Trailer

Books on Film: ANNIHILATION

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Tomorrow, the highly-anticipated adaptation of Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation arrives in theatres — well, in some theatres. For some reason, Paramount has decided to release the movie through Netflix in the UK, despite its internationally-popular star and critically-acclaimed director. Directed and screenplay adapted by Alex Garland, and starring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez and Jennifer Jason Leigh (among others), here’s the trailer:

Annihilation is the first novel in Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in the US, and Fourth Estate in the UK.

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Here’s the novel’s synopsis:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers — they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding — but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

The trilogy has also been collected into a single volume, Area X (US/UK).

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New ALTERED CARBON trailer!

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Netflix has released a new trailer for its upcoming adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon! My anticipation levels for this series are very high (I’ve mentioned before on CR that the novel carries much of the blame for getting me into sci-fi), and this trailer further ramped up my impatience. Here it is:

Here’s the official synopsis for the series:

In the distant future, human consciousness can be digitized and downloaded into different bodies. Brought back to life after 250 years by Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy) the richest man on Earth, ex-Envoy soldier Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman / Will Yun Lee) must solve Bancroft’s attempted murder for the chance to live again in a world he doesn’t recognize.

Altered Carbon releases on February 2nd, 2018. In the meantime, the novel is published by Gollancz in the UK, and Del Rey in North America (a new, series tie-in edition will be released in February).

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Books on Film: THE SNOWMAN by Jo Nesbø

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I haven’t read any of Jo Nesbø’s novels, yet — I did pick up Blood on Snow and Midnight Sun not so long ago, and I think I bought the first Harry Hole novel (The Bat) when it was a Kindle Daily Deal quite some time ago. Anyway, I saw the trailer for this movie, based on the seventh Harry Hole novel, and thought it looked excellent.

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Here’s the official book synopsis:

Soon the first snow will come

A young boy wakes to find his mother missing. Outside, he sees her favourite scarf – wrapped around the neck of a snowman.

And then he will appear again

Detective Harry Hole soon discovers that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years.

And when the snow is gone…

When a second woman disappears, Harry’s worst suspicion is confirmed: a serial killer is operating on his home turf.

… he will have taken someone else

Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman is published by Vintage in the UK and US.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

SDCC: First teaser for READY PLAYER ONE movie!

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I read Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One in two sittings, separated only by a few hours of sleep. I loved it — it was maybe the first time I would describe a reading experience as “joyous”. I’ve been eagerly anticipating the movie ever since it was announced — even though I was a little concerned about how they might translate from page to screen. The new trailer, below, suggests that the adaptation is going to be awesome!

Warner Bros. is due to release the Steven Spielberg-directed movie in March 2018, and I can’t wait! In case you’re unfamiliar with the novel, it’s published by Arrow in the UK and Crown in North America. Here’s the synopsis:

It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS — and his massive fortune — will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions — and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

You can read my 2011 review of the novel here. I think I’m due for a re-read soon…

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Trailer: THE LAST JEDI (!!)

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The promotional blizzard for The Force Awakens was incredible. Actually, it was probably excessive. It ultimately left me a little disappointed with the movie on first viewing — my expectations had been ratcheted up so high that it was pretty much guaranteed that the movie wouldn’t live up to my hopes.

Now, we have the trailer for the eighth episode in saga. I’m really looking forward to this. I’m going to make a better effort at just waiting for the movie to come out, rather than consume all the coverage. Crossing fingers…