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We continuously hear in regards to the oversaturation of reboots and remakes in Hollywood. Whereas the arguments are legitimate that unique tales must be pushed at the beginning, a few of the greatest films in historical past have been based mostly on different supply materials, notably books — whether or not they’re fiction, nonfiction and even self-help in nature. Most of those literary variations are inclined to skew towards the dramatic, however quite a lot of have been become comedies, too. Listed below are 5 particularly nice ones…
American Psycho
If you end up confused as to why American Psycho is listed beneath the “comedy” class on Max, there are some deeper conversations you ought to be ready to have with a skilled skilled. Both method, Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel turned an equally polarizing movie by Mary Harron. With a dedicated efficiency by Christian Bale because the titular psycho Patrick Bateman and an ensemble that includes the likes of Willem Dafoe, Chloë Sevigny and Reese Witherspoon, the movie is the proper union of horror and comedy and satirizes the brutal nature of consumerism and the rise of the yuppie.
Clueless
The quintessential Nineties teen comedy has some fairly stunning roots for anybody who wasn’t paying consideration in highschool English class. The completely bitchin’ screenplay from writer-director Amy Heckerling loosely tailored Jane Austen’s Emma and introduced the nineteenth century novel to Beverly Hills. With teen ingesting, a makeover montage and a “virgin who can’t drive,” Clueless turned the gold commonplace for later movies like Imply Women and Booksmart.
Quick Occasions at Ridgemont Excessive
One other entry from Heckerling, in addition to her directorial debut. It’s an adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s Quick Occasions at Ridgemont Excessive: A True Story, which detailed his 12 months undercover at a San Diego highschool and the scholars he befriended there. His experiences had been dropped at the display screen by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Choose Reinhold, with help from the perpetually stoned Jeff Spicoli, performed by Sean Penn. The movie advantages from its fastidiously crafted supply materials to carry an genuine model of the American teenager to the display screen. It does so convincingly sufficient that it was preserved by the Library of Congress in 2005 for its cultural, historic and aesthetic affect.
O Brother, The place Artwork Thou?
The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, The place Artwork Thou? relies on Homer’s The Odyssey and follows a triad of escaped convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) who’re on the hunt for hidden treasure, all whereas being chased via rural Mississippi by a ruthless sheriff. The fashionable epic has all the things an excellent film wants: good folks tunes, some social commentary and Holly Hunter.
Adaptation
Image this: a film based mostly on a ebook that can also be about adapting stated ebook right into a film. That’s the premise of Spike Jonze’s very aptly titled Adaptation. From a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, the meta-comedy tailored Susan Orlean’s nonfiction ebook The Orchid Thief, a private investigation of a South Florida horticulturist arrested for poaching uncommon orchids, and detailed Kaufman’s personal private struggles in overcoming a bout of author’s block. The result’s a mixture of actuality and fiction that options Nicolas Cage enjoying two very completely different twins and the normally refined Meryl Streep committing to each comedic beat the script requested of her — irrespective of how unhinged.
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