Cinema Book Club Podcast

Chelsea and Charlene revisit a classic book to film adapatation - Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. A book and film whose relevance has only grown over the decades but is it too saccharine for modern sensibilities? Let's discuss.

A rare foray into comic book adaptation, Charlene and Chelsea discuss Terry Zwigoff's cult favourite GHOST WORLD, adapted from Daniel Clowes' comic of the same name - a peek into the weird and wonderful world of Enid Coleslaw as she and her best friend Rebecca navigate the tricky transition from high school to the world that awaits them.

For the month of March, Charlene and Chelsea like to read something Irish so this year they've chosen Bram Stoker's Dracula and watching Francis Ford Coppola's divisive, gloriously gothic, 90's big screen adaptation. There is much to swoon over. Joined by special guest horror expert, Producer Bren!

This month Charlene and Chelsea revisit one of their all-time top 5 favourite films Stephen Frears' adaptation of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. Cinema Book Club explores the differences between the British, 90's set novel and the early 00's US-set film and a brief discussion of the more recent gender-swapped TV series.

This month we revisit one of our favourite adaptations - Valley of the Dolls, the 1967 film based on Jacqueline Susann's cult novel about fame, fortune, sex and drugs.

Finally! After a long, long wait we've finally gotten to see Denis Villeneuve's delayed adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Charlene and Chelsea delve into their thoughts on the book and the new film and a little bit about David Lynch's 1984 adaptation.

A spooky little bonus episode in which we run through some of our favourite (and your favourite!) horror book to film adaptations.

This month Charlene and Chelsea take a deep dive into the world of haute couture as portrayed in Lauren Weisberger's book and David Frankel's film adaptation The Devil Wears Prada.

"Y'all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It's kind of long but full of suspense.” This episode Chelsea and Charlene discuss Zola, Janicza Bravo's big-screen adaptation of A'Ziah King's epic Twitter thread. This is our first ever discussion of a Twitter adaptation so we're pretty giddy! Zola, a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani, who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa gangsters and other unexpected adventures in this wild, see-it-to-believe-it tale.

This episode Chelsea and Charlene discuss NOMADLAND, Chloe Zhao's adaptation of Jessica Bruder's non-fiction book about the recent American phenomenon of older "houseless" van-dwellers and the economy that has sprung up around them.

This episode we finish our season of "Films Based on Articles" with Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Ok, we admit, this one is a bit of a stretch but we really wanted to explore the roots of this one. Cameron Crowe wrote the screenplay for this film based on his experience on the road with The Allman Brothers writing an article for Rolling Stone. So we're reading the article "The Allman Brothers Story: How Gregg Allman Keeps Band Going After Duane's Death" (link below) and watching Almost Famous. Set in 1973, the film chronicles the funny and often poignant coming of age of 15-year-old William, an unabashed music fan who is inspired by the seminal bands of the time. When his love of music lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview the up-and-coming band Stillwater -- fronted by lead guitar Russell Hammond and lead singer Jeff Bebe William embarks on an eye-opening journey with the band's tour, despite the objections of his protective mother. It's a bit of a stretch but we really enjoyed ourselves and had a great chat! Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-allman-brothers-story-how-gregg-allman-keeps-band-going-after-duanes-death-75625/

Continuing our mini-season of films based on articles, this month Charlene and Chelsea are reading Nancy Jo Sales' Vanity Fair article The Suspects Wore Louboutins and watched Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring.

This month (and for the next three episodes) we're doing things a little differently. We read Nik Cohn's New York Magazine article Tribal Rites of The New Saturday Night and watched John Badham's seminal 70's disco classic Saturday Night Fever. You can read the article here. It's a good read! https://nymag.com/nightlife/features/45933/

This episode Charlene and Chelsea read HG Wells' The Invisible Man and watched not only Leigh Whannell's 2020 adaptation but also James Whale's 1933 version and Paul Verhoeven's 1999 film Hollow Man. While the main focus is the 2020 version Charlene and Chelsea trace the evolution of the story over the course of more than a century.

Charlene and Chelsea discuss Howard Hawks' adaptation of Raymond Chandler's sultry noir THE BIG SLEEP. We discuss what made BOgey and Bacall so smouldering and how film noir often transcends genre and how it has evolved throughout the decades. Enjoy!

This month we read Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt and watch Todd Haynes' wintry adaptation, Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as a wealthy socialite and a young department store worker whose immediate attraction takes them on a journey that changes them both forever. We swoon over Cate. We swoon over Sarah Paulson. We swoon over costumes. We swoon over Patricia Highsmith. Basically just an hour of swooning. If you enjoy this please don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us. We'd hugely appreciate it!

For Halloween, we chose Wiliam Friedkin's adaptation of William Peter Platty's The Exorcist. One of the most notoriously terrifying films ever, and banned in Ireland for 25 years, Charlene, Chelsea and special guest Bren Murphy (host of the Under Your Podcast podcast)discuss their thoughts on the book and film.

This episode Charlene and Chelsea are reading and watching Little Women. While the focus is on Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation we also discuss Gillian Armstrong's 1994 version and it's hard to resist comparing Lauries.

This month Charlene and Chelsea were back in the cinema to watch George Tillman Jr's 2018 adaptation of Angie Thomas' best-selling young adult novel, THE HATE U GIVE. The Hate U Give tells the story of Starr Carter, who lives in two worlds: the poor, black neighborhood where she resides and the mostly white prep school she attends. This uneasy balance is shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a policeman. Facing pressures from all sides, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.

This month we read Jane Austen's romantic comedy, Emma, and watch Amy Heckering's 90's re-imagining, Clueless. Both Cher and Emma are handsome, clever and rich - immensely privileged but with big hearts and fabulous wardrobes. Chelsea and Charlene look at some of the clever ways Amy Heckerling delivered a relevant and charming 20th century update of Emma and why the film has aged remarkably well.

For this month's Cinema Book Club, Chelsea and Charlene are reading and watching Stephen Chbosky's The Perks Of Being a Wallflower.

This episode Charlene and Chelsea are reading Alice Walker's Pulitzer-winning novel The Color Purple and watching Steven Spielberg's Oscar nominated adaptation. Thank you to Bren Murphy for setting us up as always and for editing the podcast. And thank you as always to Meagan Hyland for our artwork. And to you, our listeners for your attention.

Bonus episode! Charlene and Chelsea take a look back at previous Cinema Book Club discussion, Luca Guadagnino's Call Me By Your Name, based on the beloved cult novel by Andre Aciman. Join us as we chat through our thoughts on this swoony summer romance novel and its sunny adaptation starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet. Special thanks to Bren Murphy for beautiful editing and basically being tech guru and to Meagan Hyland for our beautiful artwork! And thanks to our wonderful book clubbers who come to our monthly events in Light House Dublin and Pálás Galway and have kindly followed us online during the lockdown.

This month, still socially isolated (sorry if there's tech issues!), Charlene and Chelsea were reading Ben Mezrich's novel The Accidental Billionaires and watching Aaron Sorkin's adaptation, The Social Network, directed by David Fincher. We're joined by a very special guest, our friend and colleague Mark Byrne, our resident legal expert, who talks us through some of the interesting legalities explored in the film. Join us as we chat through our thoughts on this fascinating adaptation and how much we'd enjoy a sequel or sequels to keep us up to date with the progress of Facebook over the past decade. Special thanks to Bren Murphy for beautiful editing and basically being tech guru and to Meagan Hyland for our beautiful artwork! And thanks to our wonderful book clubbers who come to our monthly events in Light House Dublin and Pálás Galway and have kindly followed us online during the lockdown.

Charlene and Chelsea revisit one of their favourite previous Cinema Book Club adaptations, William Goldman's The Princess Bride. A classic for all the family, Goldman adapts his own novel into one of the greatest cinema adventures of all time. Directed by Rob Reiner and featuring one of most perfect ensembles ever ensembled, both the film and the book are examples of storytelling at it's most joyous! As it is March 2020, and COVID-19 has us all self-isolating, we are recording separately via Zoom so we hope you'll forgive any aural imperfections. Thanks to Bren Murphy for all the tech help and to Meagan Hyland for our lovely artwork! And to all the gang at Light House and Pálás Cinemas, And to our regular book clubbers who we miss dearly! We look forward to get chatting again very soon. Read the book. Watch the film. Join the chats.

Charlene and Chelsea discuss the notorious 1981 film adaptation of Christina Crawford's autobiography Mommie Dearest which focuses on her tumultuous relationship with her movie star mother Joan Crawford (played here by another Hollywood Legend, Faye Dunaway). As it is March 2020, and COVID-19 has us all self-isolating, we are recording separately via Zoom so we hope you'll forgive any aural imperfections. Thanks to Bren Murphy for all the tech help and to Meagan Hyland for our lovely artwork! And to all the gang at Light House and Pálás Cinemas, And to our regular book clubbers who we miss dearly! We look forward to get chatting again very soon. Read the book. Watch the film. Join the chats. Links: Christine Crawford on Phil Donahue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjwV38L5nls Henry Mancini's Beautiful Score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDTO6A1HUkc The Mommie Dearest Diary: Carol Anne Tells All by Rutanya Alda: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mommie-Dearest-Diary-Carol-Tells/dp/1515260607/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=rutanya+alda&qid=1586008994&sr=8-1 Follow: Facebook: CinemaBookClub Twitter: @cinemabookclub Instagram: @cinemabookclubire Email: cinemabookclubireland@gmail.com

Welcome to the Cinema Book Club Podcast. We are Charlene and Chelsea and we host a monthly Cinema Book Club in Light House Cinema in Dublin and Pálás Cinema in Galway. This is the podcast version of that book club. Read the book. Watch the film. Join the chats. Enjoy!