The Piper Never Dies
Feb. 2nd, 2007 06:16 pmStolen from
mjules:
Name five books that could be great movies.
*Thinks*
1: Jennie, by Paul Gallico
Story about a boy who gets turned into a cat, and Jennie is the girl cat he meets. Man, the things you could do with this one these days with CGI and stuff - and what I always loved about it was the fact that it was so totally unsentimental. Provided you kept that in, it would work wonderfully.
2: Weaveworld, by Clive Barker
There may well be more than one Barker book in this list, because not only do I love the guy's writing but it's so damn visual. A carpet that holds a world, wonderful and terrible things all spelled to be hidden away from man's rapacious nature. Oh, and a creature that thinks it's an angel - and may well be, but all it can do is destroy. A jacket that shows you whatever you most desire, owned by a twisted salesman; the Gyre, which lives at the heart of the Weave and is where the magic lives... huge and rich and beautiful and terrible and--
Yeah. It'll have to be a miniseries.
3: The Chair, by Ian Banks
One of the very few books that, when I 'got' the point at the end, made me throw the book down and stare at it with wide eyes - feeling sick. Takes something to do that. And it would make a great dark movie that you have to watch half a dozen times to pick up all the nuances - he tells it in his 'circular' style, so you jump around in time and things that don't seem to be connected actually are. And there's the enduring image of a chair made of human bones, and who made it and who it's made of and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit in a very bright place for a moment.
It really would need a bloody good director, but if you got it right? Holy crap, you'd have a classic.
4: The Mirror Of Her Dreams and Mordant's Need, by Steven Donaldson
Yes I know, it's two books. Call it a long miniseries then. Again, one of the few books that the end was so wonderful it had me in tears; you'd need massive CGI and big sets, but it would be so worth it. The action is set in the country of Mordant, which has been at war for pretty much ever; there's castles and high halls, and the magic revolves around mirrors and there's a woman from our world who gets marooned there and oh, wow. The characters are engaging and believable, and it would be one of those miniseries where it looks beautiful (think LoTR - yup, the vistas are like that, and so are the battles), but the story gets in your head and forces you to watch it until your eyeballs dry out.
And it would take a heck of an actress to make Teresa Morgan (the heroine) from the silly girl you want to smack at the beginning into a believable character, but I think the right person could do it. And there are just so many fantastic, complex characters that a decent actor could really get their teeth into...
...in other words, keep it away from bloody Hollywood.
5: Journeyman, by Mad Andy
What, I'm not allowed to put one of my own books in this? Nuts. I'm going to anyway. I happen to think that this would make a bloody awesome film, mostly because of Pan (*listens to all female Pan fans go thud*) but the scenes with the unicorns and the various nasties from Faery would make great visuals. The succubus scene, anyone?
*Evil laugh*
I mean, there are so many ways of filming it that would work... yeah. Be nice, wouldn't it?
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Name five books that could be great movies.
*Thinks*
1: Jennie, by Paul Gallico
Story about a boy who gets turned into a cat, and Jennie is the girl cat he meets. Man, the things you could do with this one these days with CGI and stuff - and what I always loved about it was the fact that it was so totally unsentimental. Provided you kept that in, it would work wonderfully.
2: Weaveworld, by Clive Barker
There may well be more than one Barker book in this list, because not only do I love the guy's writing but it's so damn visual. A carpet that holds a world, wonderful and terrible things all spelled to be hidden away from man's rapacious nature. Oh, and a creature that thinks it's an angel - and may well be, but all it can do is destroy. A jacket that shows you whatever you most desire, owned by a twisted salesman; the Gyre, which lives at the heart of the Weave and is where the magic lives... huge and rich and beautiful and terrible and--
Yeah. It'll have to be a miniseries.
3: The Chair, by Ian Banks
One of the very few books that, when I 'got' the point at the end, made me throw the book down and stare at it with wide eyes - feeling sick. Takes something to do that. And it would make a great dark movie that you have to watch half a dozen times to pick up all the nuances - he tells it in his 'circular' style, so you jump around in time and things that don't seem to be connected actually are. And there's the enduring image of a chair made of human bones, and who made it and who it's made of and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit in a very bright place for a moment.
It really would need a bloody good director, but if you got it right? Holy crap, you'd have a classic.
4: The Mirror Of Her Dreams and Mordant's Need, by Steven Donaldson
Yes I know, it's two books. Call it a long miniseries then. Again, one of the few books that the end was so wonderful it had me in tears; you'd need massive CGI and big sets, but it would be so worth it. The action is set in the country of Mordant, which has been at war for pretty much ever; there's castles and high halls, and the magic revolves around mirrors and there's a woman from our world who gets marooned there and oh, wow. The characters are engaging and believable, and it would be one of those miniseries where it looks beautiful (think LoTR - yup, the vistas are like that, and so are the battles), but the story gets in your head and forces you to watch it until your eyeballs dry out.
And it would take a heck of an actress to make Teresa Morgan (the heroine) from the silly girl you want to smack at the beginning into a believable character, but I think the right person could do it. And there are just so many fantastic, complex characters that a decent actor could really get their teeth into...
...in other words, keep it away from bloody Hollywood.
5: Journeyman, by Mad Andy
What, I'm not allowed to put one of my own books in this? Nuts. I'm going to anyway. I happen to think that this would make a bloody awesome film, mostly because of Pan (*listens to all female Pan fans go thud*) but the scenes with the unicorns and the various nasties from Faery would make great visuals. The succubus scene, anyone?
*Evil laugh*
I mean, there are so many ways of filming it that would work... yeah. Be nice, wouldn't it?