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FROM PRINT TO SCREEN

June 2, 2005

By Matt Savelloni

“CALIFORNIA IS WHERE YOU CAN'T RUN ANY FARTHER WITHOUT GETTING WET.” –Neil Morgan

Hail, fair reader. After a brief absence from the Poop for my relocation to the great state of California, I am back with a bona fide crowd pleaser…Five For ’05!.

Summertime is the most challenging time to write this column because so few summer films (unless they are comic books and folks, no offense, but I am tired of writing about fucking comic books—half of my 2005 reviews center on comic books) are based on literary sources. Besides, my esteemed colleague Marc Mason writes an incredible column called Should It Be A Movie within the graphic novel world and he does this subject more justice than I could ever hope to summon.

Anyway, these wish lists always generate a lot of interest I think because it allows us to play Movie Producer, imagining cinematic majesty nurtured from literary greatness.

Our criteria? High concept but not dumb. Exciting but not spastic. Funny but never stupid. Romantic but not sappy. In other words, shelve the Russian Lit and Jane Austen for the Fall. It’s summertime in California and that means we’re looking for hot reads to be made into sizzling summer movies. So without further ado…

Five For ’05: From Summer Reads To Summer Screens

The Book: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have been writing supercharged thrillers for years. They burst onto the scene as a dynamic duo in 1996 with the bestseller RELIC. Since then, they have effectively ripped the reins of the high-concept eye rockets from Michael Crichton, basing the majority of their work around a singular detective, Special Agent Pendergast. Their books border on the supernatural but mostly wind up with super-scientific explanations, Pendergast leveling unsolvable crimes via the Socratic method. Preston and Child’s one weakness is an overabundance of narrative. Most of their novels tend to drag in the center, the build-up so long and detailed that inevitably the climax underwhelms. That said, their latest, BRIMSTONE, is their finest hour since RELIC, surpassing their maiden voyage in spellbinding tension and creepy occultism. Paired up with another series regular, Sergeant D’Agosta—playing the grounded, working-man Watson to Pendergast’s refined, lofty Holmes—the two investigators uncover a secret cabal of dark mysticism that just may signal the end of days. A large cast inhabits a plot full of red herrings, anecdotes and detours but Preston and Child smartly center the chaos in the minds and lives of Pendergast and D’Agosta as they race to discover if the series of murders by combustion are scientific phenomena or a gathering apocalypse from the spirit world.

The Movie: I always thought RELIC was underrated. As far as old-fashioned monster movies go, it was pretty good, blessed with believable, grounded performances by Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt and James Whitmore. Peter Hyams has made a career out of taking unlikely, ridiculous concepts and turning them into visually beautiful if not totally successful films. He’s never made a great movie but he’s made some decent ones. I say bring Hyams back but this time, instead of subjecting BRIMSTONE to screenplay-by-committee, give him one good genre scribe—say, Ehren Kruger—to adapt the novel. Sizemore was perfect as D’Agosta and as far as Pendergast goes, I know he’s depicted as a fair-skinned man with blond hair but I never imagined anybody but Campbell Scott for his refined yet modest and hilarious delivery. It’s THE OMEN meets ANGEL HEART, a guaranteed roller coaster.

The Book: I know I’ve mentioned Michael Connelly many times before and you know why? Because he’s one of the top 5 thriller writers around. See, reporters are masters at economizing language. It’s a necessity in their line of work. So when an established and well-heeled reporter turns to fiction, the results are almost always captivating in terms of composition. Story remains a larger question mark and in Connelly, we find a prosperous mix of prose and creativity. THE POET is the best example of his skills. While still a police procedural, Connelly’s tour de force runs more on mood than plotting. It boldly embraces a Thomas Harris motif, standing as one of the finest novels in the overflowing serial killer sub-genre since the master started it off with RED DRAGON. As crime reporter Jack McEvoy investigates his cop brother’s apparent suicide, he is drawn into a nationwide hunt for a killer who scrawls Edgar Allen Poe quotes at the crime scenes. Teaming up with kickass federal agent Rachel Walling, McEvoy watches the case unfold with dreadful precision, each development raising another possibility for the Poet’s true identity, which may or may not tie in to sick Internet pedophile William Gladden. The results are wholly unexpected and truly gut-wrenching as Connelly brings the novel to the most uncompromising ending you will ever see in popular literature.

The Movie: Connelly and Hollywood have danced a couple times in the past. He served as a writer and producer on the short-lived LEVEL 9 series and saw BLOODWORK turned into an unfortunate train wreck. The adaptation of VOID MOON is on-again, off-again, most recently attached to Diane Lane and Al Pacino but now that appears stalled. Too bad, because with all of the tired “crime” pics inundating our multiplexes, Connelly is one of the few writers bearing a solution. His novels are ready-made for the big screen but I wonder if perhaps capturing the mood of a Connelly novel is more challenging that simply translating the A-Z development. Regardless, THE POET is a scintillating story just waiting for its close-up. The concept is short and sweet, easily communicated, while the execution is devious and complex, engaging fans of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, MANHUNTER and SE7EN. Now that I see those titles, two perfect filmmakers spring to mind: David Fincher and Michael Mann. Both are rarified experts in generating mood along with suspense and action. I’d hire Connelly to adapt it and isn’t it about time we saw William Petersen back up on the big screen?

The Book: I first stumbled into Andrew Vachss when I was in college and I really haven’t been the same since. In the vein of hot reads, Vachss’ novels are so hard-boiled they could crack skulls. I’m not sure if a more rigid approach has ever been taken to a PI series. BLUE BELLE is the third in the series but in my mind, it’s one of the highlights. Burke’s practices as moral avenger might be tough to sell in today’s elitist PC world and perhaps that is what has preventing this bestselling series from seeing the light of a projector. What’s more, kiddie porn, unapologetic violence and the pulsing, seedy underbelly of New York don’t exactly make for a fun time out at the movies. And yet, if the cartoon histrionics of SIN CITY can resonate with audiences, Vachss’ more sobering, devastating reality would set the screen ablaze and have audiences clamoring for the Old Testament justice sure to be dealt. Just to highlight the novel’s potency, BLUE BELLE features one of the most vicious ends to a bad guy I’ve ever encountered—it still sticks in my mind over ten years and thousands of books later.

The Movie: I don’t mean to give the impression that BLUE BELLE is simply a bloodletting. Although it spills enough for ten novels and features sexually deviant conduct that would make Tarantino wince, the lead character of Burke is also a moralistic character. Notice I said moralistic, not moral, because not everyone will buy into his rationalization for dealing out vengeance. But even the most bleeding-heart, ACLU-card-carrying liberal would find it difficult to summon much sympathy for the predators that Burke targets. Furthermore, Vachss builds genuine understanding around Burke and his streetlife family, even making room for wholesome, passionate love affairs. And I didn’t mention Tarantino’s name by accident. As soon as he’s done mucking around the chopsocky arena and decides to return to his specialty of crime thrillers, BLUE BELLE is right in his wheelhouse. As far as casting Burke? Well, given Quentin’s penchant for resuscitating careers, the actor I always envisioned is Michael Biehn.

The Book: One of the great simple joys in life is to stumble upon a relatively unknown author and be absolutely waylaid by his artistry. Typically you are not alone in your worship but still, you feel privileged to be in on the secret. This has happened twice in my life: the first time with Joe R. Lansdale, the second with Don Winslow. Both were “cult” authors and by that I mean they enjoyed a small but dedicated fanbase who thought the rest of the world was crazy for not taking notice. Of course, in time, both authors reached bestseller status and while still not household names (Thank God!) they are no longer the pride of a localized audience. I should warn you that there is another Don Winslow out there who writes erotic novels. The Don Winslow I am speaking about is the author of the Neal Carey mystery series (currently in development with Nick Stahl) and this standalone, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z. By turns hilarious, exciting, dramatic and suspenseful, Winslow pulls off the seemingly impossible: reinventing the barnburning thriller with a fresh and comedic spin. Set against the backdrop of searing Mexicali horizons, BOBBY Z follows the exploits of an endearing but dimwitted Tim Kearney, a recent ex-con recruited by the DEA for his unfortunate likeness to a bigtime drug lord. Chaos and comedy abound as the pages zip past.

The Movie: Fuhgeddaboutit. This is the zany thriller Hollywood repeatedly tries to make and repeatedly fails at conjuring. The challenge is to find a likable rogue who doesn’t mind playing detached. Kearney doesn’t exactly command the plot; he merely exists in it, reacting instead of acting. There aren’t too many thespians willing to play that level of fated ease. Owen Wilson tried in THE BIG BOUNCE and BOBBY Z could be the story to help him erase that misfire from his resume. Let Winslow adapt his story, convince Soderbergh to come back to the genre he reinvigorated with OUT OF SIGHT and let the one-liners and bullets fly.

The Book: I’ve written previously about my experience with Dean Koontz. For a time he was my favorite author of all time. I still remember distinctly the summer at the Cape when I discovered him, ravenously devouring every Koontz book in print over the next year. Then one of us changed and to this day, I still cannot clearly fathom who stepped off the path. Koontz books suddenly became precious, corny, overwritten. They went from being terse, shit-scary titles like THE FACE OF FEAR, PHANTOMS and TWILIGHT EYES to lengthy, pathos-fueled weepies with high-minded monikers like DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART, FOREVER ODD and ONE DOOR AWAY FROM HEAVEN. Did I just grow up? Or did Koontz change his style to serve his growing megasuccess? Like I said, I speculated about this change when I included STRANGERS in a previous column as an example of “vintage Koontz” before the metamorphosis. Put LIGHTNING in that early category as well. This amalgam of adventure, political thriller, sci-fi and suspense is a straight-up page-turner. I’ve included it here because it also features what I consider to be the best and most justified explanation for time-travel in any pop-culture treatment. The theory and the sheer fun Koontz has in exploiting it are almost as diverting as the central pursuit of little Laura Shane and her mysterious protector from the past.

The Movie: LIGHTNING offers the possibility of handling time-travel appropriately in film. Certainly, no shortage of movies have tried to incorporate this element but invariably, any reasonable amount of rationale produces only paradoxes and conflicts. One exception is FREQUENCY, an underrated Jim Caviezel-Dennis Quaid film that has become a video and cable favorite. There isn’t much science behind the phenomena but the execution of the concept is pushed to the hilt, accentuated by a thrilling and touching family suspense plot. LIGHTING could function in a similar fashion, featuring a historical backdrop and present-day pursuits played out against a heartfelt relationship between Laura and Stefan, her guardian angel. In fact, Caviezel would be perfect in the role of Stefan, with some smart, precocious pre-teen in the Laura role. Under the direction of say, Shane Carruth—a promising young filmmaker who managed to make complex theory rapturously cinematic in PRIMER—we’re talking wide-demographic appeal: action junkies, sci-fi geeks hyped about the whiz-bang and mainstream filmgoers fully invested in the redemption of two unlikely but dedicated heroes.

Well, that’s all for now. I highly recommend picking up these five for a pleasant diversion down at the beach or for the more vigorous imagination of playing Movie Producer. Either way, these Five for ’05 should provide plenty of fun under the sun. Enjoy!

“If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?” –Steven Wright

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