The “Hap & Leonard: Two-Bear Mambo” Trailer is Here!
Hap & Leonard: The Two-Bear Mambo looks to be the best seasons of H&L yet… and that’s saying a lot.
Category: Books
The Living Dead by George Romero & Daniel Kraus is Coming!
Before he died George Romero was working on a zombie novel. Daniel Kraus (co-author of The Shape of Water novel with Guillermo Del Toro) has been hired to pull together Romero’s final zombie tale. Kraus is excited about working on this project…
“I could talk all day about George. He’s the reason I’m a writer… Some of [the book] was in tremendous, publish-ready state… Other parts, near of the end of what he wrote, were sketchier, clearly intended to be fleshed out later…
“What’s exciting about the novel, though, is…It’s huge. It’s a massively scaled story, a real epic, the kind no one ever gave him the budget for in film. In a book, of course, there is no budget, and in his pages you can feel his joy of being able, at last, to do every single thing he wanted.”
The Living Dead will be released by Tor in Fall 2019. Here’s a synopsis:
On October 24th, John Doe rises from the dead. Assistant Medical Examiner Luis Acocella and his assistant Charlene Rutkowksi are vivisecting him when it happens, and so begins a global nightmare beyond comprehension.
“Greer Morgan is a teenager living in a trailer park, and when the dead begin their assault, the true natures of her neighbors are revealed. Chuck Chaplin is a pretty-boy cable-news anchor, and the plague brings sudden purpose to his empty life.
“Karl Nishimura is the helmsman of the U.S.S. Vindicator, a nuclear submarine, and he battles against a complete zombie takeover of his city upon the sea. And meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Etta Hoffmann records the progress of the epidemic from a bunker in D.C., as well as the broken dreams and stubborn hopes of a nation not ready to give up.
“Spread across three separate time periods and combining Romero’s biting social commentary with Kraus’s gift for the beautiful and grotesque, the book rockets forward as the zombie plague explodes, endures, and finally, in a shocking final act, begins to radically change.”
Sources: Entertainment Weekly and /Film.
S. Craig Zahler Interview!
S. Craig Zahler is a novelist, screenwriter and movie director.
Zahler’s novels include Mean Business on North Ganson Street, A Congregation of Jackals, Wraiths of the Broken Land, and Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child. I’ve read and enjoyed Mean Business on North Ganson Street. I look forward to diving in to his other novels.
At this point, Zahler is probably best known for his movies. Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99 showed Zahler to be a promising film-maker not afraid to create genre films that are equal parts character study, action and horror. Zahler’s next film, Dragged Across Concrete, stars Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn with support from Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Laurie Holden,Udo Kier and Michael Jai White. I can’t wait.
Jedidiah Ayres recently interviewed S. Craig Zahler and they talked novels, movies and more. Well done, Jedidiah!
Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins and Marco Finnegan
Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins and Marco Finnegan (based on Atkins novel of the same name) is available,
After a New Orleans college professor goes missing while searching for the rumored lost recordings of bluesman Robert Johnson — who, as legend has it, sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads — Nick Travers is sent to find him. Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.
If this graphic novel sounds like something you’d like, you can order here.
If you’re more into prose, then this link is for you. Either way, you’re in for a fun ride.
“The Terror” Second Trailer is Here!
Here’s the second trailer to The Terror which premieres on March 26th on AMC. Based on Dan Simmons excellent book of the same name, The Terror looks to be must-see tv.
The Swords of Heaven, Flowers of Hell by Moorcock & Chaykin: New Edition Coming!
If you’ve never read Howard Chaykin’s adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s The Swords of Heaven, Flowers of Hell, and you can’t get your hands on the rare 1979 edition… then you’re in luck. Titan Comics is releasing a new hardcover edition on May 15, 2018.
Here’s how they describe it…
MICHAEL MOORCOCK LIBRARY: THE SWORDS OF HEAVEN, THE FLOWERS OF HELL HC
Writer: Michael Moorcock & Howard Chaykin
Artist: Howard Chaykin
144pp • $29.99 • On sale Date: April 18, 2017 • ISBN: 9781785863307
Award-winning writer and artist Howaard Chaykin joins forces with Michael Moorcock to bring the Eternal Champion known alternatively as Erekose, Urlik of Skarsol or John Daker to vivid life in this classic tale from 1979.
Includes an exclusive introduction by acclaimed comic book writer Cullen Bunn.
Here’s a link to pre-order if you’re so inclined. I have to admit that even though I have the ’79 edition, a new hardcover is tempting. ; )
The Best Movies That Should Be Made Into TV Shows
IndieWire recently asked critics to pick the Best Movies That Should Be Made Into TV Shows. Of all the movies suggested, I liked the idea of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins Devil in a Blue Dress being turned into a series. If it did well then other Easy Rawlins’ yarns would be ripe for the picking.
If I was to suggested movies that would make great tv shows, I’d suggest these three for starters…
- The Expendables (where team members were actually expendable)
- Sin City (using Miller’s stories)
- Night of the Living Dead (focus on different stories/casts each season from the first few nights of the zombie outbreak)
“The Alienist” Poster and Trailer Are Here!
I’ve never read The Alienist novel. I don’t think The Alienist poster really sells it. I am intrigued by the trailer and will tune in.
Sean Gordon Murphy’s Two Ultimate Team-Ups
I love this piece by Sean Gordon Murphy featuring characters he loves. Click on the image and you can see a larger version. You can also go here to see another ultimate team-up piece that Murphy created.
An Interview with Jonathan Maberry
An Interview with Jonathan Maberry is worth a read by fans of Mayberry’s fiction as well as folks who’d like advice on writing should check it out.
Jonathan Maberry: Born with a Love of Storytelling
Jonathan Maberry: Born with a Love of Storytelling is an interview with, well, Jonathon Maberry. Fans of Mayberry’s fiction as well as folks who’d like advice on writing should check it out.
If you don’t know… Jonathan Maberry is…
…a New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning suspense author, editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. Jonathan Maberry was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers, and his books have been sold to more than two-dozen countries. Jonathan is known for his writing that spans several different genres; including horror, mystery and young adult fiction.
Source: The Reading Lists.
“1922” Trailer Starring Thomas Jane Adapted from Stephen King’s Novella
Thomas Jane in an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1922.
Barry Windsor Smith’s Classic Tupenny Conan Portfolio
If you’ve never seen Barry Windsor Smith’s Tupenny Conan Portfolio, you’re in for a treat. Even if you have seen it, you may want to click over to feast your eyes on seven pieces of art by the person many folks consider to be the premier Conan artist, Barry Windsor Smith.
Source: The Bristol Board.
The Last of the Mohicans (1936) / Z-View
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
Director: George B. Seitz
Screenplay: Philip Dunne based on the novel by James Fenimore Cooper
Stars: Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon.
The Pitch: “Let’s turn the classic Last of the Mohicans into a movie!”
Tagline: James Fenimore Cooper’s Greatest Tale Of Rousing Adventure!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
A classic love story set against the background of the Colonial Indian Wars. A half-breed Indian scout becomes entangled in a blood dispute between Magua and Colonial Munro, when Munro’s daughters are targeted for execution by Magua and his warriors.
Rating:
31 Things We Learned from Frank Darabont’s “The Mist” Commentary
Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 31 Things We Learned from Frank Darabont’s The Mist Commentary. Here are three of my favorites…
1. The opening set, where David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is painting, is designed after Drew Struzan’s actual studio and features copies of his most famous poster work including The Thing and Pan’s Labyrinth. “My idea was our artist here is painting a movie poster for a fictional Dark Tower film.”
6. He picked Melissa McBride (The Walking Dead) from tapes given them by the local casting director, and she impressed even the more seasoned actors during her initial scene in the market where she’s concerned about her kids. “The audition was thrilling, but what she did on set was even more thrilling.” The cast and crew burst into applause when he called cut.
23. The jump scare at 1:24:53 — William Sadler pounding on the glass door — made King jump in his seat on first viewing. “It was really one of the most gratifying moments because I scared the crap out of Stephen King, with the oldest trick in the book.”
