Yeah, but the movie was better . . .

Almost invariably when a book is adapted into a movie, the results are disappointing. Vital scenes are cut out or gutted, beloved characters are tragically miscast, "internal" action is awkwardly externalized or, generally speaking, the movie on the screen just fails to live up to the movie in the head of anyone who has read the book. Not that books are inherently better than movies, it's just that something is usually lost in the translation.

(I suppose it works the other way, too. Almost every "novelization" of a movie I've read has been god-awful.)

But there are those rare occasions when the movie adaptation actually surpasses the source material. As someone who is interested in writing both books and movies, I am especially interested in this process. So, since the response to my "favorite short story" post was so overwhelming, here goes another long-winded list:

"Fight Club." Book by Chuck Palahniuk. Movie written by Jim Uhls, directed by David Fincher. Palahniuk (God, his name is fun to type) has so much as said that the movie has a better ending, and it's a testament to the film's power that you can't help hearing Edward Norton's sardonic voice as you read. All in all, the book reads like a provocative if amateurish first novel by a promising author. The film plays like a horrific glimpse into the future, downloaded into your brain via cutting-edge cinema black magic. Plus, the book did not contain the single best use of a Pixies song ever.

"A Simple Plan." Book by Scott Smith. Movie written by Scott Smith, directed by Sam Raimi. A rare case of a movie toning down the violence in the book, with superior results. The story's the same in both versions: two brothers and a friend on a hunting trip find a downed airplane containing several million dollars in presumed "dirty" money. The pilot's dead, nobody seems to be looking for the cash, so all they have to do is wait, right? Of course, it ain't really that simple. Secrecy and distrust lead very naturally to violence. In the book, the protagonist (played by Bill Paxton in the film) turns just this side of Ted Bundy. In the movie, there's less killing, so it's more believable and has WAY more impact.

"Christine." Book by Stephen King. Movie written by Bill Phillips, directed by John Carpenter. One of the weaker (by his own admission) of the King's early novels, turned into a lean, mean killer car movie. Good cast and a great 50's soundtrack also help.

"A Door in the Floor." From the book "A Widow for One Year" by John Irving. Movie written and directed by Tod Williams. Irving's one of my favorite authors, but he has an unfortunate tendancy towards elephantitis. His novels usually start with the hero's birth, cover their entire childhood and adolescence, and sometimes follow them all the way until death. Sometimes this works ("Garp" is the classic example) and sometimes not. This movie improves on the book by only adapting the first (and best) section, telling a story in which the book's protagonist is a young girl, and almost a peripheral character. If you want to know what happens to these characters in the next three or four decades of their lives, go ahead and read the book. Be forewarned, though, there is an extraneous sub-plot involving a serial killer stalking prostitutes in Amsterdam.

"Out of Sight." Book by Elmore Leonard. Movie written by Scott Frank, directed by Steven Soderberg. The movie shifts the focus of the novel, fleshes out the plot (for a change,) plays some twisty, Tarantino-esque games with the chronology, and adds a layer of cool with smooth performances by George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez (!) Elmore Leonard has got to the point where he can turn out these thrillers in his sleep, but the movie is wide awake. (OK, that was bad.)

"Jaws" (Peter Benchly. Peter Benchley/ Steven Spielberg.) "The Godfather" (Mario Puzo. Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola/ Francis Ford Coppola) Two cases of sudsy 70's potboilers transformed into cinema art.

"The Wizard of Oz." Book by L. Frank Baum. Baum had an incredible imagination, but when it came to the prose- not so much. The movie added indelible casting, wonderful songs, gorgeous early color special effects and, best of all, an actual ending.

Open to debate: "Gone With the Wind" and "To Kill a Mockingbird."

So, wanna quibble? Huh? Do ya, punk? If you disagree with one of those, or have a title you'd like to suggest, the "comment" button is right there.