New article:

http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/entertainment/vie...13731&format=&page=1

Thanks for the interesting article. I was worried the movie was getting no publicity because I had only seen the trailer one time on TV, but my students told me they have seen the trailer lots of times. I am reading the story to them in class tomorrow and then encouraging them to see the movie this weekend. I am even offering extra-credit if they write a compare/contrast essay. They seem very interested in it. I was afraid that it might not be playing in a theater anywhere near where they live, because of an earlier post in which someone said it was only going to be released in a small number of theaters. The movie site I went to tonight (Metromix) says it's having a wide-release and listed at least 8 theaters within a short distance of my school and my home. I can't wait!!

Can someone tell me why things on the path can be killed without effecting the future? What is so special about the path?

Lana,
Great ideas on Thunder. I start Tuesday. I am sure your students find your enthusiasm infectious. Thanks!

Preston Child:
The path is elevated from the land so that nothing is disturbed while walking across it. The "hunters" are only allowed to kill those animals who are about to die anyway and can only do so at the calculated time of the animal's death--thus not changing the course of nature as it would occur normally (for example, natural selection as a process would not be affected).

If you've tired looking at just two trailers available, and can't see the movie for a few days, here are some stills to review for the next moment or two:

http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2005_A_Sound_of_Thunder_photo.html

Hello,

I saw “A Sound of Thunder” at a sneak preview on Wednesday night and had to think about it for a day before posting my thoughts here. I love Ray with all my heart and I wanted to love this movie. I re-read the story at lunch the day of the showing and had a butterfly pin proudly perched on my shoulder all day. I wish I could tell you I loved the movie. It starts out promisingly - the time portal opening into the past and the pathway coming out looked great. The original ideas from Ray’s story worked and were visualized pretty well but when they veer off into story-padding territory the problems start. Some of the effects look good – again like the pathway coming out - but some are pretty awful, especially the green screen work when the actors are walking in the “city” and they look like they are walking on a treadmill at a different speed than the background behind them is moving. Ain’t It Cool News has 3 reviews and all of them have valid points and none of them, I am afraid, are positive. There are spoilers in them so don’t read them if you want to go in cold. CNN has a review today that is even more negative. I will say this – the movie inspired a very lively and enjoyable discussion afterwards between we who had seen it, and many parts of the movie are memorable - good and bad. Go and see it, I would be very interested to hear what you all think.

Patricia

http://www.aintitcool.com/

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/02/review.thunder/index.html

Perhaps someone here can answer this. Does Ray lose money if a movie production of his work goes bankrupt, as is the case here? Or is he paid for the movie rights up-front, ending his financial involvement? I'm just curious how authors protect themselves in this kind of situation. Thanks.

Authors aren't charged or held liable if a movie based on their work loses money. The only way they lose is if they invest their own funds in a production. If, however, an author's work is associated with a couple of big-budget flops it does make others reluctant to film other works of theirs, so they lose that way.

Here is another article: http://movies.msn.com/movies/weekendmovieguide?GT1=6940

fjp451--Thanks, that was nice of you. In my gifted class yesterday, when I finished reading the story, one boy raised his hand after our discussion and said, "Do you think you could read more of his stories to us throughout the year?" Yes, I've hooked another one!!

I am sure that it varies from author to author from agent to agent as to the deals that are made. Typically the rights to a story to made into a film are priced out at X numbers of dollars. There may be a stipulation of a percentage of the profits, if any, and many authors have been burned here because the studio or production company claims that there are no profits citing escalating expenses, etc., etc.

It is my hope that Ray came out on this alright. Remember that Ray has sold the rights to film F451, some years ago, to Mel Gibson, who has shelved the project after not finding a good screen play (Ray's apparently wasn't good enough) and so it is languishing some place on a shelf or in a drawer.

Well, a fairly nearby theater lists it as "Coming Soon" but with no date.

I've heard that it was coming out in April...2006,of course....

I had wanted to see "A Sound of Thunder" in theaters, but looking in the newspaper this past weekend, it had been removed fromo all but one theater, and that one was a bit far. Two weeks, and every theater had already pulled it. It must have been a huge flop. I had a small group of friends who were going to go with me as well! Oh well, guess I have to wait for video.

Mr. Bradbury needs a cinema confidant who keeps his ideas up front and an ear to the door of the production efforts of his stories. They sure don't ever get it right. Do they?

Phew...most unfortunate! Nowhere to be seen in the far NE.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sound_of_thunder/