The Blade Runner Sketchbook is one of the ultimate pieces of memorabilia for fans of the 1982 science fiction movie. The book details the look and feel of the film’s production artwork from simple props like Deckard’s gun to police cars and clothes. Some of the designs come from director Ridley Scott himself but also Syd Mead.
Blade Runner starred Harrison Ford although the real star is Rutger Hauer, and it’s a movie that stands the test of time and that probably owes much to its look. I remember thinking the first time that I watched it that the streets were shockingly packed and the rain never stops. The movie is based on Philip K Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Edited by David Scrogg, the Sketchbook has been out-of-print for many years but there are five copies on AbeBooks for prices between $300 and $500.
Mr. McCarthy has thrown everyone for a loop and has produced a screenplay for a full length film. Even his agents were surprised, they were expecting the 78-year-old author to turn in a draft for a new novel. The Guardian is reporting that the script is for a film called The Counselor, and it is about “a respected lawyer who bites off more than he can chew after foolishly getting involved in the drug business.”
The fact that McCarthy would consider penning a script should come as no real shock since the dramatizations of his more recent novels, including The Road and No Country for Old Men, have been so amazingly successful. It should also come as no surprise that this spec is reported to have already been picked up by Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz, the producers of The Road, and that they are excited to have it.
“The spec falls smack in the middle of what everyone responds to with Cormac’s novels,” Wechsler told Deadline. Steve Schwartz added: “Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It’s a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy’s wit and humour in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy’s most disturbing and powerful works.”
This is a Canadian dream come true – (Canadian) director and actress Sarah Polley has signed on to direct a film adaptation of legendary (Canadian) author Margaret Atwood’s historical novel about a true double murder (in Canada).
Alias Grace is historical fiction. Based on the real-life double murder of farmer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in 1943, in Richmond Hill, Ontario. At the heart of the story is Simon Jordan, a fictional doctor charged with researching the murders and investigating the two servants convicted of the crime.
Sarah Polley, best known for her acting work in Canadian television show Road to Avonlea and in feature films such as Go, eXistenZ, Splice and Dawn of the Dead, is also no stranger to directing – the ever-talented and surprising Polley also directed the beautiful film Away From Her, adapted from a short story by Alice Munro. The adaptation resulted in an Oscar nomination for Polley for best adapted screenplay.
Galleycat posted about 5 literary adaptations to look forward to in 2012. Posting here so you have plenty of time to read the books first, if you haven’t. Remember, it’s always a good idea to read the book first! Here they are:
Walt Disney Animation Studios will rerelease Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The film’s story comes from Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont‘s version of the fairy tale called La Belle et la Bête. It arrives in theaters on January 13th.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the sequel to the 2007 film, once again stars Oscar winner Nicholas Cage as the Marvel Comics antihero. The movie comes out on February 17th.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters picks up where the Grimm Brothers left off. It explores the aftermath of how this sibling duo fared following their escapade with a cannibalistic hag. The movie hits theaters on March 2nd.
The Raven, a fictional action-adventure film, stars John Cusack as legendary mystery author Edgar Allan Poe. It’s headed for the big screen on March 9th.
The Hunger Games, arguably the most anticipated adaptation of 2012, adapts the first book in Suzanne Collins‘ popular young-adult trilogy. The movie will be released on March 23rd.
But of course there will be more than those five – and I for one am looking forward to the film adaptations of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (which will apparently be in 3D….anyone else finding that puzzling?) and of course Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Looking forward to a 2012 release from a book that isn’t mentioned here? Leave a comment.
Oh, Aragorn. Can you do no wrong? Your arrow flies ever swift, straight into my heart.
It’s true. Aside from being an excellent actor (and musician, artist, poet…), Viggo Mortenson appears to be a booklover. In 2002, the Danish-American dreamboat (sorry, sorry) founded Perceval Press, a publishing company devoted to showcasing the talents of little-known authors and artists who might otherwise go undiscovered. The press is based in Santa Monica, California, and boasts a varied catalogue of poetry, art, fine literature, fiction, non-fiction and more, some of which Mortenson has produced or collaborated on himself. And it’s not just books – Perceval Press puts out CDs, as well.
The Perceval Press web site has a full listing of the over 50 titles they’ve released so far, as well as personal recommendations of everything from films, books, political reads and more.
A more exciting, fast-paced, engaging read than I’ve come across in a long time. A real adventure. And now…now! At long last, the trailer for The Hunger Games movie is out.
If Jennifer Lawrence (who plays main character Katniss Everdeen)’s performance in the film Winter’s Bone is any indicator, I’m very optimistic.
Start popping that corn, everyone – it’s all happening in March.
I see The Siege of Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams has been reissued (finally) to coincide with the remake of Straw Dogs.
Sam Peckinpah shocked everybody with his ultra-violent 1971 movie set in the Cornish countryside that infamously suggested that Susan George enjoyed being raped by a former lover. Rod Lurie’s remake moves the plot to red neck America. Here, the NY Times looks at the two versions.
With John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy back in the news thanks to the Gary Oldman movie, the BBC investigates how much of the novel was based on truth. SPOILER ALERT – this link gives away pretty much the whole plot.
The Circus – le Carre’s headquarters for MI6 based in Cambridge Circus, in central London, is fictional. In reality, MI6 was based at Broadway Buildings in St James’ Park, a rabbit warren of old rooms, before it moved to Century House south of the River Thames, with its grey post-war linoleum floors (an appearance that some who worked there once told me was closer to a building in the Soviet Union).
You may not be familiar with Cecil Beaton unless you are a person of a ‘certain’ age (hello, baby boomers!). Beaton photographed the world’s rich and famous for six decades. He also designed Oscar-winning costumes for famous movies like My Fair Lady and Gigi. He led a remarkable life and was an avid diarist. This selection of books – covering his photography, books he illustrated and his own writing – reveals a man of rare versatility.
The BBC and some major movie producing company are planning a big screen adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, reports The Guardian. They are treading on dangerous ground in a desperate attempt to find another Harry Potter-style franchise featuring school children with English accents. Do they not realise that a group of children – completely unsupervised by adults – sail around one of the Lake District lakes and I don’t think there is a single life jacket in sight. And then there is the thorny issue of Titty, who became Kitty in an earlier TV adaptation.
That book was published 81 years ago. I always found it impossible not to think of Swallows and Amazons whenever we visited the Lake District.
Not many people are aware that Elizabeth Taylor, who died earlier today, published a book in 1946 called Nibbles and Me. Oddly, this book has become rather collectible over the years.
Nibbles was her pet chipmunk. She wrote the book when she was just 13 but already a huge Hollywood star thanks to Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. She discovered Nibbles while filming Courage of Lassie in the Pacific Northwest. The book includes sketches by the young Elizabeth and tales recounting the mischief of the chipmunk. The breadth of Taylor’s career is a little difficult to grasp – she was famous by the age of 11 and the fame never went away.
With the Oscars over for another year, we’ve compiled a list of films recently adapted from books and listed the best ones – and the worst ones – for your consideration. Gulliver’s Travels, Shutter Island, A Single Man, The Lovely Bones and True Grit are just some of the films that are put under the spotlight. Learn more.
I don’t mean to ruin your weekend but it sounds like Alcon (the filmmaking company) is kicking the tires of a Blade Runner sequel/prequel after witnessing the effect of masses of mindless drones tripping over themselves to throw money at that Tron fiasco a few months back…
I love Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead series of graphic novels. They came about when Kirkman was frustrated at how much he loved zombie movies, only to have them all end and not explore the continuing effect on society – the collapse, the adjustment, the rebuilding, the progression of events after the initial crisis. So, he decided to write it himself. With 13 volumes so far (I have ‘em all), the series is fresh and interesting. It ranges in tone from heartbreakingly hopeful to unthinkably horrific to occasionally even uneventful and dull, much as I imagine attempting to survive in the circumstances would. The story’s main character is Rick Grimes, a police officer who is shot in a standoff with a criminal, and wakes from coma in the hospital to find the world he knew, along with his wife and child, gone. Grimes sets out to look for his wife and son, to find what is left, to help where he can, and to survive. Other characters rotate in and sadly, often out, of the story.
If you’re a fan of zombie stories (it’s okay, everyone has to be a nerd about something), this series isn’t to be missed. The story is thoughtful, the art is fantastic, and I look forward to the rest to come.
And now, it’s going to be a television series, too! Please, please AMC – do it right. Don’t screw this up. From the trailer, I feel pretty optimistic that this could be good.
Not many people are aware that Elizabeth Taylor, who 
With the Oscars over for another year, we’ve compiled a list of films recently adapted from books and listed the best ones – and the worst ones – for your consideration. Gulliver’s Travels, Shutter Island, A Single Man, The Lovely Bones and True Grit are just some of the films that are put under the spotlight. 
