The Rules of Attraction

[marcel]

anybody already seen the film adaption of this ellis-book?
im real big fan of ellis, and ive just seen a preview of this film. and well it seems to me this could be a very good one

[animal night train]

sorry, is this Brett Easton Ellis you are referring to?

[tsr_robban]

is adaption the one with nicolas cage playing two roles as twins?
that one is super...

[MUX]

i think he said attraction not adaption. spike jonze really makes me giggle... perfect humour

[penciLneck]

Yes Both are good - Love all the backwards bits in Rules of Attraction and the female lead The story in Adaptation is great as is Nic Cage's portrayal of twin brothers. Both have a few surprises in store - especially the fact that Dawson from limp teen angst drama is in Attraction.

[Lady E]

ive read all B.E.E books and havent yet seen a film adaptation...generally i think there are no films made of books that improve upon or are equal to the book, apart from 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest', 'the shining' and 'carrie'...maybe there are more but i cant think of one...

i will watch the rules of attraction but i hate james van der beek's eyebrows...

also did anyone else hear this story that donna tartt (the secret history, the little friend) was actually B.E.E? i thought that for ages, especially after reading 'Rules of...' (which is quite an early book of his) because a direct reference to the plot of 'Secret History' is in it, no one had seen Donna Tartt, its a bit of a B.E.E. style name...but anyway, they are two separate people in the end.

thrilling, non?

[penciLneck]

also did anyone else hear this story that donna tartt (the secret history, the little friend) was actually B.E.E? i thought that for ages, especially after reading 'Rules of...' (which is quite an early book of his) because a direct reference to the plot of 'Secret History' is in it, no one had seen Donna Tartt, its a bit of a B.E.E. style name...but anyway, they are two separate people in the end.

Crazy Rumour - secret history was one of my faves - but could never have thought that 'psycho' Ellis was responsible for it!
Reading Her new one at the moment 'the little friend' as well as dark materials - I know it's bad, but I usually start a book, think wow this is good, then leave it, read another 5 books and go back to it.

[penciLneck]

btw - how could you say that 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest' was improved on by the film - film was good yes but the writing is so amazing in the book.

Originally posted by emma
.generally i think there are no films made of books that improve upon or are equal to the book, apart from 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest', 'the shining' and 'carrie'...maybe there are more but i cant think of one...

i think as a general rule, if the book is not that great, you can improve on it. if it's a great novel, the film will disappoint. i think loads of great films are based on books which are not that great (like stephen king books)

my girlfriend went to see that film and she said it put her off sex. however later on that evening she apparently changed her position somewhat. ahem.

[Lady E]

yes sorry - i deleted that one flew over the cuckoo's film and book nest were a rare example of being equally as good. i love them both very much

re: stephen king - au contraire bitch one. i think he is an exceptional writer. reading his books is a total treat for me...especially 'the shining' and 'carrie' - both really quite amazingly well written. ive read loads, even recent ones like 'dreamcatcher' and 'insomnia' which are a bit more abstract plot-wise but still good...i bet the book of dreamcatcher is way better than the current film.

penciLneck i do that with books too - although i have to say i was a bit disappointed by the little friend...i wont say anymore, see what you think.

im reading a book about the pet shop boys 'literally' and 'from an occult diary' by strindberg for the second time. feeling anxious as i dont have anything planned for my next book....maybe 'the moonstone' by wilkie collins for a bit of victorian thriller fun.

i thought american psycho was pretentious shite. a pattern in my book taste is developing here, after i say the same about will self. well, my favourite author is john steinbeck. i like plain english.

[Lady E]

i love john steinbeck too. i havent read him for years but my favourite was the interlinked short stories in 'the pastures of heaven'

i like all sorts. my favourite ever writers are the Bronte sisters. favourite book: Jane Eyre
but everyone should read Wuthering Heights. its a better book than JE but there we go.

so many books so little time

[penciLneck]

Back to films - do you like mike leigh? Saw his latest 'all or nothing' last night. really liked it.

@bitch one - you probably like john irving too, no?

[mr franks]

...what about arnies 'the running man' a great film adaptation of a stephen king story....

my fave king book probably pet cemetery, really scary, tho i have not read any king since my teens, when i was younger it seemed that every teenage boy was either reading king of frank herbert....remember'the fog'?

[penciLneck]

yes the running man was from a book king wrote under the penname of richard bachman - didn't think much of the film though, but the shining and christine were great adaptations of the books - really captured the mood - espec the arnie character in christine (and the car of course).

[mr franks]

Originally posted by mr franks
...what about arnies 'the running man' a great film adaptation of a stephen king story....

yeah i was being sarcastic, its a shit adaptation (if u can call it that) arnies character survives, in the book he dies - i dislike films that feel they have to tack on happy endings to satisfy an audience. bollerques.

[penciLneck]

amen, that is why hollywood is so shite. In the vid shop I'll go for world cinema every time and hardly ever be disappointed.

i've not actually read any john irving. maybe i should try.

i've been going through a phase of reading philosophy books. decided that philosophy books are quite boring.

the book i am reading at the mo is 'the man who mistook his wife for a hat' by oliver sacks, a book of case histories of people with bizarre neurological problems. it is an excellent book, beautifully written, and quite a head twister.

[penciLneck]

totally agree - I've read it too, and is one of my favourites. See there is common ground - King and Self hater

Irvings alright - his latest is quite weird - about a guy who has his hand bitten off by a lion and then gets a hand transplant.

[Lady E]

i read the oliver sacks book years ago, about the same time as 'one flew over the cuckoos nest'.its a good read for sure.

also made into a film 'awakenings' with robin williams

ive only seen john irving books as films - more robin williams - hotel new hampshire and world according to garp.

u are thinking of the book 'awakenings' emma

don't know if i would like john irving actually, having seen that film garp.

[Lady E]

aah that will be it then

[mr franks]

Mr Nice - i read that on my hols a while back, easy read, funny guy.

I'm reading this at the moment. It's very good.

i just saw a film about this a while back.... i cant remember what it was though....

mr nice...read that. not sure how much of it is true tho.

[penciLneck]

it is pretty much true, he's a friend of the family, he also slagged off one of my mates in it - which I'm not happy about.

how does being a friend of the family mean you know it is mostly true?

not saying he wasn't big dealer no 1 etc. just thought i could smell a lot of 'dramatic licence' being employed in recounting the details.

[penciLneck]

oh god yeah, plenty of that - one of my mates used to work for him, so he confirms a lot of the details but sure its a typical modern biography in that sense yes.