander Skarsgard (love him), but since he is not at all how I pictured Murderbot, I can't get on board with this. What about all of you?

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message 26: by NancyJ (new)

Apr 07, 2025 12:18PM

Peggy wrote: "I know the Murderbot series is beloved around here--I know I love it--so who is watching the series when it debuts next month on AppleTV? Murderbot is played by Alexander Skarsgard (love him), but ..."

He’s definitely not what I pictured! When I first heard about the series, murderbot was described as female or non-binary! Lol. Murderbot isn’t nearly as confident (or as sexual), as Eric in True Blood. I don’t watch much TV these days, but I’d like to check it out.

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message 27: by Chrissy (new)

Apr 07, 2025 02:24PM

I’ll be interested in checking it out. It’s been a while since I read the books, so there’s room in my mind for someone to interpret the character. Probably also helps that I didn’t use audio for them.

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message 28: by Kat's (new)

Apr 07, 2025 02:59PM

Kat's Bookshelf (kats_bookshelf) | 34 comments

Peggy wrote: "I know the Murderbot series is beloved around here--I know I love it--so who is watching the series when it debuts next month on AppleTV? Murderbot is played by Alexander Skarsgard (love him), but ..."

I loved the book series, but Skarsgard is pretty far from how I envision that character. I'll definitely give it a chance, though.

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message 29: by Peggy (new)

Apr 08, 2025 07:11PM

Okay, all of you report back so then I can make my decision! ;)

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message 30: by Alison (new)

Apr 09, 2025 11:15AM

Alison Hardtmann (ridgewaygirl) | 770 comments

I'll definitely check it out. The trailer makes it look like a fun show and I'm not overly invested in it looking a certain way. My controversial take is that adaptations that stick too strictly to the source material tend to be lifeless. In the books, Murderbot is asexual and genderless, which fits with them being a manufactured cyborg, but let's be honest that looking at Skarsgård's face will not be a hardship (Gwendolyn Christie might have also been interesting casting but she has to be tired of wearing armor all the time).

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Tournament of Books discussion