It’s been 10 years since we covered this topic last, and we finally have a great adaptation! We got to see the new Frankenstein adaptation in theaters and recommend you do the same.

Double-dipping this month, covering a couple of previously covered books that got new adaptations. First up, the absolutely delightful nonsense that is The War of the Worlds, starring Ice Cube.

This time the guys look at Mickey7, by Edward Ashton, and its new adaptation, Mickey-17. We pretty much go full spoilers for everything, so be warned. The book takes a couple of days to read, and the movie will be on streaming soon. Rankings!: Colin: book/movie James: book/movie Seth: book/movie

The Summer of the Twilight Zone has begun, with the Pavement Pounders picking another Harlan Ellison story to discuss. This time it’s “Paladin” or “Paladin of the Lost Hour,” adapted into Season 1, Episode 7b of the revived Twilight Zone from the 80s, an episode starring Seth’s favorite entertainer, Danny Kaye. Rankings!: Colin: Twilight Zone … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #67: Responsibility Expects No Reward (Twilight Zone “Paladin of the Lost Hour”) →

This time, the Pavement Pounders dig into the Outer Limits episode “Soldier,” adapted by Harlan Ellison from his story “Soldier from Tomorrow.” Why? Well, because of that little legal case that resulted in “Acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison” in the end credits of The Terminator. We rule definitively on whether there was a … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #66: Soldier From the Futuristic Tomorrow (Soldier/The Terminator) →

This time, the Pavement Pounders are once again joined by Phil Nichols (*Dr.* Phil Nichols, if you please!) to discuss the new HBO Films adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. No one will be seated for Seth’s explanation (definitely canon) of what “The Nine” is. Hold onto your butts! Rankings!: Phil: book Truffaut film HBO movie Seth: … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #65: Great Stuff With the Pigeon! (HBO Films’ Fahrenheit 451, feat Dr. Phil Nichols) →

The Pavement Pounders return to cover something currently playing in theaters, Ready Player One, based on the 2011 Ernest Cline novel. (None of us hated the book. Or the movie. Feel free to listen to the podcast linked below if you did. Or you could listen to us not go overboard either praising or denouncing the … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #64: I’ve Had That Feeling (Ready Player One) →

April Fools! Once again we’re back with a reverse adaptation. This time as a tie-in with our previous Trek-centric episode, we discuss James Blish’s novelization of the TOS episode “Arena.” Enjoy!

This time, the Pavement Pounders discuss the 1944 Fredric Brown short story “Arena”, which was adapted into a Star Trek TOS episode (S1E18), may have inspired the TNG episode “The Last Outpost” (S1E5), and there’s also an Outer Limits episode, “Fun and Games (S1E27).” Big thanks to Rich O’Donnell for sending us the suggestion! For … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #62: I Gave Him That Answer! (“Arena” TOS episode) →

Following up on a suggestion from John Hagmann, the Pavement Pounders discuss Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go and its 2008 film adaptation, as well as Michael Bay’s The Island, which plays in a similar sandbox, only with more explosions and massive vehicular destruction. Thanks to John for reaching out and suggesting a … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #61: Ready to Movie On (Never Let Me Go) →

The Pavement Pounders ring in 2018 with Isaac Asimov’s short story “All The Troubles of the World,” which was exactly how much adapted into the 2008 film Eagle Eye? You’ll have to listen to find out. You have been activated! Rankings:! Unfortunately we had a 51% probability of rankings, but an abort recommendation. Notes: Full text of … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #60: Tangentially Inspired (Eagle Eye) →

Merry Christmas! For their fourth Holiday Special, the Pavement Pounders discuss A Christmas Story, the classic movie adapted from Jean Shepherd’s collected stories from In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and other volumes, and also discuss the live TV musical that recently aired on FOX. Rankings!: Colin: Live TV special Movie Book James: Movie Book … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #59: Grizzly Bears and Bullies (A Christmas Story) →

This time, for a very late November episode, the Pavement Pounders discuss PD James’s The Children of Men and its 2006 adaptation, Children of Men. The movie and book were not universally loved by all of us, but it spurred a great conversation. Thanks so much to Dominic Coddington for suggesting the topic! Rankings: Colin/James/Seth/Dominic: … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #58: A Very Important “And” (Children of Men) →

This time the guys take up “The Bicentennial Man,” by Isaac Asimov, the 1976 novelette, and its 1999 movie adaptation Bicentennial Man. Rankings!: Colin: movie/story Seth: story/movie James: story/movie Notes & Links: That Joel Kinnaman/Eric Roberts looking The Positronic Man cover: Elizabeth Freeman, who successfully sued for her freedom from slavery https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/elizabeth-freeman-sued-for-freedom Bicentennial Man as … Continue reading “Bicentennial Man,” by Isaac Asimov (1999 movie) →

We wanted to get a quick podcast out here, so we convened in Seth’s dining room to record our reactions right after seeing the movie. Apologies for the poor audio quality and frequent dog interruptions, but there you go. (And then Seth forgot to post the darn episode.) The long and the short of it … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #57: You’re 50 Percent Right (Blade Runner 2049) →

Wrapping up the Summer of PKD, the Pavement Pounders endured Blade Runner and whine about it for a bit. And two of three Pavement Pounders enjoyed the novel on which it’s based, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And Seth can’t seem to pronounce “Voight-Kampff”. Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: book movie Bonus Rankings! (PKD films we’ve done): James: Total … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #56: Heeere’s Batty! (Blade Runner) →

As the Summer of PKD winds down, the Pavement Pounders discuss yet another bad adaptation of one of his stories, this time 1995’s Screamers, based on the 1953 short story “Second Variety.” Tune in and watch Peter Weller mail in his performance, and watch as the 1995 PC video game cutscene level graphics make you think, … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #55: Teddypocalypse (Screamers) →

The Summer of PKD continues, this time with The Adjustment Bureau, the 2011 adaptation of “Adjustment Team.” Have the Pavement Pounders finally found a good one? (Yes. Yes they have.) Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: Movie Story Notes: Read the story for free here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Adjustment_Team Next month’s homework, “Second Variety”: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32032

Continuing the Summer of PKD, the Pavement Pounders discuss the short story “The Golden Man,” loosely adapted into the 2007 Nicolas Cage vehicle Next. Somewhere, somebody enjoys this film. Just not us. Will the story fare better? Bonus points for anyone who counts how many times Colin says “nucular.” Pounder Rankings!: Colin: Story Movie James: … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #53: No, I Mentioned the End Credits (Next) →

As the first entry in the Summer of PKD, the Pavement Pounders discuss the 1953 short story “Paycheck” and the 2003 film of the same name, starring Ben Affleck. (This is an effort to economize on precious time, as the three of us will have a difficult time getting together over the summer.) Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #52: De-Woo it! (Paycheck) →

Fittingly, for Episode #51, the Pavement Pounders discuss an alien abduction movie, as Centauri kidnaps Alex Rogan in his intergalactic Predator Van to make him fight Xur and his Ko-Dan Armada. Yes, it’s another April Fool’s “Reverse Adaptation,” as we discuss the 1984 film The Last Starfighter and its Alan Dean Foster novelization. It’s a … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #51: We Had a Beta Unit (The Last Starfighter) →

Note: We’ve added an episode for the 2021 film. Get it here: http://pavementpodcast.com/podcast/i-like-the-flying-fat-man-dune-2021-film/ To celebrate their 50th episode, the Pavement Pounders got James drunk and made him read Dune. (And also watch the 1984 film and the 2000 miniseries.) Unfortunately, Seth’s recording failed (silently) at about the 40 minute mark, so his audio is pulled … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #50: Whiskey, the Water of Life (Dune) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders discuss their very first Stephen King, going with Firestarter, the 1980 novel and its 1984 theatrical adaptation. Alas, no exploding chickens in the movie. But lots of feathered hair, teke-ing really hard, and good old Hollywood whitewashing! Hooray! Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: Book Movie Notes: Seth was lazy this time and … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #49: Watch This on VHS (Firestarter) →

Brace yourself for a hard-hitting gut punch of a knockout movie, and also for Seth’s best attempts to destroy the universe with the worst possible puns and Dad jokes, because this time out, the Pavement Pounders discuss Real Steel, loosely based on the Richard Matheson short story “Steel,” as well as the Twilight Zone adaptation … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #48: Robot Rocky (Real Steel) →

We take a quick look at the new Nosferatu movie as part of our ongoing Draculadaptations series. We had some trouble with our digital recorder and lost parts of the conversation. I’ve tried to salvage what I could and I hope you enjoy it. Good news is that we all enjoyed the movie.

For Christmas 2016, the Pavement Pounders discuss a film that came out on Christmas Day 2013 that also happens to be adapted from a short story which was also adapted into a 1947 Danny Kaye film that Seth just happened to grow up watching over and over. It’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” by … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #47: Punching People and Getting Promoted (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) →

This time out, the Pounders discuss the new film Arrival and “Story of Your Life,” the Nebula-winning Ted Chiang novella on which it’s based. Go see this movie! It’s awesome! Pounder Rankings!: Colin: Story Movie James: Story Movie Seth: Movie Story (But it’s pretty close on all counts) Notes: Zencastr! https://zencastr.com Ted Chiang interviews: http://www.indiebound.org/author-interviews/chiangted https://electricliterature.com/the-legendary-ted-chiang-on-seeing-his-stories-adapted-for-the-screen-and-the-ever-expanding-916a9530e598#.x3a6212z0 … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #46: There Are No The’s (Arrival) →

For Halloween 2016, the Pavement Pounders discuss Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend and the three major films adapted from it: 1964’s The Last Man on Earth, 1971’s The Omega Man, and the 2007 film I Am Legend. Slow, zombie-like vampires! Pale vampire Sith Lord beaniks! CGI uncanny valley superhuman darkseekers! And an Asylum … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #45: Pale Luddites (I Am Legend) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders quickly discuss Daniel H. Wilson’s short story “The Nostalgist” and its short film adaptation. This is a low homework episode, folks, so don’t get spoiled unnecessarily! This is a first, as the Pounders read, watched, recorded, edited, and posted the episode all in one day. Don’t get used to … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #44: A Little More Data Than Number Five (The Nostalgist) →

For Episode #43, the Pavement Pounders are lucky enough to be joined once again by friend of the show Phil Nichols, senior advisor to the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies. Fahrenheit 451 is the topic this time, both the Francois Truffaut adaptation and, of course, the classic dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. Pounder Rankings!: Phil/James/Colin/Seth: Book … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #43: Montag Shot First (Fahrenheit 451, feat. Phil Nichols) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders tackle a whopper, covering The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, including the original radio play (Primary Phase), book, TV series, and movie. Michael Simshauser was nice enough to give us some audio to drop in, to add his insights about the four media under consideration, as well as the … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #42: The Prevalence of Tea Towels (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – feat. Michael Simshauser) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders discuss one of Seth’s favorite films, Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige and the Christopher Priest novel of the same name on which it’s based. Not everybody agrees about how awesome the movie is, but Seth is clearly right in this case, and also typing these show notes. Pounder Rankings!: Colin: … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #41: Everybody’s a Victim (The Prestige) →

We’re well into our second year here, and if Seth has to listen to each episode multiple times, he should at least be allowed to pull out some of our best bits and chuck them into a supercut. This is a good sampling of our discussions on adaptational considerations, James’s proclivity for dropping in “That’s … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #40: Guilty Underpants (Supercut: Year Two!) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders are joined by Ben DeBono of The Sci-Fi Christian to discuss Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Colin and Seth both disliked the film on first viewing. Will things change after this viewing? What will James think about it the first time out? The movie is (kind of) … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #39: Selfie With the Monolith! #aliens (2001: A Space Odyssey) →

Recording right about the time of our second podcast anniversary, this time we discuss Colossus: The Forbin Project, adapted from DF Jones’s novel Colossus. Many thanks to everyone who’s interacted with us in any way since we started doing this. It’s been a lot of fun and we look forward to many more awkward discussions … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #38: Scientists Should Read Frankenstein (Colossus: The Forbin Project) →

This time, the guys are joined by both of Colin’s adult sons as well as a mystery guest, at a secret location known only to everyone who listens to this episode. It’s a Christmas miracle! We’re covering The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy, and its 1990 film adaptation. It’s fringy science fiction, but … Continue reading LMNOP-plots (The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy, recorded at ) →

This time out, the Pavement Pounders were joined by Margo Donohue of the Book Vs. Movie podcast to discuss The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins and its smash hit film adaptation. Huge thanks to Margo for classing up the place by hanging out with us! Pounder Rankings!: Margo: book movie Colin: book movie James (rebel!): … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #37: The Going Exchange Rate on Kisses (The Hunger Games, feat. MargoD of Book vs. Movie) →

No clever title this time, because we were fortunate enough to have a chance to sit down (virtually) with Michael A. Burstein and discuss his short story “I Remember the Future” and its recent short film adaptation. It’s not quite our usual format, as for the most part we took a back seat to Michael, … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #36: I Remember the Future, Interview with Michael A. Burstein →

For a special Christmas treat, this time the Pavement Pounders discuss Die Hard, adapted from Roderick Thorp’s Nothing Lasts Forever. Is it a Christmas movie? Is it science fiction? These questions and more considered. Sprechen Sie talk? Eh? Pounder Rankings!: Colin/James/Seth: movie book Notes: Honest Action: Die Hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnHKv2G0wCw Tattoo fail ‘Nothing Last’s Forever’: http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamdavis/examples-proving-we-need-to-be-more-careful-with-grammar#.jlJr7jnPRK … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #35: The Movie is Canon (Die Hard) →

For a special tie-in with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Pavement Pounders discuss their Top 3 entries in the dearly-departed Expanded Universe, now called Star Wars: Legends. Pavement Pounder Picks!: Colin: Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn Han Solo: Paradise Snare, by A.C. Crispin Spinter of the Mind’s Eye, by … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #34: Ion Canonization, or an Axe-Whuppin’ (Top 3 Expanded Universe Entries) →

All things being equal, this episode would’ve been released for Halloween 2015. But 20th Century Fox decided to push Victor Frankenstein to Thanksgiving Weekend, so it’s Franksgiving, or Thankenstein from the Pavement Pounders! Under consideration this time are the classic 1818 novel Frankenstein, its equally classic 1931 adaptation, 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’s Young … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #33: Bilateral Kidney Stones (Frankenstein) →

And now for something completely different! Eschewing the normal homework-heavy format, the Pavement Pounders discuss their lists of Top 3 Science Fiction books. This is a new thing they’re hoping to do more of, so be sure to get in touch with your suggestions for future lists, and let them know what you thought of … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #32: Practically Illiterate (Top 3 SF Books) →

For a brief Episode #31, the Pavement Pounders discuss Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant, which recently had a Fathom Event re-release. Also under discussion is the book the film is based on, variously titled as The Iron Man and The Iron Giant. Thanks to Roger from The Geek Likes for suggesting the title. Also, be … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #31: Hogarth’s Getting a New Daddy (The Iron Giant) →

For Episode #30, the Pavement Pounders are joined by Matt Anderson of The Sci-Fi Christian to discuss the new film The Martian, adapted from Andy Weir’s best-selling book. Seth totally forgets about the Earth’s magnetic field when discussing the radiation problem.  Also, his Windows laptop totally freezes up halfway through.  See if you can spot … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #30: Weir Science (The Martian, feat. Matt Anderson) →

For Episode 29, the Pavement Pounders discuss Steven Gould’s excellent novel Jumper and its lackluster 2008 film adaptation. Just read the book series! For a podcast on a better Doug Liman film, check out our episode about Edge of Tomorrow (All You Need is Kill). Huge thanks to Steven Gould for replying to our tweet, and … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #29: We Mean No Harm to Your Planet (Jumper) →

(Ironic Title Translation: Don’t Change Anything.  You’ll get it once you’ve read the story.) In honor of what would have been Ray Bradbury’s 95th birthday, the Pavement Pounders discuss his well-known short story A Sound of Thunder with Phil Nichols, Senior Advisor to the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at Indiana University.  Also under consideration … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #28: Deaunt Chaynj Ennithnng (A Sound of Thunder, feat. Phil Nichols) →

Yes, we were going to be doing The Hunt For Red October. But we decided to kick that one down the road a month and replace it with a much less worthy movie, and an even less worthierer book. It’s the 1987 novel Penal Colony, by Richard Herley, and it’s a bit of a stinker. … Continue reading Mad Max in the Jungle! (Penal Colony, by Richard Herley, and 1994’s No Escape) →

Sorry folks, no clever title this time, and no actual new book/movie review featuring James, Colin and Seth.  Instead, Seth was lucky enough to get Keith Kato of the Heinlein Society on the phone to chat about the Society, R.A.H. himself, his work, rumors of future adaptations, and even some tidbits about Predestination, which the … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #27: Interview with The Heinlein Society’s Keith Kato →

In Episode #26, the Pavement Pounders were delighted to be joined by Nicholas Jensen to talk about Starship Troopers, the Robert Heinlein novel and the Paul Verhoeven film of the same name (if not the same content). This podcast also features a brief segment from a longer discussion with Keith Kato of The Heinlein Society. … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #26: De-bounced (Starship Troopers) →

In Episode #25, the Pavement Pounders discuss the much-maligned 2004 film I, Robot, based (or is it?) on Isaac Asimov’s classic novel/anthology of the same name.  This completes our Robot obligations after previously covering Eando Binder’s short story “I, Robot.” Also under consideration is the alternate universe version of the movie that we unfortunately never … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #25: There Is No Spooner (I, Robot) →