Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank you.

[bunnypeaches]

The books are amazing, Hollywood ruins them!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I haven't seen anything else based on a Gaiman book, but I really enjoyed "Stardust" (both the movie and the book).

 

[GOLLUM]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

And Coraline is very well done......

Mirrormask was absolutely brilliant and although the BBC production of Neverwhere isn't great, nor I know entirely to Neil's liking, it still has some good elements to it.

I too thought that Stardust the movie was quite well done. Not quite in the same league as a Mirrormask or Coraline IMO but still a satisfying movie in its own right.

Beowulf, of which I have a copy of Neil's and Roger Avary's script notes, was well... not quite so satisfying but that of course isn't one of his novels/stories.

 

[Pyan]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I must admit I'm a bit puzzled, too - which film adaptation has raised your hackles so much then, bunnypeaches?

 

[Nesacat]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Am rather curious too. Mirrormask I thought was amazing. Dark and edgy. I just wish it had been screened in the cinemas here. It would have been brilliant on the big screen. I had to get it on DVD.

The same with Coraline. I was scheduled to be screened, then postponed. Then postponed again. And now there is no word. Again I bought the DVD and was impressed. It was well done and did justice to the book.

Stardust was lovely. Again it was different from the book but it did get the story across and for me it was well done. For me, it was well cast and everyone did a good job with their parts. Yes, it was not exactly like the book but I don't think that is possible. I believe even Gaiman admitted as much.

The BBC take on Neverwhere could have been better yes. But still, it was not a very bad effort. The characters there are varied and not so easy to bring alive on the screen and they did give it a good shot. I would like to see a movie made of this one.

I quite liked Beowulf aside from some things here and there. It's such an ancient epic. It was good to see someone doing something new with it. If nothing else, it's given new life to and renewed interest in an old tale.

I believe he does have a movie about Death in the pipeline but I don't seem to see much information about it. He did say that would like to work with del Toro on it because he had quite a lot of fun on the Hellboy set.

 

[GOLLUM]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I would say that was pretty much an expanded summation of what I said, except possibly for Beowulf but I was having a go more at the production than the script.....

Fancy seeing you here during the daylight hours Nesa. That garlic infusion must finally be taking effect....

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I forgot about "Mirrormask." I like that, too.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Gaiman's own work has usually been adapted well and in several cases with a great deal of involvement from Gaiman himself.

Mirrormask is fantastic - it is as much Dave McKean's baby as Gaiman's.

Stardust was perhaps the most Hollywoodized version, and it was still rather good.

Coraline was simply wonderful.

I haven't seen Neverwhere, but that TV series was the original format in which the story was made, Gaiman later did a novel in which he was able to do some things in a way the TV format didn't allow, or something to that effect.

Beowulf...ah, now there is a case waiting to be made that Gaiman shouldn't be allowed to do adaptations (although that would be a tough sell when most of his work adapts elements from myth and legend). It was a deeply trashy take on a story that was fine on its own...I didn't need to see Beowulf prancing about saying 'I'm here to kill yo monstah!!!' or that disgusting bit with the two women simpering over the aged Beowulf or indeed the whole anti-heroic subtext about his dealings with Grendel's mother. The whole thing was reduced to a typical ironic contemporary narrative, the kind of thing that makes us feel we are so much smarter than our ancestors without offering any sort of examination of why they told the stories they did and what we may have in common with that.

 

[GOLLUM]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I have to admit, having the script in front of me now I can safely say I don't think Beowulf was one of Mr. Gaiman's better efforts.

As Kniveosut I believe correctly points out, his own work has usually been adapted well, so I'm not completely clear on what bunnypeaches was driving at. It would be good to get this further clarified.

 

[Nesacat]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Aye the script was nothing to shout about but, but I liked the way some of it looked. I know this is extremely mundane and shallow but I did. I liked 'looking' at parts of it. And I've always liked seeing what people made of something I personally like and care about. Grendel's tale is one of those things.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

The dragon was spectacular.

 

[Grimward]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I liked Coraline too. Very well done. Haven't seen the others yet.

 

[bunnypeaches]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Ok I'll concede I forgot Mirrormask, that one is pretty good. But I can't believe what I'm hearing about Stardust in particular, I thought that was painfully bad! Just awful all over, specially Ricky Gervais's cringe-worthy cameo. Urgh, the whole thing just made me shudder. And probably a lot of why I didn't like Coraline is I don't like the stye of animation, but I guess that's personal taste.

I don't really ever like films of books, so I'm probably just being grumpy but I can't help it!

Oh, and I'd forgotten Beowulf too (face palm) but that one didn't seem to go anywhere at all if I remember rightly?

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I can understand your dissatisfaction with Stardust - it was, as I've noted the most Hollywoodized Gaiman adaptation. Still, there werre very good things in it such as Michelle Pfeiffer's performance. De Niro rather hammed it up, but that seems to be his stock in trade these days.

As for Coraline - I was initially disappointed that the visual style was not like McKean's excellent illustrations for the original novel, but give it a second chance! It really is quite wonderful, I think.

 

[bunnypeaches]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Hmm... Ok I'll try to watch Coraline again at some point and give it another chance... But only cause it's you! And yes, De Niro was the straw that broke the Rachael's back when it comes to Stardust.

I am quite fussy when it comes to what I see as things they changed for no good reason. I understand books have to be altered and bits have to be cut out for films but when they change stuff when I can't see why (eg Door has red hair, stupid BBC people!), that sort of thing really does annoy me.

 

[Mouse]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I've seen Neverwhere (own it), Coraline (own it), Stardust (own it), and Beowulf (don't own it, don't want it either!) And liked all of them, despite what I just said about Beowulf there.

I love Stardust. I saw the film before I read the book, and I prefer the film really. Even though Gaiman is my favourite writer. I find the book ending hugely depressing!!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I read an interview in which Neil Gaiman said that he was quite pleased with the adaptation of "Stardust.". He didn't have a problem with any of the changes, and he understood why they were made. Perhaps having been involved in writing scripts himself gives him a different perspective than the rest of us.

Anyway, I thought "Stardust" was charming. I didn't like the Ricky Gervais cameo, either, and there were a few other things I didn't like, but they didn't spoil the movie for me.

I think it is easy to blame Hollywood for everything one doesn't like. Is it possible that all British adaptations of books are flawless? Although, living in America, I have undoubtedly missed a great many of them, some of those I have seen disappointed me.

 

[bunnypeaches]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Well, I'm not expecting everyone to feel the same way I do, I was just voicing an opinion Clearly I'm in the minority, and all the interviews I've read Neil Gaiman has always said he was pleased with all the screen adaptations too. I told you all earlier I think I'm just a perfectionist (or maybe fussy would be a better word).

Teresa, I wasn't trying to say British films are better than America films by any means, besides Neverwhere was a BBC thing. I just used 'Hollywood' where I guess I should have said 'the film industry'. I meant it very generally

 

[bunnypeaches]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

Oh and it's not just Gaiman's book-to-film adaptations, I'm almost always disappointed with films of my favourite books. It's one of my 'things'. I even annoy myself with it quite often, so I don't blame you guys for finding it irritating.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Re: Dear Neil Gaiman, please stop letting people make films out of your books. Thank

I don't think you are the only one here who is often disappointed by film adaptations of favorite books. I often dislike them on the first viewing, but I may like them better on a second, when I stop expecting something that matches my idea of the book and start appreciating the film on its own terms. Sometimes, however, I hate the movie more, because the alterations continue to grate on me.

What I particularly dislike is when a story that has been successfully adapted time and time again without major changes, suddenly falls into the hands of screenwriters who think they can do better than the original. Changes are sometimes necessary, but when it's already been proven that they aren't needed for a particular story, I am annoyed by the presumption of those who feel they can improve on a classic.

So I don't think that anyone is out of sympathy with your position in principle.