Thanks go to Heather of Nerdy by Nature for the fantastic topic idea!

For the most part, I am a “read the book before I see the movie” person. That is, of course, if I know it’s an adaptation. And for four out of five of these, I absolutely read the book first, but my number one book-to-movie was from my childhood, and I didn’t realize it was based on a book until many years after I fell in love with the movie.

5. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Not only was this a great adaptation of a really excellent book, the casting was spot on. Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Marsha Gay Harden and Laura Linney – all of them playing their parts to perfection. I was so psyched up for this movie when it came out, I went to the theater by myself to see it.

4. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

This one isn’t an easy watch by any means, but it is as powerful as the source material. The characters really draw you in, and the cruelty of mental health care in the not so distant past becomes impossible to ignore.

3. The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

For me, Stephen King adaptations are more miss than hit – it’s hard to distill several hundred pages into less than two hours. The Shawshank Redemption manages to avoid a lot of those issues both because of the brevity of the source material and the length of the movie. In fact, the movie version manages to make the story even more powerful with some new plot points, and it’s done well enough that you may not even realize what parts were just added for the film.

(and if you don’t already know what I’m talking about, I’m not going to be the one who reveals that little secret.)

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This is a book I sought out deliberately once I knew a movie was being made of it, and I thought that at least the first book-to-movie translation was pretty damn excellent.

1. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

When I was young, I rented this movie over and over, but it wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I read the book for the first time. It’s beautiful, terrifying and heartbreaking all at once, and I still watch it regularly. If I had to guess, this would be my most-watched movie of all time, and it holds up.

I spotted this topic on Nerdy By Nature and Hello. It’s B. and decided to take my own swipe at it. With so many movies and television shows either focusing on a romantic relationship or dude-ships, really fantastic girl buddies really light up the screens.

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Five: Garcia, Emily and JJ – Criminal Minds

Going a little off track here starting out with a trio, but let’s be real, these ladies were at their peak when they were all together. My favorite opener from the entire series will always be the episode where some random dude hits on Emily at a bar, and tries to pick them up by telling them he works at the FBI. This trio very quickly puts him in his place, showing their own badges after he tells them “It’s Classified”, and then they share a laugh, and you know these characters feel such incredible affection for each other.

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Four: Ruth and Bettina – Six Feet Under

Despite the fact that Kathy Bates’s Bettina only appears in 10 of the 63 episodes of Six Feet Under, she might have been the very best part of Ruth’s storylines over five seasons. When Ruth and Bettina are together, they both light up, and their wildly different personalities complement each other perfectly.

Three: Liz and Maria, Roswell

Sure, Roswell was a love story first, and sci-fi thriller second, but I would argue that it’s also a high school bestie fest. Every girl should have a friend who will help her hide the fact that her boyfriend is an alien.

Two: Cece and Hillary – Beaches

For women of a certain age, Beaches was probably our first glance into friendship that lasts a lifetime. Not only was it oh-so-precious, it was also very real – Cece and Hillary drift apart and crash back together, but they always love each other with everything they have to give.

One: Meredith and Cristina – Grey’s Anatomy

Despite their soap-opera lives, these two are Squad Goals, and a big part of the reason I watched Grey’s for as long as I did. The relationship between these two is often so raw, but it’s so very very important. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a person like Meredith or Cristina (depending on which one you personally identify with more).

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Have a favorite pair (or trio) of gal pals? Tell me all about it in the comments or post your own Fandom Friday.