Paolo Bacigalupi has expanded upon his earlier short fiction work, “The Calorie Man” ( Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and “Yellow Card Man” (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) to create a darkly complex and mesmerizing post-petroleum future.  It’s not so much a cautionary tale as it is an urban nightmare filled with decay, poverty and genetic terrorism. Set in a very crowded and apparently, sinking Thailand, the novel moves about with varied, compelling perspectives.

At the risk of sharing too much about the book, the overall premise is this…

Environmental destruction has exceeded Al Gore’s worst nightmare.  Ecological mainstays have collapsed and the world’s food supplies are in grave danger (the source of actual calories becomes  a monetary staple making world economies dependent on basic sustenance).  In a vicious cycle, Calorie conglomerates offer sterile seeds at high prices while bio-engineered “accidents” unleash horrific diseases and insects obliterating competing foods and driving up the costs of seeds, let alone food.  The world’s calorie markets become a dangerous, high stakes business.

The novel has ghosts, plague, bio-engineered sex dolls, Gestapo-like military police, roving chameleon-like tigers, political intrigue and all under a suffocating jungle heat.

Go out and get “The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi, and treat yourself to a mesmerizing reading experience.

In what sounds like a pitch conjured on the playground, a group of Apache Indians and Western settlers stop fighting each other and form an uneasy alliance when a spaceship crash-lands and aliens stake their claim in their territory.

The producers on this project,  Ron Howard,  Brian Grazer, and Steven Spielberg (Shindler’s List, Jaws) are no slouches and obviously see a blockbuster with this Sci-Fi western.

Daily Helping had previously recommended the book back in January of ‘09.

It’s a brilliant novel by Alan Glynn (which up until recently, was his only published novel). A down-and-out writer (Cooper) procures a top-secret pharmaceutical drug from his old dealer who claims to have gone straight. The pill makes you smarter.  Really smart. Smart like you can learn Portuguese in the time it takes to read a phrase book, which in this case is about thirty-minutes.  He uses his new-found ability to obtain obscene financial and social success but eventually discovers that the drug has lethal and lasting side effects.  Then there are those who want the drug for themselves…

A year ago, news of the film adaptation started and then stopped with news that Shia Labeouf was lined up to play Cooper’s part.  The casting choice was nothing short of sabotage not to mention a shift in the lead character’s age by about twenty years.  Labeouf was filming “Transformers” at the time and found himself in a car accident which caused some fairly serious damage to his hand.  Shia was out of Dark Fields and a collective sigh of relief could be heard by the book’s devoted fans.

The Dark Fields is one of those novels that you can’t put down, once you give it a look. It’s also a novel that you envision as a film, while you’re reading it.

The Daily Helping says you need to find the book at your local bookstore or online vendor. It’s a fantastic reading experience and best read before the movie trailer dilutes your pleasure.

UPDATE: Robert DeNiro is scheduled to join the filming of Dark Fields in May.

Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski) is Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon  is Texas Ranger La Boeuf, in what is his first chance to work with the Brother’s Coen.  Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), is also in the cast.

The movie is scheduled to be released around Christmas.

If you’ve taken the time to put together a list of your own, please feel free to let us know via the comments page.

5)  Alfonso Cuarón’s film, “Children of Men” (2006).  This has been an excellent decade for Clive Owen.  There are more than a few of his movies that could be on this list.  (“The Inside Man”,  “Gosford Park“) Clive is a resistance fighter protecting what may very well be the last pregnant woman on Earth. It’s  edgy science fiction  that drew an audience primarily by word of mouth. It’s likely to be a timeless film. (Look for the wonderful cameo by the great Michael Cain).

4)” The Departed” (2006). Martin Scorsese can put together any cast he wants to and he started with Jack Nicholson to headline his American version of a twisty Hong Kong mob film called, “Infernal Affairs”.  Scorsese called on his muse,  Leonardo DiCaprio to play a deep under cover cop and the always remarkable,  Matt Damon as a spy for the mob, placed highly with the Boston mob task force. Cat and mouse doesn’t do the tension justice. This was a fantasic movie and the best Scorsese picture since” Goodfellas”.

3) “The Dark Knight”, (2008) arrived with great expectations before the untimely death of it’s co-star, Heath Ledger.  Re-tooled over the past ten years and helmed by the very gifted, Christopher Nolan (“Momento”, “Batman Begins”, “The Prestige”), “The Dark Knight” set a new standard for comic book blockbusters. The energy and special effects didn’t hide the story.  Nolan showed that a big budget summer picture can also have depth, character development and a story that refuses to let go from the opening scene.  Christian Bale wears the gear well, and will for as long as he wants to.

The movie will forever be known for Heath Ledger’s remarkable turn as the Joker.  He  joins Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter as  one of the most most memorable film villains of all time.

2) “A History of Violence” (2005) and “Eastern Promises” (2007) paired versatile actor, Viggo Mortensen with David Cronenberg, a director known for his independent spirit and taste for the grotesque.  Because these films are equally compelling and razor sharp in their construction; it’s hard to separate the two.

1) “No Country For Old Men” was a 2007 screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s tight little novel of bounty hunters, unrelenting killers, a lot of drug money and a few good people fighting for their lives.  The affection that the Daily Helping has for The Brothers Coen is well documented here on this site.  As gifted as Joel and Ethan happen to be, it was this film that took them to the next level in both box office and critical appeal.  The film was honored with numerous awards, garnering three British Academy of Film awareds, two Golden Globes, and four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem, in a truly memorable Moe-like hairstyle).

A book for the times...

It should have been expected that those chosen for the Daily Helping Best of the Decade list will be found among the archives.  The Best in Books is no exception.

Richard Price’s New York City  morality play, “Lush Life” gets the nod.  The novel takes place, post 9-11. It’s the Lower East Side of Manhattan,  crowded  with hipster bars, tenements,  artists, city projects, and immigrants of all  packed together into too-close quarters.

One night a drunk white aspiring actor/bartender is shot in cold blood by two black teens.  From there Price takes us in close to the experience.  We see the cops doing the best they can in a hopeless battle.  Witnesses and others caught in the wake react to issues not anticipated but all so very real.

Price’s dialogue captures the rhythm, slang and tone of urban life.  Price is arguably the best writer of dialogue in the history of American literature.  There are a good number of fans of Showtime’s,  The Wire, who would whole-heartedly agree.

A new “Red Band” trailer has come out and it’s a taste of what may be a huge hit.  The movie is clearly not for the faint- hearted and may have some of the most amazing action sequences this side of Hong Kong.   Look for Nicholas Cage to hit one out of the park on this. He also stars in the recently released  re-make of the Bad Lieutenant, which is also generating some surprisingly positive buzz.  He may have lost a ton of money through bad professional management, but his script instinct is hot again.  Both roles are edgy and memorable and he leaves everything out on the screen.

The language provided in this trailer may be a bit much for work, so turn down your speakers if you work in a cubicle.

Meet Hit Girl.

Check this out….

The movie, actually called “Kick Ass” is based on the illustrated novel by Mark Miller.   There’s not a lot of news about the movie other than it stars Nicholas Cage and Christopher Mintz- Plasse (“McLovin” in “Superbad”).

(The trailer for this movie is under attack by it’s production company Lion’s Gate. They released the teaser, now won’t let it be shown. That’s a whole new level of teasing).

Click here to see the trailer, while you still can.

“Invictcus“. It’s a movie you’re going to hear a lot about, and for good reason. There are also going to be a lot of Americans who will get their first taste of rugby and it will have them wondering which is more brutal,  American football or Rugby?

“Invictus” is based on a book called, “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the game that Changed a Nation” (by John Carlin). It chronicles a fairly recent and very highly charged period of time in South Africa. Apartheid was falling and Nelson Mandela had been released from prison; then quickly elected President.

In an effort to bring a divided country together, he sought the efforts of the nation’s rugby team and since South Africa was the host of the games, Mandela urged the black South Africans to support what was a widely-hated team  .  A decent showing at the 1995 Rugby World Cup would have been effective, but no one expected them to win.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as President Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the Rugby team’s captain.

The movie is out on December 11, 2009, and is already generating Academy Award buzz.