Books! (aka best books to movies)

Top movie adaptations according to the Independent. There's some good ones there including Trainspotting and LA Confidential. But there's some questionable ones like A Room With A View and some included just for an iconic image or two (Breakfast at Tiffany's). Below are some of my favorites that need to be in the discussion:

1) Out of Sight (book by Elmore Leonard) -- This is Soderbergh's best and he has some gems on his resume including Sex, Lies, and Videotape and Ocean's 11. It has the coolest of casts, each actor at the top of his/her game (Clooney, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle). And Jennifer Lopez proves that, at one point in her life, she was the personification of crazy, sexy, cool. Oh and there's a badass score with some funk and Dean Martin. 

2) Devil in a Blue Dress (book by Walter Mosley) -- The Easy Rawlins mysteries combined the best of noir, but spun it with a black protagonist in mid-20th century America. His struggles and the way he finds success give these books an edge that other detective books don't have. Only Denzel Washington could have played him and he captures Easy's honor, anger, and thoughtful understanding of race. Don Cheadle (again) almost steals the show as Easy's best friend, a muderous gangster named Mouse.

3) Jackie Brown (the novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard) -- This might be my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie and it might be his best. It's his only film that even tries for full characters and sad human drama. Pam Grier is a revelation as the air hostess in a rut and Robert De Niro is quietly awesome. The soul/funk/hip hop soundtrack includes Bill Withers's Who is He and Minnie RIpperton's Inside My Love. Wow! The Chris Tucker Beaumont scene is the best thing in Tarantino's filmography.