#James Ponsolt

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Summering Review

James Ponsoldt has been directing for a while now. He has more than a few films under his belt, including The Circle and The End of the Tour. His most successful film as far as critical and fan acclaim is The Spectacular Now. His latest film, Summering, is a little different from his other films. This time, he’s directing kids, which he’s not done before. Usually, he directs stories about young…

[k8s8-blog]

Books Coming To The Screen In April

If you fangirl over books as much as I do, seeing them make it to the big screen is really exciting and always much-anticipated. Here are eight books being made into a show or movie before the end of April.

1. House of Tomorrow-

Book: Written by Peter Bognanni, published March 2010

Movie: Directed/Written by Peter Livolsi, released April 8th, 2017.

Featuring: Nick Offerman, Asa Butterfield, Ellen Burstyn

Storyline: A domineering grandmother who is a devoted follower of R. Buckminster Fuller raises her grandson, Sebastian, confined in a geodesic dome until he is befriended by Jared, a punk rock heart transplant recipient and fellow teenager who teaches him how to play rock music and make his own way in the world.

Good Reads Rating: 3.71/5

Movie Reception: The House of Tomorrow premiered yesterday at the San Francisco International Film Festival to relatively good reception. Read Dennis Harvey of Variety’s review here.

Preview: There isn’t a trailer available for The House of Tomorrow but I found you a great sneak peak. I definitely think this looks worth a watch.

2. Lost City Of Z

Book: Written by David Grann, published February 2009

Movie: Directed/Written by James Gray, in theaters April 14th, 2017

Featuring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, and Sienna Miller

Storyline: Based on the true story of 1920′s British explorer, Percival Fawcett, who disappears on an expedition to uncover a fabled city hidden in the Amazon.

Good Reads Rating: 3.9/5

Movie Reception: The film first premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2016 and has earned itself an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Indiewire’s Critics poll deemed it “Most Anticipated film of 2017.” Read Variety’s Owen Gleiberman’s review here.

Preview: Reminiscent of recent Tarzan, the beautiful and terrifying setting is only rivaled by the thrilling and action-packed storyline.

3. The White Princess

Book: Written by Philippa Gregory, published July 2013

Show: Miniseries directed by James Payne and Alex Kalymnios, written by Emma Frost. Premieres on Starz April 16th, AKA Easter Sunday.

Featuring: Jodie Comer, Rebecca Benson, Essie Davis

Storyline: England 1486- Henry the VII of the House of Tudor attempts to mend ties with the House of York by marrying Elizabeth of York.

Good Reads Rating: 3.84/5

Expectations: Its predecessor, The White Queen, was met with mixed reviews yet was nominated for Golden Globes in three different categories. With one of the prime writers and one of the prime directors returning for the White Princess, it should be at least as good if not better.

Preview: Watch the trailer for Starz’s own version of Game of Thrones.

4. My Friend Dahmer

Book: Written by Derf Backderf, published March 2012

Movie: Directed by Marc Meyers, will premiere April 21st at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.

Featuring: Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff

Storyline: Before Jeffrey Dahmer was an infamous serial killer, he was just another troubled teen in high school. The movie is told from the perspective of someone who personally knew teenage Dahmer and it takes us right up to his first kill.

Good Reads Rating: 3.87/5

Expectations: We barely have any information on what to expect from My Friend Dahmer, but we know that Ross Lynch, the singing Disney Channel star of Austin & Ally, will be playing Jeffrey Dahmer. And apparently he looks just like him. Here’s the chilling evidence:

5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Book: Written by Rebecca Skloot, published February 2010

Movie: Directed by George C. Wolf, will appear on HBO April 22nd, 2017.

Featuring: Oprah Winfrey, Renee Elise Goldsberry

Storyline: Henrietta Lacks was a black, poor, southern tobacco farmer who died of cancer and was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1951, her cancerous cells were unwittingly harvested from her body before she died and became an Immortalized Cell Line that was rapidly reproduced and sold to researchers. The Lacks family was not made aware of the cell lines’ existence until 1975. Obviously bioethics is a central theme here.

Good Reads Rating: 4.03/5

Expectations: Oprah is in this. No wrong can be done.

Preview:

6. Handmaid’s Tale

Book: Written by (the brilliant) Margaret Atwood, published March 1998

Show: Directed by Reed Morano, Mike Barker, and Floria Sigismondi. Premieres April 26 on Hulu.

Featuring: Samira Wiley, Elizabeth Moss, Alexis Bledel

Storyline: Think dystopian future where pregnancy is more and more difficult. A group of women known as handmaids are forced into servitude and are useful only as long as their ovaries are.

Good Reads Rating: 4.03/8

Expectation: I get chills every time I watch the trailer, but I wonder how they are going to turn this into a T.V. series and stay true to the book...

Preview:

7. The Circle

Book: Written By Dave Eggers, pubished October 2013

Movie: Directed/Written by James Ponsolt, premieres April 26 at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival; in theaters April 28, 2017.

Featuring: Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, John Boyega

Storyline: A woman takes a job at the worlds most powerful tech companies only to discover the company’s agenda is not exactly as it first appears. The lines between privacy and intelligence, safety and democracy become blurred.

Good Reads Rating: 3.47/5

Expectations: Neither Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, or John Boyega can do any wrong. If everything else is terrible, we know the acting will be fantastic.

Preview:

8. American Gods

Book: Written by (the amazing) Neil Gaiman, published June 2011

Show: Created by Michael Fuller and Michael Green, will premiere on Starz April 30, 2017

Storyline: Just days before Shadow is released from prison, his wife and best friend are killed in an accident. With nothing to go home to, Shadow takes a job as a bodyguard/driver/earrand boy from mysterious man known only as Mr. Wednesday, accompanying him on a strange and eccentric road trip.

Good Reads Rating: 4.11/5

Show Reception: The first episode premiered at Austin’s SXSW to really good reviews. Apparently the show stays very true to the book (wisely so). Read more about the response here.

Preview:

[cinemavariety]

"I'm Kate. I am an alcoholic. I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. Um, those words are just weird. I mean I guess... I don't know if I'm an alcoholic. I just drink. I drink a lot. I've always drank a lot. Everyone I know drinks a lot, so I never really thought it was a problem. But lately it kind of seems like it is. I mean I just want to be able to have a beer without it turning into twenty or wetting the bed. It just sort of seems like every time I drink something awful happens and all the things that used to be funny are not really funny anymore and things have gone from embarrassing to scary. So yeah, I'm kind of.... Kind of scared."