Book
Book
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Book: Flowers in the Attic
By V C Andrews
Film: Flowers in the Attic (1987)
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first-person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over forty million copies world-wide.
Flowers in the Attic is a 1987 American psychological horror film directed by Jeffrey Bloom and starring Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, and Jeb Stuart Adams. Its plot follows four children who, after the death of their father, are held captive in the attic of their abusive grandmother's sprawling estate by their cruel and manipulative mother. It is based on V. C. Andrews' 1979 novel of the same name. At one point Wes Craven was scheduled to direct the film, and had completed a screenplay draft. Producers were disturbed by his approach to the incest-laden story, however, and Jeffrey Bloom ended up with writing and directing duties.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.30); Background History (13.20); Flowers in the Attic Plot Synopsis (14.25); Book Thoughts(20.23); Let's Rate (41.09); Introducing a Film (54.33); Flowers in the Attic (1987) Film Trailer (55.54); Lights, Camera, Action (57.53); How Many Stars (1:19.18); End Credits (1:24.36); Closing Credits (1:26.13)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers. Taken from the album Flowers On The Wall. Copyright 1965 Columbia Records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Saturday Jul 15, 2023
Saturday Jul 15, 2023
Book: Beloved
By Toni Morrison
Film: Beloved (1998)
Beloved is a 1987 novel by the American writer Toni Morrison. Set after the American Civil War, it tells the story of a family of formerly enslaved people whose Cincinnati home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Beloved is inspired by an event that actually happened: Margaret Garner, an enslaved person in Kentucky, who escaped and fled to the free state of Ohio in 1856. She was subject to capture in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; when U.S. marshals burst into the cabin where Garner and her husband had barricaded themselves, she was attempting to kill her children, and had already killed her two-year-old daughter, to spare them from being returned to slavery. Morrison had come across an account of Garner titled "A Visit to the Slave Mother who Killed Her Child" in an 1856 newspaper article published in the American Baptist, and reproduced in The Black Book, a miscellaneous compilation of black history and culture that Morrison edited in 1974.
Beloved is a 1998 American psychological horror drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandiwe Newton. Based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name, the plot centers on a former slave after the American Civil War, her haunting by a poltergeist, and the visitation of her reincarnated daughter. Despite being a box office bomb Beloved received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design for Colleen Atwood, the film received mostly positive reviews, and both Danny Glover and Kimberly Elise received praise for their performances.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.30); Background History (21.42); Plot Synopsis (23.37); Book Thoughts(28.10); Let's Rate (56.09); Introducing a Film (58.22); Film Trailer (59.35); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.35); How Many Stars (1:57.01); End Credits (2:01.20); Closing Credits (2:02.35)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Something In My House by Dead or Alive. Taken from the album Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know. Copyright 1986. Epic Records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used With Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Jun 04, 2023
Sunday Jun 04, 2023
Book: The Talented Mr Ripley
By Patricia Highsmith
Film: The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. This novel introduced the character of Tom Ripley, who returns in four subsequent novels. It has been adapted numerous times for film, including the 1999 film of the same name.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Anthony Minghella, and based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, with Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles. The novel was previously filmed twice. In 1957, a one-hour version was produced for the TV anthology series Studio One, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, though no recording survives. In 1960, a full-length film version was released, titled Purple Noon (French: Plein soleil) and directed by René Clément, starring Alain Delon in his first major role. Claude Chabrol's 1968 film Les biches ('The Does') uses many elements of Highsmith's novel but switches the gender of the main characters. The film was a critical and commercial success. It received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Law.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (10.18); Plot Synopsis (10.53); Book Thoughts(15.40); Let's Rate (34.54); Introducing a Film (36.59); Film Trailer (37.48); Lights, Camera, Action (39.56); How Many Stars (1:14.52); End Credits (1:16.27); Closing Credits (1:17.27)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Tu vuò fà l'americano by Renato Carsone. Copyright 1956 Pathe records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
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Sunday May 14, 2023
Sunday May 14, 2023
Book: Lovely Bones
By Alice Sebold
Film: Lovely Bones (2009)
The Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by American writer Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. The novel received critical praise and became an instant bestseller. A film adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, who personally purchased the rights, was released in 2009. The novel was also later adapted as a play of the same name, which premiered in England in 2018.
The Lovely Bones is a 2009 supernatural thriller drama film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay he co-wrote with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. It is based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel of the same name and stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, and Saoirse Ronan. The plot follows a girl who is murdered and watches over her family from "the in-between" and is torn between seeking vengeance on her killer and allowing her family to heal. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, the film was produced by Carolynne Cunningham, Walsh, Jackson, and Aimee Peyronnet, with Steven Spielberg, Tessa Ross, Ken Kamins, and James Wilson as executive producers. Principal photography began in October 2007 in New Zealand and Pennsylvania. The film's score was composed by Brian Eno.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.32); Background History (6.47); Lovely Bones Plot Synopsis (7.46); Book Thoughts (12.10); Let's Rate (33.21); Introducing a Film (36.46); Lovely Bones Film Trailer (38.55); Lights, Camera, Action (41.16); How Many Stars (1:04.25); End Credits (1:06.15); Closing Credits (1:07.40)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Now You Belong To Heaven by Mari Olsen. Copyright 2008 Mari Olsen Onsøien
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Tuesday Apr 25, 2023
Book: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle
Stop Café
By Fannie Flagg
Film: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle
Stop Café (1991)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 novel by American author Fannie Flagg. Set in Alabama, it weaves together the past and the present through the blossoming friendship between Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman who lives in a nursing home. Every week Evelyn visits Ninny, who recounts stories of her youth in Whistle Stop, Alabama, where her sister-in-law, Idgie, and her friend, Ruth, ran a café. These stories, along with Ninny's friendship, enable Evelyn to begin a new, satisfying life while allowing the people and stories of Ninny's youth to live on. The book explores themes of family, aging, lesbianism, and the dehumanizing effects of racism on both black and white people.
Fried Green Tomatoes is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Jon Avnet and based on Fannie Flagg's 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Written by Flagg and Carol Sobieski, and starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson, the film tells the story of a housewife who, unhappy with her life, befriends an elderly lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know. The film was released in theaters in the United States on December 27, 1991, garnered positive reviews from critics and was a box office hit, grossing $119.4 million on a $11 million budget. It was nominated for two Oscars at the 64th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress (Tandy) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.29); Background History (11.59); Plot Synopsis (13.19); Book Thoughts(17.57); Let's Rate (1:06.57); Amazing Design Advertisement (16.47); Introducing a Film (1:17.57); Film Trailer (1:18.47); Lights, Camera, Action (1:21.14); How Many Stars (1:59.03); End Credits (2:09.17); Closing Credits (2:11.19)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Count On Me by Bruno Mars. Taken from the album Doo-Wops and Hooligans. Copyright 2011 Atlantic/Warner Music.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Book: To Kill A Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Film: To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten. Although the novel deals with rape and racial inequality, the book is told with warmth and humour.
The 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name. The film stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. It marked the film debut of Robert Duvall, William Windom and Alice Ghostley. It gained overwhelmingly positive reception from both the critics and the public; a box-office success, it earned more than six times its budget. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture. In 1995, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.33); Background History (17.50); Plot Synopsis (20.57); Book Thoughts(24.52); Let's Rate (1:33.07); Amazing Design Advertisement (1:31.42); Introducing a Film (1:37.53); Film Trailer (1:39.16); Lights, Camera, Action (1:41.55); How Many Stars (1:32.44); End Credits (2:41.44); Closing Credits (2:43.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Not All Heroes Wear Capes by Owl City – taken from the album Cinematic. Copyright 2018 Sky Harbor Studios
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Book: The Color Purple
By Alice Walker
Film: The Color Purple (1985)
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. The novel has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2009 at number seventeenth because of the sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence.
The Color Purple is a 1985 American epic coming-of-age period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and marked a turning point in his career, as it was a departure from the summer blockbusters for which he had become known. It was also the first feature film directed by Spielberg for which John Williams did not compose the music, instead featuring a score by Quincy Jones, who also produced. The cast stars Whoopi Goldberg in her breakthrough role, with Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Willard Pugh, and Adolph Caesar. Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African-American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African-American women experienced during the early 20th century, including domestic violence, incest, paedophilia, poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions
Opening Credits; Introduction (2:34); Background History (17.09); The Color Purple Plot Synopsis (18.27); Book Thoughts (26.15); Let's Rate (1:27.30); Amazing Design Advertisement (1:27.55); Introducing a Film (1:37.07); The Color Purple Film Trailer (1:33.40); Lights, Camera, Action (1:34.57); How Many Stars (2:26.07); End Credits (2:31.47); Closing Credits (2:34.21)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: The Color Purple by Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Ervio. Taken from the Broadway Cast Album. The Color Purple. Copyright 2016 TCP 2015 Broadway New Cast Recording.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Saturday Jan 14, 2023
Book: We Need to Talk About Kevin
By Lionel Shriver
Film: We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, published by Serpent's Tail, about a fictional school massacre. It is written from the first person perspective of the teenage killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her psychopathic son Kevin and the murders he committed, as told in a series of letters from Eva to her husband. The novel, Shriver's seventh, won the 2005 Orange Prize, a UK-based prize for female authors of any country writing in English. In 2011 the novel was adapted into a film.
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2011 psychological thriller drama film directed by Lynne Ramsay from a screenplay she co-wrote with Rory Stewart Kinnear, based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Lionel Shriver. A long process of development and financing began in 2005, with filming commencing in April 2010. Tilda Swinton stars as the mother of Kevin, struggling to come to terms with her psychopathic son and the horrors he has committed. The film premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2011.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.33); Amazing Design Advertisement (24.07); Background History (25.19); Plot Synopsis (26.24); Book Thoughts (32.24); Let's Rate (1:30.21); Introducing a Film (1:33.10); Film Trailer (1:34.34); Lights, Camera, Action (1:36.11); How Many Stars (2:36.00); End Credits (2:49.50); Closing Credits (2:51.34)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: I Don’t Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats. Taken from the album The Fine Art of Surfacing. Copyright 1979 Ensign/Columbia Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Book: We Have Always Lived in The Castle
By Shirley Jackson
Film: We Have Always Live in the Castle
(2018)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was Jackson's final work, and was published with a dedication to Pascal Covici, the publisher, three years before the author's death in 1965. The novel is written in the voice of eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, who lives with her sister and uncle on an estate in Vermont. Six years before the events of the novel, the Blackwood family experienced a tragedy that left the three survivors isolated from their small village. The novel was first published in hardcover in North America by Viking Press, and has since been released in paperback and as an audiobook and e-book.[2] It has been described as Jackson's masterpiece.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 2018 American mystery thriller film directed by Stacie Passon, written by Mark Kruger, and starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Crispin Glover, and Sebastian Stan. It was based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2:31); Amazing Design Advertisement ( 19.14); Background History (20.26); Plot Synopsis (21.26); Book Thoughts (25.32); Let's Rate (1:07.56); Introducing a Film (1:16.06); We Have Always Lived In The Castle Film Trailer (1:17.11); Lights, Camera, Action (1:19.02); How Many Stars (1:59.49); End Credits (2:04.39); Closing Credits (2:06.26)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: I’ll Be Home For Christmas by Elvis Presley and Carrie Underwood. Taken from the album Christmas Duets. Copyright 2008 RCA Victor Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Nov 06, 2022
Sunday Nov 06, 2022
Book: Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn
Film: Gone Girl (2014)
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was published in June 2012 and become an instant success. The sense of suspense in the novel would come whether Nick Dunne is responsible for the disappearance of his wife Amy. The book would be told in three parts changing the point of view between the different parts.
The film, directed by David Fincher and starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck. Set in Missouri, the story is a postmodern mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy. The film also stars Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry. It would be the highest grossing film of David Fincher’s career earning $369million at the box office.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.33); Background History (6.50); Gone Girl Plot Synopsis (7.52); Book Thoughts(14.51); Let's Rate (41.41); Amazing Design Advertisement (42.33); Introducing a Film (43.44); Gone Girl Film Trailer (45.01); Lights, Camera, Action (47.28); How Many Stars (1:24.18); End Credits (1:26.06); Closing Credits (1:27.54)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Bitch by Meredith Brookes. Taken from the album Blurring the Edges. Copyright 1997 Capitol-EMI Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Oct 09, 2022
Sunday Oct 09, 2022
Book: Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?
By Henry Farrell
Film: Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte was a short story that was never published until years later as part of the novel Whatever Happened to Baby Jane novel.
The film was supposed to be the follow-up from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane bring back the two stars but due to the complications and problems between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, Crawford dropped out after the start of filming to be replaced by Olivia de Haviland. The film follows a middle-aged Southern woman, suspected in the unsolved murder of her lover from decades before, who is plagued by bizarre occurrences after summoning her cousin to help challenge the local government's impending demolition of her home. The film would be nominated for seven Academy Awards and would co star Agnes Moorhead and Mary Astor in her last film role
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – co2:08/93pyright 2021. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
Sunday Sep 04, 2022
Book: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
By Henry Farrell
Film: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
(1962)
This American horror gothic suspense novel was published in 1960. The novel has since received cult status as would the film from 1962.
The film, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and directed by Robert Aldrich would become a cult classic and the filming would become Hollywood legend with a book and miniseries about the making of the film proving to be a top best seller and highly rated television miniseries. The film follows a former child star terrorising her paraplegic sister in an old Hollywood Mansion.
The film would be nominated five Oscars and receiving one for Best Costume Design. It would also be the tenth and last time Bette Davis would be nominated for an Oscar. The film would receive an “X” rating in the UK in 1962 and it would be start of hag horror films which would become a stable for the next ten years. The film in 2021 was selected for preservation in the United States National Registry by the Library of Congress.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.33); Background History (24.46); Plot Synopsis (25.31); Book Thoughts(31.32); Let's Rate (1:10.23); Introducing a Film (1:13.12); Film Trailer (1:15.21); Lights, Camera, Action (1:17.14); How Many Stars (2:15.44); End Credits (2:28.20); Closing Credits (2:30.48)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2022. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane by Debbie Burton and Bette Davis. Taken from the album Whatever Happened to Baby Jane soundtrack. Copyright 1962 – Warner Music
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
Book:
The Rats
By James Herbert
Film:
Deadly Eyes (1982)
A horror novel by British writer James Herbert. This was Herbert's first novel and included graphic depictions of death and mutilation. Herbert became inspired to write The Rats in early 1972, whilst watching Tod Browning's Dracula; specifically, after seeing the scene where Renfield describes a nightmare he had involving hordes of rats. Linking the film to childhood memories he had of rats in the London suburbs, Herbert stated in later interviews that he wrote the book primarily as a pastime; "It seemed like a good idea at the time, I was as naive as that." The manuscript was typed by Herbert's wife Eileen, who sent it off after nine months to nine different publishers
The Canadian horror film directed by Robert Clouse, very loosely based on the 1974 horror novel The Rats by James Herbert. The story revolves around giant black rats who begin eating the residents of Toronto after ingesting contaminated grain. Dachshunds wearing rat suits were used in the filming of Deadly Eyes to achieve the effect of super-sized rodents. James Herbert, who wrote the novel upon which the film was based, was displeased with what the filmmakers did to his story, and described it as "terrible ... absolute rubbish.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.01); Plot Synopsis (13.21); Forming the Plot (14.22); Book Thoughts (18.57); Scoring the Book (46.03); Book of the Season (49.56); Introducing a Film (56.00); Film Trailer (56.41); Lights, Camera, Action (58.44); Epilogue (1:23.48); Film of the Season (1:26.46); End Credits (1:32.08); Closing Credits (1:33.24)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – The Rat by The Walkmen. Taken from the album Bows & Arrows. Copyright 2004 Record Collection.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights Reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon.
Friday Jul 08, 2022
Friday Jul 08, 2022
Book
Battle Royale
By Koushun Takami
Film:
Battle Royale (1999)
Originally completed in 1996, it was not published until 1999. The story tells of junior high school students who are forced to fight each other to the death in a program run by a fictional authoritarian Japanese government known as the Republic of Greater East Asia.
The dystopian novel was previously entered into the 1997 Japan Horror Fiction Awards but was eventually rejected in the final round due to concerns over its depictions of students killing each other. Upon publication in 1999, the novel became a surprise bestseller.
In 2000, one year after publication, Battle Royale was adapted into a manga series, written by Takami himself, and a feature film. The film was both controversial and successful, becoming one of the year's highest-grossing films as well as prompting condemnation by Japan's National Diet. The film spawned a sequel, and two more brief manga adaptations were also created. Suzanne Collins author of The Hunger Games would be accused of ripping off the plot of Battle Royale.
The Japanese action-thriller film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, with a screenplay written by Kenta Fukasaku, Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarō Yamamoto, and Takeshi Kitano, the film follows a group of junior high-school students that are forced to fight to the death by the Japanese totalitarian government. The film drew controversy, and was banned or excluded from distribution in several countries; Toei Company refused to sell the film to any United States distributor for over a decade due to concerns about potential controversy and lawsuits, until Anchor Bay Entertainment eventually acquired the film in 2010 for a direct-to-video release.
Battle Royale became a cultural phenomenon, and is considered one of the most influential films in recent decades, having been highly influential in global popular culture. Since the film's release, the term "battle royale" has been redefined to refer to a fictional narrative genre and/or mode of entertainment inspired by the film, where a select group of people are instructed to kill each other off until there is a triumphant survivor. It has inspired numerous media, including films, books, animation, comics, visual novels, and video games; the battle royale game genre, for example, is based on the film.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.01); Forming the Plot (09.20); Plot Synopsis (11.18); Book Thoughts (18.07); Queston of the Week (46.20); How many stars? (52.41); Introducing a Film (55.27); Battle Royale Film Trailer (58.18); Lights, Camera, Action (1:00.14); Epilogue (1:21.51); End Credits (1:24.21); Closing Credits (1:25.47)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – Who’s Gonna Save You Now by Rina Samayama. Taken from the album Samayama. Copyrights 2020 Dirt Records.
Rina Samyama’s new album. Hold That Girl out 02 September 2022.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon.
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Book:
From Beyond
HP Lovecraft
Film:
From Beyond (1986)
Written in 1920 and first published in 1934, Lovecraft’s short story. The story is told from the first-person perspective of an unnamed narrator and details his experiences with a scientist named Crawford Tillinghast. Tillinghast creates an electronic device that emits a resonance wave, which stimulates an affected person's pineal gland, thereby allowing them to perceive planes of existence outside the scope of accepted reality. These characters would be minor characters in Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward or aka Reanimator.
Stuart Gordon’s body horror film is loosely based on the short story by Lovecraft and stars Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree and Ted Sorel. From Beyond centers on a pair of scientists attempting to stimulate the pineal gland with a device called the Resonator. An unforeseen result of their experiments is the ability to perceive creatures from another dimension that proceed to drag the head scientist into their world, returning him as a grotesque shape-shifting monster that preys upon the others at the laboratory. Gordon made use of medical advisors to be sure that the actions taken by the doctors and nurses of the film followed proper medical procedures.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.01);Firey Kitten Podcast (25.31); Plot Synopsis (26.01); From Beyond Synopsis (26.24); Forming the Plot (28.03); Book Thoughts (54.03); Introducing a Film (1:01.02); From Beyond Film Trailer (1:02.42); Lights, Camera, Action (1:03.42); Epilogue (1:51.58); Nothing To Say Podcast (1:56.36); End Credits (1:57.05); Closing Credits (1:58.28)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – (This Will Be) An Everlasting Love by Natalie Cole. Taken from the album Inseparable. Copyright 1975 Capitol Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
All Songs Used by Kind Permission.
All Songs available through Amazon.
Saturday May 07, 2022
Saturday May 07, 2022
Book:
Ringu
By Koji Suzuki
Film:
Ring (1998)
A Japanese mystery horror novel by Koji Suzuki first published in 1991, and set in modern-day Japan. The novel was the first in the Ring novel series, and the first of a trilogy, along with two sequels: Spiral (1995) and Loop (1998). The original Ring novel sold 500,000 copies by January 1998, and 1.5 million copies by July 2000.[1] Ring was the basis for the Ring franchise, including a 1995 television film (Ring: Kanzenban), a 1998 theatrical film of the same name (Ring), a television series (Ring: The Final Chapter), and two international film remakes of the 1998 film: a South Korean version (The Ring Virus) and an English-language version (The Ring).
This Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata and based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki stars stars Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani and Hiroyuki Sanada, and follows a reporter who is racing to investigate the mystery behind a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it. It is titled The Ring (stylized as the Ring) in English in Japan and released as Ringu in North America.
Production took approximately nine months. Ring and its sequel Spiral were released in Japan at the same time. After its release, Ring was a huge box office success in Japan and was acclaimed by critics. It inspired numerous follow-ups in the Ring franchise, popularized J-horror internationally, and triggered a trend of Western remakes, starting with the 2002 American film The Ring.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.01); Firey Kitten Podcast Trailer (25.37); Introduction to the Book (26.11); Plot Synopsis (27.07); Forming the Plot (31.09); Book Thoughts (1:24.32); Introducing a Film (1:30.26); Film Trailer The Ring (Japanese)/The Ring (US) (1:31.41); Lights, Camera, Action (1:35.46); Epilogue (2:16.22); With Nothing To Say Podcast Trailer (2:24.37); End Credits (2:25.06); Closing Credits (2:29.35)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. Taken from the album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Copyright 1963 Columbia Nashville Records
Original Music copyrighted 2022 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved and used by kind permission.
All songs available through Amazon.
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Book:
Interview With A Vampire
By Anne Rice
Film:
Interview With A Vampire (1994)
Anne Rice’s debut novel from 1976 is a gothic vampire novel which initially was released with mixed reviews. It is based on a short story by Anne Rice following the life and after life of Louis de Pont du Lac. Anne Rice’s daughter died shortly before writing and her daughter became the inspiration for Claudia. The book series would spawn eleven sequels and share the same universe as the Mayfair Witches and the Mummy. The book has been published a graphic novel on three different occasions.
Directed by Neil Jordan and starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas and a young Kristen Dunst, the film would be a critical and commercial success. Originally there was trepidation on the part of Anne Rice on the casting of Tom Cruise but she would come around after seeing the finished product. Due to homophobia at the time of making, Louis was going to be changed to a female and star Cher who wrote the song Lover’s Forever for the film. The song was rejected once Brad Pitt was secure in the role and the song would be released on her album Closer to the Truth as a pop dance mix.
Opening Credits; Introduction (.58); Plot Synopsis (13.45); Forming the Plot (14.45); Book Thoughts (20.21); Rating a Book (1:00.55); Introducing a Film (1:04.35); Film Trailer (1:05.59); Lights, Camera, Action (1:08.29); Epilogue (1:31.15); End Credits (1:39.10); Closing Credits (1:41.30)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – Symphony For the Devil by The Rolling Stones. Taken from the album Beggars Banquet. Copyright 1968 Decca Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
All songs used by Kind Permission.
All songs available on Amazon.
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Book:
Let the Right One In
By John Ajvide Lindqvist
Film:
Let the Right One In (2008)
The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes placein Blackeberg, a working-class suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s. The book focuses on the darker side of humanity, dealing with thematically heavy issues such as existential anxiety, social isolation, fatherlessness, divorce, alcoholism, school bullying, paedophilia, genital mutilation, self-mutilation, and murder.
Swedish romantic horror film directed by Tomas Alfredson, based on the 2004 novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay. film adaptation of Lindqvist's novel began development in 2004 when John Nordling acquired the rights to produce the project. Alfredson, unconcerned with the horror and vampire conventions, decided to tone down many elements of the novel and focus primarily on the relationship between the two main characters and explore the darker side of humanity.
We are joined by novelist Matthew Brockmeyer and writer, director, producer and novelist C. Derick Miller.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.44); Plot Synopsis (15.44); Forming the Plot (17.53); Book Thoughts (23.39); Scoring The Book (1:26.19 ); Introducing a Film (1:36.10); Film Trailer (1:37.52); Lights, Camera, Action (1:39.35); Epilogue (2:50.56); End Credits (2:54.17); Closing Credits (2:57.09)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – Let Me In by Laura Branigan. Taken from the album Laura Branigan. Copyright 1990 Atlantic Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All songs used by kind permission.
All rights reserved.
All songs available through Amazon.
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Imitation of Life (1934)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The original film was directed by John Stahl and was a box office success where it was released in 1934 and again in 1936. It is as in the Film National Registry. The film stars Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers. The film deals with miscegenation and is considered one of the top films dealing with race issues.
The 1959 film, starring Lana Turner, Juanita Moore and John Gavin. The film was another box office smash and received two Oscar nominations for Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. This film is also in the Film National Registry as being important to preserve. The film was also part of the Douglas Sirk films that would garnish the tag soap opera melodramas.
Dealing with race issues during their respective time periods, it is interesting how each film handles the central themes.
Mahalia Jackson appears as a gospel singer.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.02); It’s A True Original (17.06); Imitation of Life (1934) Trailer (18.44); Let’s Start At The Beginning (21.23); Let’s Do A Remake (57.07); Imitation of Life (1959) Trailer (52.15); Let’s Give It Another Go (54.35); Did We Need Two? (1:21.57); End Credits (1:36.18); Closing Credits (1:37.47)
Opening Credits– Used with permission by Epidermic Sounds
Closing Credits – I’m Living in Shame by Diana Ross and the Supremes. Taken from the album Let the Sunshine In. Copyright 1969 Motown Records. Used by kind permission.
All rights reserved.
All songs available through Amazon.
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Book:
American Psycho
By Brett Easton Ellis
Film:
American Psycho (2003)
A novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of The Observer notes that while "some countries [deem it] so potentially disturbing that it can only be sold shrink-wrapped", "critics rave about it" and "academics revel in its transgressive and postmodern qualities" The book would epitomise the 80’s in every sense of the word and would be one of the most controversial during that time.
The film was directed by Mary Harron and starting Christian Bale, the film would give a satirical look at the novel.
Set in the 1980s, the film focuses on the actions of Patrick Bateman, the self-proclaimed "American psycho" of the title. While at first glance Bateman is a yuppie New York City investment banker, he is gradually revealed to be living a gruesome second life as a serial killer preying on prostitutes, work colleagues, and finally random members of the public.
Producer Edward R. Pressman purchased the film rights to the novel in 1992. After discussions with David Cronenberg fell through, Harron was brought on to direct and cast Bale in the lead role. Lionsgate acquired worldwide distribution in 1997 and temporarily replaced Harron and Bale with Oliver Stone as director and Leonardo DiCaprio portraying Patrick Bateman. DiCaprio left in favor of The Beach and Harron and Bale were brought back.
We are joined by Matthew Brockmeyer, writer and novelist and Steven Templeman, film aficionado.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.39); Forming the Plot (14.39); Plot Synopsis (15.50); Book Thoughts (20.25); Rating a Book (1:07.44); Introducing a Film (1:17.20); Film Trailer (1:19.14); Lights, Camera, Action (1:21.19); Epilogue (2:19.54); End Credits (2:34.24); Closing Credits (2:36.27)
Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes
Closing Credits – That’s Just What You Are – Aimee Mann. Taken from the album I’m With Stupid. Copyright 1994 Geffen Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved.
All songs available through Amazon.