I was excited . . .

Then I read the article properly :

“Hugh Grant has signed up to star alongside Halle Berry and Tom Hanks in the big-screen adaptation of Cloud Atlas.

The film, out next year, is based on British author David Mitchell’s best-selling 2004 novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

The unconventionally-structured novel of interlinking narratives charts the story of one soul across the centuries.

Oscar-winners Halle and Tom have already been announced as stars of the film, which also features British actors Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess and The Hour’s Ben Whishaw.

The movie is being directed by the Wachowski brothers, who directed and wrote the Matrix trilogy, and Tom Tykwer, who directed Perfume.

Filming begins this month and is expected to take place in Glasgow – the recent location for Brad Pitt movie World War Z – Spain and Germany. It has not been announced which role Hugh, who last appeared in the comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans? with Sarah Jessica Parker, will be playing.” [The Press Association]

Tom Tykwer made an awful rendition of Perfume, a fabulous book, which had me in tears of frustration and disappointment.

Made me larf

From the Guardian

“Baz Luhrmann will be the fourth director to try to film F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel and fail. It can’t be done . . . 

Gatsby has been filmed three times before; a silent version from 1926, now lost, received mixed reviews on its release – but then so did the novel a year earlier (LP Hartley began his 1926 review, “Mr Scott Fitzgerald deserves a good shaking […] The Great Gatsby is an absurd story”). But Fitzgerald himself explained: “Of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one has the slightest idea what the book was about.”

Wish I’d known about old LP Hartley’s assessment when I was ‘doing’ GG at school – one in the eye to Mrs Loathian (Lothian).

Also from the article: The novel is full of pointedly vague characters

H

Margaret Atwood film screening

The Wake of the Flood, a feature documentary on Canadian author, poet, critic, feminist and environmental campaigner Margaret Atwood, will have its world premiere at Possible Worlds, Sydney’s 5th Canadian Film Festival.

The film will screen Wednesday 4th August at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe followed by a live video conversation with Margaret Atwood in Toronto.

The evening will kick off with a welcome drink at 6:30pm, followed by the screening at 7pm.

Tickets are $14 and available from Gleebooks from July 1st

Ph: 02 9660 2333 or visit http://www.gleebooks.com.au/

Directed by acclaimed director Ron Mann, the film follows the author’s unique carbon-neutral world tour which accompanied the release of her recent bestseller The Year of the Flood. Each event along the tour was designed with environmental sustainability in mind, each a fundraiser for a local green charity. The documentary follows the author as she travelled around the world, taking part in locally hosted theatre and choir performances inspired by the novel.

“I’m so pleased that In The Wake of the Flood will be screening at Possible Worlds, Sydney’s 5th Canadian Film Festival in Australia”, says Atwood. “This festival is bringing together relevant films from Canada engaging work on an international stage. Ron Mann and I are thrilled that In The Wake of the Flood will be a part of it.”

Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939. She is Canada’s most eminent novelist and poet is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. The Handmaid’s Tale, Cat’s Eye, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin have all been shortlisted for the Booker Prize with the latter winning in 2000. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

Her latest novel, The Year of the Flood will be published in Australia in paperback on July 29 by Virago and will available for purchase on the night.

Sydney’s Canadian Film Festival showcases the best new films made in Canada. The Festival unfolds August 2nd – 8th 2010, running a week of film premieres, filmmaker Q&A’s, industry talks and of course, parties. Welcoming prestigious filmmakers to Sydney, the Festival is a meeting point for the Canadian and Australian film industries, while providing a rare chance for locals to watch the best new Canadian films and meet the artists. The full program will be revealed on Canada Day, July 1st 2010.

For more details about the festival visit the website: http://www.possibleworlds.net.au/

I”ll be reading this book later in the year with my other book group.

Heidi

To Kill a Mockingbird is 50 this year

We missed that when we had our discussion!

There are lots of celebrations planned in the US. Read more about it here.

Bollywood adaptation of Rushdie novel

Canadian director Deepa Mehta is helming a film adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s 1981 novel, Midnight’s Children (our July read chosen by Catherine), and Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Irrfan Khan are reportedly considering roles in the film.

Mehta said she recently finished the screenplay, which she co-wrote with Rushdie, and will begin shooting the film in India in September. Confirmed cast members include Indian actors Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas, and Nandita Das.

Read the rest of the news here.

Can I see an excursion coming on?

Shame this won’t be ready by the 8th January

Has anyone else read this book? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies written by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen.

It’s a fun read and now it’s been announced that Natalie Portman has signed on to produce and star in the movie version of the best-selling book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

There is also a companion book, Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters by Ben Winters and Jane Austen – here’s a trailer for it :