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Books That Should Become Movies

Sometimes when reading a book I think how great a movie it could be. Of course, with some books, others see the same potential and make a horrible movie out of it (Michael Crichton’s Timeline is a superb example of a great book and horrible movie). Now, I’m usually drawn to a specific style of writing and I think it would be hard for these books to be made into movies. I don’t think there is much money in making movies off some of these unless they are handled with care and done right.

Neanderthal by John Darnton- This is a great book about archaeologists who stumble upon a community of Neanderthals living in Tadjikistan, high in the mountains, cut off from the rest of the world. Think Indiana Jones type story, but without the Nazis. Rumor has it the rights to this book have been sold to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks, but I doubt we’ll see this as a movie anytime soon.

Survivor-Chuck Palahniuk- Great book. Starting from chapter 47 and working it’s way backwards, it tells the story of Tender Branson. Branson aged 33, has commandeered a Boeing 747, emptied of passengers, in order to tell his story to the “black box” while flying randomly until the plane runs out of gas and crashes. Again, movie rights have been bought for this book, but it seems unlikely to be made since it is very dark and movies about plane crashes post-9/11 are not likely to garner much in the way of box office success.

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey– Chuck Palahniuk- This would never make it as a movie, and probably shouldn’t, but it would be an interesting one to see. Think the book and movie Breakfast of Champions. Great book. Really messed up movie that was…. just weird. This book was told in a unique way. The entire story was told by people who knew Buster Casey. The entire book is in interview format and sometimes the stories even contradict each other. If this was made into a movie it would either be the best movie ever made or the worst. There is no in-between.

Velocity-Dean Koontz- None of Dean Koontz’s books have worked as movies. Anyone remember Phantoms? They just suck. Mostly because most of Koontz’s works deal with the supernatural or aliens. Lately his books have been more suspense thriller. Velocity is one of those. If you recieved a note saying you had to choose who would live and who would die, what would you do? Billy Wiles’s life spirals out of control after he finds a note on his windshield telling him that he has a choice: involve the police, and a lovely blonde schoolteacher dies. Do nothing, and an elderly woman active in charity work dies. The following events are a cat and mouse chase to stop the killer before he kills again. This could be an excellent movie that would keep you at the edge of your seat (much as the book did) the entire time.

I’m sure there are more books I’d like to see turned into movies, but so far that’s all I can think of. I think if these were made, and made with care, they could be really great and do quite well at the box office.

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Joey Bishop Dies

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack. Joey Bishop was the last surviving member of the group. From The New York Times:

Joey Bishop, the long-faced comedian and the last surviving member of the Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra’s celebrated retinue of the 1960’s, died Wednesday night at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 89.

His death was of multiple causes, said his longtime publicist, Warren Cowan.

Mr. Bishop was the least flamboyant of the Rat Pack and no match for the others — Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Sinatra himself — in their dedication to hell-raising.

But he shared in their phenomenal success in the early 1960s, when they headlined music and comedy shows in Las Vegas, appearing at the Sands, and made movies like “Ocean’s 11” and “Sergeants 3.” When John F. Kennedy, a friend of Sinatra’s and a brother-in-law of Lawford’s, was elected president in 1960, Mr. Bishop was master of ceremonies at the inaugural ball.

The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down


The one good thing about Netflix (the only good thing left) is they have a category strictly for independent movies, something Blockbuster Online lacks. I’ve found several great movies using that category. The most recent one was a film entitled The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down. The movie is exactly as it sounds. It flows as a guide, with different chapters, on how to “get down” or party and have sex. The movie shows a variety of situations, replays scenes re-enacting how it should have been handled, and the difference between men and women in going out. It also shows how to act at different venues (house parties as opposed to private club parties). They even have “scientists” testing different situations and theories. If a funny, but true, look at parties, clubs, drugs, and sex isn’t for you, do NOT watch this movie. But if you are one of those people who loves to laugh at yourself (I’m sure we can all relate to at least one of the superbly acted characters in the movie), then watch this movie. I must warn you though, this movie might not be for the 35 and above crowd as they might not understand the movie and the way 20-somethings live their life in the movie.

Netflix Sucks

Netflix is really starting to suck. I used to love their service and recommend it to everyone. Lately they have really dropped the ball. I can’t tell you when the last time I actually got a new release was. It’s been months. There have been so many good movies that have come out that I’ve not been able to see. So that leaves old movies and TV shows on my list for them to ship. They can’t even do that right. A movie will go back and it’ll take them two days for them to ship the next one, even though the Availability for the disc is marked as Now. I’m not talking about two days for me to receive the new disc, I mean that It will take them two days to ship the new one. This happens every single time they ship a new movie over the past month or so. I used to be able to average 5 or 6 movies a week. Now I’m lucky if I get three. Maybe they think I’m watching too many movies. Maybe they are experiencing large growing pains so the customer doesn’t get what they should. Or maybe they just don’t care about the customer. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were all three. I think it’s time to go back to Blockbuster Online.

Great Movies You Probably Didn’t See

There are so many good movies that have come out that most people didn’t see. It’s a shame that these movies don’t get more recognition or bigger releases because they are much better than what’s at every corner movie theater. I mean, come on, The Hills Have Eyes 2? Are you kidding me? There are a few movies I’ve found because of Netflix or Blockbuster Online. Some of my favorite movies are independent movies that aren’t really independent. When I’m talking about independent, I don’t mean Clerks or Pi where the budget was in the thousands. These have budgets that go through more money than I’ll ever see in my life (The Boondock Saints had a $6 million budget). These numbers are still relatively small compared to the $300 it takes to make movies like Superman Returns. Some of the best ones that I think more people need to see are movies like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. This movie had such great performances by Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer. Not only were the performances great, but the story was great as well. Another small-time movie that I loved was The Salton Sea. This one also stars Val Kilmer. People don’t give him enough credit as an actor. He is really good. One movie that had a large budget with well-known actors but didn’t last long in theaters was Lucky Number Sleven. I’m not really a fan of Josh Hartnet, but he was excellent, as was Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. The story was such a good story as well. Everything about that movie I like.

10th and Wolf was basicallyThe Departed or even the failed TV show The Black Donnellys on a smaller budget with lesser-known actors. Same type of characters with the same setting. A Scanner Darkly was a great movie based on a great Philip K. Dick novel that should have enjoyed a wider release. It amazes me that great movies like these go unseen by many while crappy movies get released to every major movie theater and make millions. I guess that should say something about the general public.