^ Josh Boone, let’s hope the movie is as soulful as this picture of him (credit: IMDB)
Author John Green confirmed that Boone will direct after rumours regarding his involvement appeared on Leakynews.
Their earlier speculation regarding the movie, that actress Shailene Woodley would be cast as Hazel (the novels protagonist) has yet to bear fruit; although Woodley’s publicist has reportedly confirmed that she is being considered for the role.
Boone’s hiring comes in contrast to other appointments to the film.
His only commercial film “Stuck In Love” has yet to be released while it seems that every other major appointment on the film has at least one blockbuster or indie hit under their belt.
Producer Wyck Godfrey was at the helm of all of the big budget adaptations of the Twilight series and Producer Marty Bowen was on board for the first three. while scriptwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote “(500) Days of Summer”.
Personal Relationship
Green has no lack of confidence in his abilities however, stating that:
“I like Josh Boone so much, and I think he is the perfect director for TFiOS. He understands the book profoundly and he is also tremendously talented”.
Indeed, Boone has a personal relationship with the novel.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter he said that “John’s book came along just when I needed it,” and that “I laughed and cried and was left with an overwhelming feeling of hope. That our lives matter, that the love and kindness we share with others reverberates long after we’re gone.”.
Something that will undoubtedly ease the fears of zealous fans scared that the Hollywood machine will simply try to exploit the book for its commercial appeal rather than produce a genuine adaptation true to the novel.
Paper Towns
Whatever happens, this is certainly the closest a John Green book has ever gotten to the big screen. The movie rights for ”Looking For Alaska”, “Paper Towns” and “An Abundance of Katherines” have been sold but never got further than initial scripts before a long stint in development hell.
Green himself had a hand in the failure of the “Paper Towns” adaptation after a disagreement over the script, which he was hired to write, and reportedly even “what makes a good movie” which is about as fundamental as disagreements get.
However, should “The Fault in our Stars” movie be as big of a critical and commercial success as the novel it springs from it will almost certainly raise interest in reviving some of these long dormant projects.
A prospect that, depending on how they receive TFiOS, may delight or irritate fans.
Your Editor
John Mortimer.
Filed under John Green tfios the fault in our stars Josh Boone vlogbrothers looking for alaska paper towns an abundance of katherines
^ Ashley Clements and George Takei
It would be safe to say that the Streamy’s have a bit of a rocky history; they’ve only been around since 2009 but have managed to rack up more than their fair share of controversy and negative press since then.
In 2010 tubefilter CEO Brady Brim-Deforest was forced to apologize after numerous technical problems and a seemingly never ending stream of vulgar jokes, cursing and more than partial nudity ran through the course of the show.
IAWTV
And although the awards are billed as an annual event, there wasn’t actually a show last year, or the year before.
This was because IAWTV (The International Academy of Web Television) split from tubefilter after the 2010 show and went on to form it’s own awards show (shockingly called the IAWTV awards) that celebrated its second show this January.
So this year the Streamy’s had everything to prove, and by teaming up with Dick Clark Productions (the company behind the Golden Globes) they obviously intended to get it right this time.
And did they?
Sort of, no-one ran across the stage naked, at least, and the show went off as planned.
Everyone who went seems to have had a good time and commentary has been generally positive; particularly singled out was stand up comedian Chris Hardwick’s presentation of the awards.
Faux Mainstream
^ Vanilla Ice, rapper and (I’m not even joking) home improvement extraordinaire
However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some criticism too.
The main issue seems to be that the show was seen as trying to be something it wasn’t by inviting a host of Hollywood and pop culture types.
Particularly cited were performances by rappers Vanilla Ice and Soulja Boy, some felt that the performances alone were fine but wondered what they had to do with online video “as an awards show that’s about the online community it would be great to see some promotion of smaller artists”.
Hank Green, creator of the undisputed king of online video based events that is VidCon, stepped in to give his opinion of the night:
“To me it didn’t feel like online video…it still felt like online video trying to imitate Hollywood…which we’ve done for too long already”
Whether this was down to the influence of Dick Clark Productions or perhaps an attempt to out-glitz the IAWTV awards is a matter of speculation but it’s definitely something they might want to work on if they want to hold on to their core audience.
You know, the people who actually watch online video.
Your Editor
John Mortimer.
Filed under streamy awards ashley clements lizzie bennet diaries hank green vidcon online video youtube IAWTV awards IAWTV
The googlechat was organized as a “Fireside Hangout” an updated version of Franklin D Roosevelt’s famous “Fireside Chats” a series of radio addresses where he would discuss his agenda and appeal for help in getting it passed.
The advent of the internet age enables this president to make his fireside chats much more of a two sided discussion.
To do this he allowed members of the public to submit questions and invited several prominent business owners, videobloggers, bloggers and journalists including, you guessed it, Vlogbrother John Green to ask questions and discuss the issues of the day.
Penny
This allowed Green to ask something he’s been advocating for for a very long time, Why can’t we get rid of this dratted Penny?
For those not in the know, the penny costs the United States government more to make than it’s actually worth. Canada took the jump just this month; it stopped distributing pennies on February 4th.
And in a boon to Green, the President agrees:
“I gotta tell you John I don’t know […] I will tell you right now, this will not be a huge saving for government, but anytime we’re spending more money on something that people don’t actually use that’s an example of something we should change “
“One of the things you see chronically in government, It’s very hard to get rid of things that don’t work so then we can invest in the things that do. So the penny has become a good metaphor for a lot of the problems that we’ve got”
Eleanor or Alice?
Apparently that wasn’t the only burning question on the Green family’s mind however.
Sarah, known as “the Yeti” among Nerdfighters due to her infrequent appearances, displayed a prominent baby bump and asked Obama whether he preferred the name Eleanor or Alice.
Green said they already had a boy name picked out.
The president demurred, saying that:
“I’m gonna leave this one up to you guys because, here’s the reason, if I gave a preference and you guys went the other way, forever this child would say, ‘the president doesn’t like my name’”
But the Greens didn’t go away empty handed; he went on to say “Tell either Eleanor or Alice not to forget to be awesome” a variation on the Vlogbrothers maxim “Don’t Forget To Be Awesome” or DFTBA.
Somehow I doubt that anything like this ever happened during any of Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats”.
Your Editor
John Mortimer.
Filed under john green nerdfighteria nerdfighters president obama commander in chief POTUS googlechat the yeti hank green vlogbrothers fireside chats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wEx9mrn-w
^ TheKathrynnnLaura hilariously describes her first life drawing class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecGRWvZP3jE
^ JamieVSTheUniverse & friends go on a snow covered countryside walk. I believe sheep are also involved; if that’s your sort of thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fw5CkO2HPM
^ Brand new channel “The Brain Scoop“‘s first proper video and it’s a blinder. Presenter Emily Graslie guides us along the halls of skulls, bones, pelts and assorted curable things with skill and grace.
It’s also incredibly funny so don’t worry if you were avoiding this one on the basis of morbidness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkfOMj9BIKE
^ Louna Maroun expounds upon the phenomenon known as “Gym People”, if you’ve joined a gym to get fit this January this one is for you.
Or if you haven’t and just like laughing at people who could stand to lay off the weights for a while this one is especially for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3xe-Wxio1o
^ Anyone in their twenties and living in a city might do well to stay away from this if they want to keep their sense of self identity intact because, well….you’re probably a hipster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvhlvd1Uok
^ Finally, Lex Croucher has a little something for all you Hobbit fans coming down from your 12th cinema viewing.
Filed under youtube digest Louna Maroun pbsideaschannel Lex Croucher JamieVSTheUniverse TheKathrynnnLaura The Brain Scoop Emily Graslie
Based in Silverlake, Los Angeles -number 1 on Forbes list of “America’s Best Hipster Neighbourhoods”- this rom-com series focuses on two residents who fit all of the stereotypes.
You know the ones: skinny jeans, non-prescription glasses, an obsession with organic everything and a taste in music that consists of whatever people aren’t listening to.
The Twist
Before you wonder why you’d want to watch a show about people you cross the street to avoid, here’s the twist.
They don’t know each others real names and the whole thing is narrated by the inner dialogues of both characters as they muse on everyday life.
Their entire relationship is a series of increasingly unlikely chance meetings at various locale’s within Silverlake and the greater L.A area.
Our Romeo is “cereal guy” and our Juliet “faux-fur girl” but far from deciding to get married the first time they meet these two haven’t even worked up the courage to speak to each other yet.
It’s a play on hipster culture and the individuals within it but it’s also a play on everyone young, awkward and a little unsure of who they really are.
So the characters are particularly prone to introspection.
Whether it’s the faux fur jacket they bought at forever 21 or the kind of cereal they “should” be buying vs the kind they actually want to buy it’s clear they’re still working things out.
Characters
What develops is a window of insight into the characters that simply isn’t possible with any other format, especially that of the traditional rom-com series.
It shows the disparity between the image they present to the world and how they’re really feeling.
It also allows the audience to connect with people they might otherwise not like straight off the bat by placing the characters and scenes in situations we all go through every day.
Romance
What really gels the whole thing together is the budding romance between the two characters
As of yet they’re no Ross and Rachel but the whole will they/won’t they thing is definitely there and it’s surprisingly easy to become emotionally invested in the prospect of a relationship between them.
When a misunderstanding from afar at the 99 cent store leads to faux-fur girl questioning her self worth you really feel for the character and find yourself rooting for a relationship that hasn’t even really begun yet.
However, the format giveth and the format taketh away.
To achieve the substantial character development that a fictional relationship requires some of what makes the show unique is probably going to have to be sacrificed.
the material they’ve been burning through in series 1 doesn’t seem capable of stretching much further than that.
There’s only so many times you can run into someone before you need to address it.
Hopefully what’s been established so far will provide enough to build on as the series continues.
Your Editor
John Mortimer.
Filed under gazette tv hipsterhood hipster hipster culture web series youtube review
Filed under Michael Aranda Tom Milsom kickthepj wiggles dailygrace scishow mike rugnetta pbsideaschannel
