Books into Films
For some strange reason since 2011 began I have been reading my ass off. We are barely a month into the year and I have read something like four books, one a week. This is previously unheard of for me and is a sign that perhaps I’m getting better at concentrating now I have cut out all the noise that drinking and drugs bring or maybe I’ve just been really bored. Either way my reading habits usually lead me to seek out books that I know will shortly become feature films and this month I have sought out three such titles and will now offer my thoughts on who and what is involved.
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has a quote by billionaire spinster Stephanie Meyer on the cover (on my edition at least) but don't let that put you off, The Hunger Games is a ‘young adult’ novel that manages to be brutal and bleaker than many adult novels. The premise is simple, in the future the USA no longer exists, it has been divided up into districts and is ruled over by the Capital, a brutal totalitarian regime. People live in near poverty and once a year the Capital holds a fight to the death where they take two kids from each district, one boy one girl and plop them into the wilderness so they can fight to the death. This is then televised for the populace so they can see just how much power the Capital has over them. The ultimate winner will be set for life with food and money. Told from the perspective of Katniss Everdean, a fifteen year old female contestant, The book is the very definition of a page turner, its 400 or so pages just flew by. Its shocking and lots of kids die, lots in a horrible manner….in a country which still has no distributor for the film Battle Royale because of the potential fallout from another Columbine massacre, they want to turn THIS into a film. Imagine my shock and total lack of surprise then to learn that a director has been attached to The Hunger Games (first in a trilogy of course) and that man is none other than Mr. Gary Ross. Who he? you might say, Gary Ross who directed Seabiscuit and Pleasantville and wrote Big and erm the Lassie remake from 1994, in other words completely wrong for the material but probably a safe non edgy bet for a studio looking to make a buck. If they at least get the casting right (please not Kirsten Stewart) then my interest might be back but at this point I don’t have much hope for the film. To do this right you really need someone with a bit of an edge with a bit of a vision, I’m thinking Alfonso Cuaron could make it work as the later novels are compared to Children of Men by some of my pals who have read them. Anyway, thats rant number one out of the way and now….
John Dies At The End
This book was recommended to me by my fellow CHUD forum dwellers and it took me a while to find it as there does not seem to be many copies in existence, and thats probably for the best as John Dies At The End by David Wong, is completely and utterly insane. Imagine if you will the now defunct TV series Reaper crossed with Invasion of the Body Snatchers with the violence of Braindead and the drug fuelled paranoia of Phillip K Dick and that comes somewhere close to the tone of this thing and yet I still haven’t told you about the author actually being the main character and the constant referencing to famous people when describing the secondary characters. The basic plot concerns two slacker friends who at a party are exposed to ‘Soy Sauce’ a drug that opens up perception, kills people and also allows demons to access this plain of existence. David and his best pal John must stop the demon invasion before it brings about the end of the world, still with me? good. I know I’m going to have to read this book again, its incredibly dense and also laugh out loud funny and at 500 or so pages its easy to become complacent and miss stuff. Then I made the mistake of looking up what was going on with the film adaptation. Now my first thought about this book is that its why they coined the phrase ‘unfilmable’ but thats not stopping Don Coscarelli. Coscarelli directed one of the best cult films of the last ten with Bubba Ho Tep as well as Phantasm and there is nothing wrong with that choice of director at all, its just that Coscarelli is the kind of director who works almost entirely with a low budget. At least the first 200 pages or so of the book would need a good ten million or so to be done right and whilst they have not released details of the budget, when your biggest names in the cast are Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown, its a safe bet that you are not commanding an extravagant effects budget. I’m still intrigued to see how it turns out I am just worried that they may end up excising a lot of the good stuff instead making another straight to DVD zombie film. At the end of the day Coscarelli is still one of the better directors working in low budget cinema today and I will literally travel across the Atlantic to see Bubba Nosferatu when it comes out.
As She Climbed Across The Table
I first read Jonathan Lethem’s novel Motherless Brooklyn about ten or so years ago, it was entertaining and funny with a genius central idea. Recently I have sought out Lethem’s back catalogue: Gun, with occasional music (once going to be a film with Alan Parker directing no less) and Amnesia Moon are both mind bogglingly brilliant and brief pieces of sci-fi fantasy and then I picked up As She Climbed Across The Table. This is the tale of a professor whose girlfriend, a brilliant physics student opens up a void in reality in the science lab which is referred to as ‘Lack’ and proceeds to fall in love with it. Lack becomes a sensation on the university campus and begins making things disappear. The story is told from the perspective of someone who is definitely losing the love of his life and is funny as well as sad. Its a story that is all too familiar for anyone who has been dumped in favor of a good looking person seemingly devoid of all personality. I think the big problem in filming this would be how to present the concept of nothing on the screen, because lets face it; nothing or a void isn't that visually exciting. They probably have something up their sleeves but the story is more about loss of love and how we deal with it, do you accept it with grace? or do you rage against losing something so precious? . Which is why David Cronenberg is the wrong person to bring this to the screen. Now don’t get me wrong I love Cronenberg, I think The Fly and Videodrome are classics and some of A History of Violence and Eastern Promises really works despite feeling a bit slight. The problem is Cronenberg isn't known for emotional out pouring and his previous work is (for want of a better term) cold and clinical. As She Climbed Across the table is like a warm blanket or a hot mug of cocoa for dumped nerds everywhere, its full of truth and emotion and really needs someone with a good grasp of how to do this on screen. Whilst reading it I kept thinking of films like High Fidelity, (500) Days of Summer and Say Anything, not exactly films loaded with bizarre surgery and body horror. I think that the concept of ‘nothing’ being portrayed on screen, is too much of a hurdle to get over and I’ll be surprised if this ever happens.
The Joe Pitt Case Books
This series has recently been finished and consists of five books: Already Dead, No Dominion, Half The Blood Of Brooklyn, Every Last Drop and My Dead Body. Written by Charlie Huston, these books follow the trials and tribulations of a Vampire named Joe Pitt, kind of a freelancer living in New York who does odd jobs for the various Vampire clans that dominate Manhattan, usually involving violence and keeping the Vamps existence a secret. The stories are classic noir with cracking dialogue and bone crunching violence. Written without chapters, they are each barely 200 pages long and once you pick one up, its easy to read the whole thing in one sitting. As far as I know nobody has optioned the movie rights to these books but they bloody well should do. The descriptions of the clans of Vampires and the take on the myth is crying out to be filmed. Huston treats Vampirism as a virus and it is known as ‘The Vyrus’ to the infected and everyone has an opinion on how those infected should live. Some choose to behave like the mafia and some choose to accept it as a disease and live inside wasting away hoping to ascend to some higher plain. Joe Pitt doesn't ally himself with any particular group and is a tough as nails loner, it would be an awesome role for someone like John Cusack or Jeffery Dean Morgan to really get into and make iconic. For everyone who bitches and moans that the Vampire has nothing new to offer would be well advised to start reading this series. If not a film, it would make a cracking HBO or AMC series on television with a strong director like David Fincher behind it.
by Chris Holt
Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/reformedaddict2
‘Like’ us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lost-Movies/155209334495553
The early nineties were a strange wasteland for film. It was not the eighties anymore that much was certain, but it was not yet known how this new decade would be defined. Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape had become a highly acclaimed hit and we got an inkling of where this decade was headed. Things wouldn’t really get defined until one Quentin Tarantino would break out with Reservoir Dogs and then Pulp Fiction, a young Danny Boyle would direct Trainspotting and the identity for the nineties was set. Up until this point Hollywood seemed content to cling to high concepts popularized in the previous decade of blockbusters but spruce them up with the latest special effects advances. Among the films released during this confusing period in history was a small film made by the approaching bankruptcy Orion Pictures and starring a young Alec Baldwin, who at the time studio executives were convinced was going to be a major movie star and not the comedic character actor he is today. Miami Blues is a forgotten film purely for the fact that it was about five years ahead of its time. Had this come out in the late nineties, its likely we would be speaking about the film the same way we do Out Of Sight, Boogie Nights or Things to do in Denver when you’re dead.
Frederick Frenger (Baldwin) or Junior as he is sometimes known, is a psychotic young con artist who lands in Miami and instantly kills a hare krishna who harasses him at the airport. This brings him to the attention of one Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward) a schlubby cop with false teeth who begins to track Frenger down. Meanwhile Frenger robs another man and beats him to death and shacks up with part time student, part time hooker Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who looks at Frenger as a way out. The two of them hit it off, all the while Moseley is closing in. After a tense dinner confrontation when Moseley visits the two of them at Susie’s house, Frenger tracks down Moseley and beats him within an inch of his life. Frenger steals his gun, his badge and even his false teeth. Being in possession of the badge, Frenger uses it to con pimps out of their money, steal from robbers who have just committed crimes, shake down loan sharks and adopt a shoot first ask no questions later crime spree around Miami. Moseley gets out of hospital and sets about bringing the con man to justice. Leading to some violent and often hilarious results.
The screenplay for Miami Blues is based on a novel by Charles Willeford who sadly passed on the year before release. The novel was adapted by director George Armitage and the dialogue just snaps off the screen. Its a film that you will find yourself wanting to watch again just to catch all the one liners you missed first time around. Much like the work of Shane Black or Tarantino, the lines are endlessly quotable. Witty dialogue is great but is nothing without solid performances to make it sing. Happily in Miami Blues, the three leads are magnificent. Alec Baldwin is superb as Frenger, all wide eyed menace and whispery seductiveness. The performance is one part Roy Batty from Blade Runner and one part Charles Starkweather or some other bandit on the run, he is likeable and dangerous. Fred Ward is an actor who like Baldwin, at one time was pushed as a major movie star. He too settled into a character actor groove and as Hoke Moseley, he gets a majority of the films best lines. Moseley is essentially the most morally upstanding character in the film but the character is flawed by having a drinking problem and essentially being something of a laughing stock to his peers for his slob like demeanor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is playing a hooker which is something she has done many times, but here its with a real vulnerability and sadness. She is smitten with Frenger and knows nothing about his true nature, she plays the part of the faithful girlfriend with aplomb and a real sense of sadness that will break your heart. Towards the end of the movie some of the scenes with Leigh and Fred Ward are the films best and really touching. The trick with this film I think, is that they make the characters people you want to spend time with and enjoy having around. It was one of those films that I didn’t want to end just because it was fun to hang out in this world with these larger than life types. Did I mention this film is violent? It is, think about the scene with Marvin in the back of the car in Pulp Fiction, the violence here is sharp, quick and often hilarious.
Its hard to believe that between this movie and the equally superb Grosse Pointe Blank that director George Armitage hasn't had more of a high profile career. The man can get star making performances out of his leads and matches it with an independent sensibility and good sense of how to stage a set piece. It really seems like Armitage should have had the kind of career that Curtis Hanson currently enjoys, but sadly it looks like the stars were not aligned for him. Miami Blues opened on only 800 or so screens in the Spring of 1990 taking a paltry 3 million during its entire theatrical run. This was a time when people were more concerned with MC Hammer and time travelling De Loreans rather than black comic neo noirs, oh how the times change.
Those that have seen Miami Blues hold it alongside films like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and The Big Lebowski as a clever genre bender. The fashions may scream eighties but the sensibility screams modern, do yourself a favor and check it out.
by Chris Holt
Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/reformedaddict2
‘Like’ us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lost-Movies/155209334495553
I have watched a lot of crap over the last two weeks and nothing I would want to recommend to you the great republic. Until Thursday when I had the good fortune to get 22 Bullets aka L’Immortel through the post from Lovefilm, the latest in a long line of recent French action thrillers. 22 Bullets is the story of Charly Mattei (Jean Reno) a retired gangster who grew up with two friends who also became well known and feared gangsters. Charly is living the simple life, spending time with his wife and kids and no longer wanting the violent life of a gangster. Then one day whilst out with his son, he is riddled with bullets and left for dead in a car park. Miraculously Charly survives although severely maimed by his ordeal and having had 22 Bullets dug out from his body. Charly sets out to find out who ordered the hit and threatened his life. This brings him into contact with bereaved police captain, Marie who reluctantly ends up indirectly helping Charly with his investigation and also has a personal score to settle. Charly’s gradually learns that he has been betrayed by a childhood friend who rose to power with him and is bringing dishonor to the mafia by violating the very rules that he and Charly swore to uphold when they rose to power. Angry as hell and thirsty for revenge, he takes them out one by one with his signature two bullets, one to the chest and one to the head.
22 Bullets is extremely violent, people die in bloody messes and there is an atmosphere of potential violence erupting around the corner in every frame. Its also very good, the story isn’t anything you haven’t seen from a whole number of Hong Kong Triad flicks or previous French crime films but its done so well with great performances from the leads that it feels like a film that you are not familiar with. 22 Bullets chooses to portray its gangster antics in the now all too familiar shaky camera verite style made popular by Paul Greengrass. This is a strength and a weakness, its good to see a gangster movie with this stylistic choice but sometimes you cant help wishing they would keep the camera still especially because we are expected to have an emotional attachment to what is going on at the core of the story.There is a chase scene with cars pursuing Reno on a motorcycle halfway through that is awesome but would have been ten times better had they just kept the camera still. Jean Reno is a star who hasn’t been around much as of late, there was a time after Leon where he was cast as the token mysterious foreigner in a lot of big budget Hollywood hokum and then he was the villain in the ill fated Rollerball remake which didn’t do him any favors. With his unusual haggard looks, Its good to see him back being a badass kicking ass in his native land.
If like me you like a good old school gangster yarn you could do worse than give 22 Bullets a spin. Along with The Nest, District 13 and Brotherhood of the Wolf its a fine example of what French cinema is capable of when not riffing on the past success of a certain Luc Besson.
by Chris Holt
Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/reformedaddict2
‘Like’ us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lost-Movies/155209334495553
Comments…