tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post5160960789548631549..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: "No good ever comes from turning a crime novel into a movie."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-7034420989286721892009-12-28T22:46:58.303-05:002009-12-28T22:46:58.303-05:00This post was totally worth it. Sure one of my ido...This post was totally worth it. Sure one of my idol's, the only source of new Spillane, and the man behind the great crime movie Road To Perdition wrote a comment that was pretty much longer than my post refuting most of what I said and made me feel uneducated about crime movies and their book roots. But, on the positive side, I have no questions about what to rent over the next few months.Mike Knowleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833691996465287103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-45014408208481353372009-12-28T15:46:02.096-05:002009-12-28T15:46:02.096-05:00This post made me giggle for reasons the Weddle ha...This post made me giggle for reasons the Weddle has already elaborated on. Man, I love being the evil DSD puppetmaster.last year's girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613385789244095888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-48270802982286014152009-12-28T09:21:33.357-05:002009-12-28T09:21:33.357-05:00The worst thing you can do to yourself when watchi...The worst thing you can do to yourself when watching a movie is compare it to the source material. I liked Payback quite a bit (and I liked the director's cut even more) but I had to seperate the books from the movie. <br /><br />I think Get Shorty is one of the best Elmore Leonard adaptations because it fixes some problems that were in the book. Same with Devil Wears Prada and Legally Blonde (yeah, tough crime movies I know).Bryon Quertermoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18142740189973184854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-6880798783311166092009-12-27T20:31:33.119-05:002009-12-27T20:31:33.119-05:00You can blame me for the topic, Mike.
Nice work ...You can blame me for the topic, Mike. <br /><br />Nice work getting folks chatting about this. Some really good points here made about some movies I now plan to watch or re-watch. <br /><br />Anyway, nice work, Mike.<br /><br /> And thanks for stopping by during the holidays, folks. <br /><br />Now I gotta find out who to blame for the topic I ended up with.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-49686561502008306342009-12-27T12:35:44.181-05:002009-12-27T12:35:44.181-05:00And let's not forget THE GRIFTERS, which was v...And let's not forget THE GRIFTERS, which was virtually a scene-by-scene recreation of the book, leaving much of the original dialogue intact, thereby underscoring Mike's point.Mike Dennishttp://mikedennisnoir.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-75806745989931649882009-12-27T12:07:24.553-05:002009-12-27T12:07:24.553-05:00I'd call No Country For Old Men a crime novel,...I'd call <i>No Country For Old Men</i> a crime novel, and I think I preferred the movie to the book as well.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10070278104646895235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-9358106232610893702009-12-27T12:03:21.799-05:002009-12-27T12:03:21.799-05:00But POINT BLANK is a great film, and a nice take o...But POINT BLANK is a great film, and a nice take on Parker via Lee Marvin. That film probably kept the Parker novel franchise alive when it would have gone the way of most pulp. THE OUTFIT is also a terrific Parker film, straightforward where POINT BLANK is stylish. <br /><br />This is a fairly ridiculous premise to have to defend. Among the already mentioned great films from novels that are outstanding (ASPHALT JUNGLE and KISS ME DEADLY among them) there are many, many others -- THE KILLING comes from A Lionel White novel, Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY from a Jim Thompson novel (maybe not great but worthwhile), NIGHTMARE ALLEY from a Will Lindsay Gresham novel, GET CARTER froma Ted Lewis, THE BIG SLEEP and MURDER MY SWEET from Raymond Chandler, and on and on.<br /><br />Even the acknowledged great micro-budget B by Edgar Ulmer, DETOUR, came from a Martin Goldsmith novel. W.R. Burnett, by the way, wrote many scripts for great films of his -- Burnett adaptations including LITTLE CAESAR, HIGH SIERRA, and the aforementioned ASPHALT JUNGLE. My favorite crime film, GUN CRAZY, came from a story written by my fellow Iowan, MacKinley Kantor.<br /><br />I am very happy with ROAD TO PERDITION from my own work, and the recent THE LAST LULLABY (from my novel THE LAST QUARRY; I co-wrote the script).Max Allan Collinshttp://www.maxallancollins.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-60416730872164455692009-12-27T11:17:58.676-05:002009-12-27T11:17:58.676-05:00Ajh, you were given a bum deal. As already mention...Ajh, you were given a bum deal. As already mentioned a lot of great movies came out of crime novels--The Godfather, Jackie Brown, LA Confidential, Thin Man, Cold Blood, Psycho are excellent examples. So are Maltese Falcon, Asphalt Jungle, The Big Sleep, Kiss Me Deadly, The Lady Shanghai and so many others of the great film noirs. And even when a filmmaker veers widely from a great book, like Altman did with The Long Goodbye, they can still end up with a great film. But the greatest good that can come from turning a crime novel into a movie--even a bad movie like Blood Work, is what it can do to the author--as I heard Michael Connelly say, regardless of how bad Blood Work might have been, because of that movie he was able to quit his day job.Dave Zeltsermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04007736514118297783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-21639608974664439342009-12-27T07:49:18.421-05:002009-12-27T07:49:18.421-05:00I think both versions of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS ...I think both versions of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE were pretty good films. MILDRED PIERCE wasn't bad. REAR WINDOW was as good as the source material. As was PSYCHO. THE THIN MAN is charming if not as compelling. IN COLD BLOOD was pretty terrific. On the whole, I think many crime novels are turned into better movies than literary novels because they have a plot. LAURA is another one.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-72617580132016952492009-12-27T05:30:02.229-05:002009-12-27T05:30:02.229-05:00That Gibson loves a bit of torture, doesn't he...That Gibson loves a bit of torture, doesn't he? Pervy, I reckon... The Godfather is a better film than it is a book. Jacky Brown is a better film than it is a book. LA Confidential is probably a better film than it is a book.Paul D Brazillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12881642426845398389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-21486699274080107312009-12-27T04:14:04.275-05:002009-12-27T04:14:04.275-05:00Brian Helgeland, who adapted L.A. Confidential and...Brian Helgeland, who adapted L.A. Confidential and Mystic River, directed Payback. Apparently Mel Gibson took it away from him and added the feel-good stuff and the torture scenes at the end.<br /><br />Anyway, Helgeland got a chance to fix that, and the original film is out as Payback Straight Up: The Director's Cut. It's much more true to the book, it cuts out the Kris Kristofferson character and the torture completely, and the end is actually bleaker than the novel. Highly recommended.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00756643049753865150noreply@blogger.com