Exciting news for science fiction nerds in the UK (or anyone in the US willing to pay for international shipping): Vintage Books is releasing special editions of five classics — Planet of the Apes, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Lost World, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and The Call of Cthulhu — with 3D covers. Thanks to our friends at Boing Boing, you can get a first look at the illustrations above.
As Suzanne Dean, the designer of the series, explained to them, part of the challenge was making sure the covers would appeal to customers in the shop sans glasses: “We asked them to think about the colours that don’t react when putting on the 3D specs — black and yellow. The image would come towards the viewer or move away from the viewer, depending on whether you placed the red tone to the right or left of the blue tone.” How do you think they did? And could you see this catching on with other titles?
1. The new Liam Neeson action thriller Unknown took the top spot at the weekend box office, making $21.7 million. I Am Number Four came in number two with $19.5 million, and was closely followed by Gnomeo and Juliet 3D, which made $19.4 million. [via Deadline]
2. Remember when New York Times classical music critic Anthony Tommasini set out to identify the ten greatest composers of all time? Now Dean Rader of the San Francisco Gate is hoping to do the same thing with poets. Weigh in with your opinion here.
3. It’s official: Baz Luhrman is shooting The Great Gatsby in 3D, with filming to begin in Sydney (apologies New York!) this August. Leonardo DiCaprio has already signed on to star as Jay Gatsby while Carey Mulligan has been offered the role of Daisy Buchanan. [via THR]
4. Over the weekend a rumor surfaced that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark producers were looking to find Julie Taymor a co-director for the beleaguered project, but as the show’s spokesperson told Vulture, “There is no truth to the rumor of a co-director. The production has not brought anyone on and the original creative team remains firmly in place, with Julie Taymor at the helm.”
5. Adele has become the first living artist since the Beatles in 1964 to have two albums and two singles in the top fives of both album and singles charts in the same week in the UK. (If you have no idea who she is, we recommend you check out this clip of her covering Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman” for an upcoming episode of VH1’s Unplugged.) [via Billboard]
Everyone’s favorite overly ambitious Aussie filmmaker has made a startling claim about his most recent project. At a consumer electronics conference last week, Baz Luhrmann suggested that his new screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby might be best suited for 3D. Indeed: That would mean that Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway, Gatsby, and the rest of the gang would explode out from the screen in more than just brilliant literary prowess and symbolic resonance.
While Luhrmann hasn’t decided whether to go forth and conquer this chestnut of an idea, we dove deeply into the pages of Fitzgerald’s masterwork, and discovered passages that suggest that the author — no stranger to Hollywood’s whims — may have had his eyes on a 3D film adaptation when he first wrote Gatsby. You know, even though such a thing didn’t exist yet. Click through to examine the evidence, along with a few of our production notes to ensure a healthy box office.
You know the New Year’s drill: once we’re done sucking down egg nog and Christmas cookies, as we recover from the night of a thousand bubbly toasts, it feels appropriate to repent and promise ourselves we’ll behave better in the year ahead. Despite our low success rate with personal resolutions, here at Flavorpill we’ve decided to make some cultural resolutions for next year. From artistic freedom and literary diversity to the end of critical hegemony and a reawakened youth culture, here are 11 changes we hope 2011 will bring.
If your film-industry knowledge is a bit on the stale side, here’s what’s happening: Lots and lots of movies are coming out in 3D. But it’s not just new releases; older movies are getting a 3D facelift too. One of the latest films to undergo this trendy makeover is Battle Royale, the 2000 cult classic from Japan about a group of school children forced to kill each other on a secluded island. Think Survivor with less democracy and more bloodshed.
Recently, James Cameron stated that he believes 3D will replace 2D in less than 25 years. Considering that everysinglefilm announced recently is set to be released in 3D, he may be right. But many people remained skeptical. One of the most outspoken critics is Roger Ebert, who has said he believes filmmaking should be about “story, not gimmicks.” Francis Ford Coppola has also stated that it’s just another way “to make you pay more money.” (Considering that many 3D films are converted retroactively rather than being shot in the actual format, this appears to be true.) However, there are alternatives. While 3D is simply the illusion of an interactive world, many filmmakers are trying to deliver the real thing.
Waldo “Wally” Hunt, the man responsible for the modern renaissance of the pop-up book industry, passed away earlier this month at the age of 88. After selling his West Coast-based advertising agency in the early ’60s, Hunt ended up in New York City. Disillusioned with his company’s fate, Hunt looked for a new passion. He found it on Fifth Avenue when he caught a glimpse of a Czechoslovakian children’s pop-up book in a toy store window. From that moment on, Hunt essentially became the pop-up business.
He started Graphics International and, using his business savvy, produced a series of pop-up ads as part of a magazine campaign for Wrigley’s gum. After a few advertising-related ventures, Hunt sold Graphics International, moved back west, and opened Intervisual Books, a publishing firm that would dominate the market for decades, counting Disney among its clients. A dedicated collector of pop-up art, Hunt owned more than 4,000 antique and contemporary works.
Check out 10 of our favorite pop-up books after the jump.
