today it rained. this in itself is not particularly noteworthy or interesting as, look you see, here in July we have come to accept that this is our lot in life as far as a summer goes. what might, however, be of passing interest is what happened as a consequence of the rain, when it rained and where.
lunch was the designated hour at which the rains really lashed down around the town. to counter this as best i could i elected to walk with something of an accelerated pace (i do not, after all, run), with my head turned downwards, yet somewhat slightly tilted so that the droplets of rain did not enter mine eyes or cast stain over mine glasses.
the net result of that, in terms of potential interest here, was that i spotted something in a shop that i would pass some five or six times a week but had hitherto not paid attention to.
oh, as you are saying to yourself, yes. it's the novelization of the screenplay for that most splendid 1983 (i think) film that was, is and always will be Videodrome. no, that's not snot coming out of Debbie or if you like Deborah Harry's nose; that's the hand of James Woods on the rather smart embossed cover.
novelizations of screenplays was a big thing in the 80s and early 90s. perhaps it was in the 70s, and indeed later 90s, but i did not pay attention. it's a subject i have addressed, or drivelled on about here before, but after finding this i suppose i had best do some more on it.
but first, if you're wondering about whether or not i have for some reason shaved my beard and moustache off and further have shortened and spiked my hair, well why yes of course i have.
the above picture was indeed taken with my other and frequently less used Commodore 64 camera mode "app" on that phone thing what Spiros gave me. it allows for "dither" to be applied to the Commodore 64 mode picture. i am not sure what that is as such, and i can't remember if i had it on or off in the above picture, sorry.
so, novelizations of movie screenplays. the point of interest here is that they were based on the screenplay, which is to say not the finished film. for a while, back in the 80s, this was pretty much the only way you could experience the idea of how a film was going to look and what the story was going to be. now, of course, you have "deleted scenes" and "alternate takes" stuck on the disc release.
the classic example of this, and i am sure i've written this before, is the novelization of Lethal Weapon. the film starred much loved Danny Glover and tres loved Mel Gibson, for he was loved let us not forget before he went completely mentalist.
when DVD came along and a "special edition" of Lethal Weapon was released, all and sundry got to see a scene called, trying not to give spoilers, "school hostage". it was quite a revelation to most, and an incredible sequence to have dropped. those of us who had read the novelization of the screenplay, however, we already quite aware of it, and for a few years were left somewhat baffled as to why it was cut. probably a time thing.
my relationship with Videodrome? it's an amazing film. incredibly linear for an early David Cronenberg film and weirdly, despite the outdated technology on the go, as relevant today as it was then. i would not be at all surprised to see someone remake this in the "stream river download" age we are in, and it would probably be quite good. except it won't have the ace James Woods in it and we probably won't get to see her off of Blondie do nudies in it.
so far as i know, before this book came along my Videodrome collection stood as being a VHS of it someone taped off satellite, an original release VHS of it and the DVD. i've not gotten around to any fancy Blu Ray version of it as such as yet, but i think there's a totes fancy version out. i will have a bit of a gander, and also see if the soundtrack exists in a disc format.
should any other interesting purchases for all of £1 happen, so to speak, as a consequence of my eyes being distracted as part of an effort to shelter them from the rain, i shall surely report them here.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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