Bruce McDonald suggests 8 weird books that would make great weird movies
Director Bruce McDonald has been making iconic Canadian films since the late 1980s. The Kingston native's films tend to be on the stranger side, as anyone who's seen Roadkill, Hardcore Logo, Pontypool or Hellions will know.
Bruce's latest film, Weirdos, is an "offbeat coming-of-age comedy-drama, about two Nova Scotian teens who hit the road in July 1976 accompanied by the laconic ghost of (the still-living) Andy Warhol." The film is premiering at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
Below, McDonald picks eight books he thinks would make amazing movies. Filmmakers, take note!
"I've always had good luck with the movies I made that began as books: Hard Core Logo, The Tracey Fragments, Pontypool, American Whiskey Bar, Dance Me Outside.
"I like to read, and perhaps unconsciously I'm always looking for new movies to make in what I read. So here are some books I think would make great movies."
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems by Michael Ondaatje
"A great book of left-handed poems about the young outlaw, the fine ladies who loved him and his friend who shot him down. Sexy. Violent. Amazing."
The Bear by Claire Cameron
"The parents of two little kids are eaten by a bear. The kids attempt to move to safety with the bear in pursuit, the story told through the voice of its young female protagonist. Primal. Beautiful. Terrifying."
The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan
"Two killers are hired by a mysterious woman to rid her of a monster in the basement. By the same guy who gave us Trout Fishing in America and Willard and His Bowling Trophies. Very funny. Spooky."
Birds in Fall by Brad Kessler
"Heartbreaking book about grief. The relatives of a group of people killed in a plane crash gather near the crash site at a seaside bed and breakfast to come to terms with their loss. Magical. Haunting."
People Live Still in Cashtown Corners by Tony Burgess
"Puts you inside the head of an insane gas station attendant on a killing spree. Weirdly touching and, of course, really messed up."
Yummy Fur by Chester Brown
"A graphic novel about a clown and a vampire girl trying to return the president to his rightful dimension. Closest thing to a dream/nightmare I've ever seen. Wild entertainment by the amazing Chester Brown."
The Pornographer's Poem by Michael Turner
"It's 1979. A jock boy wants to impress the cool high school girl. To make a long story short, they embrace revolutionary, politically charged amateur pornography. By one of my very favourite novelists and poets, Michael Turner."
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
"A model for movies of the future. Movies in a hundred years may look like this atom bomb of a book."
(Editor's note: Some of the more celebrated films inspired by the book to date include the 1997 Vanessa Redgrave starrer Mrs. Dalloway, and the 2002 Academy Award winner The Hours.)