Tuesday, March 19, 2019

“It was the whole series. I read them all.”

Nancy Drew was first published in 1930
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have sold over 70 million copies and become a cherished part of our cultural landscape. The teenage sleuth has been a noted inspiration for generations of women. Written via Carolyn Keene, a pen name used by a variety of authors for the classic Nancy Drew mystery series. The first author to use the pseudonym was Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the original 30 books. Writers who have adapted the pen name Carolyn Keene.

Over the years, Nancy has undergone a variety of updates to make her older, more modern to conform with today's society. Now as the latest Nancy Drew movie hits theaters, here’s a look at some of the successful women who have cited the girl detective as an influence.


A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings,
Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community. Sophia Lillis takes on the role of Nancy Drew in this adaptation of the teen mystery book by Carolyn Keene. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Nancy Drew

First published in 1930, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have sold over 70 million copies and become a cherished part of our cultural landscape. The teenage sleuth has been a noted inspiration for generations...
Justice Sotomayor Favorite book as a child:
“Nancy Drew. I can’t say it was one particular book. It was the whole series. I read them all.”

Saturday, February 9, 2019

An Exclusive Interview: 'The Role of Film in Society'

In this 2011 exclusive interview, Thought Economics talked with Tom Sherak, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (best known for their Academy Awards, also referred to as “Oscars”). We look at the role of film in society and how it has grown to become such a ubiquitous art. TE discuss what makes a ‘great’ movie, some history of film, the economics, and future of the industry, and how the internet and other technologies have affected the movie business. Welcome To Academy Originals: All of us are storytellers

Personal Stories Can Change the World
Every country has stories to tell, about their past, their culture now, and views of what the future will look like through their eyes. What hadn’t happened for many years, and what started to happen relatively recently was a couple of things. Firstly, movie theatres began to be built all over the world- not just here in the USA.

In many parts of the world, the phenomenon of movie theatres is only ten or fifteen years old. These theatres give people a place to go, to escape, to learn. Before that, society had the stories, but they didn’t have the places to go and enjoy them like that. The world is changing fast, and that constantly changing world is going to induce more movie-making.
Exclusive full Interview: 'The Role of Film in Society' via:

The Role of Film in Society - Thought Economics

In this exclusive interview we talk to Tom Sherak, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (best known for their Academy Awards, also referred to as "Oscars"). We look at the role of film in society and how it has grown to become such a ubiquitous art.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Book to Screen: A Novel by Caroline Kepnes ―


Now a Lifetime drama series: YOU
Based on Caroline Kepne's best-selling novel of the same name, "You" is a 21st-century love story that asks, "What would you do for love?" When a brilliant bookstore manager crosses paths with an aspiring writer, his answer becomes clear: anything. Using the internet and social media as his tools to gather the most intimate of details and get close to her, a charming and awkward crush quickly becomes an obsession as he quietly and strategically removes every obstacle - and person - in his way. Season 1: YOU Episode List

Be Prepared: YOU
“Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King

“I am RIVETED, AGHAST, AROUSED, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.”
—Lena Dunham

From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2014, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City.
She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

YOU: "Be prepared to be chilled to the bone by this book.
And remember to change your passwords, check your locks, and close the drapes."
―Vox Libris

#YouOnLifetime
This Season on YOU
Watch a preview for what’s to come in Season 1 of YOU.
Airs Sundays at 10/9c on Lifetime.

Watch This Season on YOU Video - YOU | Lifetime

Watch the This Season on YOU video clip from Season 1, Episode 1 of Lifetime's series YOU. Find this and many more videos only on Lifetime.

Sunday, September 30, 2018

The Girl in the Spider’s Web / The Past Never Forgets

The Girl in the Spider’s Web,
based on the novel by David Lagercrantz

This is the fifth film adaption of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, about world-class hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. It’s based on the fourth book in the series, the first not to have been written by Larsson, but it’s also reboot of the David Fincher’s series of American adaptations, which only ever got around to adapting the first book. In short, it’s a whole new start, so don’t worry about it! The Crown’s Claire Foy takes over as Lisbeth, with Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez directing.
The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium Series #4)
Chapter 1


Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cyber criminals and corrupt government officials.

The film is a soft-reboot with different actors, is a sequel to David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the second installment in the American-produced Millennium film series.

The picture stars Claire Foy, taking over the role of Lisbeth Salander from Rooney Mara, and follows Salander as she tries to rescue and exact vengeance for battered women. Sverrir Gudnason, LaKeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, and Stephen Merchant also appear in the film. It is scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures Releasing in Sweden on October 26, 2018, and in the United States on November 9, 2018. Cited: Wiki
The Past Never Forgets:
What did you think of this second trailer?
'I do not envy this film. For us film nerds, David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was the definitive take on the character of Lisbeth Salander and the dark, twisted world she lives in. With The Girl in the Spider’s Web, we’re essentially fast-forwarding through all the drama that followed that first film, and are left with what many fans think is an inferior take on the character.' — Joseph Jammer Medina, LMR

Girl in the Spider's Web movie

The Girl in the Spider's Web - Official Site | Sony Pictures

Golden Globe® winner Claire Foy returns as cult figure Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spider's Web from the Millennium book series. Watch the trailer!
The Past Never Forgets: #GirlintheSpidersWeb
@SpidersWebMovie

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Cronin novel: 'The Passage' to Adaptation

The Passage is a novel by Justin Cronin
Published in 2010 by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

The Passage debuted at #3 on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list, and remained on the list for seven additional weeks. It is the first novel of a completed trilogy;
the second book The Twelve was released in 2012, and the third book The City of Mirrors released in 2016. The novel and its sequels were to be adapted into a film trilogy; however, they will now be written for television. Source: Wiki

'The Passage' to Adaptation: How Close It Will Keep to Books
The Passage has not had a simple road to adaptation — and, per the Fox drama's producers and author Justin Cronin, its exact course is still a conversation.

Cronin's 2010 novel, the first in a three-part series of the same name, was originally eyed as a feature before ultimately getting pinned down as a TV project in 2016.
There was a pilot, there were reshoots, and when the first trailer finally screened at the network's 2018 upfront, it became clear that the complicated, time-jumping piece of apocalyptic science fiction was not going to look the way many readers thought it might onscreen. Showrunner Liz Heldens and author Justin Cronin say they're "slowing down the story." Citation:  Michael O'Connell  via The Hollywood Reporter

Story Line
The Passage begins in the near future and details an apocalyptic and, later, post-apocalyptic world that is overrun by vampire-like beings who are infected by a highly contagious virus.

What begins as a project to develop a new immunity-boosting drug based on a virus carried by an unnamed species of bat in South America eventually becomes the virus that transforms the world. The novel begins in 2016 and spans more than ninety years, as colonies of humans attempt to live in a world filled with superhuman creatures who are continually on the hunt for fresh blood.

Concept Development
Cronin first began developing his ideas for The Passage in 2006 when his daughter asked him to write a book about a "girl who saves the world." He set out to write a book that combined elements of multiple genres, most predominantly horror, science fiction, and fantasy.
Citation: Wiki

Justin Cronin: Passage Trilogy
“Justin Cronin’s Passage trilogy is remarkable for the unremitting drive of its narrative, for the breathtaking sweep of its imagined future, and for the clear lucidity of its language. The City of Mirrors is a thrilling finale to a trilogy that will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction.”—Stephen King
Enter The Passage

Based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name,
THE PASSAGE is an epic, character-driven thriller written by Liz Heldens (“Friday Night Lights”). Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Ridley Scott (“The Martian,” “Gladiator”) and writer/director Matt Reeves (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield”), THE PASSAGE Series: TV Adaptation

Watch Full Episodes | The Passage on FOX

The Passage TV Series - Check out the latest news, scheduling and show information.

The Passage / Justin Cronin: In 2010, Justin Cronin’s The Passage was a phenomenon.
The unforgettable tale that critics and readers compared to the novels of Cormac McCarthy, Michael Crichton, Stephen King, and Margaret Atwood became a runaway bestseller and enchanted readers around the globe. Featured Articles

“The Passage” doesn’t so much end the pause.
Cronin shows us enough of the future to suggest that life on earth may eventually return to normal. “God invented Iowa, so people could leave it and never come back.”

Friday, July 13, 2018

Now a major motion picture: The Darkest Minds

By Alexandra Bracken: The Darkest Minds (Movie Tie-In Edition)
Book one in the blockbuster Darkest Minds series-now with key art from the major motion picture. In theaters August 2018!
Movie Tie-in Novel


When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America's children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

While they journey to find the one safe haven left for kids like them-East River-they must evade their determined pursuers, including an organization that will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. But as they get closer to grasping the things they've dreamed of, Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living. The group comes to realize they can foment a rebellion and exact revenge upon those in power who have tortured their generation. #TheDarkestMinds:
THE POWER IS WITHIN YOU
Alexandra Bracken is a New York Times bestselling American author.

About Alex

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Saturday, June 9, 2018

Classic Books Hollywood Should Adapt Into Sitcoms

A post via B&N Reads

Not every TV show was dreamed up by some people on their laptops in Hollywood. Many of today’s most popular shows have literary origins. Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, for example, and Westworld is a thorough and thoughtful expansion of a kind of pulpy early ‘70s adventure novel by Michael Crichton. 

 

But those are high-budget, prestige cable dramas with relatively small audiences.

What really brings in the viewers are broad, laugh-track-sweetened sitcoms, like The Big Bang Theory and Mom. Those aren’t based on books, but that doesn’t mean an ’80s-style sitcom couldn’t have a high fallutin’ inspiration. (There’s a show on right now called Superior Donuts that’s based on a play by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, after all.) There are plenty of novels out there that would make fantastic, cheesy, classic-style sitcoms. After all, they’re already episodic in nature and explore the kinds of problems that sitcom characters easily solved in 22 minutes, week after week after week.

Here are some books we’d love to see taped before a live studio audience.

5 Classic Books Hollywood Should Adapt Into Corny Sitcoms

Not every TV show was dreamed up by some people on their laptops in Hollywood. Many of today's most popular shows have literary origins. Game of Thrones is based on George R. R.
What novel would you love to see as a sitcom?

Just Mercy: 'It is about all of us'

ARRAY NOW:

Array Now

Founded in 2010 by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, ARRAY is a grassroots distribution, arts and advocacy collective focused on films by people of color and women.

Academy of Storytellers:

Academy of Storytellers

Top-tier filmmaking education and a global community to help you learn, connect, and successfully tackle your most ambitious filmmaking projects.

The Book Club

Film Comment:

Film Comment Magazine

Founded in 1962, Film Comment magazine features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world.