Review: THE PRINCESS BRIDE: A Storybook to Color

THE PRINCESS BRIDE: A STORYBOOK TO COLOR
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

ARTIST: Rachel Curtis
ISBN: 978-1631407734; paperback (November 2016)
80pp, B&W, $16.99 U.S., $21.99 CAN

The Princess Bride is a 1987 fantasy and romantic film from director Rob Reiner.  William Goldman wrote the film's screenplay, basing it upon his 1973 fantasy novel, also entitled The Princess Bride.

The film uses as its framing sequence a grandfather reading a book, entitled “The Princess Bride,” to his ailing grandson.  The book's story concerns a beautiful farmgirl, Buttercup, and the love of her life, the farmhand-turned-pirate, Wesley, and their struggle against the arrogant Prince Humperdinck of Florin who is determined that Buttercup marry him.

The film will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2017; it was originally released to U.S. theaters in October 1987.  Oscar-nominated, The Princess Bride has a loyal following that seems to continue to grow, and among movie fans, it is one of the most beloved American films of all time.

Adult coloring books have been all the rage the last few years.  Of course, it is conceivable that The Princess Bride would be perfect for adaptation into a coloring book, adult or otherwise.  It should only be done, however, if it can be done right.  An artist and her publisher, in fact, did it right.

IDW Publishing presents The Princess Bride: A Storybook to Color, a new adult coloring book with illustrations black and white illustrations created by Rachel Curtis.  Curtis provides more than 70 illustrations based on The Princess Bride for you, dear reader, to color as you wish.  These illustrations are printed on high quality paper that won't let colors bleed through.

I love The Princess Bride, and so does Rachel Curtis.  She turns practically every key moment in the film into double-page illustrated spreads for readers to color.  There are even pages that take as a theme objects that are key to the film, including swords, ropes, items of clothing, eyeglasses, implements, and crowns, to name a few.

The spreads that I like the most include recreations of some of my favorite scenes in The Princess Bride.  Curtis offers a stylish take on the scene in which Buttercup faces giant eels that menace her as she tries to swim to safety; it looks like a stain glass illustration.  Curtis perfectly captures the poison-wine duel sequence between Wesley and Vizzini, the Sicilian crime boss who holds a knife on Buttercup.  I can't resist the two-page spread of decorative R.O.U.S. (rats of unusual size), and her wide screen interpretation of Count Rugen's torture experimentation chamber is impressive.

I love Curtis' take on the sequence of the heroes riding off into forever after their victory at Humperdinck's castle.  If you want to draw your own version of that scene or any other, Curtis crafted a few pages with decorative borders and space for you to illustrate.  Rachel Curtis' detailed, decorative, and emotive illustrations are a love letter to both The Princess Bride and to its fans.  That makes The Princess Bride: A Storybook to Color a superb gift for The Princess Bride fan.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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2016 EDA Award for Best Film of 2016 Goes to "Moonlight" - Complete Winners List

According the organization’s website, The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Inc. (AWFJ), was founded in 2006. The membership is made up of “highly qualified professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media.” Its state purpose is to “support work by and about women - both in front of and behind the cameras - through intra-group promotional activities, outreach programs and by presenting the annual EDA Awards in recognition of outstanding accomplishments (the best and worst) by and about women in the movies.”

EDA Award winners were announced on Wednesday, December 21, 2016.

2016 / 10th EDA Awards winners:

AWFJ EDA BEST OF AWARDS: These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.

Best Film: Moonlight

Best Director: Barry Jenkins – Moonlight

Best Screenplay, Original: Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan

Best Screenplay, Adapted: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins

Best Documentary: 13th – Ava DuVernay

Best Animated Film: Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Best Actress: Ruth Negga – Loving

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Viola Davis – Fences

Best Actor: Casey Affleck – Manchester By The Sea

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Mahershala Ali – Moonlight

Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director: Moonlight – Yesi Ramirez

Best Cinematography: Moonlight – James Laxton

Best Editing: Moonlight – Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders

Best Non-English-Language Film: The Handmaiden – Park Chan-Wook, South Korea

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS: These awards honor WOMEN only.

Best Woman Director: Ava DuVernay – 13th

Best Woman Screenwriter: Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women

Best Animated Female (tie):

Judy in Zootopia – Ginnifer Goodwin

Moana in Moana – Auli’i Cravalho

Best Breakthrough Performance: Ruth Negga – Loving

Outstanding Achievement by A Woman in The Film Industry:

Ava DuVernay – For 13th and raising awareness about the need for diversity and gender equality in Hollywood

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

Actress Defying Age and Ageism (tie):

Annette Bening – 20th Century Women

Isabelle Huppert – Elle and Things to Come

Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Lead and The Love Interest Award:
Rules Don’t Apply – Warren Beatty (b. 1937) and Lily Collins (b. 1989)

Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent: Jennifer Aniston – Mother’s Day and Office Christmas Party

Bravest Performance: Isabelle Huppert – Elle

Remake or Sequel That Shouldn’t have been Made: Ben Hur

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award: Sharon Maguire and Renee Zellwegger for Bridget Jones’s Baby

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2016 Best Visual Effects Oscar Nominations Down to 10 Hopefuls

10 CONTENDERS REMAIN IN VFX OSCAR RACE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 89th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Arrival”

“The BFG”

“Captain America: Civil War”

“Deepwater Horizon”

“Doctor Strange”

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

“The Jungle Book”

“Kubo and the Two Strings”

“Passengers”

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist.  All members of the Visual Effects Branch will now be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 7, 2017.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar® consideration.

Nominations for the 89th Oscars® will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

The 89th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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Image Comics' "Reborn" Again and Again and Again and Again...

SLEW OF REBORN ISSUES SENT BACK TO PRESS

Image Comics is pleased to announce that multiple issues of the hot new series REBORN by Mark Millar (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Greg Capullo (Batman) have been fast-tracked for subsequent printings in order to keep up with rapid growth in customer demand.

REBORN asks: Where do you go when you die? Not heaven or hell; somewhere else. Somewhere you have to fight to survive. Somewhere the people from the past are waiting for you—the good and the bad.

The series takes readers on an afterlife journey through Adystria where newly reborn Bonnie Black is the savior everyone’s been waiting for, but evil lurks within the Dark Lands... and it’s getting stronger...

REBORN remains available for purchase across all digital platforms, including the Image Comics website (imagecomics.com), the official Image Comics iOS app, Comixology’s website (comixology.com), iOS, Android, and Google Play.

The following will be available on Wednesday, January 25th, 2017. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, January 2nd, 2017:

REBORN #1, 4th printing (Diamond Code NOV168485)
REBORN #2, 3rd printing (Diamond Code NOV168486)
REBORN #3, 2nd printing (Diamond Code NOV168487)
REBORN #4 Cover A Capullo (Diamond Code NOV160633)
REBORN #4 Cover B Capullo (Diamond Code NOV160634)
REBORN #4 Cover C Capullo Sketch, limited (Diamond Code NOV160635)


ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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Dark Horse Comics and Kitchen Sink Book Bring Back "Trump" (The Good One)

DARK HORSE COMICS AND KITCHEN SINK BOOKS ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF HARVEY KURTZMAN’S “TRUMP: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION: ESSENTIAL KURTZMAN VOLUME TWO”

MILWAUKIE, Ore.—Long before America’s president-elect, there was Trump, the groundbreaking 1950s satire magazine from MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman and Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner. Trump: The Complete Collection: Essential Kurtzman Volume Two is a full-color, 184-page hardcover that includes both of the highly sought after printed issues of Trump, now available for the first time in sixty years, as well as the never-before-seen third issue. The collection is designed by C. S. Fossett and edited by Denis Kitchen and John Lind.

“This is like unearthing King Tut’s tomb for comics fans,” said Denis Kitchen, who wrote the essays and annotations for the collection. “A surprising amount of amazing material for the unpublished third issue survived in Kurtzman’s archives and can finally be seen!”

When editor and artist Kurtzman became acquainted with Hefner during the 1950s, they decided to join forces to create Trump, a far more ambitious, wide-ranging, and colorful magazine than the black-and-white MAD. Supported by an unlimited budget from Hefner, Kurtzman recruited artists Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, and Russ Heath, and writers including Mel Brooks.

Hefner pulled the plug after only two issues had been printed and as a third was well into production. He later quipped, “I gave Harvey Kurtzman an unlimited budget, and he exceeded it.”

Trump: The Complete Collection: Essential Kurtzman Volume Two is priced at $29.99 and is now available from Kitchen Sink Books, an imprint of Dark Horse Comics. Find out more at DarkHorse.com.


About Dark Horse
For thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.

About Kitchen Sink Books
Founded in 2013 by pioneering alternative publisher Denis Kitchen (of Kitchen Sink Press) and award-winning designer/editor John Lind, Kitchen Sink Books is an exclusive imprint of Dark Horse Comics focusing on archival collections, art books, and large format editions. Titles released under the Kitchen Sink Press imprint include Frank Miller's Sin City: The Hard Goodbye Curator's Collection, The Best of Comix Book, Popular Skullture, REALMS: The Roleplaying Game Art of Tony DiTerlizzi, and The Essential Kurtzman series.

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2016 EDA Award Nominations Announced by AWFJ

According the organization’s website, The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Inc. (AWFJ), was founded in 2006.  The membership is made up of “highly qualified professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media.”  Its state purpose is to “support work by and about women - both in front of and behind the cameras - through intra-group promotional activities, outreach programs and by presenting the annual EDA Awards in recognition of outstanding accomplishments (the best and worst) by and about women in the movies.”

EDA Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 21, 2016.

2016 / 10th EDA Awards nominations:

AWFJ BEST OF AWARDS: These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.

Best Film
Arrival
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Director
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
David Mackenzie – Hell or High Water
Denis Villeneuve – Arrival

Best Screenplay, Original
20th Century Women – Mike Mills
Hail Caesar – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
La La Land – Damien Chazelle
Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan

Best Screenplay, Adapted
Arrival – Eric Heisserer
Lion – Luke Davies
Love & Friendship – Whit Stillman
Moonlight – Barry Jenkins
Nocturnal Animals –Tom Ford

Best Documentary
13th – Ava DuVernay
Gleason – Clay Tweel
I Am Not Your Negro – Raoul Peck
OJ Made in America – Ezra Edelman
Weiner – Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegma

Best Animated Film
Finding Dory – Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane
Kubo and the Two Strings- Travis Knight
Moana – Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker, Chris Williams
Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush

Best Actress
Amy Adams – Arrival
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Ruth Negga – Loving
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Emma Stone – La La Land

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Viola Davis – Fences
Greta Gerwig – 20th Century Women
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Octavia Spemcer-Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea

Best Actor
Casey Affleck – Manchester By The Sea
Joel Edgerton – Loving
Ryan Gosling – La La Land
Tom Hanks – Sully
Denzel Washington – Fences

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
Ben Foster – Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges – Manchester By the Sea
Michael Shannon- Nocturnal Animals

Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director
20th Century Women – Mark Bennett and Laura Rosenthal
Hail Caesar – Ellen Chenoweth
Hell or High Water – Jo Edna Boldin and Richard Hicks
Manchester by the Sea – Douglas Aibel
Moonlight – Yesi Ramirez

Best Cinematography
Arrival – Bradford Young
Hell or High Water – Giles Nuttgens
La La Land – Linus Sandgren
Manchester by The Sea – Jody Lee Lipes
Moonlight – James Laxton

Best Editing
Arrival – Joe Walker
I Am Not Your Negro — Alexandra Strauss
La La Land – Tom Cross
Manchester By The Sea – Jennifer Lame
Moonlight – Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders

Best Non-English-Language Film
Elle – Paul Verhoeven, France
Fire At Sea – Gianfranco Rosi, Italy
The Handmaiden – Chan-Wook Park, South Korea
Julieta – Pedro Almodovar. Spain
Toni Erdmann – Maren Ede, Germany

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS: These awards honor WOMEN only.

Best Woman Director
Andrea Arnold – American Honey
Ava DuVernay -13th
Rebecca Miller – Maggie’s Plan
Mira Nair – Queen of Katwe
Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women

Best Woman Screenwriter
Andrea Arnold – American Honey
Rebecca Miller – Maggie’s Plan
Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women
Lorene Scafaria – The Meddler
Laura Terruso – Hello, My Name is Doris

Best Animated Female
Dory in Finding Dory –Ellen DeGeneres
Judy in Zootopia – Ginnifer Goodwin
Moana in Moana – Auli’i Cravalho

Best Breakthrough Performance
Sasha Lane – American Honey
Janelle Monai – Moonlight and Hidden Figures
Madina Nalwanga – Queen of Katwe
Ruth Negga – Loving

Outstanding Achievement by A Woman in The Film Industry

Ava DuVernay – For 13th and raising awareness about the need for diversity and gender equality in Hollywood.

Anne Hubbell and Amy Hobby for establishing Tangerine Entertainment’s Juice Fund to support female filmmakers.

Mynette Louie, President of Gamechanger Films, which finances narrative films directed by women.

April Reign for creating and mobilizing the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

Actress Defying Age and Ageism
Anette Bening – 20th Century Women
Viola Davis – Fences
Sally Field – Hello, My Name is Doris
Isabelle Huppert – Elle and Things to Come
Helen Mirren – Eye in the Sky

Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Lead and The Love Interest Award
Dirty Grandpa – Robert De Niro (b. 1943) and Aubrey Plaza (b. 1984)
Indepencence Day Resurgence – Charlotte Gainsbourg (b 1971) and Jeff Goldblum (b 1952)
Mechanic Resurrection – Jason Statham (b. 1967) and Jessica Aba (b. 1981)
Rules Don’t Apply – Warren Beatty (b. 1937) and Lily Collins (b. 1989)

Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent
Jennifer Aniston – Mother’s Day and Office Christmas Party
Melissa McCarthy – The Boss and Ghostbusters
Margot Robbie – Suicide Squad and Tarzan
Julia Roberts – Mother’s Day
Shailene Woodley – Divergent Series

Bravest Performance
Jessica Chastain – Ms. Sloane
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Sasha Lane – American Honey
Ruth Negga – Loving

Remake or Sequel That Shouldn’t Have Been Made
Ben Hur
Ghostbusters
Independence Day Resurgence
The Magnificent Seven
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award
Sharon Maguire and Renee Zellwegger for Bridget Jones’s Baby
Nicholas Winding Refn and Elle Fanning for The Neon Demon
David Ayer and Margot Robbie for Suicide Squad
David E. Talbert and Mo’Nique for Almost Christmas

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Boston Online Film Critics Name "Moonlight" Best Picture of 2016

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) was founded in May 2012.  According to the group, BOFCA fosters a community of web-based film critics and provides them with a supportive group of colleagues and a professional platform for their voices to be heard. They collect and link to their reviews every week at a website that also features original content by members, including filmmaker interviews and spotlights on Boston’s vital repertory film scene.

By widening professional membership to writers working in new media, BOFCA aims to encourage more diverse opinions in the field. The Boston Online Film Critics Association has gathered together critics writing for publications that collectively receive over 15 million impressions/page views per month. BOFCA is present on social media year-round with members’ film articles and essays.

The 2016 Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards:

BEST PICTURE: MOONLIGHT

BEST DIRECTOR:
Damien Chazelle – LA LA LAND

BEST ACTOR:
Casey Affleck – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

BEST ACTRESS:
Isabelle Huppert – ELLE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Mahershala Ali – MOONLIGHT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Michelle Williams – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

BEST ENSEMBLE:
MOONLIGHT

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Kenneth Lonergan – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
THE HANDMAIDEN

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
CAMERAPERSON

BEST ANIMATED FILM:
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Natasha Braier – THE NEON DEMON

BEST EDITING:
Nels Bangerter – CAMERAPERSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Mica Levi – JACKIE

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:
MOONLIGHT
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
LA LA LAND
PATERSON
HELL OR HIGH WATER
GREEN ROOM
SILENCE
CERTAIN WOMEN
THE HANDMAIDEN
ELLE

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