Return of the Comic Gods
Thanks to all those males ages 18-34 who watched the Super Bowl, several exciting-looking action movie trailers have been released recently. Behold:
The Amazing Spiderman
It doesn't look bad, per se, but was this movie really... necessary? I mean, the last Tobey Maguire version just came out five years ago.
Useful cuteness
If you (unlike me) have been blessed with the virtues of patience and hand-eye coordination, check out this Origami Cat Bookmark tutorial featured on How About Orange. Pretty adorable, huh?
Do these cost actual money?
I keep hoping that someday, someone will produce a book trailer that doesn't look like something put together by a tech-savvy ninth grader with fundamentally bad taste:
Judging by this effort (the random graphics, the inexplicable saxophone solo, the general cheese, etc.), that day is still far, far off.
Real estate pin-ups
Last week, Flavorwire put together a slideshow of 15 Famous Authors' Beautiful Estates. It was fun to flip through, although surprisingly few of the homes had my heart burning with real estate envy...
They could re-name it Ugly Billy
ABC has green-lit an adaptation of Judith Krantz's 1978 best-seller Scruples. I have never read anything by Ms. Krantz, but the book sounds luridly entertaining...
Mister Rogers he isn't.
The Colbert Report recently aired an enjoyably salty two-part interview with famous children's author Maurice Sendak. Mr. Sendak provides quite the soundbite; I bet Stephen Colbert is sorry he's ...
Hipster Hamlet
If you told me this entire line of books (from Penguin's Puffin Books imprint) was a tie-in for a new series of classic literature adaptations airing on ABC Family, I would totally believe you:(It...
Growth market
The Pew Internet and American Life Project just released a "mini-report" on the recent upswing in e-reader purchase and usage. According to the report, the number of Americans owning tablets and...
And we hope they were delicious
According to the Horn Book Blog, the 2012 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction has been given to Jack Gantos's book Dead End in Norvelt. When informed of this honor, the stunned Mr. Gantos a...
Ooh, fancy...
The people who created the literature-inspired nail-polish art featured in this slideshow on Flavorwire clearly enjoy both A) more free time, and B) better fine-motor skills than 99% of the rest o...
Propitious
At long last, there is news on the film adaptation of Jeff Smith's Bone. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project has found a writer (Patrick Sean Smith, creator of the ABC Family show Gr...
Could it really be true?
Will 2012 really bring us a Diablo Cody-penned Sweet Valley High musical? And is the world ready for that much after-school-special-influenced cheese?
Maybe a TV show...
According to the website GossipCop, Lionsgate Films would really like to find a way to continue the Twilight movie series after the final* installment is released this fall.*Here's hoping, anyway.
Because she's not meant to be a sex kitten
I'm never going to be a Stieg Larsson fan, but I was pleased to see that DC's Vertigo imprint will be handling the upcoming Girl With The Dragon Tattoo comic book adaptation, if for no other reaso...
Thank you, CGI.
AbeBooks recently took it upon themselves to "improve" several iconic book covers by sticking cats on 'em. Behold my favorite: I'm still unclear as to why anyone would bother to do this, but I ha...
Zombie print runs
On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it has launched a new series with well-known librarian and book critic Nancy Pearl. "Amazon’s Book Lust Rediscoveries" will publish print editions of approximate...
Onstad holds forth
Comics Alliance recently posted a great interview with Chris Onstad, creator of our beloved Achewood, which recently revived after a nine-month-long hiatus. One cannot help but notice there are s...
Another kid series bites the dust
This seems more than a little late, but Hyperion has finally released the cover art, title, and plot description for Rick Riordan's third and final Kane Chronicles book. According to Barnes and N...
Mr. Addams, Google says you have arrived.
How did I miss this? I rarely go a day without Googling something, but I apparently had other things to do last Saturday, January 7th, when the fine people at Google (working with the Tee & Charl...
I'll even pay for a full-price ticket.
I'm really hoping the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie gets a decently wide US release, because it looks straight-up awesome:Not a fake panda suit in sight, thankfully.
Sugary-sweet
When I first saw this, I totally thought it was a joke:But no, it's apparently a real how-to guide... but if you need someplace sneaky to stash your "How to Take Over the World" schematics, may I ...
Like they're not going to make money hand over fist...
According to THR, the American Federation of Musicians intended to picket a shoot of the TV show Mad Men yesterday. I have little interest in Mad Men, but the reason the musicians are angry is ac...
Tempest Rising, by Nicole Peeler
The cover art for Nicole Peeler's Jane True series is a perfect fit for the books: eye-catching, cartoonish, charmingly goth-lite. Also like the books, the covers would be improved by a bit...
Designer assistance with your 2012 resolutions
If you're looking for help with your New Year's resolutions, the To Resolve Project offers a collection of downloadable designer wallpapers—including Matt McCraken's utterly awesome "Read More" de...
A book club pick with purpose
NPR's Backseat Book Club pick for January is Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. According to NPR, the book was chosen because "[it] has the ability to entertain and info...
And I'm sure the Hollywood version will be even deeper and more thoughtful than the original.
There's a fair amount of big-name casting news out for the upcoming movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I've always disliked the book (I was particularly irritated by Card's intr...