Books are should not be movies ( was Re: Cuaron talks about movie cuts)

[huntergreen_3]

Anna wrote:
>>Now see, I don't get what the point is of making a movie that
follows the book exactly. If that's what you want, why not just read
the book again?<<

That's what I wonder too. I can understand having a few 
disappointments about the movie (I, of course, had a few as well), 
but I don't see why that has to ruin the movie. Personally, I 
approach a *compliment* to the book, not a replacement for it, and 
that made it much easier to accept the changes and enjoy the movie. 
What really confuses me, is that the movie didn't stray that far from 
the book. The things that were changed were only minor things, and 
the things that were left out (for the most part), were at least 
hinted at, which is certainly much more than other movie adaptations 
give you. 

>>I'm starting to feel like I'm in Red Dwarf here. Books are not
movies, Dave. Dave, movies are not books. They have totally
different narrative conventions, because they are totally different
media.<<

And that's just it. Perhaps I enjoyed it (I LOVED the movie) more 
because I am a movie fan as much as a book fan. A movie trying to 
follow every bit of the books would be too long (for the average 
movie-goer at least) and get too slow and eventually too complicated 
for those who haven't read the books. For those of you upset about 
the removal of the quidditch cup, think of how exhausting it would be 
to watch FOUR or even two quidditch matches in the span of 2-3 hours. 
That's just one of those things that works better in a book than it 
does on screen.
For those who were disappointed with the movie: did you read 
spoilers? I didn't bother trying to be unspoiled and read every 
review and saw every trailer/tv spot I could get a hold of. I thought 
it would be for the worse when I actually saw the movie, but it was 
for the better. Before going into the theater, I already knew all the 
major changes (and deletions) from the book and had my chance to make 
my peace with them. Waiting for something on-screen and not seeing it 
is much more disappointing that reading its not there a few weeks 
beforehand, I imagine. If you are going to see Goblet of Fire (which 
I suppose all of you are), I'd suggest reading a few fan reviews 
beforehand to get an idea of what WON'T be there.

Just a thought.


-Rebecca