Book Vs Movie
The African Queen
The C.S. Forester Novel Vs the John Houston Classic Film
We are feeling the heat and humidity of summer in the city so the Margos decided to have some fun and travel to Africa for early 20th Century adventure with The African Queen by C.S. Forester. The book was published in 1935 and Forester was an expert on nautical tales with his Horatio Hornblower novels.
The African Queen is the story of missionary Rose “Rosie” Sayer, who has lived and worked in Africa for several years with her brother Samuel who dies suddenly after Germans take over their village. Rose pairs with British explorer Charles “Charlie” Allnutt on his janky ship “The African Queen” down the Ulanga River. She schemes to have explosives on the boat turn into torpedoes to attack the Germans on their boat, “Konigin Luise.”
Rose and Charlie fall in love as they find their way into the enemies and then the British consul. What becomes of them? Forester wants us to come to our own conclusions.
The 1952 movie is a classic directed by John Houston and starring Humphrey Bogart & Katharine Hepburn. It’s divine and amazing. Seriously, this may be the best movie we have talked about so far. :)
Between the novel and film--which did the Margos like better?
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The life of C.S. Forester
- The plot of the book and movie
- The cast including Humphrey Bogart (Allnutt,) Katharine Hepburn (Rose,) Robert Morley (Rev. Sam Sayer) and Peter Bull (Captain of Louisa)
Clips Featured:
- The African Queen trailer
- Lauren Bacall talks to Johnny Carson about shooting “The African Queen” (1987)
- “The Rain Scene”
- “I Never Dreamed …”:
- Music: “The Chuch Scene”
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/
Book Vs Movie
Blue Crush
The Susan Orlean Article Vs the Kate Bosworth 2002 Film
The Margos are ready to hit the beach with this episode devoted to surfing in Hawaii. In 1998 Susan Orlean penned Life’s Swell in Outside magazine talked about a group of Maui girls who loved to surf and dealt with poverty and sexism to enjoy their passion.
That’s pretty much the whole story and in the early 2000s, dozens of magazine articles were turned into movies which is what happened here. The 14-page article somehow became a 104-minute film which we find--perplexing, to say the least!
Blue Crush is directed by actor/directed John Stockwell and stars Kate Bosworth as a young woman raising her younger sister in a parentless home and pursuing her dream of being a professional surfer. She has two best friends and dates an NFL player while overcoming her fear of injuring herself again. (We see her accident several times in the movie.)
Between the Orlean article and film--which did the Margos like better?
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The twitter life of Susan Orlean
- The surfer life in Hawaii
- The cast including Kate Bosworth (Anne Marie,) Matthew Davis (Matt Tollman,) Michelle Rodriguez (Eden,) Sanoe Lake (Lena,) and Mika Boorem (Penny.)
Clips Featured:
- Blue Crush trailer
- Matt gives a pep talk to Anne Marie
- “Jessica from Billabong”
- Music: Cruel Summer by Blestenation & Bananarama
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/
Book Vs Movie
Total Recall
The Philip K. Dick Short Story Vs the Arnold Schwarzenegger 1990 Film
If memory serves, this is the first movie the Margos are covering that stars action star, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This time we are visiting Mars and it is nothing like David Bowie would have enjoyed. 1990’s Total Recall (directed by Paul Verhoeven) is based on the short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by prolific writer Philip K. Dick.
The short story (first published in 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) follows the story of Douglas Quail and an ordinary, earth-bound man who dreams of going to Mars. He works as a clerk at a boring office job and his wife, Kristen, seems to enjoy making fun of his dreams.
Quail discovers Rekal Incorporated, a company that provides memory implants that takes the place of actual experience. Instead of a fake memory--he actually remembers that he is a secret agent who killed a political operative on Mars and his “real life” is fake.
The movie is much more complicated and the budget of $55 million for 1990 was considered astronomical for the time (it eventually made over $261 million) and was the 5th highest-grossing film in 1990 (Ghost was #1!)
The plot? We try to make sense of it in this episode while enjoying the insane special effects and inane dialog.
Between the short story and film--which did the Margos like better?
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The bio of Philip K. Dick
- The career of Paul Verhoeven & Schwarzenegger
- The “sleazy & demure” love interest (eye roll)
- Margo’s story about San Diego actress Priscilla Allen (billed as “Fat Lady” in the movie!)
- The cast which includes: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Quaid,) Rachel Ticotin (Melina,) Sharon Stone (Lori,) Ronny Cox (Cohaggen,) Michael Ironside (Richter,) Marshall Bell (Kuato,) Ray Baker (McClane,) and Rosemary Dunsmore (Dr. Lull.)
Clips Featured:
- Total Recall trailer
- “Two Weeks”
- “You Blew My Cover!”
- Arnold yelling
- “Take the pill”
- Music: Soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith The Dream
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/
Book Vs Movie
The Return of Superfly Vs American Gangster
The 2000 New York magazine article from Mark Jacobson Vs the 2007 Ridley Scott Film
The Margos are heading back to NYC in the gritty 1970s talking about the New York magazine article The Return of Superfly by Mark Jacobson which appeared in their August 14, 2000 issue and was immediately bought as a film property for Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures. It took seven years and went through many different hands before Ridley Scott filmed the 2007 movie starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
The story focuses on a heroin dealer from North Carolina (Frank Lucas/Washington) who came to Harlem in the late 1960s and became a million-dollar dealer/drug kingpin taking over 118th Street & 8th Avenue for years before being caught by an undercover team of “not-on-the-take” Newark police headed up by Richie Roberts (Crowe.)
When Roberts is not investigating Lucas, he is studying to be a lawyer and dealing with a stressful divorce and child custody issue.
Lucas inherited the territory from noted Harlem gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson after his death and used the Viet Nam War to his advantage to get 100% pure heroin that sold on the streets as “Blue Magic.” Thousands become addicted to it and Lucas is now the drug king of New York City.
What makes this episode extra special is that we interview Erin Hennicke of the Best Neighbors Podcast (Margo D. co-hosts that show!) Erin was the person who bought the rights to the article for Universal in 2000 and talks about the long journey to the Ridley Scott film. She also talks about the whole process of getting books and magazine articles to screen and offers advice to potential writers out there.
This is an extra special episode and hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Between the article and film--which did the Margos like better?
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The story behind the New York article
- The journey between different actors and directors attached to the project
- How crafty Frank Lucas was in transporting the drugs straight from Bangcock, Thailand and the multiples of people he was forced to pay off
- How a chinchilla coat broke his “cover”
- The really bad makeup job done on actor Joe Morton!
- The cast which includes: Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas,) Russell Crowe (Richie Roberts,) Chiwetel Ejiofor (Huey Lucas,) Josh Brolin (Detective Trupo,) Lymari Nadal (Eva,) Ted Levine (Lou Toback,) Ruby Dee (Mama Lucas,) Carla Gugino (Laurie Roberts,) Cuba Gooding Jr (Nicky Barnes,) Clarence Williams III (“Bumpy” Johnson,) Armande Assante (Dominic Cattano,) RZA (Moses Jones,) Common (Turner Lucas,) Joe Morton (Charlie Williams,) and Idris Elba (Tango.)
Clips Featured:
- American Gangster trailer
- Frank & his mother argue
- Frank takes out Tango
- Music by Anthony Hamilton “Do You Feel Me”
Join our Patreon page to help support the show! https://www.patreon.com/bookversusmovie
Book Vs. Movie podcast https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/
Twitter @bookversusmovie www.bookversusmovie.com
Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com
Brought to you by Audible.com You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R
Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/