TTT: Favorite movies made from books

Broke and Bookish

I am not much of a movie-goer so my list may not seem very current. But here are few movies that I enjoyed. All of them were books first and I've read the books. (List is in random order, but as they came to my mind.)

1. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell---by today's standards this movie is long but both it and the book are so, so good. Rent it and watch it at home some winter evening. Give yourself plenty of time.

2. Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King---The novella is actually called "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and it is published in the book Different Seasons.

3. Schindler's List by Tom Kenneally---Spielberg did a masterful job with this movie and the book is a must-read.

4. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel---the book is so strange and wonderful I didn't think it was possible to make a movie to even half way math up to it, but it was very, very good...quite magical.

5. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling---we just finished the Harry Potter marathon at our house this weekend. All the movies are good. Of course, they leave out some of the good stuff but nonetheless, they are excellent.

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen---I like the Keira Knightley version of the movie but the BBC series with Colin Firth is better. I actually should place all movies made from Austen's book here. I love them all.

7. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien---both of the recent movies, The Unexpected Journey and the Desolation of Smaug were very good.

8. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis (also Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)--- this is a pet peeve of mine:  The books are meant to be read in the order they were published. Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first and The Magician's Nephew sixth! Fortunately the movie producers got them in the right order.

9. One Day by David Nicholls---OK, probably not a favorite favorite but I just watched the movie yesterday after finishing the book earlier in the day.

10. Hunger Games/Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins---I actually quite like the movies made from these awesome books. Well done.

OK, this list wasn't as hard to make as I thought and I am sure that I am leaving off some real favorites but these ten are the first ones I thought of. I hope to see the Fault in Our Stars with my daughters today so maybe I will come back and amend my list afterwards.

11.  Just back from The Fault in Our Stars movie with my daughters. It was very true to the book. The three of us wept our way through it. What would I do if I had sons instead of daughters who will go to such movies with me?

What about you? What are your favorite movies made from books/ short stories?