You just had to go there, right? I’ve got several hundred of those paperbacks, so if this goes too long, I apologize, but I have opinions. Growing up in the deep South meant I had very limited opportunities as a movie crazy kid to see films in the theater. But in those years, every film had a novelization, they were all sold at Walmart and the grocery store, and they were cheap reasonable substitutes. Now those books are not cheap, they are no longer widely distributed, and it’s only big movies that get those adaptations. What’s the next generation of movie crazy, reading focused kids to do?
So, some favorites are THE BLUES BROTHERS (based off the first draft of the screenplay), ALIENS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (more details about Indy and Marion prior to the movie), PUMP UP THE VOLUME, BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, BLOWN AWAY (significantly better than the film), TERMINATOR 1 & 2, PLATOON (written by Dale Dye), SPIDER-MAN, GREMLINS (more of the mythology), V (the mini-series), BLADE...among many many other choices.
For the record, the STAR WARS novelization was the first adult novel I ever read, so I owe Foster an enormous debt - Disney should do better and be better than the situation they have caused.
For me “The Abyss” is hands down the best movie adaptation I’ve ever read. Even reading the forward, James Cameron and Orson Scott Card said it was going to be a collaboration effort, more than just a routine adaptation, and it clearly shows through. Surprised more haven’t mentioned it here, but it was never one of Cameron’s bigger hits, so I’m sure most never bothered reading it. Sadly, I believe it’s out of print, but you can still find used copies of it. I recommend people check it out, even though I know Orson Scott Card is a very controversial figure due to many of his views.
I decided to setup my own Plex account after reading this article. I have plenty of digital content I'd love to be able to stream from one central app. I signed up, put some money down, and got it running for a few hours, and I have now never been more pissed off by any streaming service app. You wanna talk about shitty customer service. I don't know what the flying fuck a "loopback protection" is and their website has done absolutely nothing to clear it up or offer any kind of solution.
I haven't read a lot of film novelizations, but the one that has stuck out most vividly over the years was Chet Williamson's for "The Crow: City of Angels." The ending of that novelization points at a more powerful, poignant ending than the wholly predictable one we got in the film that breaks my heart that we never saw.
Man I thought I knew everything about the Exorcist...but hot dam Leap of Faith is essential viewing. Friedkin can spin a yarn like nobody else in my opinion.
Favorite novelization REVENGE OF THE SITH hands down. Completely different from the movie which is sci-fi/fantasy. The book is sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Love it!!!
Theaters are going the premium route. Dine ins will be the norm. Bars. Etiquette rules will be strictly enforced. Reclining seats. No babies allowed.
If there was a blockbuster opening I'd specifically go to a Dolby Atmos or an Imax showing. Any regular or indie I'd go straight to the Alamo, mostly for the menu, and etiquette was strictly enforced, they do not play over there.
Drew, I agree with you regarding Amazon Prime's interface - it's godawful. Navigating through it is just annoying, which pains me because they have a pretty good library of movies (if anyone is ever in the mood to check out Korean films, Amazon Prime is heads and shoulders above other streaming service in terms of volume).
I just finished watching Michael Mann's THE INSIDER. I've heard great things about this film for ages, but I never got a chance to watch it until today, funnily enough on Amazon Prime, where it's now available. I figured that I would like it, but it just blew me away. It's just incredible how the story seamlessly transitions from being about a whistleblower speaking out against Big Tobacco to being about corporate influence in journalism, both of which remain very timely topics in this day and age. Having spent a significant chunk of my college life in my university newspaper's newsroom, I'm a sucker for movies about journalism, and this one just takes the cake.
Buckaroo Banzai is a world-class novelization, IMHO. Like many of you, I grew up reading the books way before I could see the movies; I remember standing in a Waldenbooks for two hours reading Return of the Jedi.
Vonda McIntyre wrote the adaptations of Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home, and did a hell of a good job expanding all the background characters and plot lines, so I have hugely fond memories of those.
Drew, is your Kindle tablet a Kindle or a Kindle Fire? I have both, a Kindle Fire HD and a Kindle PaperWhite. My Kindle Fire HD tablet has the DC Universe app and while it sometimes crashes, I still use it to this day to read all the comics in that app. My Kindle PaperWhite is what I use to read all the novels I've purchased, because it has that fantastic black and white no-glare screen.
As for my favorite film novelization, as a kid growing up in the 80's and 90's I read a fair few, and I think for me it has to be Batman'89. The novelization definitely expanded on the film, like what happened to Bruce after The Joker shot him in Vikki's apartment (apparently he was wearing his Utility Belt under his suit and used it to swing across the rooftops in broad daylight following The Joker's car), and also got more into all of the technology Batman used in his war on crime. The version of Batman in that novelization felt more like the Batman from the comics than the version we saw in the movie. I read it cover to cover a few times, but haven't picked it up in about 30 years. Yet I still remember some very specific details like those above.
I am glad to see WW84 but I’m also going to really miss seeing that one in a theater. The No Man’s Land scene was just incredible seeing on opening day with a packed crowd. And I remember the gasps during the shot of Diana with the sword down the back of her dress because it was such a moment of female gaze power fantasy.
I know that it won’t be the same at home. Not just because of the crowd but because movie theaters are places where I can go and not be me for a few hours. It isn’t the same at home. I have dishes and cats and laundry that are all
competing for my focus at home. I can’t stop being me at home. I think it’s the right decision and I haven’t been to a movie (other than a drive in two hours away to see Tenet) because I know it isn’t safe. I just am missing what I would have had with WW84.
Totally random comment but I notice you listed STOKER. I’ve been reading “The Elementals” by Michael McDowell. Most ppl know him from BEETLEJUICE but I always associate him with the seasons of belief episode of tales from the darkside. The daughter’s name in the book is India and it’s so southern gothic, I wonder if that’s where Mia Wasikowska’s name comes from in the film. Anyway very cool book!
You just had to go there, right? I’ve got several hundred of those paperbacks, so if this goes too long, I apologize, but I have opinions. Growing up in the deep South meant I had very limited opportunities as a movie crazy kid to see films in the theater. But in those years, every film had a novelization, they were all sold at Walmart and the grocery store, and they were cheap reasonable substitutes. Now those books are not cheap, they are no longer widely distributed, and it’s only big movies that get those adaptations. What’s the next generation of movie crazy, reading focused kids to do?
So, some favorites are THE BLUES BROTHERS (based off the first draft of the screenplay), ALIENS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (more details about Indy and Marion prior to the movie), PUMP UP THE VOLUME, BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, BLOWN AWAY (significantly better than the film), TERMINATOR 1 & 2, PLATOON (written by Dale Dye), SPIDER-MAN, GREMLINS (more of the mythology), V (the mini-series), BLADE...among many many other choices.
For the record, the STAR WARS novelization was the first adult novel I ever read, so I owe Foster an enormous debt - Disney should do better and be better than the situation they have caused.
For me “The Abyss” is hands down the best movie adaptation I’ve ever read. Even reading the forward, James Cameron and Orson Scott Card said it was going to be a collaboration effort, more than just a routine adaptation, and it clearly shows through. Surprised more haven’t mentioned it here, but it was never one of Cameron’s bigger hits, so I’m sure most never bothered reading it. Sadly, I believe it’s out of print, but you can still find used copies of it. I recommend people check it out, even though I know Orson Scott Card is a very controversial figure due to many of his views.
I decided to setup my own Plex account after reading this article. I have plenty of digital content I'd love to be able to stream from one central app. I signed up, put some money down, and got it running for a few hours, and I have now never been more pissed off by any streaming service app. You wanna talk about shitty customer service. I don't know what the flying fuck a "loopback protection" is and their website has done absolutely nothing to clear it up or offer any kind of solution.
I haven't read a lot of film novelizations, but the one that has stuck out most vividly over the years was Chet Williamson's for "The Crow: City of Angels." The ending of that novelization points at a more powerful, poignant ending than the wholly predictable one we got in the film that breaks my heart that we never saw.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Man I thought I knew everything about the Exorcist...but hot dam Leap of Faith is essential viewing. Friedkin can spin a yarn like nobody else in my opinion.
Favorite novelization REVENGE OF THE SITH hands down. Completely different from the movie which is sci-fi/fantasy. The book is sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Love it!!!
Theaters are going the premium route. Dine ins will be the norm. Bars. Etiquette rules will be strictly enforced. Reclining seats. No babies allowed.
If there was a blockbuster opening I'd specifically go to a Dolby Atmos or an Imax showing. Any regular or indie I'd go straight to the Alamo, mostly for the menu, and etiquette was strictly enforced, they do not play over there.
Drew, I agree with you regarding Amazon Prime's interface - it's godawful. Navigating through it is just annoying, which pains me because they have a pretty good library of movies (if anyone is ever in the mood to check out Korean films, Amazon Prime is heads and shoulders above other streaming service in terms of volume).
I just finished watching Michael Mann's THE INSIDER. I've heard great things about this film for ages, but I never got a chance to watch it until today, funnily enough on Amazon Prime, where it's now available. I figured that I would like it, but it just blew me away. It's just incredible how the story seamlessly transitions from being about a whistleblower speaking out against Big Tobacco to being about corporate influence in journalism, both of which remain very timely topics in this day and age. Having spent a significant chunk of my college life in my university newspaper's newsroom, I'm a sucker for movies about journalism, and this one just takes the cake.
Buckaroo Banzai is a world-class novelization, IMHO. Like many of you, I grew up reading the books way before I could see the movies; I remember standing in a Waldenbooks for two hours reading Return of the Jedi.
Vonda McIntyre wrote the adaptations of Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home, and did a hell of a good job expanding all the background characters and plot lines, so I have hugely fond memories of those.
Drew, is your Kindle tablet a Kindle or a Kindle Fire? I have both, a Kindle Fire HD and a Kindle PaperWhite. My Kindle Fire HD tablet has the DC Universe app and while it sometimes crashes, I still use it to this day to read all the comics in that app. My Kindle PaperWhite is what I use to read all the novels I've purchased, because it has that fantastic black and white no-glare screen.
As for my favorite film novelization, as a kid growing up in the 80's and 90's I read a fair few, and I think for me it has to be Batman'89. The novelization definitely expanded on the film, like what happened to Bruce after The Joker shot him in Vikki's apartment (apparently he was wearing his Utility Belt under his suit and used it to swing across the rooftops in broad daylight following The Joker's car), and also got more into all of the technology Batman used in his war on crime. The version of Batman in that novelization felt more like the Batman from the comics than the version we saw in the movie. I read it cover to cover a few times, but haven't picked it up in about 30 years. Yet I still remember some very specific details like those above.
I am glad to see WW84 but I’m also going to really miss seeing that one in a theater. The No Man’s Land scene was just incredible seeing on opening day with a packed crowd. And I remember the gasps during the shot of Diana with the sword down the back of her dress because it was such a moment of female gaze power fantasy.
I know that it won’t be the same at home. Not just because of the crowd but because movie theaters are places where I can go and not be me for a few hours. It isn’t the same at home. I have dishes and cats and laundry that are all
competing for my focus at home. I can’t stop being me at home. I think it’s the right decision and I haven’t been to a movie (other than a drive in two hours away to see Tenet) because I know it isn’t safe. I just am missing what I would have had with WW84.
Totally random comment but I notice you listed STOKER. I’ve been reading “The Elementals” by Michael McDowell. Most ppl know him from BEETLEJUICE but I always associate him with the seasons of belief episode of tales from the darkside. The daughter’s name in the book is India and it’s so southern gothic, I wonder if that’s where Mia Wasikowska’s name comes from in the film. Anyway very cool book!