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Still, it's hard for me to separate film from book. My head knows that the film's job isnt to faithfully reproduce the book. My heart is a different story.

Everyone feels that way, of course. Trouble is, the heart will always let us down. No adaptation will ever equal the movie running in our minds. Ironically, it's the head that can protect our love of the material, by giving us an avenue to let go of our preconceptions and try to enjoy an adaptation as a possibly interesting version of the story--the version running in someone else's mind.

 

This story strikes me as one best left to the images in my head. What made the story so wonderful was what wasn't said, and what wasn't shown. Movies can't get away with that.

Some books are so dependent upon their literary qualities that they just can't be adapted without losing their core. For example, I can't imagine how Updike's In the Beauty of the Lilies could be turned into a film. Perhaps The Road is indeed unfilmable... we'll see, I guess.

 

And if we're going to talk about Jim Carrey, let me say that The Truman Show is a masterpiece and owes a large debt to Carrey's presence. Since the character has been denied proper socialization, Carrey's pseudo-human muggery actually makes perfect thematic sense, and I can't think of any other performer who could have pulled it off. It's the best thing Carrey's ever done, IMO. (I love Eternal Sunshine, too.)

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I don't get the hate for Carrey, honestly. I know he mugs it up for the cameras a lot, but come on. The man was in Dumb & Dumber. If you can't appreciate that, then there's something wrong with you.

 

I too think The Truman Show is his best movie. I'm surprised Beltmann likes it so much, but now I feel validated when it comes on TBS at 2 in the morning and I watch it until 5 am with commercials.

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Guest Hollinger.

But Dumb & Dumber might be the worst movie ever made. I can't appreciate that at all. Carey is one step above Adam Sandler in my book. I'll give him Eternal Sunshine, Man On The Moon and parts of Truman Show.

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I saw the trailer. Looked inneresting, I'll try to check it out. But in the interest of picking up reading again, I'm contemplating picking this book up. While this is a nitpicky kind of deal, should I invest in hardbound for this book or is going paperback not too bad? I ask because sometimes it changes the experience in minuscule ways, and perhaps I would like to experience this in the "best way" possible.

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But Dumb & Dumber might be the worst movie ever made. I can't appreciate that at all. Carey is one step above Adam Sandler in my book. I'll give him Eternal Sunshine, Man On The Moon and parts of Truman Show.

 

I also like some Adam Sandler movies.

 

I am the king of low culture.

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I'll take 'when money is your muse' for $800, please.

 

Jeopardy_TV_Walpaper_1_800.jpg

 

Throw a moustache (and the occasional beard) on him, and that son of a whore Trebeck (sp?) looks pretty much exactly like my father-in-law.

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But Dumb & Dumber might be the worst movie ever made. I can't appreciate that at all.
My daughter and I were in the thrift store and she saw a VHS copy of Dumb & Dumber. She asked me if I'd seen it before and I said "Yeah." Then she asked me what it was about and I had no idea what to say.

 

 

While this is a nitpicky kind of deal, should I invest in hardbound for this book or is going paperback not too bad? I ask because sometimes it changes the experience in minuscule ways, and perhaps I would like to experience this in the "best way" possible.
I like trade paperback because it's easier to manipulate and lighter to carry around.
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I don't get the hate for Carrey, honestly. I know he mugs it up for the cameras a lot, but come on. The man was in Dumb & Dumber. If you can't appreciate that, then there's something wrong with you.

You misread GON's (and my follow-up, edited) post. "Understated" was the key word in there. Dumb & Dumber is great.

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Plus that Oprah book club sticker peels right off.
I bought mine used...pulled it off of my shelf just now to see if I had a sticker and sure enough, there's a gummy little circle where one of those stickers probably resided! Previous owner did my sticker removal for me!
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I bought mine used...pulled it off of my shelf just now to see if I had a sticker and sure enough, there's a gummy little circle where one of those stickers probably resided! Previous owner did my sticker removal for me!

 

Someone from Harpo Productions will be stopping by shortly to assist with re-branding "your" book in Oprah

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bought a first edition h/c two years ago and have seen it double in value (at least) so far (depending on where you buy), considering it is in perfect condition.

 

-justin

 

 

Hmmmm...me too, I picked it up on the day it was released- so, you're saying it's worth, like, $50?

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Guest Hollinger.
I have a feeling the value of that book will have plummeted significantly by the end of this thread. Like all five billion baseball cards I own.
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