Writing Wrongs

July 12, 2007



  1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?

  2. The worst?

  3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)

And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I’m notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING. So, feel free to list as many good or bad movie-from-books as you like. (Heaven knows that’s what I’ll be doing.)

I really like the A&E/BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It’s one of my favorites. In a slightly different vein, I think Bridget Jones’s Diary made a better film than it did a book. The screenplay gave the story a stronger spine (I read the book, then saw the movie).

And I’m not saying this because the movie stars Colin Firth, and at one point, he beats the living snot out of Hugh Grant (thus conforming to the rule: all things are better when someone takes a swing at Hugh Grant). I actually like Hugh in this role because it gives him a bit more dimension to his generally feckless-but-endearing British chap types he plays.

Anyway, that’s my answer.

On a completely different note, yesterday my mom called. Okay, it was my birthday so that’s not a stretch. But, she had a nifty present for me. She told me about a special PBS program that was airing that night: Synchronized Swimming: The Pursuit of Excellence.

You see, because I never watch television, I never know what’s on. Other people must tell me. Unless it’s Hannah Montana or Naruto, and I just know when those are on via osmosis.

But the synchro show was good. I watched it with Kyra, who was entranced by the movements, the costumes, and the makeup, as I thought she would be. There was a great quote by the coach of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, which of course I can’t remember enough of it to do it justice. But she could’ve been talking about writing and not synchro.

Interesting, that.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 11:04 a.m.

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