>>>>Today I was at Target for some provisions and on a whim bought a DVD trilogy of the Bourne movies. They are selling it for about $22. I am taking a brief intermission from the first one. It is probably not an overstatement to say it is among the best thrillers in recent years. Very tightly written (based on a schlock novel), a couple dozen classic scenes. The second and third installments were directed by Paul Greengrass in a visual style every other action director has been trying to emulate since. Terrific flicks, as good and entertaining as the early Bond movies.
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>>>I loved the books until the author died and they were written by other authors under his name. I enjoyed every movie, but to be frank, the visual style after the first drove me nuts. I hate all the camera movement. Too jerky and difficult to focus. Headache!
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>>True, although I don't think we are really talking about that many scenes. The influence on other directors is undeniable.
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>>As far as Robert Ludlum, see my reply to John B. I give him credit for plotting but did not like his writing style at all. "Hammer them over the head." I like a little nuance, a little grace.
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>The Bourne films are that rare thing. Better than the book. I read a couple of Ludlum books after people here where recommending them and I thought they where c___p

We are on the same page.

FWIW my favorite is Graham Greene. He wrote beautifully without overdoing it and depicted moral ambiguity in a way I like. There was even a word given to the world he described -- Greeneland.

Oddly enough, probably the most famous line from the many movies made from his novels was not from the book but ad-libbed by Orson Welles -- the bit in "The Third Man" about cuckoo clocks.