Episode 29: Mike Vago Talks Books as Movies
It’s a books-to-movies summer blockbuster episode! We’re joined by author and (former?) podcaster Mike Vago to talk about what works when translating literature to film, and what falls flat. You will not be surprised to learn that we think this process is pretty successful when Steven Spielberg is the director.
Then, Nate must grapple with the reality that his book was, in fact, published earlier this year, forever changing our relationship with Shakespeare, Descartes, and early modern philosophy.
Mike’s book The Planets are Very, Very, Very Far Away is on Amazon, and his podcast Why is This Not a Movie? can still be streamed almost anywhere.
Nate’s book Cartesian Theaters, Shakespearean Minds is out now
Works cited this episode:
Adaptation, dir. Spike Jonze
Jaws, Peter Benchley
Jaws, dir. Steven Spielberg
Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry
Inside Out, dir. Ronnie Del Carmen and Pete Docter
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park, dir. Steven Spielberg
One Battle After Another, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Magnolia, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Frankenstein, dir. Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet, dir. Chloe Zhao
Train Dreams, dir. Clint Bentley
Project Hail Mary, dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Wuthering Heights, dir. Emerald Fennell
The Housemaid, dir. Paul Feig
The Godfather Part II, dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Earthquake, dir. Mark Robson
If Books Could Kill
He’s Just Not That Into You, dir. Ken Kwapis
What to Expect When You’re Expecting, dir. Kirk Jones
The Miniature Book of Miniature Golf, Mike Vago
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Ulee’s Gold, dir. Victor Nuñez
“Much Apu About Nothing,” The Simpsons
The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean
Ghost World, dir. Terry Zwigoff
Ulysses, James Joyce
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, dir. Mel Stuart
The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
Casablanca, dir. Michael Curtiz
The Shining, dir. Stanley Kubrick
Star Wars, created by George Lucas
The Chronicles of Prydain, Lloyd Alexander
“Brush with Greatness,” The Simpsons, created by Matt Groening
Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare, Clare Asquith
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald