Lit to Lens

In this episode, the guys make their picks for the top eight categories for the 95th Academy Awards airing this Sunday night, 3/12. Picking favorites to win as well as who they will be rooting for. The categories are listed below: • Best Picture • Best Director • Best Actor • Best Actress • Best Supporting Actor • Best Supporting Actress • Best Original Screenplay • Best Adapted Screenplay If you...

The guys discuss the film adaptation of THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH, a novella written by Leo Tolstoy that tells the story of the monotony and purposelessness of one man’s life as he struggles to find meaning before his ultimate demise. The most recent film adaptation, LIVING, stars Billy Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp and Tom Burke. The screenplay was written by Kazuo Ishiguro and directed by Oli...

The guys discuss the film adaptation of WOMEN TALKING, a novel written by Miriam Toews that tells the story of colony of Mennonite women who are victims of obscene and grotesque crimes, meet in secret to decide their response and ultimately their future. The film adaptation received a limited release in theaters in December 2022 and stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben W...

The guys discuss the film adaptation of WHITE NOISE, a postmodern novel and winner of the 1985 US National book Award. Written by Don DeLillo, it tells the story of Jack Gladney, a Hitler-studies professor at the College-on-the-Hill, and his family who encounter an airborne toxic event, spinning their lives into unforeseen circumstances. The film adaptation was released on Netflix in late December...

One last conversation before we bid adieu to 2022, a year that had a lot of great adaptations, and great content overall. We get together to discuss our Top 3's of the year. We reveal each of our three favorite movies that were released this year, our three favorite books that we read this year (regardless of the year they were released), as well as our favorite episode we released this year (beca...

The guys discuss the film adaptation of BONES & ALL, a young adult novel, written by Camille DeAngelis, which tells the story of a girl named Maren, who attempts to navigate her way in society while controlling her urges to devour human flesh. The film adaptation was released in theaters on November 18, 2022 and stars Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Chloë Sevigny and Michael Stuhl...

The guys discuss the film adaptation of SHE SAID, the book about the reporting behind the New York Times article bringing the sexual harassment and assault allegations against prominent Hollywood film producer, Harvey Weinstein, to light. The book was written by the two reporters of the New York Times article, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, but tells the story of how information was obtained, how d...

The guys discuss the adaptation of THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER (starring Zac Efron, Russell Crowe & Bill Murray) and how the film compares to the eponymous novel from Joanna Molly and John “Chickie” Donohue about a man who travels to front lines of the Vietnam war to deliver beers to his buddies from his neighborhood back in New York City. -----------------------------------------------------------...

The guys discuss the adaptation of BULLET TRAIN (starring Brad Pitt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Hiroyuki Sanada, Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz, Logan Lerman, and Sandra Bullock) and how the film compares to the novel (originally titled “Maria Beetle”) from the author Kōtarō Isaka. The conversation begins with the light-hearted, but ultimately exhausting and confusing narrat...

The guys discuss the adaptation of THE GRAY MAN (starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas) and how the film compares to the eponymous novel from the author Mark Greaney. The conversation begins with the struggles of reading a particularly predictable plot and what draws readers to these kinds of stories (12:52). Then we breakdown the differences of the film adaptation and whether those...

The guys discuss the adaptation of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, and how the film compares to the worldwide sensation from author Delia Owens. — The conversation begins with the seemingly obvious reasons why this novel was adapted for the big screen, whether the book lived up to the hype or not, and if the storyline is even all that convincing (13:08). — Then we breakdown th...

The guys discuss the recent Netflix adaptation, SPIDERHEAD, starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller and how it compares to the George Saunders short story it was based on, ESCAPE FROM SPIDERHEAD (available for free online from The New Yorker). The conversation begins with the short story and why Hollywood might want to adapt it for the big (or in this case, small) screen (12:55). ---------------...

In this episode, the guys discuss part three in our trilogy of episodes for ‘Pachinko’ (episodes 6-8), an Apple TV+ series adaptation of the very popular and critically-acclaimed Min Jin Lee novel. The series was created by Soo Hugh and directed by both Kogonada (‘Columbus’, ‘After Yang’) and Justin Chon (‘Blue Bayou’) and stars Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Jun-woo Han, In-ji Jeon, Min-ha Kim, Lee Min-ho an...

In this episode, the guys discuss episodes 2-5 for ‘Pachinko’ (2021), an Apple TV+ series adaptation of the very popular and critically-acclaimed Min Jin Lee novel. The series was created by Soo Hugh and directed by both Kogonada (‘Columbus’, ‘After Yang’) and Justin Chon (‘Blue Bayou’) and stars Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Jun-woo Han, In-ji Jeon, Min-ha Kim, Lee Min-ho and Jimmi Simpson. The conversation...

In this episode, the guys discuss the pilot episode for ‘Pachinko’ (2021), an Apple TV+ series adaptation of the very popular and critically-acclaimed Min Jin Lee 2017 novel. The series was created by Soo Hugh and directed by both Kogonada (‘Columbus’, ‘After Yang’) and Justin Chon (‘Blue Bayou’) and stars Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Jun-woo Han, In-ji Jeon, Min-ha Kim, Lee Min-ho and Jimmi Simpson. The co...

In this episode, the guys discuss ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ (2021), an adaptation of the very famous William Shakespeare play ‘Macbeth’ (1623). The film was written and directed by Joel Coen (‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’, ‘No Country for Old Men’) and stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Brendan Gleeson, Kathryn Hunter, Stephen Root...

In this episode, the guys discuss ‘After Yang,’ an adaptation of the Alexander Weinstein short story 'Saying Goodbye to Yang' in the collection 'Children of the New World' (2016). The film was written and directed by Kogonada ('Columbus') and stars Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Maela Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson. The conversation ranges from the film's expansion...

In this episode, the guys discuss ‘Nightmare Alley,’ an adaptation of the William Lindsay Gresham novel (1946). The screenplay was penned by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan and and the film directed by del Toro. It stars Bradley Cooper as the ambitious mentalist, Stanton Carlisle, who rises the ranks of the carney circuit. Also in the film is Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem De...

In this episode, the guys discuss ‘The Power of the Dog,’ an adaptation of a Thomas Savage novel. The novel was written by Thomas Savage and published in 1967. Annie Proulx (author of 'Brokeback Mountain') is quoted as calling it a "literary artwork" and wrote the Afterword in the 2001 edition (and subsequent) of this novel. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion (The Piano.) The film s...

One last conversation before we bid adieu to 2021, a year that wasn't much better than the previous. But nonetheless, we discuss our Top 3's of the year. Our favorite movies released this and books we read this year (regardless of when they were released). Cheers to 2021, may 2022 be infinitely better! Happy New Year to all you LTLiens out there! Give it a listen! If you have time, please rate and...

In this episode, the guys introduce the tenth (10) season of the podcast: 2022 Oscar Bait. What does that mean? Well, this season we'll be reading and discussing the (likely?) Best Adapted Screenplay nominees for the 2022 Academy Awards. The adaptations include 'Dune', 'Drive My Car', 'The Power of the Dog', 'Nightmare Alley', and 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'. The conversation ranges from why we chose...

In this episode, the guys discuss ‘Drive My Car,’ an adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story. The short story was written by Haruki Murakami and published in in 2014 (Japan) in 'Men Without Women,' a short story collection by Murakami. The collection was well received and ended up on Barack Obama's best books list of 2019. The film was directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Wheel of Fortune and Fantas...

In Episode 1 of Season 10: Oscar Bait, the guys discuss the adaptation of ‘Dune’. The novel was written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965, winning both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for that year, and becoming a timeless classic of the Science Fiction genre. The novel has had the stigma of being “unadaptable” attached to it for over four decades due to failures of the adaptations during that per...

In Episode 3 of Season 9: The Beat Generation, the guys discuss the adaptation of 'Big Sur' and whether or not bringing this story to the screen really makes sense. The book was written by Jack Kerouac, published in 1962, and was adapted for the screen in 2013. The film was written and directed by Michael Polish, and stars Jean-Marc Barr, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, and Kate Bosworth. The conversa...

In Episode 2 of Season 9: The Beat Generation, the guys discuss the most famous of all Beat poems: "Howl" The poem was written by Allen Ginsberg, published in 1956, and adapted for the screen in 2010. The film was written and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, and stars James Franco, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels. The conversation in this episode ranges...