Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to choose what they think is the best movie under a certain topic related to a recent release. So this week, with the release of Three Thousand Years of Longing, based on the short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye”, we’re counting down our favorite movies based on short stories! Let us know @SiftPop what your ranking is!
Truly great science fiction films don’t come around all that often. Movies that are not just generally good; they stand the test of time and can be studied and evaluated years to come. I believe that 20 years later, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report can now be classified among not only the best science fiction films of the 21st century, but among the best science fiction films of all time. Loosely based on the Phillip K. Dick short story of the same name, Spielberg joined forces with one of the biggest names in film, Tom Cruise, to bring an epic story rooted in the conversation of free will and determinism. Though a long film, nothing feels out of place. Every moment is crucial in the development of the characters and the intricacy of the plot. And while the complex nature of the plot demands your attention, it’s not so difficult to understand that it leaves you scratching your head. If anything, all the layers feel completely appropriate and just encourage more watches to see how everything was established. It’s a personal favorite film of mine from a personal favorite director, it’s among Tom Cruise’s best work, and it’s one of the premier genre bending films of the last 20 years. (Nashua Doll)
The Fly is a tragic tale of how ambition can dismantle one’s life and sever precious relationships in the process. Director David Cronenberg’s re-telling of “The Fly”, is brilliant on all fronts. He shows through the degradation of Seth Brundle’s (Jeff Goldblum) appearance there is also a huge toll on his mental state and overall personality. Brundle’s hubris shatters his life due to him not taking all the proper precautions to further his research on his teleportation device. His beneficiaries breathing down his neck, as well as his own impatience, cause him to make drastic decisions that leads to everything going wrong in his life. The most devastating aspect being his budding relationship with Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis). Cronenberg is able to delve deep into body horror, as well as balance the drama of the primary characters so well. Goldblum and Davis are excellent throughout this film, and you can’t help but feel awful as their lives spiral out of control. Cronenberg’s direction coupled with the timeless special effects help sell this movie and make it memorable all these decades later. The Fly is a phenomenal film, if you have the stomach for its strong visual style. (Joe Vargas)
As acclaimed as he is, we likely don’t give director Ang Lee enough credit for what a chameleon he is. To direct a romantic western like Brokeback Mountain after films like Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Hulk is a feat worthy of praise all on its own. Of course, it helps that Brokeback Mountain — like the majority of Lee’s films — is beautifully directed with excellent craftsmanship from all involved. From Rodrigo Prieto’s evocative cinematography to Gustavo Santaolalla’s tender musical score, Brokeback Mountain is a technical beauty, but it is the film’s emotional story and heartbreaking performances that will stick with you long after the credits roll. One can’t argue with Philip Seymour Hoffman’s win for 2005’s Capote, but if it were any other year, Heath Ledger’s heart-wrenching and delicately restrained performance in Brokeback Mountain would be worthy of every award under the sun. (Foster Harlfinger)
For this week’s BEC, I did a bit of digging and found that the 2021 film Drive My Car was based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, in his collection titled Men Without Women. So, as I had yet to see it, I decided to take a dive into this movie, and boy, am I glad I did. Depicting a widowed actor and play producer and his hired driver during a play production, I constantly found myself blown away at each and every moment. The acting is great, how they seamlessly take moments early in the film and connect them to later beats, to scenes showing actors auditioning and performing on stage speaking English, Mandarin, Japanese, Tagalog, and even Korean Sign Language, I just keep finding myself pulled into the movie. Adapting any movie, especially those adapted from a short story into a nearly three hour film, is a fine line to walk, but Drive My Car is like a gymnast on a balance beam. It flows, it dances, and once it lands it comes down on both feet. If you were like me and haven’t seen this one, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. (Joseph Davis)
Christopher Nolan is known for his large-scale movies that play with and interrogate the concept of time, such as Inception and Interstellar, but I think he’s at his best when his stories are small, simple, and character-focused. Memento is just that. The film follows Leonard (Guy Pearce), a man with short-term memory loss, during his seemingly neverending mission to track down the man who murdered his wife. To keep us knowing exactly as much as the protagonist knows, Nolan essentially tells the story backwards, with five-minute chunks, alternating between color and black-and-white photography. It’s this small-time filmmaking problem-solving that shows that Nolan actually has some legitimate instincts as a filmmaker beyond grandiosity. Memento is a great film that showcases how far we’ll go to rid ourselves of guilt and grief. (Robert Bouffard)
What creative forces collided to bring one of the greatest science fiction films of all time to existence? Arthur C. Clarke was one of the formative writers in the sci-fi genre during his lifetime. His impressive intelligence, technical prowess, and ability to expand our imagination created some all-time great stories, including “The Sentinel”. This short story laid the groundwork for his legendary collaboration with cinematic madman and genius Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey. This adaptation was crafted by both Clarke and Kubrick, with Kubrick getting more of (if not all) the acknowledgements. This world of cinematic art is a broad yet compelling tale about the evolution of man, from the dawn and the evolution of humanoid apes who laid the groundwork for all humankind, to the trippiest trip you will ever see as our lead travels through a wormhole in space. This deeply thematic and metaphorical journey through time and existence is awe-inspiring. The film boasts one of the greatest villains of all time in the homicidal and unhinged artificial intelligence, HAL 9000. Kubrick plus Clarke makes for iconic cinematic work made for the big screen. (Shane Conto)
The word “classic” gets thrown around a lot, but It’s a Wonderful Life has achieved classic status. Based on the short story, “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern, I don’t need to tell you what this film is about, at least I hope. All I will say about this movie is this: I am not an American, so believe it or not, this isn’t a “Christmas Classic” anywhere but the USA. So before I saw this film for the first time, I was skeptical due to some American classics not “translating” well enough for me. But It’s a Wonderful Life is such a delightfully optimistic movie I have fallen in love with it from my first viewing. And my love for this film continues to this day. I can’t say I would watch it every Christmas, but I have watched it on numerous occasions since then, and that is something I could not say for many movies. Everything about this film simply works, and it never fails to get me in a better, more hopeful mood. And that’s what movies and stories in general should be about. Well, at least the uplifting ones. (Luke Burian)
In today’s edition of “where did this come from in Hollywood?”, I saw Rashomon, based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story “In a Grove”, for the first time recently. It’s always so refreshing to see where things come from in Hollywood. In this case, it’s piecing together a story from multiple perspectives. Rashomon is about a samurai found murdered in a forest and it shows the perspectives of a bunch of different people who witnessed or were somehow involved in the incident. This is the film that put Japan on the map from a filmmaking perspective, and what catapulted Akira Kurosawa on the map. This also was the origin of the Rashomon effect, which describes the unreliability of a witness’ account. Rashomon is legendary and one of the greatest films ever made. It’s a movie that demands to be seen. (Mike Hilty)
Hollywood loves to make movies about itself and how wonderful it is to practice the art of cinema. They are constantly trying to sell us on the beauty of the process of filmmaking, or how important their work is. But All About Eve spits some harsh truth about the brutality of show business. That message is just as relevant in 1950 as it is in 2022. Conniving, young, talented Eve (Anne Baxter) enters the shadow of hero Margo. As she learns about the business of the acting world, Eve makes her mark and gets all the fame she wanted. But along the way she betrays Margo (Bette Davis) and her friends to reach the top, where she finds herself oh so lonely. All the tricks she pulled to get there got her what she wanted, but now she has no one left to share it with. It is a story that connects to us outside of the Hollywood world. To achieve your career dreams, sometimes you have to sacrifice time with family and friends. We all feel upset when someone who has not put in the years and effort like we have gets that promotion we wanted. That is what makes this movie excellent, that relatability. And the final five minutes are a powerful message on the repeating nature of it all, and how the same people stay on top, while most of us are in a rat race at the bottom. (Sam Nichols)
Writer Cornell Woolrich certainly seemed to have a thing for stories involving potential crimes inadvertently viewed through panes of glass. The author wrote “The Boy Who Cried Murder”, which served as the basis for the 1949 The Window about a young boy who witnesses a murder (worth a watch), but his most famous work of voyeuristic crime witnesses has to be his short story “Rear Window”. The adaptation of the same name is my personal favorite of Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography. The thriller follows wheelchair-bound photographer L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) and his girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) as they try to determine whether a neighbor across the way is guilty of a heinous crime. Stewart and Kelly give absolutely magnetic performances in their respective roles, but it’s Hitchcock’s direction in particular that really shines. From the very opening scene, we’re given everything we need to know about the apartment complex’s layout and those who inhabit it. Through the lens of Jeffries’s camera (and his sense of boredom at being contained to his room), we get a brief snapshot of the lives of those around him. Through his temporary immobility, we get an inquisitive investigator who’s limited in exactly how he can investigate. With how the story confines itself to the complex, it stays tight and tense. We know every inch of what’s lurking outside our protagonist’s window. It’s a premise that’s often imitated, never quite duplicated. A true masterpiece. (Jake Bourgeois)
3:10 to Yuma
A decade before delivering the masterful futuristic superhero western, Logan, director James Mangold honed his craft with one of the best modern westerns, remakes, and short story adaptations in 3:10 to Yuma. They share exhilarating action sequences, humorous dialogue, and a troubled protagonist risking it all for his family, despite being undermined by a difficult child. Where 3:10 to Yuma has a clear advantage is in possessing a charismatic villain. The best villains have relatable motives despite questionable methods, but on rare occasions you get one like Heath Ledger’s Joker, who just wants to watch the world burn and constantly puts a smile on your face with terrifying charm. Russell Crowe is the latter as legendary outlaw Ben Wade, who takes just as much joy in routinely robbing the Southern Railroad as he does in psychologically and physically tormenting his captors. One of those captors is Christian Bale’s Dan Evans, a struggling rancher trying to dig his family out of a deep hole. His desperation is understandable, as his wife won’t look him in the eyes, his oldest son undercuts and emasculates him at every turn, and he’s missing a leg to boot. His state of mind is perfectly reflected early when his wife says, “No one will think less of you,” and he corrects her saying, “No one can think less of me.” Enthralling dialogue and action sharper than the shooting make this a brilliant modern take on a classic Western tale. (Jason Mack)
Total Recall
Watching Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall feels like a breath of fresh, totalitarian government-provided air. Based on the 1966 short story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick, Total Recall finds Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a construction worker bored with the mundanity of his life on Earth, yearning to vacation on Mars. His wife, Lori (Sharon Stone), remains unconvinced, prompting Doug to visit Rekall, a company that implants false memories of vacations advertised as indistinguishable from any other memory in a client’s head. However, before the memory implant can be completed, Doug lashes out, believing himself to be a secret agent, having already been to Mars on a special mission. What follows is an action-adventure-thriller that relies heavily on spectacular, practical effects to weave an intricate, violently bloody tale against the main villain, Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), who knows Mars has the natural potential to create an atmosphere to sustain human life, but would prefer to control an artificial environment of breathable air for profit. The first third of Verhoeven’s movie follows Dick’s short story closely, but quickly and wildly diverges to become a much larger spectacle befitting of the big screen and its big star, Schwarzenegger. Doug, and indeed the audience, are never given a definitive answer whether everything that plays out happened, or if Quaid is trapped in a lobotomized dream because of a botched implant at Rekall. It’s a film that shouldn’t be dismissed as campy, but should instead be remembered (wholesale) as deliriously entertaining and thought-provoking. (Jonathan Fedee)
The Illusionist
Based on Steven Millhauser’s “Eisenheim the Illusionist,” this adaptation, with the title shortened to simply The Illusionist,had the misfortune of being released the same year as Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige. Writer-director Neil Burger’s film adaptation stars Edward Norton as Eisenheim, whose connection with an aristocrat from his past (Jessica Biel) puts him at odds with a Viennese prince (Rufus Sewell) and in the crosshairs of an inspector (Paul Giamatti) tasked with learning his secrets at the turn of the 20th century. As someone with a predilection for both magic and thriller films, this one just fell squarely in my alley. It keeps you guessing in a manner that is satisfactory and is a story I’ve found myself going back to repeatedly. If you can separate it from the fact that another period piece featuring magicians happened to come out the same year, you’re in for a fun time. (Jake Bourgeois)
Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow is one of those movies that has always stayed with me. The gothic, Victorian look, the convincing performances, the dark humor, the score, and of course, the campy and bloody goodness that is the director Tim Burton. Loosely based on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, by Washington Irving, it follows police constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), who is sent to the village of Sleepy Hollow to investigate mysterious murders done by the Headless Horseman. I find it to be one of Burton’s best. The choice of Christopher Walken and Ray Park playing dual roles as the Headless Horseman is scary, but in a way, Burton has me rooting for the Horseman to the end. I always want to see him succeed and not lose the fight. The film makes you laugh at the wrong times — you’ll be jumping in your skin. And making sure you have a nightlight before the credits roll. There have been TV series and TV film adaptations since the 1999 version, but Sleepy Hollow is number one. (Chantal Ashford)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Some people give A.I. Artificial Intelligence flack for its jarring shifts in tone, possibly due to it being the work of two directors. It’s undoubtedly a justified point of criticism; the first and second hours feel like entirely different movies. However, if you are willing to accept that about the film, it will still be an enjoyable watch. The first hour is the better of the two for me, as it explores the idea of programming a robot to feel love and how that will come with the side effect of making them feel hateful emotions such as jealousy. Sadly, this story is abruptly abandoned when the main character David (Haley Joel Osment) is literally abandoned. The second hour retells Blade Runner right down to how the city’s look. Sadly it’s not nearly as interesting, teaching a reasonably obvious lesson that artificial life is still life. But this part of the story is saved by a standout performance from Jude Law (playing the Gigolo Joe), who plays a convincing robot through his body movements. Dr. Know (Robin Williams) is also a pretty good prediction of computer programs you can ask any question, such as Siri and Alexa, right down to it sometimes misunderstanding what you are requesting. The most significant shortcoming is the last 15 minutes, which feels like yet another story. It was a segment written by Stanley Kubrick, which director Steven Spielberg had to incorporate into the film after Kubrick’s death, and that can’t have been easy. (John Tillyard)
Candyman
Candyman, based on Clive Barker’s short story, “The Forbidden”, will go down as one of the scariest movies of all time for me. Maybe it’s because it has imagery I will never get out of my head, or maybe it’s because it’s set in Chicago, but Candyman has so much to offer for a horror fan. Tony Todd cements himself as an all-time great horror antagonist as he plays the titular character. Between his huge presence and his voice, Todd oozes with terror as Candyman. The story revolves around student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), who is studying urban legends and folklore, when she comes upon the legend of Candyman. She unfortunately bites off more than she can chew, and as she uncovers more of the story, only more scares ensue. Candyman is rich in metaphor on issues of class and racial issues in modern cities and should be regarded as one of the best horror movies of the last 35 years. (Mike Hilty)
1408
On the surface, 1408 doesn’t read like anything spectacular; writer John Cusack, who debunks tales of haunted houses, visits yet another item on his list and spends the night in the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin hotel, run by Samuel L. Jackson. Of course you know what this movie’s going to be like; the room indeed is haunted, and the movie plays itself out mostly in this single location for most of its runtime. Contained stories like this always have that extra aspect to them that allows for tension to build in a very specific manner, and not every movie does it right. 1408 certainly does it right, and while there’s plenty to talk about in terms of the horrors that are visited upon Cusack as the movie plays out, it’s also very easy to get into spoiler territory when those horrors are obviously the point of the film. The same can be said when I warn you there are multiple endings available for the film, and obviously some are more satisfying than others, but it’s hard to let you know which is which. Just be aware there’s more than one ending, and I encourage you to at least read into them after you watch the film. (Chris Bakker)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
One of the most absurdly crazy movies to come out of 2013, which I immediately fell in love with, is Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Based on the short story of the same name by James Thurber, the film tells the story of Walter Mitty (Stiller), a negative assets manager at Life magazine. On the eve of Life’s final physical issue, he loses the negative that famed photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) says is the “quintessence of Life”. So Mitty goes on a quest to find Sean to see if he has another copy of the negative, and to finally live the life he has been living in his imagination. Along for the journey across the globe comes Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Patton Oswald, Kathryn Hahn, and Shirley MacLaine. Stiller shines as director and main star. You feel for his character and how stagnant his life has become. After spending so much time seeing Mitty’s incredible daydreams, when the second act begins, you start to wonder if it’s all happening in real life or in his head. The cinematography is truly incredible; this film is one that needs to be seen. It flew under the radar for so many people and has been largely forgotten, but it is truly a great film that perfectly captures the motto of Life: “To see the world, things dangerous to come, to see behind the walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” (Austen Terry)
Also See: The Duellists, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button