Tuesday news: 1/3 of sales at Hachette are digital; Kindle Fire more popular with kids; 50 Shades leads announced
Report: Kindle Fire Surpasses iPad as Most Popular E-Reading Tablet for Kids – Kindle Fire is the tablet of choice for kids according to one survey taken by Digital Book World. I suspect this is because Amazon allows for parental controls on the device. Every time the Kindle Fire commercial plays, Ned always turns to me and says “why can’t the iPad do that”. That refers to the fact that you can set a time limit as to how much reading, app playing, and internet access the kid is allowed. Amazon also has a special low priced subscription with kids apps and books for Kindle Tablet owners. Digital Book World
What Lagardère’s First Half results Doesn’t Say – Hachette’s parent released its first half figures and in North America, digital comprises over 1/3 of all “sales” (as opposed to revenue). Eoin Purcell argues that the data released shows that digital sales are the only area of growth for the publisher. The trade success, such as it was, focuses on the movie release of Nicholas Spark’s books which must have increased Sparks’ book sales. Eoin Purcell’s Blog
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- Charlie Hunnam Sons of Anarchy
Dakota Johnson, Charlie Hunnam nab ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ roles – The 50 Shades movie that is set for an August 2014 release finally has leads. Dakota Johnson, formerly of Ben and Kate and 21 Jump Street, will be the lip biting virgin against Charlie Hunnam, of Sons of Anarchy fame. Hunnam is to play Christian, a suave 27 year old billionaire who dresses mostly in suits and rarely appears fully nude in the 50 series. He prefers to wear clothes while having sex and disciplining Ana. The movie adaption is supposed to be R rated so how they’ll work in a ton of scenes in Christian’s red room of pain will be enlightening. This is likely my last post regarding the movie until it releases. I suspect because of the paucity of plot and reduced heat necessary for a general release, this movie is unlikely to be the blockbuster the books where (and still are). Inside Movies | EW.com
HOW ’9 1/2 WEEKS’ PUSHED AN ACTRESS TO THE EDGE – But maybe the director will employ the techniques used by director Adrian Lyne who used psychological intimidation to wrench a childlike vulnerability from Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks. Sarah Weinman tweeted this link not long after the announcement of the lead characters (as announced by James on her Twitter). Basinger was essentially tormented by the director and the leading man, Mickey Roarke because the director believed that Basinger wasn’t a good enough actress to pull off the necessary emotion without behind the scenes help.
To make the scene realistic, Mr. Lyne engaged in one of his private asides to Mr. Rourke. He recalled it this way: ”We were shooting the suicide scene, and this woman was supposed to be totally devastated at this point. But Kim looked dewy and lovely. I stopped and called Mickey aside. I told him that the scene wasn’t working, that Kim had to be broken down.” He said that Mr. Rourke returned to the set and helped extract the effect the director wanted. He said Mr. Rourke grabbed Miss Basinger’s arm and held it tightly, refusing to let go. Miss Basinger began to cry and then shouted and struck Mr. Rourke. He then slapped her in the face. She began to weep hysterically. Mr. Lyne then said, ”Now let’s start the scene.”” NYTimes.com
Well that bit about Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger reminded me of this (which I read just this morning):
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/01/the-stars-of-blue-is-the-warmest-color-on-the-riveting-lesbian-love-sory-and-graphic-sex-scenes.html
The things people do for art’s sake!!! And how enlightening to read about how sex scenes are actually done, behind the scenes…
Pity that 50 Shades is what it is. An excellent movie (and novel, for that matter) can be made that revolves around themes of passion and love, even the non-conventional kind (re Blue is the Warmest Color).
Charlie is amazing in Sons of Anarchy. I have to wonder how much he got paid for the role. The movie is going to be so much fun to snark on, like Sharknado.
@Elle – that Blue is the Warmest Color link – yikes! Same with the Rourke/Bassinger story. I don’t know if I want any part of entertainment that comes at such a personal cost to the actors.
As for the 50 Shades casting… I just wonder how they can make this movie. I haven’t read the series, but it’s all the rage at my book club. (I’m sure the casting will be a huge topic of discussion this week!) But it’s really explicit, right? And the entire story arc is a sexual one, right? So I keep wondering if this will be an NC-17 film? But I guess those don’t make money…
And one more 50 shades thought. Christian doesn’t take off his clothes? Oh, this was made for Hollywood then, wasn’t it? Sheesh.
I have an iPad and the Flynn kids have a Kindle Fire, which I love especially for the parental controls. However, I as I just learned this weekend, you have to totally block internet access for the kidlets not to be able to use the chat function that is embedded in all the books. Seems my 10 year old was chatting with God knows who using the chat function on the dictionary of all things. So …. there was a long conversation about internet safety at the Flynn house yesterday. Word to the wise. Also, if I am the last person in the world to realize this was possible even with parental controls set, then I hang my head in shame.
A very long time ago, I read 9-1/2 WEEKS when the book first came out, allegedly a narrative of real events. It was disturbing and powerful and mind-bending, at least to this then-30-something. I don’t know how it compares to FSoG, but the story pushed everyone to the edge.
ETA: Which makes me wonder if there’s been renewed interest now in 9-1/2 because of FSoG.
I love the Kindle Fire for the kidlets because of the parental controls. Kids grumble, but I dig it :) The subscription service is terrific for younger kids. Wished it work as well for the pre-teen set.
I read somewhere once that Kim Basinger suffers from anxiety–I think she may be agoraphobic? Gee, I wonder why. She’s been emotionally abused and physically, too. That article–and how the director excuses his behavior–made me sick.
LOVE Charlie Hunnam. He’s great in Sons of Anarchy. Not sure why he agreed to the 50 Shades mess, though? He seems to actually have a pretty good career going so far.
@Elle:
The very first thing I thought of when I saw the casting for this movie was 9 1/2 Weeks. Lousy movie, terrible acting even then. I have never read 50 Shades and don’t plan on it, nor do I plan on seeing the movie!
9 1/2 weeks reminds me of Bertolucci with Last Tango in Paris. Or Lars von Trier. There are a lot creepy people in the film industry who think it’s fine for others to suffer for their vision of art.