Take Me To Your Reader

Our continuing coverage of Murderbot, er, continues. We spend a bit of time discussing the pacing of the series. What do you think?

We're doing a Murderbot series! We reacted to the trailer, and now we're covering the first two episodes. We'll do at least two more of these to cover the full season. If you're listening on the website because your podcast player feed has gone dead, please update it to the RSS feed below: https://pavementpodcast.com/feed/podcast/tmtyr/

We recorded some quick thoughts that ironically take a while to get to about the Murderbot trailer and what we hope to see in the series. Happy May the Fourth! Murderbot is a droid, so it's clearly canon.

We got to go see The Wild Robot at our local SF Film Festival, so we figured it was high time we covered this terrific movie, and we were joined by Colin's elder son, Peter. Rankings: Peter/Colin/James/Seth: Movie/Book

We had a great conversation with Ed Ashton about his background in engineering and medical research, how he finds the time to write a novel every year, and how Mickey7 and Mickey-17 came to be. Edward’s website: https://www.edwardashton.com/

This time the guys look at Mickey7, by Edward Ashton, and its new adaptation, Mickey-17. We pretty much go full spoilers for everything, so be warned. The book takes a couple of days to read, and the movie will be on streaming soon. Rankings!: Colin: book/movie James: book/movie Seth: book/movie

This time the guys take up “The Bicentennial Man,” by Isaac Asimov, the 1976 novelette, and its 1999 movie adaptation Bicentennial Man. Rankings!: Colin: movie/story Seth: story/movie James: story/movie Notes & Links: That Joel Kinnaman/Eric Roberts looking The Positronic Man cover: Elizabeth Freeman, who successfully sued for her freedom from slavery https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/elizabeth-freeman-sued-for-freedom Bicentennial Man as … Continue reading “Bicentennial Man,” by Isaac Asimov (1999 movie) →

We take a quick look at the new Nosferatu movie as part of our ongoing Draculadaptations series. We had some trouble with our digital recorder and lost parts of the conversation. I’ve tried to salvage what I could and I hope you enjoy it. Good news is that we all enjoyed the movie.

This time, the guys are joined by both of Colin’s adult sons as well as a mystery guest, at a secret location known only to everyone who listens to this episode. It’s a Christmas miracle! We’re covering The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy, and its 1990 film adaptation. It’s fringy science fiction, but … Continue reading LMNOP-plots (The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy, recorded at ) →

Yes, we were going to be doing The Hunt For Red October. But we decided to kick that one down the road a month and replace it with a much less worthy movie, and an even less worthierer book. It’s the 1987 novel Penal Colony, by Richard Herley, and it’s a bit of a stinker. … Continue reading Mad Max in the Jungle! (Penal Colony, by Richard Herley, and 1994’s No Escape) →

This time we discuss the 1981 Caldecott-winning children’s book Jumanji, by Chris Van Allsburg, adapted into the 1995 Robin Williams movie of the same name, and expanded into the new Jumanji franchise started by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Rankings!: Colin: 1995 movie, 2017 movie, book James: 2017 movie, 1995 movie, book Seth: 2017 movie, 1995 movie, book

This month, we keep things close to home, which makes sense given that last month we were quite far from home. We go small like we’ve never gone before, diving into a local adaptation of R.U.R., or Rossum’s Universal Robots, by Karel Čapek. It’s not necessary to have gone to our local theater for the … Continue reading It’s not Jersey Boys! R.U.R, by Karel Čapek →

We had a fun time recording live at WorldCon with a few select friends in the audience, talking about games and video games adapted into movies. And with a bonus quiz from listener and fellow podcaster Andy Parry. We discuss (briefly) Battleship, Doom, and Clue, and also mention a number of other game to movie … Continue reading Live at Glasgow 2024 WorldCon! Games/Video Games Adapted to Film! →

This time we picked up a very hard to find story, “A Situation of Gravity,” by Samuel W. Taylor, which was adapted into the 1961 movie The Absent-Minded Professor and the 1996 remake Flubber. The story was originally published in the May 22, 1943 issue of Liberty magazine. We couldn’t find that. It was also anthologized in … Continue reading Flubber Colonoscopy! (The Absent-Minded Professor/Flubber, based on “A Situation of Gravity,” by Samuel W. Taylor →

Ben DeBono from The Sci-Fi Christian joins us once again to discuss a slow science fiction movie and the book that inspired it. It's Roadside Picnic, by the Strugatsky Brothers, adapted by Andrei Tarkovsky into Stalker. SFC episode about Ben catching up with the Criteron Collection: http://thescifichristian.com/2023/08/episode-1107-criterion-completion/ SF 101 episode about the OMSI Science Fiction … Continue reading Stalker, based on Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky (with guest Ben DeBono) →

It’s unfortunately time to talk about the A Wrinkle In Time adaptations. We also discuss the book, of course, but I tried to pull back a bit since my fuller thoughts on the book are also covered in my Hugos There episode with Mandy Self: https://hugospodcast.com/podcast/a-wrinkle-in-time-by-madeline-lengle-feat-mandy-self/ Rankings! Colin/James/Seth: book very large chasm, perhaps a cloud … Continue reading A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeline L’Engle →

In this episode, we discuss the new Adam Sandler movie (okay, it came out March 1st, but it was new for us!) Spaceman, based on Spaceman of Bohemia, by Jaroslav Kalfar. It’s an interesting adaptation of an interesting book, but don’t go in looking for an action movie. It’s not necessary to read the book … Continue reading Arachnotherapy! (Spaceman of Bohemia) →

We saw Dune: Part Two, then grabbed dinner, then got together to discuss our thoughts on the second half of Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation. We all loved it and welcome any other SF adaptations he wants to do in the future.

The guys follow up their coverage of The Lightning Thief by discussing the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rankings: Colin/James/Seth: book/series/a very large gap/movie  

This is the first of two episodes we’ll do on The Lightning Thief. In this one, we just discuss the book and 2010 movie. We’ll get to the series next month once it’s complete. Rankings!: James/Colin/Seth: book/movie (duh) A couple of links: My blog post that I resurrected and commented on: https://pavementpodcast.com/the-lightning-thief-movie-how-to-badly-adapt-a-book-a-case-study/ Rick Riordan’s reminisces … Continue reading Those Meddling Satyrs: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, Part One (2010 movie) →

A quick end of the year episode about the new Disney+ short film (40 minutes), Shepherd, based on the Frederick Forsyth novella of the same name. I believe the story is more well known by folks in Britain and former Crown Colonies than it is to American audiences; this was certainly our first experience of … Continue reading The Shepherd, by Frederick Forsyth (and 2023 short film) →

While James was away in South America, Colin’s younger son, Tim, joined us for a discussion of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, along with several adaptations, including the radio play, the classic movie, the 2005 remake with Tom Cruise, and the 2019 BBC limited series. Rankings! Colin: 2005/novel/Radio Play/1953/2019 Tim: novel/Radio Play/2005/1953/2019 Seth: … Continue reading The Woking Dead (The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells), with Tim Kuskie →

This time we just roundtable some other Dracula-adjacent material we’ve consumed. Consider it a DVD extra from our previous episode. Works referenced (not exhaustive): Van Helsing (movie) Renfield (movie) Love at First Bite (movie) Dracula Untold (movie) Dracula Daily (book/email subscription) The Dracula Tape (book) Blade (film series) Underworld (film series) The Strain (book and … Continue reading Dracula-Adjacent (movies, TV, books) →

This time, the guys discuss Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel, Dracula, and two of its direct adaptations, the classic 1931 Universal movie, and 1992’s lavish Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. We also mention quite a few other direct or slightly indirect adaptations. Rankings! Colin: 1931 film, book, 1992 movie James: Audible version, 1931, 1992 … Continue reading So Many Transfusions! (Dracula, by Bram Stoker) →

On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (feat. Michael Simshauser) (Content warning: discussions of suicide and euthanasia) Michael Simshauser, our favorite Aussie and longtime friend of the pod, joins us for a long awaited discussion of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach and its two film adaptations from 1959 and 2000. We do try to keep the … Continue reading On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (feat. Michael Simshauser) →

This time, the guys welcome back Dr. Phil Nichols to talk about the recent adaptation of H.G. Wells’s “The Crystal Egg” by the Planet Zoom Players, as well as briefly touching on the Tales of Tomorrow adaptation from 1951. Rankings: Colin: PZP adaptation, story, Tales of Tomorrow James: PZP adaptation, story Seth: PZP adaptation, story, Tales of … Continue reading The Crystal Egg, by H.G. Wells (feat. Phil Nichols) →

Spoilers abound! The screenplay for The Last Voyage of the Demeter has been passed around Hollywood since the late 90s. It’s finally in theaters, and the screenwriter, Bragi Schut, joins us to talk about the new movie, based on a brief chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. (Chapter 7 “Captain’s Log” if you want to read it.) We … Continue reading The Last Voyage of the Demeter (with screenwriter Bragi Schut) →

It’s summer, and Shark Week, so the guys take on Steve Alten’s 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror and its 2018 action movie spectacle starring Jason Statham. Rankings! Colin: Movie/Book James: Audiobook/Movie Seth: Movie/Book

This time, the guys consider Isaac Asimov’s excellent short story / novelette “Nightfall,” adapted to pretty dreadful movies in 1988 and 2000. Rankings! Colin: story/1988 movie James: story/2000 movie/1988 movie Seth: story/2000 movie/1988 movie  

This time, the guys hop in the way back machine to 1909 and William Hope Hodgson’s short story “A Voice in the Night” and its small screen adaptation (Suspicion S1.E24) and big screen Japanese adaptation (Matango, or Attack of the Mushroom People!). We neglected to rank them, which is surprising. Maybe we were distracted by … Continue reading Fungal Furor! (A Voice in the Night/Matango) →

This time we hit Robert Mason’s 1989 military/AI novel Weapon, adapted to a pretty terrible 1996 movie named after the main character, Solo. Colin reached out to the author and got him to do some Q&A, which we sprinkle in through this episode. It’s a tricky eBook to find. I guess I found it from … Continue reading A Murderbot, not THE Murderbot (Weapon/Solo) →

The guys break down the tamed-down version of the true story that is Cocaine Bear.

This time, we hit 1994’s Timecop, based on the Dark Horse Presents character from the August, September, and October 1992 issues of Dark Horse Comics. There are splits, and messy time travel logic, and awesome performances from Bruce McGill and Ron Silver. Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: Movie Comics

Colin’s older son, Peter, joins us for a discussion of Paul Tremblay’s 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, recently adapted into the 2023 M. Night Shyamalan film Knock at the Cabin. Full spoilers for both. Rankings! Peter: Movie Book Colin: Movie Book James: Movie Book No, wait, Book/Movie (swayed by Seth) … Continue reading I’m Apathy (The Cabin at the End of the World/Knock at the Cabin) →

Picking up a dangling thread from last year, the guys discuss a few more adaptations (or “adaptations”) of “The Most Dangerous Game.” Covered this time are A Game of Death from 1945, Hard Target from 1993, Surviving the Game from 1994, and The Hunt, from 2020. No rankings this time. But we all liked The Hunt best. Colin/James/Seth: 2020 Quibi series … Continue reading The Most Dangerous Game, Part Two (Cigarettes Kill!) →

We’ve got two follow-up movies this year, A Christmas Story Christmas on HBO Max and Spirited! on Apple TV+. Opinions differed on the quality of the movies.

This time, the guys discuss the classic 1924 Richard Connell short story “The Most Dangerous Game” and several adaptations sharing the name (or at least 90% of the name). This is Part One of at least a two-part series covering the many, many adaptations of this story. Rankings! Colin/James/Seth: 2020 Quibi series “movie” story 1932 … Continue reading The Most Dangerous Game, Part One →

The guys do a quick reaction/breakdown of the new movie Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which was adapted from a Funny or Die parody trailer. Trailer available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNuiri2dV0 Movie available here: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/066097da82ed5762966888a59b151058/weird-the-al-yankovic-story Rankings! Colin/James/Seth: Movie/Trailer

Our friend Phil Nichols joins us for a discussion of Ray Bradbury’s 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes and its 1983 theatrical adaptation. There may also be mention of another adaptation (oooh, spooooky!) Rankings!: Phil/Colin/James: Book/Movie Seth: Movie/Book Notes/Links: Pants in the Boot: https://www.theincomparable.com/pants/ (Episodes #27-30 discuss differences in housing) Bradbury 100 episode on Bradbury’s … Continue reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury (feat. Dr. Phil Nichols) →

We were delighted to interview Bragi Schut, who wrote the original screenplay that the new Samaritan movie is based on. He’s also authored a comic of the same name, currently available as two issues from Mythos Comics. Bragi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bragischutjr Mythos Comics: https://www.facebook.com/MythosComics/ The Last Voyage of the Demeter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Voyage_of_the_Demeter Spread graphic novel: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/spread The … Continue reading Bonus! Inteview with Bragi Schut, creator of Samaritan →

For International Talk Like a Pirate Day (2022), the guys do a quick episode on Gideon Defoe’s The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists, adapted into The Pirates! Band of Misfits (it was retitled in the U.S.). Rankings!: Colin: Movie Book James: Book Movie Seth: Movie Book

One of the first titles I ever planned on us covering, yet somehow it’s taken more than eight years to find our way back to it. It’s Harry Harrison’s 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!, loosely adapted into the classic 1973 movie Soylent Green. Rankings!: Colin: Movie Book James: Book Movie Seth: Book Movie

Seth’s son Ethan joins the team, along with Jonathan Watkins from Cinema Sins, to discuss the new movie The Black Phone, adapted from the 2004 Joe Hill short story of the same name. Rankings! Jonathan/Ethan/James/Colin/Seth: Movie/Story

If we hadn’t been on the B-6, we may not have covered George Saunders’s story “Escape From Spiderhead” and its Netflix adaptation, Spiderhead. No rankings this time.

This time the guys tackle the new adaptation of Firestarter. Unfortunately, James was ill and not able to join us. The good news is that Deanna Chapman from Chat Sematary stopped by for the discussion. Rankings!: Deanna/Colin/Seth: Book Original Movie Remake Chat Sematary Links: https://twitter.com/ChatSematary https://www.chatsematary.com/

Rounding out the Tri-Sheck-ta, the guys discuss the 1965 Robert Sheckley novella The Game of X and its 1981 “adaptation,” Condorman. Rankings!: Colin: Movie Book James: Book Movie Seth: Movie Book  

The guys discuss Robert Sheckley’s 1958 novel, Immortality, Inc. and its 1992 film adaptation (starring Mick Jagger), Freejack. Leg two of the Tri-Sheck-Ta is in the books! Rankings! Colin: Book/No Award James: Book/Movie Seth: Book/Movie

This time, the guys take on some Robert Sheckley in non-English adaptations, namely the 1970 German TV film Das Millionenspiel and the 1983 French film Le Prix Du Danger. Both of these films were adapted from Sheckley’s 1958 short story “The Prize of Peril.” Of course, we engaged a couple of our friends who were native speakers … Continue reading Shot With a Happy Ending (The Prize of Peril, by Robert Sheckley) →

Phil Nichols of Science Fiction 101 joins us to discuss the announced adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama. Spoilers for the book! Notes: Science Fiction with Damien Walter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpZQEdnPYv4 All Judgement Fled, by James White: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1928718.All_Judgment_Fled  

For Christmas 2021, the guys discuss Kevin Jakubowski’s hilarious 8-Bit Christmas and its 2021 HBO Max adaptation. Rankings!: Colin: Movie Book James: Book Movie Seth: Book Movie  

The guys discuss Robert Silverberg’s 1966 short story, “Needle in a Timestack,” and the 2021 film adaptation of the same name. Rankings! Colin/James/Seth: short story movie