Category Archives: Movies

The Martian Movie Trailer

Andy Weir‘s (@andyweirauthor on Twitter) book was so much stinking fun to read. I can’t say that enough. I walked around for weeks after I read The Martian, just trying to get others to read it. the-martianThe story was great. They nailed the bookcover with the shiny paper. The whole package. I don’t care if you don’t like sci-fi books. This was such a good read that you just want Mark Watney to survive.

And now the movie is coming out November 25th! I have yet to see a movie that I enjoyed as much as the book, but after watching The Martian trailer which came out today, this could be really close. I think Matt Damon may have the ability to deliver the snarky brainy lines just as I heard them in my head.

I had no idea it had so many well-known Hollywood names in it either. You can watch the trailer below:

Fingers crossed. And if you haven’t read Andy Weir’s The Martian, you should really give it a try before the movie comes out.

A Walk in the Woods Movie Poster

The poster for the movie-adaptation of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods makes me smile.

AWalkintheWoodsPoster

 

I am one that really enjoyed the book. Enough so that I can’t imagine how the movie can live up to it. You can watch the preview trailer below and make up your own mind. I don’t remember the book being so “cute”? Does that make sense? I am not a big re-reader, but this may call for it. The encounter with the bear was one of my favorite bits in the book. Not sure why I found it so funny. Bryson just has a why of countering serious situations with this dry, almost stuffy, British-like sense of humor.

I am still up in the air if Robert Redford and Nick Nolte are the right guys for the parts. Though since Redford is producing the movie, I guess he gets to do whatever he likes. The A Walk in the Woods movie hits the big screen this fall on Labor Day weekend. Fingers crossed!

 

The Last Bookshop – Short Film

The first 10 minutes of this short film are fantastic. I would love to get lost in the stacks of an old shop just like this boy does. Lots of great imagery here as a boy finds himself exploring the last bookshop in England. The film was produced in an effort to support local bookshops and stress the importance of them. They have a site for the film as well so you can learn more about the shops shown in the film, bookshops in the UK as well as the movie score. Lot’s to think about while watching this short movie.

What did you think of the short film?

New Movie about the Death of Paper Books

Here  is a minute and 55 second trailer for Out of Print, a documentary that tries to capture what the digital shift is doing to books, businesses and cultures around the world. That’s a lot of ground to cover! But the lineup is pretty impressive. Narrated by Meryl Streep they talk with Jeff Bezos, authors Scott Turow and Ray Bradbury as well as elementary school teachers, bookstore owners and developmental psychology experts.

I’m hoping it’s balanced and not just “the sky is falling” or “print is dead”. The issue and trend is certainly more complicated and worth more level thought than the emotionally tainted headlines touted in the media these days. There are definitely pros and cons to be said of every step we take into the new digital world.

Regardless of where you think things stand in regards to the death of paper books, Out of Print looks to be a movie worth seeing. It’s certainly worth watching the trailer. Hopefully it’ll be online soon for rent or purchase as, like many of these indie movie deals, it’s not showing anywhere near Birmingham.