Sweet Relish Sunday (#3 of 4) + a giveaway

Yes/No Films Sweet Relish book-to-movie adaptations
Week 3 of Sweet Relish Sunday brings us to "10 Must-See Book-to-Movie Adaptations." As you might know, I also have a book blog, Books I Think You Should Read, and I'm an avid reader. When I hear that a favorite book of mine is being turned into a movie, I'm both excited and also a bit apprehensive, because sometimes the essence of a book can be lost in translation when it airs on the big screen.

With these ten movies, however, the movie is just as good as, if not better than, the book version, and they are shining examples of what a good book-to-movie adaptation can be.

The ten movies I chose are:
  • Sarah's Key (2010). Still one of the saddest Holocaust movies I've ever seen; I don't often cry during movies but I challenge anyone to see this movie and not cry. I actually liked the book less than the movie, but only because parts of it were very different.
  • Holes (2003). The book was intriguing and the movie was just as good, with Shia LaBeouf as the main character, about a group of teenagers who gets sent to camp to dig holes ... but the camp has a secret.
  • Life of Pi (2012). I haven't actually read the book yet (shh!) but there's a reason that Ang Lee won Best Director at the Academy Awards for this movie; the cinematography is beautiful and the movie itself is entrancing, from the plot to its characters.
  • Jane Eyre (2011). I'm not a fan of Jane Austen-esque books (or this one, by Charlotte Bronte) but I did read it. There's been a ton of movie adaptations over the years but this one was one of the best of the ones I've seen. Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender star as Jane and Mr. Rochester.
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). I'll confess that I thought the book version was just okay, but the movie version was fantastic. Stephen Chbosky, the writer of the novel, wrote the screenplay for the movie, but Charlie's character and his friends came alive much more on the screen for me than they did on the page - a rare feat indeed.
  • Warm Bodies (2013). I'm not a fan of horror movies or movies with excessive amounts of gore, but I really liked Warm Bodies this past year - it was a unique spin on a vampire-human relationship, even though it had a lot of similarities to Romeo and Juliet. I received an e-galley of the book and started reading it, but I've only read about 1/3 of it thus far; I don't really like how it's narrated.
  • The Help (2011). One of my favorite books and the movie lived up to the novel. Fantastic performances by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone, and a 5-star movie in my opinion.
  • Forrest Gump (1994). I had no idea this was a book until I started researching for this list! It's on my to-read list now, as the movie is classic; Tom Hanks was great in it.
  • The Notebook (2004). Love the book and love the movie, although a word of caution: the movie's ending is very different than the book's ... 
  • The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Thought the book was just okay, but the movie is great. It's actually one of my favorite roles to watch Meryl Streep in, even though it's a "chick flick." Anne Hathaway and the supporting cast also does very well in this movie.
Check out these movies and where to buy them on my Sweet Relish list, and stay tuned next Sunday for the last list in the series, 5 Necessities for Family Movie Night.

GIVEAWAY:

Myself and the other bloggers who are posting these Sweet Relish lists have three Mountain Khaki's Market Totes to give away - a $60 value. Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to be entered, and if you are a winner, you will be notified via email by Sweet Relish. Contest ends on April 30th.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: I was compensated for writing a series of blog posts about Sweet Relish and using their site to compile lists. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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