Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

[Ignatius_S]

In fact the only good films made from books tend to be books that are actually a bit trashy and shit; i.e. The Godfather, The Exorcist

Well, off the top of my head.... Rosemary's Baby, most Graham Greene adaptions , Tom Jones, The Loved One, 1984, Lolita (Kubrick's version), A Clockwork Orange, The Trial, Trainspotting, Noseferatu, Whiskey Galore, The 39 Steps, Solaris (first version) and Closely Observed Trains.

But you're right there there are more than plenty of duff ones - I think a major problem with film adaptions is that the people involved try to be too faithful and reveremtial to the book - but what works in one format isn't necessarily going to work well in another. This is maybe why short stories often lend themselves better to the big screen e.g. Bubba Ho-Tep, Memento, Dagoon, Reanimator, Death & the Compass.

[Dark Sky]

This is maybe why short stories often lend themselves better to the big screen e.g. Bubba Ho-Tep, Memento, Dagoon, Reanimator, Death & the Compass.

Was that supposed to be funny?  I don't like to think of Bubba Ho Tep lending itself better to anything at all.  That has to be one of the most appalling atrocious woefully amateur overhyped pieces of derivative untalented nonsense I've ever had the bad fortune to experience.  And to put that in perspective I like Men In Black 2.  

Short stories have a more similar structure to films, yeah...  But there's too many to list!  But you know, urr...the Birds, Blade Runner, Don't Look Now...  Oh I can't think of any more.  But yeah.  Millions of 'em.

[Tommy Trumpet]

Short stories have a more similar structure to films, yeah...  But there's too many to list!  But you know, urr...the Birds, Blade Runner, Don't Look Now...  Oh I can't think of any more.  But yeah.  Millions of 'em.

Not that it devalues the point, but Blade Runner wasn't based on a short story - "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was a novel.

[Dark Sky]

Was it?  I thought it was a short story collection.  Damn.

[neveragain]

Back to the film in question...

Really enjoyed it, can't say many bad words about it at all. And, of course, a terribly amusing yet unintentional thing happened at the end.

The credits end over Rob and Steve chatting and in this particular cinema, the curtains started to lower six or seven seconds before they (and indeed the film) had actually stopped. Not amusing in itself, though I thought it looked rather nice. But then - for NO reason - a spotlight in the shape of a 'love-heart' symbol was shone over the two nattering ninnies themselves. This, mixed with the last lines, really gave a nice homoerotic subtext to the whole thing.

[Clinton Morgan]

Your cinema has curtains?

Romantic swoony sigh.

[TheWizard]

Out now on DVD. Must say it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be (or the critics made out) but I did enjoy it as a film. (within a etc..)