The Jane Austen Book Club *was* a silly movie, but as far as romantic comedies go, it was very decent. And I really liked how all of the characters were stand-ins for a Jane Austen's character, and how elements of the plot mirrored elements of Austen's plots. It was a fun homage. (I just wish they hadn't aged down so many of the characters. Typical Hollywood!)

And, actually, Griggs's enthusiasm (in the book, not so much the movie) for sci-fi inspired me to check out the Ursula Le Guin novels he kept trying to get Jocelyn to read.

Kevin, I like it when you blog about (non-political) media! You should do it more often.

Nope. Read One in Three Hundred when it ran serialized in F&SF, but none of his other novels.

Constructing a plausible ending seems to be a lost art these days.

Here's to the lost arts.

I'd be surprised if the movie were even available on VHS.

Constructing a plausible ending seems to be a lost art these days.

I haven't seen the movie, but I've read enough Jane Austen to know that "a happy ending that's so happy and so unlikely they really ought to invent a whole new Academy Award category for it" is a staple of her books. Indeed, you could easily make the case that she used the very improbability of her novels' endings to further their arguments, and to poke fun at the novelistic conventions of her society. So I'd imagine the movie's ending was something of an homage.

Read and liked both, in fact recently re-read World Out of Mind. It's actually quite interesting and fun, good even.

I saw the 27th day a couple of years ago late at night. Or maybe it was on Mystery Science Theater...bummer that Netflix doesn't have it. It seems like one of the cheezy that they have for viewing online.

If you find it anywhere, let us know...

I've seen it, about 35 years ago. IIRC, it wasn't terrible; not great, but not terrible.

Ha! There is a copy of this not eight feet behind me sitting on the bookshelf and filed with the M's.

I think One in Three Hundred and World Out of Mind were both J T McIntosh books. I have half the books that man wrote.

:)

It couldn't possibly have anything on Robot Monster. Just sayin'.

Was his second cousin THE Mary Pickford? They are doing a retrospective of her films this month at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax (that's in L.A. for you Orange County folks). She began acting for D.W. Griffith at the dawn of American film, continued through the 1920s, retired after doing a couple of talkies, and lived in wealthy retirement at the top of Pickfair (off Benedict Canyon) for many more years. She was incredibly popular in her day and considered to be the brains behind United Artists.

I saw The 27th Day when it was first released, about 1957. It was on a double bill with a horror film, either one about giant eyeballs from outer space or about some 17th century English explorer who got his head chopped off. There were a number of "millennial" low-budget sci-fi films floating around back in the fifties -- about how some random group of people would discover a mysterious gift that would allow them to solve all the problems of the world -- a reaction to the then novel possibility that we all might be blown to bits. Those were the "duck and cover," get under the school desk and cover your heads days.

I saw the movie, which was shown on TV back when I was about 11 in the mid-1960s. I remember (1) that it DID star Gene Barry (even in those days he was unmistakable); and (2) that it struck both me and my mother (who ordinarily hates SF) as an unusually good, intelligent SF movie. Of course, this WAS the mid-1960s, at which time "good SF movie" was still something of an oxymoron. (To an alarming degree, it still is. But I digress.)

When, decades later, I read Damon Knight's review of the book in his compilation "A Sense of Wonder", it turns out that (1) the movie followed the book perfectly; and (2) HE liked the book (which I also found in the library at about this time but only skimmed). And Knight was a pretty smart and intolerant critic. In fact, I've even wondered once or twice about trying to find and rent the movie.

There's a copy of the 27th Day DVD on EBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=617&item=280209060504

the trailer is sooooo boring.

Jane Austen's Book Club sucked, as did Becoming Jane, the fictional account of Austen's turn into adulthood that came out last year. Definitely, Maybe starring Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks and Borat's real-life girlfriend, was surprisingly decent.

I grew up a movie buff, seeing 3-4 movies a week, but it's hard to find more than one decent film a week. TV, on the other hand, totally kicks ass right now.

What I'd like to know is, when will they make a movie of Roger Zelazny's Lord Of Light?

See the trailer on YouTube.

Geez, it seems creaky, even by the standards of low-budget science fiction of the Fifties. And that lead alien reminds me of the one from Plan 9 From Outer Space.

The good news is that apparently it was available on DVD at one point, even though it's now out-of-print, so there are a couple copies on eBay. And I'll bet it shows up now and then on Turner Classic Movies.

I also remember seeing this is a kid. Very, very much smarter than most 50s science fiction. I recall being shocked that one of the people giving the power to judge humanity would kill herself rather than face the responsibility. But that's something that might happen, particularly for someone from a traditional society.

OMG, SA! I read every word Zelazny wrote when I was in Jr. High, and I idolized Sam. You have read the Chronicles of Amber series, I presume?

Available in VHS, on amazon, from THEVIDEOGAMEDOCTOR, 24.95, new. Your good for it Kev.

Really, I don't think DVD is going to increase the viewing experience of this movie, much.

Kevin, you do still have a functioning VCR?

FearItself, you could also make an argument that Austen was Emily Dickenson on a Prozac IV.

Interestingly enough, the author of the novel on which "The Jane Austen Book Club" movie was based, Karen Joy Fowler, began her publishing career as an SF/fantasy writer. Those rereading Ursula LeGuin should also check out Fowler's story collection, "Black Glass."
As for J T M'Intosh, I loved everything he wrote back in the day; but then, I was only 13 or so at the time.

"The 27th Day" played on the Saturday Morning SF & Horror ghetto several times when I was a kid. I remember being fascinated by the setup, but bored by the brinksmanship and intrigue . . . and I don't remember the ending.

There's another really intriguing cold war SF movie to look for. It's about a group of clean-cut American scientists who receive a signal from Mars. It begins with the digits of Pi, and eventually all sorts of philosophical revelations with world-shaking consequences. There's a triumphalist twist ending. Can't remember the title at all . . . anyone?

Ah, here we go:

"Red Planet Mars"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045073/

And on the eve of the Great Collapse, they discussed Jane Austen.

I haven't seen it yet, but "Becoming Jane" was enjoyable light-weight fare. It's worth it just to moon over dreamy, dreamy James McAvoy. It was so surprising and interesting to learn that he's married to the actress Anne-Marie Duff, since I've seen her in various things and she's one of those actresses who just ooze delicate, English, BBC-drama class. It speaks very well for him.

"Gone Baby Gone": Not what I expected. For one thing, some of the violence and dark elements are really, really gross. With all of the talk about it being a portrait of a place and a people, and about how Casey Affleck fit in beautifully and how he wended through the neighborhood, I expected rather a character study, a study of local eccentrics and a delicate psychological thriller. Something along the lines of "Bunny Lake Is Missing" or "Picnic At Hanging Rock." Nope. Mean, nasty stuff. Still good, but....

"American Gangster": sweeping and operatic. It had to have been based on the "New York" magazine article I read years ago, because it did all feel sort of familiar, but only because I'd previously read about the case. Anyway, quite fascinating. I watched the extended version on the DVD. There was violence, but nothing that wasn't telegraphed, so I could safely turn away in advance so as not to see anything grotesque. A nostalgic evocation of 1970s Harlem drug-dealing and violence. Just don't be inspired to go dressing up for a Pimp-and-Hos ball like right-wing jackass Congressional assistants in Washington.

They're making a remake of "When Worlds Collide". Could be fun.

Actually, eleven copies of the VHS available at Amazon, from $25 and up

http://tinyurl.com/3bgabs

There are also two VHS copies on eBay with "buy it now" prices of $9.99 (plus shipping), as well as a DVD of three movies on one DVD including "27th Day". I suspect this is 'home made'. I think I'd stick with a VHS.

http://tinyurl.com/2fewpn

They'll never make a movie out of Lord of Light. They'll never make a movie out of Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man, either, although it's been optioned more times than I can imagine. I do think there's a good chance of making The Stars My Destination, though, despite the stunning lack of success of Jumper.

Won't see the movie because the book "The Jane Austen Book Club" was a prime grade dog.

What I'd like to know is, when will they make a movie of Roger Zelazny's Lord Of Light? Posted by: SecularAnimist on March 16, 2008 at 7:26 PM

Or for that matter, Nine Princes in Amber? That series of novels could have a better run than the Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings/Star Wars series.

Assuming, of course, that they hire a decent director, cast and screen writer....

A guilty pleasure of mine since childhood! (I own a DVD copy from ebay). The film/book does have an absurd "let's just get along" ending, but its almost allegorical view of power (and various attitudes toward same) remains interesting. A remake is in order, but this time I'm betting the female characters would not commit suicide and/or throw away their power.

There used to be a video rental store in Santa Monica where one could rent just about every movie made. I did not realize there were so many Fritz Lang movies with Dr. Mabuse until I visited that store while on vacation in the late Nineties.