Hello all! + American Psycho...

[cousincleotis]

First of all, this is my first post, hello!

I recently read American Psycho, which I'm sure you will agree, if you have read it, is an incredibly disturbing yet brilliant book about the obsession with status.... I watched the first five minutes of the film and turned it off. That wasn't Patrick Bateman!

Does anyone else think that poor adaptations of films could lead to less people reading the book? It can of course work the other way; people could read the book of a great film and inspire them to read more books.

 

[Martin]

I don't know about people not reading a certain book because the film based on it stank, but I can imagine it happening (heck, I would do it myself, probably). Now that I think about it, I conciously picked 'The Rules of Attraction' as opposed to 'American psycho' as my introduction into Brett Easton Ellis' world, because I saw the film and didn't like it.

On the other hand, I can also confirm the opposite, because at all of my regular bookstores Tolkien has been extremely popular for the last 2 years, simply because of the films. You can't enter a train without someone reading one of the three books.

Cheers, Martin

 

[phil_t]

You gotta love the LOTR movies though, because they've been terrifically done

American Psycho and the other Easton Ellis books seem like very hard material to get across on film, hence American Psycho descending into a sub-standard slasher movie, but hey, at least its better than the sequel they made!!

 

[Martin]

LotR is in a class of its own, no debate there. I love to see people everywhere all of a sudden being 'into' Tolkien because of the films. Peter Jackson really opened some eyes. And if LotR is overlooked again at the oscars come 2004 it will be a downright disgrace!

There!!

Cheers, Martin

 

[helgi]

First of all, this is my first post, hello!

I recently read American Psycho, which I'm sure you will agree, if you have read it, is an incredibly disturbing yet brilliant book about the obsession with status.... I watched the first five minutes of the film and turned it off. That wasn't Patrick Bateman!

Does anyone else think that poor adaptations of films could lead to less people reading the book? It can of course work the other way; people could read the book of a great film and inspire them to read more books.

hey mista, you gotta go back an' watch dat movie. Dat wus one friggin' good movie! You think you bettuh than me? huh? Flippin' off movies with disdain. Well, I flip channels with distance, by remote, that is.

the guy in the american psycho movie looks like he could be the brother of helen hunt, who starred in another psycho thriller, MAD ABOUT YOU

 

[Anamnesis]

I read American Psycho and wasn't impressed. Okay, I enjoyed the music essays but that was it. What can I say; I'm not a fan of short, choppy sentences and gratuitous gore. I don't look at the film version as a slasher picture--when describing it I refer to it as a black comedy. The director toned down the graphic gore of the book and emphasized the satirical aspects of Ellis' book.

Having said that, I can't agree with this enough:

its better than the sequel they made!!

Now that is a fine example of a "sub-standard slasher movie"!

 

[chuephödli]

Couldn't agree more with you, Anamnesis. I thought the book stilted, full of gratuitous violence and endless lists of designer labels, and ultimately boring. The movie struck me as very black comedy, with a subtlety the book clearly does not have (or strive for).

 

[beer good]

Couldn't agree more with you, Anamnesis. I thought the book stilted, full of gratuitous violence and endless lists of designer labels, and ultimately boring. The movie struck me as very black comedy, with a subtlety the book clearly does not have (or strive for).

I thought the book both had and strived for plenty of subtle satire. Keyword being "subtle." The musical essays, for instance, are clearly part of that.

 

[helgi]

eh? oh yes, clearly. of course!

 

[helgi]

Couldn't agree more with you, Anamnesis. I thought the book stilted, full of gratuitous violence and endless lists of designer labels, and ultimately boring. The movie struck me as very black comedy, with a subtlety the book clearly does not have (or strive for).

Oh, you're currently reading Naked? I haven't read the book, but I've seen the movie and I think I've read the magazine.