Have you ever left a movie and thought oh my gosh they portrayed everything that I wanted to. They got that character so right! So have we! Here are our favorites.
Katie:
The book to movie that stands out to me is Julie and Julia. I honestly was not a fan of the book, I just couldn’t get into it. I wasn’t expecting to like the movie either but happened to catch it on TV one day and absolutely loved it. It has such an amazing cast. (Any movie with Stanley Tucci is bound to be great, right?) Amy Adams makes Julie so likeable, which I didn’t quite feel when I read the book, and it made me want to give the book a second try. It is one of my favorite movies, definitely a book to movie done right in my opinion.
Jessie:
My explosion into reading was influenced by the big screen. When the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring came out to the movie theater I fell in love. I reread the Hobbit and then dove head first into the LOTR trilogy. My Dad had gotten me into the Hobbit when I was younger, by having me listen to it on cassette tape! But after seeing The Fellowship in the theaters, I had an entire new outlook on Middle Earth.
Duckie:
Mine is technically a book to miniseries done right but I have to go with the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy? Genius. Him coming out of the lake? Revolutionary. The whole series was so well cast and stuck to the book in all the ways that really mattered. For movies, I don’t think anything will ever be done as well as Lord of the Rings…although I am a Tom Bombadil fan (controversial, I know) and would have loved to see him. I still can’t believe how thoroughly Peter Jackson botched The Hobbit but I don’t think anything can rival the lasting legacy of his LOTR films. I also really loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but I actually watched the movie before reading the book. I think the book is probably better…but I love, love, love the movie still. The movie is different, but definitely still done right.
Kellie:
For me it has to be “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman. Having the author of the book be a screenplay writer is a pretty good way to ensure that a book does not get ruined in transition from the page to the big screen. It is very telling when you google something that is both a book and a movie and almost all of the first page is about the movie. Again if you have only ever seen the movie I do recommend the book. For me it is not one of those books that was terrible but made a good movie. It is both a great movie and book! I might also recommend the audiobook “As You Wish”. It is a behind the scenes look into the making of “The Princess Bride” movie.
Kathy:
I think I’m going to go with Harry Potter here!! The movies really brought the books to life on screen!! Loved how they did the Quidditch matches, the magic, and Hogwarts! It truly met my expectations in portraying my imagination of the magical world within the books. And I must say, the casting of Snape and Malfoy were brilliant!!