Tuesday 2 June 2015

Top Ten Tuesday | Lights, Camera, ACTION!


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!


This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/TV Shows'. I love adaptations; there's always the fear that an adaptation is going to be terrible, especially if it's an adaptation of a book you love, but from a critical point of view I find all adaptations fascinating. I love to know why certain decisions were made: why the costumes look the way they do, why that setting was chosen, why that actor was cast, how the director first came to know the book if they knew it before at all.

I love films and there are a few TV shows I adore, so while I'm certainly no expert I tried to assign a director to each of these make-believe adaptations because I thought it'd be fun to give an idea of the kind of adaptation that I'd love to see!



We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I read this not too long ago, and Jackson has quickly become one of my favourite authors - she's certainly my favourite horror writer! Heavily inspired by the above cover, I'd love to see Henry Selick create a monochrome stop motion adaptation of this. We so often associate stop motion with children's films, and I think that combined with how grotesque you can make stop motion figures would make for a really atmospheric southern gothic film. Henry Selick's no stranger to adaptations, he's the director of Coraline and also the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and, most recently, The Box Trolls.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: I had to read this during my first year of uni, and though I wasn't expecting to like it I ended up loving it. It's such a fun, vibrant story - well worth a read if you're a fan of retellings - and I think this would work wonderfully as a Studio Ghibli film. Studio Ghibli are also familiar with adaptations; they're the company responsible for the brilliant adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle!

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris: Okay, so obviously The Silence of the Lambs already has an amazing film adaptation starring the fantastic Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster - if you haven't already, watch it, it's so good - but I'm also a huge fan of the show Hannibal, created by the marvellous Bryan Fuller who's also adapting Neil Gaiman's American Gods for TV. I'm really hoping the show gets the rights to Clarice so they can eventually tackle the Silence of the Lambs story in the show.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque: I can't be the only one who thinks this would make a really fun TV series, right? I've really gotten into this series this year, and if it were to be adapted I'd love to see someone like Guillermo del Toro at the helm. I feel as though del Toro would be a wonderful fit because he could handle the darker, spookier elements, he's the director of Pan's Labyrinth and the executive producer of Mama after all, and he'd be able to co-ordinate all the action sequences, too, as he's the director of the Hellboy films and Pacific Rim. He's no stranger to TV, either - in fact he's one of the co-creators of The Strain, which just so happens to deal with vampirism.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: Personally I think this would make such a fun Tim Burton movie. Just so long as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter weren't playing the leads. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but it's time to give some other actors a bit of work! Burton has this habit of mixing bright, vibrant colours with really macabre situations (e.g. in Corpse Bride the land of the living is black and white, whereas the afterlife is bright and colourful) and I think that would work really well with this story.



Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: I mean... this story's just meant to be adapted into a found footage horror movie, right? It'd be so much fun to watch, not to mention creepy as hell if given to the right creative team.

Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch and Stjepan Sejic: I've heard rumours that this series is going to be adapted into an animated series, and I really, really hope those rumours are true.

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau: There have been an awful lot of historical fiction adaptations on the BBC recently - The White Queen; Wolf Hall; Poldark; The Strange Case of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - but I'd love to see some more ladies in these adaptations, and given that so much of The Crown takes place in a nunnery I think it'd be a really fun crime drama to watch.

Feed by Mira Grant: Yet another Mira Grant book. You all know how much I love this one, and though I'd be worried that an adaptation wouldn't do it justice I do think this book would make an amazing TV show. Every episode could open with one of Georgia and co.'s blog posts, or at least that's how I imagine it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I thought the adaptation of If I Stay was really good, so I'd love to see an adaptation of the sequel, too.

Which books made your list?

19 comments:

  1. Yes Rat Queens needs to be adapted!

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  2. Great list Jess! I have to admit that I'm not familiar with a lot of these books, but some are definitely on my TBR. Thanks for stopping by my blog <3

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  3. I'd love to see Where She Went to get both sides of the story told in film!

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  4. American Vampire would be good. :)

    Check out my TTT.

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  5. Yes to a stop motion We Have Always Lived in the Castle! That's a brilliant idea. I haven't seen the If I Stay movie yet, because I wasn't all that impressed with the book, but I have heard it is a good adaptation.
    Great List Jess!

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    1. We'll obviously just have to email Henry Selick and demand that he adapt it for us. ;) I really enjoyed the If I Stay movie - I quite liked the book, but the film actually made me more emotional than the book did so I recommend checking it out if you ever find yourself with a spare 90 minutes to fill! :)

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  6. Hey great list :) I've not read any of them but they look great! Thank you for visiting my blog :D
    Have a great day,
    Amy x

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  7. Wow, I haven't read a single one of your picks. D: I fail! In my defence though, Feed and The Silence of the Lambs are on my tbr shelf :)

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    1. Haha, you don't fail at all - although I definitely recommend reading Feed asap because it's amazing. ;)

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  8. Ooh, yes a million times to Feed, but what is this Rat Queens thing? That looks like a thing I would love. I would also definitely watch it as a thing based on its title alone.

    The Shirley Jackson suggestion is great too. I love your explanations for all of these.

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    1. Thank you - it's always good to meet another Feed fan! -highfive-

      Rat Queens is a high fantasy graphic novel series with diverse female protagonists, innuendos and bawdy humour. It's glorious - I definitely recommend checking it out!

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  9. Argh! My comments just disappeared. Trying again... Great list! I would especially love to see We Have Always Lived in the Castle as a TV mini-series. It would be so creepy awesome!

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    1. -shakes fist- Damn you, Google!

      Thanks. :) I'm surprised there aren't more adaptations of Shirley Jackson's work because she's one of the best horror writers ever. I think there was a theatre adaptation of We Have Always Lived in the Castle not too long ago!

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  10. I just want to let the record show that I totally called it that Feed would be on this list ;) I knew it! I also really, REALLY need to read it, I feel like I am failing buy not doing so. Plus, I really WANt to! Great list, and I hope Feed does make it one day ;)

    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

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    1. Hehe, clearly I'm becoming too predictable. ;) Thanks for stopping by, Shannon!

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