Take Me To Your Reader

In this episode, we discuss the new Adam Sandler movie (okay, it came out March 1st, but it was new for us!) Spaceman, based on Spaceman of Bohemia, by Jaroslav Kalfar. It’s an interesting adaptation of an interesting book, but don’t go in looking for an action movie. It’s not necessary to read the book … Continue reading Arachnotherapy! (Spaceman of Bohemia) →

We saw Dune: Part Two, then grabbed dinner, then got together to discuss our thoughts on the second half of Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation. We all loved it and welcome any other SF adaptations he wants to do in the future.

The guys follow up their coverage of The Lightning Thief by discussing the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rankings: Colin/James/Seth: book/series/a very large gap/movie

This is the first of two episodes we’ll do on The Lightning Thief. In this one, we just discuss the book and 2010 movie. We’ll get to the series next month once it’s complete. Rankings!: James/Colin/Seth: book/movie (duh) A couple of links: My blog post that I resurrected and commented on: https://pavementpodcast.com/the-lightning-thief-movie-how-to-badly-adapt-a-book-a-case-study/ Rick Riordan’s reminisces … Continue reading Those Meddling Satyrs: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, Part One (2010 movie) →

A quick end of the year episode about the new Disney+ short film (40 minutes), Shepherd, based on the Frederick Forsyth novella of the same name. I believe the story is more well known by folks in Britain and former Crown Colonies than it is to American audiences; this was certainly our first experience of … Continue reading The Shepherd, by Frederick Forsyth (and 2023 short film) →

While James was away in South America, Colin’s younger son, Tim, joined us for a discussion of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, along with several adaptations, including the radio play, the classic movie, the 2005 remake with Tom Cruise, and the 2019 BBC limited series. Rankings! Colin: 2005/novel/Radio Play/1953/2019 Tim: novel/Radio Play/2005/1953/2019 Seth: … Continue reading The Woking Dead (The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells), with Tim Kuskie →

This time we just roundtable some other Dracula-adjacent material we’ve consumed. Consider it a DVD extra from our previous episode. Works referenced (not exhaustive): Van Helsing (movie) Renfield (movie) Love at First Bite (movie) Dracula Untold (movie) Dracula Daily (book/email subscription) The Dracula Tape (book) Blade (film series) Underworld (film series) The Strain (book and … Continue reading Dracula-Adjacent (movies, TV, books) →

This time, the guys discuss Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel, Dracula, and two of its direct adaptations, the classic 1931 Universal movie, and 1992’s lavish Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. We also mention quite a few other direct or slightly indirect adaptations. Rankings! Colin: 1931 film, book, 1992 movie James: Audible version, 1931, 1992 … Continue reading So Many Transfusions! (Dracula, by Bram Stoker) →

On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (feat. Michael Simshauser) (Content warning: discussions of suicide and euthanasia) Michael Simshauser, our favorite Aussie and longtime friend of the pod, joins us for a long awaited discussion of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach and its two film adaptations from 1959 and 2000. We do try to keep the … Continue reading On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (feat. Michael Simshauser) →

This time, the guys welcome back Dr. Phil Nichols to talk about the recent adaptation of H.G. Wells’s “The Crystal Egg” by the Planet Zoom Players, as well as briefly touching on the Tales of Tomorrow adaptation from 1951. Rankings: Colin: PZP adaptation, story, Tales of Tomorrow James: PZP adaptation, story Seth: PZP adaptation, story, Tales of … Continue reading The Crystal Egg, by H.G. Wells (feat. Phil Nichols) →

Spoilers abound! The screenplay for The Last Voyage of the Demeter has been passed around Hollywood since the late 90s. It’s finally in theaters, and the screenwriter, Bragi Schut, joins us to talk about the new movie, based on a brief chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. (Chapter 7 “Captain’s Log” if you want to read it.) We … Continue reading The Last Voyage of the Demeter (with screenwriter Bragi Schut) →

It’s summer, and Shark Week, so the guys take on Steve Alten’s 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror and its 2018 action movie spectacle starring Jason Statham. Rankings! Colin: Movie/Book James: Audiobook/Movie Seth: Movie/Book

This time, the guys consider Isaac Asimov’s excellent short story / novelette “Nightfall,” adapted to pretty dreadful movies in 1988 and 2000. Rankings! Colin: story/1988 movie James: story/2000 movie/1988 movie Seth: story/2000 movie/1988 movie

This time, the guys hop in the way back machine to 1909 and William Hope Hodgson’s short story “A Voice in the Night” and its small screen adaptation (Suspicion S1.E24) and big screen Japanese adaptation (Matango, or Attack of the Mushroom People!). We neglected to rank them, which is surprising. Maybe we were distracted by … Continue reading Fungal Furor! (A Voice in the Night/Matango) →

This time we hit Robert Mason’s 1989 military/AI novel Weapon, adapted to a pretty terrible 1996 movie named after the main character, Solo. Colin reached out to the author and got him to do some Q&A, which we sprinkle in through this episode. It’s a tricky eBook to find. I guess I found it from … Continue reading A Murderbot, not THE Murderbot (Weapon/Solo) →

The guys break down the tamed-down version of the true story that is Cocaine Bear.

This time, we hit 1994’s Timecop, based on the Dark Horse Presents character from the August, September, and October 1992 issues of Dark Horse Comics. There are splits, and messy time travel logic, and awesome performances from Bruce McGill and Ron Silver. Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: Movie Comics

Colin’s older son, Peter, joins us for a discussion of Paul Tremblay’s 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, recently adapted into the 2023 M. Night Shyamalan film Knock at the Cabin. Full spoilers for both. Rankings! Peter: Movie Book Colin: Movie Book James: Movie Book No, wait, Book/Movie (swayed by Seth) … Continue reading I’m Apathy (The Cabin at the End of the World/Knock at the Cabin) →

Picking up a dangling thread from last year, the guys discuss a few more adaptations (or “adaptations”) of “The Most Dangerous Game.” Covered this time are A Game of Death from 1945, Hard Target from 1993, Surviving the Game from 1994, and The Hunt, from 2020. No rankings this time. But we all liked The Hunt best. Colin/James/Seth: 2020 Quibi series … Continue reading The Most Dangerous Game, Part Two (Cigarettes Kill!) →

We’ve got two follow-up movies this year, A Christmas Story Christmas on HBO Max and Spirited! on Apple TV+. Opinions differed on the quality of the movies.