books that should be movies

Report · Jul 20, 2011

You know how sometimes you read a book that is sooooo good you wish it was also a movie ? Of course some books just should stay books cause they cant be improved by being a movie. But given the right treatment etc sometimes a really good book can also be a really good movie.

Most good books that get made movies have to introduce characters or voice over or something so that what characters only ' THINK TO THEMSELVES ' in the book can be delivered to the audience of the movie. Thats kinda tricky.

Anyway, this book I'm reading now would be a great movie if it could be treated well re: the above problem.

It is " The Mouse In The Moon ". It's the same author who wrote " Beware The Mouse " and " The Mouse That Roared ". The Mouse That Roared got made into a movie ( I think with Peter Sellers in it ? ) and was hilarious.

The Mouse In The Moon ( copyright about 1962 ? ) happens after the mouse that roared...

Grand Fenwick ( a little country started by some wayward Englishmen back around 1400 maybe ) which is between the Swiss and the French , sorta in a little valley between mountain ranges, needed some money in " The Mouse That Roared", so they decided to attack the United States with their Longbows and their small army of about 12 guys. So they sailed to NYC and attacked with the intention of LOSING quickly, so that the U.S. would then spend a ton of money to rebuild the country they defeated... kinda like Germany and Japan after WW2 etc etc.

Plans went awry however, because the little group found some professor who had just invented the Q-bomb and the plot thickened... and Grand Fenwick ended up winning the " war ".

Well, in the book " The Mouse In The Moon" , Grand Fenwick is applying for some financial aid from the U.S. to buy their Queen ( equiv of a Queen, as they are sorta Medieval even in modern times but with a parliment of sorts ) a fur coat ( Russian Sable )... and the professor who lives in Grand Fenwick now ( inventor of Q bomb ) is studying rocket fuel problems re: sending a man to the moon which the Russians and Americans are in a race to do ... and which threatens to "politicise" the moon territories, and space in general. Eg. If the Russians get there first will the moon be Russian ??

Report · Jan 01, 2012

Yeah, I could see a whole line of toys, and maybe even video games, built around Jeff - with the proper makeup, and such.

As far as the casting, I would love to have been a "fly on the wall" for some Hollywood sessions. I mean, what WERE they thinking? Now, with Mitch Rapp, the conference room would be bugged, and then we'd all know what the arguments were, both in favor, and against.

As for casting a character from literature, it can be tough. Regardless of how much detail is given in the book, the reader then uses their imagination to "fill in the blanks." This will differ from reader to reader, and then, Central Casting gets involved with agents and others demanding that their "person" get the part. I mean some TV network (ABC?) must have put Fred Travalena on long-term contract, as they cast him in every possible role from gameshow host to international spy. For about five years, he was everywhere. Fortunately, he either retired, or the contract lapsed. Thank goodness.

Hunt

Report · Jan 01, 2012

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Travalena was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2002 and prostate cancer in 2003. Following five years' remission, the lymphoma returned in 2008.

he is a dead duck RIP 2009

Report · Jan 02, 2012

...and she is in fact going to be a " movie star "...despite the fact she never took singing lessons, dancing lessons, acting lessons or worked in a circus .

I am probably one of the last people in the world to hear about it, but I understand being able to sing is no longer required and just about every recording artist uses 'Autotune'. How long before there's an automatic CGI application to fix bad acting?

Report · Jan 02, 2012

There has been much speculation on how long it will take Hollywood to "clone" talent via CGI, or similar.

Guess we could take Don Cheedle's little story one level further, reflecting on casting him:

"Who is Don Cheedle?"

"Get me Don Cheedle!"

"Get me someone who looks like Don Cheedle."

"Get ma a young Don Cheedle."

"Get me a CGI Don Cheedle... " <New Line>

"Who is Don Cheedle?"

Hunt

Report · Jan 02, 2012

Thanks for that update. I was never a fan, so did not follow his life - just remember seeing him everywhere for about 4 - 5 years. Was his contract with ABC, or another "major" network?

Predictions eh? I think that GB will do it all. They are just a wonderfully well-rounded team, but of course anything can happen.

Hunt

Report · Jan 01, 2012

Trevor,

That double-purchase almost seems like it is there, "by design." I did that twice, and partly because it did not seem that the first purchase went though. Oh well, guess that I could just transfer one to wife's iPad thingie. Seems that I have now inherited her "super Kindle," but then it has served me well. Only gripe that I have is that I cannot use it on takeoff and landing, but as soon as the 10,000' "bing-bing" sounds, I fire it up.

Some years back, there was a thread here on "mis-cast" actors (could have been some actresses, but do not recall any), and a lot of good examples of the worst of the worst were cited. It used to be horrible, back when talent was under direct contract to various studios, and the need was to get the top stars into roles, however mis-suited they were for them. Still, with box office draws, like TC, we still see a good bit of that.

The worst that I can recall was Kris Kristofferson cast as Billy the Kid, in Sam Peckinpaw's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. Bob Dylan, cast as a character called Alias, would have been better to play The Kid. I mean a 6'-2", 200#, right-handed Billy the Kid (also a Rhodes Scholar)? Who was in charge of casting, Fran Beer?!?!?

Hunt

Report · Jan 02, 2012

Bill you can can cancel a double Kindle book purchase, but you have to be quick. I was reading in bed when I made my blunder, and it was way too late when I tried to cancel the next day. I'll have to put my hand up and acept it as karma in my case, as the first version of the book I doubled up on was a mobi file I found on the web! One of the things I love about the Kindle is that my eyesight is not too flash, and I couldn't re-read some of the old SiFi title I used to love because they were never available as Large Print. I am having a great time going through the early Iain M Banks 'Culture' titles on the Kindle.

Report · Jan 02, 2012

In my case, I possibly had time to cancel, but was in the middle of purchasing/downloading several Kindle books, so by the time that everything had transpired, and I recognized my error, I had probably missed my window of opportunity. I will just live with it, and tip the next 9 doormen $1 less...

I bought wife the "big" Kindle (about 1.5 years ago now), and it's still quite good. I have seen some of the newer, smaller units, but then, like you, appreciate the larger type, especially in a darkened airplane cabin.

There are probably neat ways to mark books as read, or flag them in some way, but I have not learned that, even after reading the Kindle Guide a few times. As I have been doing several "series" of books, and am trying to do each in order of release, trying to remember which book came when, when they are all in my Author folders, is a bit daunting. For instance, I keep having to go to the Vince Flynn Web site, and looking at the Books in Chronological Order page - ought to just print that out, and upload the DOC/PDF to that folder, for reference. Would be helpful if I could just add an annotation, such as the # of each book, to the title. Probably need to go to one of the Kindle forums, and let the kids tell me how to do that.

For one recent series, we were traveling for about three weeks, and I had started out with but two of the books (actual ink on paper books) in my luggage. I had finished them too quickly, so stopped by a Barnes & Nobel in DC, and picked up several more in that series. By the time that we left London, I had 12 books stuffed into my suitcase! Wish that I had done all of that series on the Kindle, so that I would not have had to stuff the luggage with an entire library. Now, I am going almost 100% electronic for my books, at least the ones that I read in-flight.

Hunt

Report · Jan 02, 2012

Book that should NEVER be made into movie... and possibly should never had been a book to begin with...

sorry to hurt anyone's feelings...re: relatives or family or author for that matter...but dont EVER turn " Tree Of Smoke " by Denis Johnson to film media ( or any media , eg. books narrated by some movie star who aint working anymore ).

on the back of the book some idiot reviews the book by saying something like, " God should have the wisdom and sense of humor Denis Johnson has ! "

I have not found one single instance of anything funny in the book. In fact it is the exact opposite... extremely depresssing and sad etc. Nor have I found anything God - like at all.. whether it's related to wisdom or any other thing. It has been, more or less, torture reading this book... and I cant wait for the library to open tomorrow so I can return it and get something else. In comparison to THIS book, " The Dubliners " by James Joyce is HYSTERICAL !

Report · Jan 02, 2012

Well, I am living proof that God DOES have a sense of humor. I mean think of me, sitting in my cargo shorts, Tommy Bahama shirt, smoking cigars, drinking great wines, and typing on my lower patio level, with my Bulldogs at my feet. How much funnier could things be?

Not familiar with Denis Johnson, but when you talk about James Joyce, well I often write in a "stream of consciousness" myself. However, Dubliners was not my favorite piece.

Hunt

Report · Jan 11, 2012

Well, looking at current events in Iran, it appears that Vince Flynn called things pretty closely, and several years ago?

Wonder what IS happening, and if any of us will ever really know?????

Hunt