TV series

Truthful Tuesday — Books, Movies, and TV Series

Fandango10 Comments

Frank, aka PCGuyIV, is back with another episode of Truthful Tuesday. The idea behind Truthful Tuesday is for us to respond to the question (or questions) Frank asks and to be 100% truthful in our responses. No glib answers, no funny business, no fibs. Just raw honesty.

For this week’s Truthful Tuesday, Frank wants to know…

Some producer just got the rights to your favorite book. Would you rather they make a movie of it (e.g., Dune, Jurassic Park, Pride & Prejudice), or a TV series (e.g., Game of Thrones, Shōgun)? Why?

First, let me say that before the pandemic hit in 2020, I used to love going to the movies. We went out to movie theaters at least weekly. Since late 2019, however, we have gone to a movie theater just once, and that was last summer. So whether it’s a movie or a TV series, we will likely be watching it on TV from the comfort of our family room.

Second, let me say that movies adapted from books are rarely as good as the source books. Why do I say that? I’m glad you asked. When I read a well-written book, the words on the pages paint pictures inside my head. What do the characters look like? How do they carry themselves? What do they sound like? In my mind’s eye, I visualize the scenes in which the action takes place. But then I watch the movie and nothing bothers me more than if the main characters are miscast. The actor doesn’t look like, sound like, or act like the character my mind’s eye created.

There are exceptions, of course, where the actor who portrays an iconic character is effective enough in his or her role to supplant the character I envisioned in my head when I read the book. Or there may be cases where I read the book so long ago before seeing the movie that the image of the character in my head has faded enough that the actor can more easily fit the role.

Now to answer Frank’s question. If it’s a relatively short book and its adaptation can be fit into two to two-and-a-half hours without sacrificing any salient parts of the book, then I suppose a movie is okay. But with all of the streaming services available, why sacrifice portions of the book to fit within a single movie timeframe? Why not spread it out over three, four, six, or even eight episodes?

So my vote is for a TV series where I can binge-watch the whole thing in one or two or even three sittings from the comfort of my recliner.

WDP — More Than Five

Fandango25 Comments

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

I have never watched a TV series more than five times. And there are only two movies I can think of that I’ve watched more than five times. One is this:

“Pretty Woman” is the ultimate chick-flick and it happens to be my wife’s favorite movie. I can’t tell you how many times she’s watched it, but it’s way more than five times. And as her husband and life partner, I watch it with her when she asks me to, which is most of the time.

As for me, my favorite movie of all time is Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.”

I think this is the funniest movie ever made and I have watched it countless times and it always cracks me up. Here is a detailed post I wrote about it from last year’s A to Z challenge, when my theme was movies.