There were several books written about those events, and I think at least one of them attempted to discredit Krakauer's version to some degree. I want to say the climber Anatoli Boukreev, but I might be wrong about that. Can't ask him about it now, he died on Annapurna not too long after the disaster on Everest.
I read Boukreev's book shortly after reading Krakauer's. Even given English is not his natural language, it was still a very painful read. There were some differences in the details, but the main difference is that Krakauer could write.
I used to read a lot of mountaineering literature. They were all interesting stories, but many of them weren't good writers. Krakauer and David Roberts stood head and shoulders above the rest in that regard IMO.
I've read 2 Poirot novels, one Sherlock novel and a bunch of his short stories. That's just not how it works. You're not supposed to be able to figure it out. Their powers of observation and deduction are bordering on superhuman, so they do just "figure stuff out" without it really being apparent how they did that with what was presented.
I have read and seen lots of them as well. But in the films and the books, then clues are there. Extremely subtle, well disguise, yes. But they exist on the screen or page in some fashion. Here they weren’t and it was a problem in my opinion.
I didn't know Grosse Pointe Blank was such a dud at the Box office. It's a great movie. Certainly one of his best movies with Better off Dead, Say Anything and High Fidelity, definitely among the top 5. Aykroyd is great. Alan Arkin is great as his shrink. Sister Joan as his assistant. Jeremy Piven as an old HS friend. Mitchell Ryan is funny as Minnie Driver's dad.I was supposed to work a polling station on Tuesday, but wife tested positive Monday night (she's fine, caught it at work) so I was told to go home. Free day, bit of rain, so decided to revisit couple of favorites I hadn't seen in a few years. Oddly they're both about hit men having personal crises. Don't know what that says about me
Grosse Pointe Blank (Prime thru 5/31) John Cusack said it's his favorite movie of the dozens he's been in. Getting into an actual IRL relationship with Minnie Driver might've had something to do with that. Anyway, they're great together. It was the 73rd highest grossing film of 1997 at $38 million (the godawful George of the Jungle did $105 mill box office that year). Never understood why it didn't do better, everyone I know who's seen it enjoyed it, but it's now a bit of a cult classic. If you don't know the plot, Martin Blank (Cusack) goes back to Grosse Pointe for his 10th HS reunion. While he's there he has to execute a contract, while rivals want to execute him. Lots of great throwaway lines, especially when Cusack goes existential. Dan Aykroyd also plays his part as the organizer of a union for assassins with zeal. Sister Joan and Alan Arkin also have minor but funny parts. One of my top 25 comedies ever.
The Matador (Prime w/ads). Pierce Brosnan plays the most anti-Pierce Brosnan role of his career as Julian, an aging, emotionally stunted, crass slob of a hit man who's having panic attacks on the job. He's incapable of having a relationship and has no friends he can talk to about his problems. Until he meets Danny (Greg Kinnear), a struggling businessman, at a hotel bar in Mexico. While it's hysterically funny at the start due to Julian's outrageously bad-mannered behavior, the movie actually has depth as a study of two completely different men in crises, Danny, who has the stable life and love Julian seeks, and Julian, who has a certain wisdom that helps Danny in his darkest moment of crisis. Hope Davis is wonderful as Danny's wife, and several familiar character actors who arrange Julian's hits play it perfectly straight, adding weight to the storyline. It was Brosnan's only Golden Globe nomination (many reviewers thought it Oscar-worthy) and the film is nothing w/o him - and likely nobody else but him would've been able to carry the film due to his past roles as a suave, sophisticated spy, which makes this role particularly funny and engaging. It was also a box office bomb, doing only $17 mill as the 153rd grossing film of 2006. Can't account for taste.
The Matador reminded me of Pierce Brosnan's role in No Escape - 2015 - Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan - although the movies aren't similar.I was supposed to work a polling station on Tuesday, but wife tested positive Monday night (she's fine, caught it at work) so I was told to go home. Free day, bit of rain, so decided to revisit couple of favorites I hadn't seen in a few years. Oddly they're both about hit men having personal crises. Don't know what that says about me
Grosse Pointe Blank (Prime thru 5/31) John Cusack said it's his favorite movie of the dozens he's been in. Getting into an actual IRL relationship with Minnie Driver might've had something to do with that. Anyway, they're great together. It was the 73rd highest grossing film of 1997 at $38 million (the godawful George of the Jungle did $105 mill box office that year). Never understood why it didn't do better, everyone I know who's seen it enjoyed it, but it's now a bit of a cult classic. If you don't know the plot, Martin Blank (Cusack) goes back to Grosse Pointe for his 10th HS reunion. While he's there he has to execute a contract, while rivals want to execute him. Lots of great throwaway lines, especially when Cusack goes existential. Dan Aykroyd also plays his part as the organizer of a union for assassins with zeal. Sister Joan and Alan Arkin also have minor but funny parts. One of my top 25 comedies ever.
The Matador (Prime w/ads). Pierce Brosnan plays the most anti-Pierce Brosnan role of his career as Julian, an aging, emotionally stunted, crass slob of a hit man who's having panic attacks on the job. He's incapable of having a relationship and has no friends he can talk to about his problems. Until he meets Danny (Greg Kinnear), a struggling businessman, at a hotel bar in Mexico. While it's hysterically funny at the start due to Julian's outrageously bad-mannered behavior, the movie actually has depth as a study of two completely different men in crises, Danny, who has the stable life and love Julian seeks, and Julian, who has a certain wisdom that helps Danny in his darkest moment of crisis. Hope Davis is wonderful as Danny's wife, and several familiar character actors who arrange Julian's hits play it perfectly straight, adding weight to the storyline. It was Brosnan's only Golden Globe nomination (many reviewers thought it Oscar-worthy) and the film is nothing w/o him - and likely nobody else but him would've been able to carry the film due to his past roles as a suave, sophisticated spy, which makes this role particularly funny and engaging. It was also a box office bomb, doing only $17 mill as the 153rd grossing film of 2006. Can't account for taste.
I remember just my luck. It wasn’t great, but it was definitely watchable.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
No, he’s not usually repetitive. Hollywood likes bad guys wearing black.
Shining the book was much better than the movie, IMHO. Kubrick ruined the ending, which was nothing like the book.
King wrote Running Man as Richard Bachman - the Scwartznegger movie was vastly different . Another Bachman novella, one that’s haunted me, was Thinner. No one can draw characters like Stephen King.
Thinner is another movie that the source book is much better. Talk about character development, he flushes out the motivations of everyone well. I love the “curse of the white man from town“ part of the book. The ending is a nice twist and feels appropriate
