Memoirs of a Geisha

[Shrapnill]

Anyone seen it? I had read the book a few months ago and LOVED it. I found that the movie screwed up the pacing and removed the perception that the book provided. Granted, they squeezed a whole book in to 2.5 hrs but I was sorely disappointed.

[Jamo]

I havent read the book, i might give it a try one time as im looking for another good read.
Saw the trailer and i must say it did look spectacular, maybe ill enjoy it more seeing as i have no pretences.

[Shrapnill]

Meh- the movie is good, but the whole power of the book is in the story of a geishas dedication and life. Wasnt well captured in the movie, Id just read the book personally. However, the movie has one dance scene in it that is absolutely amazing. It is also set very nicely. Other than that, unimpressed.

[Frozyn]

Jamo - I never read the book and I thought the movie was great.

Shrap - I can definitely understand where you're coming from. I saw it with my parents and they, having not read the book, both mentioned how the movie did not truly emphasize the life of the geisha. I figured that, since it was a movie, it could not embody all aspects of the book, and they decided to focus on the girl.

With movies based on books, I force myself to forget the book when watching the movie. Otherwise, it's almost guaranteed that I'll hate the movie. Recently I did this with Jarhead and was happy with the movie, even though it was not nearly as good as reading the book. To me, Movies are meant to entertain. Books are meant to tell the entire true story.

[EDIT] I have to agree, that dance scene she did in the snow was absolutely incredible. It's mind-boggling to me that people actually lived their lives that way. [/EDIT]

[Shrapnill]

Granted, I cant think of one movie off the top of my head that does its book justice (adaptation, fight club- may be on that list), but its so disappointing to me when it happens. My girlfriend and I both read geisha (first me, then I insisted she read it) and we were both very excited about the film. It was a letdown.

I am also excited for the Time Travellers Wife. Anyone know when this is scheduled to release?

[Frozyn]

I checked Film-Releases.com and it has it listed as TBA.

[Jamo]

You didnt think Lord of the rings did the books justice?

[Frozyn]

Not completely. They were about the best book-Movie transitions I've seen, that I can think of, but still didn't do the books complete justice.

[Aramis]

I thought they really did the books justice better than I could've hoped for.

I haven't seen Geisha yet though my wife really wants to see it.

Another movie I thought that actually IMPROVED on the book was The Chronicles of Narnia. Given, you're taking simple subject matter (it's written at elementary or middle school reading level) but I felt they made some nice changes to improve the pacing and dramatics of the story. I got to see it last week and really enjoyed it a lot. I read the book just a few days before that (again) and thought it was rather boring as compared to when I was a kid.

[Da Fish]

Well whatever you do dont see the film "Timeline". Read the book (by Micheal Crichton) by all means, but I didnt actually think it was possible for something to suck and blow like the film did!

I prefer to read the book after seeing the film, that way I'm not dissappointed by plot variations and the like, however, it should be noted that comparing a book to a film is often like comparing milk with cheese.

[Swedish_Seb]

I've read three reviews, each gave the film one out of five possible.

[Shrapnill]

The average I see is 3/5. As a movie its not bad, but it just doesnt hold a flame to the book.