Top Ten Tuesday - Best/Worst Film Adaptations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is: Top Ten Best/Worst Film Adaptations. As the sun is shining and the temperature has spiked to 25 degrees (that's hot for London so don't laugh) I'll try and prolong the positive vibes by only mentioning the BEST adaptations I have seen so far. 

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Really, the first three are the best Harry Potter films - partly because of that magical John Williams score- but my favourite is PoA. Having said that, I do have a soft spot for Goblet of Fire, what with the Yule Ball and an accented Barty Crouch Sr. 

2.Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging - I prefer the original book title but that's neither here nor there because this adaptation was SPOT ON. It captured the cringey moments perfectly and the cast were so fresh and full of energy. This is my favourite teen book and one of my favourite Sunday films (along with Chalet Girl and She's the Man).

3. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - I actually preferred the film to the book. The girls (well they're grown women now, aren't they?) all seemed like really good friends in real life and this translated well on screen. 

4. Matilda - Not the most faithful adaptation but a brilliant film. I never fail to laugh. 

5. The Help - This seems to be a love it/hate it film and book but I really liked the book and thought the film was well done. Viola Davis was amazing. 

6. Rebecca - A classic. I think I was too young to appreciate the book when I first read it but I watched the film again the other day and was reminded of this great story. 

7. Mrs Doubtfire - Another childhood favourite. Again, I don't think the adaptation is that faithful - I vaguely remember being a little disappointed when I checked the book out of the library as a child. I think my favourite Anne Fine was Flour Babies. Anyway, Mrs Doubtfire is such a funny film. Even though I find Robin Williams more than a little creepy. 

8. Little Women - Ahhhh. Do I need to say more? 

9. Atonement - Again, I preferred the film to the book but I've never been able to get into Ian McEwan's style of writing. The score to this film is one of my favourites too. 

10. Pride and Prejudice (BBC) - TV mini-serieses count, don't they? They're like mini movies... Well, let's just assume they do because this is the mini-series to end all mini-serieses. It just reminds me of summer in Britain. I don't care for the book very much but this adaptation injected some much needed life into the story.

Now, I have to cheat a little bit here because there are many, many great adaptations that I haven't had the chance to read (although let's be honest, now that I know the story, I probably won't ever read them because my TBR pile is big enough as it is). So very quickly (and quietly) here are some more of my favourites: 

Any Human Heart, Giant, Empire of the Sun, Legends of the Fall, The Pianist, To Sir With Love, Gone with the Wind, Mysic River, The Godfather, Layer Cake, Cool Hand Luke