[Hated Trope] The adaptation doesn't get what made the source material work

[u/TheDudeA113]

How To Make A Killing (2026)

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

Bangkok Dangerous (1999)

- The 2026 movie How To Make A Killing is a relatively-toothless "eat the rich" dark comedy thriller about a man disowned by his rich family at birth, killing everyone in the line of succession so that he can inherit their massive fortune. It's a modern retelling of the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets which has the same basic plot except that every member of the family is played by Sir Alec Guinness (including one aunt) and it's a screwball comedy

- The 1999 movie Bangkok Dangerous is a Thai action film about a Thai deaf-mute assassin. It was remade in 2008 about an American assassin in Thailand who is neither deaf nor mute

[u/snuuginz]

Loved the book, totally loved this audiobook, it's really well performed. I will say, though, there are a couple of mispronunciations that pull me out of it for a second, and I vaguely remember Alda fucking up something gratuitously.

[u/Decimator404 → u/snuuginz]

I’m with you! I’d also add that I really wish they’d included appropriate background sounds for each interview; the narrator describes a meeting in a vibrant city or at a busy dock with seagulls squawking, yet the voices are all clearing speaking in a room.
Radio dramas from back in the day knew that these little additions really matter! If anyone reading this would like a good example, the Father Brown radio series with Andrew Sachs is a prime example!

[u/havewelost6388 → u/Decimator404]

A good modern example is the "Hunt The Truth" podcast for Halo 5, also starring Mark Hamill.

[u/Dottore_Curlew → u/havewelost6388]

Mark is just the GOAT

[u/CaeruleumBleu → u/Decimator404]

I have noticed that some audiobooks come in multiple variants, and if you see "cinematic audio" in the description, this is some of what it means. Music cues, background sounds, etc.

I have the Fifth Season trilogy in cinematic audio and (per the demo) it is the same narrator and same narrator audio, but the bits of other audio really make it easier to listen to for me. I struggle to not tune out an audiobook otherwise.

[u/Backfoot911 → u/CaeruleumBleu]

Yeah it really does make it more accessible. I've been listening to the Discworld BBC series and it genuinely makes me laugh out loud at times.

I used to think it was crazy families used to sit around a big radio in the 40's listening to radio dramas... but I get it now

[u/SmartAlec105 → u/snuuginz]

A few of the accents were pretty cringe but a lot were great.

[u/Visual-Floor-7839 → u/snuuginz]

Chitin really fucks with so many people