Rain Fall Sneak Peek in Tokyo

[Barry Eisler]

Hi all, please forgive the short notice, but for any Tokyo-based Rainiacs (or for anyone insane enough to drop everything and fly halfway around the world for a matinee), Sony has kindly offered a sneak peek of the Rain Fall movie this Friday, January 23, at 10:00am in the Sony private screening room.  The movie doesn't premiere here until April 25th (not sure about overseas still), so if you feel you can't wait that long, this Friday would be a good opportunity to be among the first to see it.  The movie is about 85% Japanese with subtitles.  凄いね？

Please let me know right away if you're coming because I need to provide a guest list to Sony.  No pressure, of course, especially given the short notice, and if you miss it this time, there's always April...   Hope to see you there!

Rain Fall Screening
Sony Pictures Japan Screening Room
Toranomon Towers Office
2F, 4-1-28 Toranomon
Friday, January 23, 10:00am

Cheers,
Barry

[Rainman]

Who else gets to hear from their favourite author?

Barry..your kick ass man. I find it really cool that you're on here to interact with your fans.


p.s. Wish I could make it for that.

[MJG]

Ah, just found out about this- I live in Tokyo and would really like to come see the premiere- but 10am? Ach... Is there no other time? I'm working then, can't get out of now. Just read Rain Fall about a week ago and ploughing through the other books, onto Killing Rain, loving it- learning about Tokyo despite having been here for 6 years. Jazz and whiskey- wanting to become a connoisseur, though have no taste for whiskey (as yet).

Alright Barry, best of luck with the premiere. If you're interested in checking out a haikyo (ruined buildings) site while you're here- let me know, I'd happily tour guide you to a place or just give you directions.

http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/ruins-gallery/

Best,
Mike.

[MJG]

Scratch that- Barry, if you can get me on the guest list, I'll take time off and definitely will be there.

Cheers,
Michael Grist.

[acgirl]

I'm bummed I can't go.
But ... here's to a successful screening!
 

[villavillain]

Scratch that- Barry, if you can get me on the guest list, I'll take time off and definitely will be there.

Cheers,
Michael Grist.

Don't you feel a hacking cough or the flu coming on that day?

[Barry Eisler]

Hi Michael, you're in!  Thanks for coming by, and see you tomorrow...


Barry

[Barry Eisler]

P.S.  Your website is amazing!  Do you know David Morrell's book Creepers?  Or the movie Session 9?

[MJG]

Hi Barry- Excellent, thanks so much! I'll dial in to work now (using disposable clone cell phone, of course) and get the morning off. Also that's great you like my site- was checking out yours thoroughly today- felt you held up very well in the video interviews, nice judo moves on the frantically humorous host. I saw 'Creepers' mentioned in your advice, didn't know it before. Just checked - ha, is same thing I do! Who knew? 'Session 9'- filmed at Danvers right, no I didn't see that- you can recommend?

Alright, cool, tomorrow then! I'll be one of screaming fans thrusting Rain Fall book in your face pleading for autograph. BTW- just finished Killing Rain, awesome, just bought the next two.

Mike.

[Pheynix]

P.S.  Your website is amazing!  Do you know David Morrell's book Creepers?  Or the movie Session 9?

One of the first 'Movie Nights' my friends and I did, many moons ago, involved a friend picking out Session 9 because he thought the premise sounded cool. To this day, we still rag on him about his choice. We had to go all Mystery Science Theater 3000 on it just to make it bearable.

My apologies to anyone who likes the film... but a horror/suspense film starring the overacted dramatic chops of David Caruso borders more on being a comedy of the bizarre.

[mikesblender]

I know it's very late, but I'd love to see the movie as well!

If you get this message tonight, let me know if there's room for one more.

Thanks!

Michael Beddall

http://www.mikesblender.com

[Cheryl]

Barry, hope you, the two Michaels and anyone else who attends the showing will let us know what you think of the movie. 

[Barry Eisler]

Michael, great meeting you today, and thanks for coming.  Mike Blender, really sorry I didn't see your message until just now; you certainly would have been welcome.

Session 9:  there was a lot wrong with the story.  But their atmospheric use of the actual Danvers Sanitarium was extremely cool.  The title was terrible, too, though the tagline was good:  "Fear is a place..."

As for Rain Fall!  Here's what I wrote to Max a little while ago (slightly edited so it makes sense out of context; it was a response to another email):

**********************

Hi Max, Laura and I saw the film this morning and it was fascinating to see what you kept, what you eliminated, what you changed, everything.  The whole thing was beautifully shot, and I don't think I've ever seen Tokyo feel so cool and foreboding and atmospheric on screen.

As for the Krav Maga instead of judo, the way I see it, that's another area you have to adjust in whatever way you think best so it works on screen.  Any martial art is going to get stripped down when applied in combat.  The main thing is that the action sequences were brutal, fast, and exciting; for me, whatever art was behind them would be secondary to that.

It was especially cool to see the scene I watched you shoot in May.  Amazing how what's obviously a set when you're on the set can look completely real when it's on the screen.

I think there were about 40 people there this morning, and reaction seemed overwhelmingly positive.  So fingers crossed in a big way that this will be the beginning of a monster hit for all of us.

*******************

So those are my high-level thoughts.  It's definitely different from the book in many respects, but I was expecting a lot of differences because I've always thought of this as an interpretation of my story, not the story itself.  IMO, trying to hew too closely to a book when you're making a movie is usually a recipe for a bad movie.

Will keep everyone posted as overseas distribution rights are sold, and hopefully we'll all get to enjoy it in the US sometime soon.

Cheers,
Barry

[Barry Eisler]

Mike, your post went up while I was working on mine.  Forgive me for deleting yours -- I should have mentioned, Sony has a press embargo until the official press signing, and a few journalists who came today actually signed NDAs promising they'd hold off writing about the movie until the official press screening.  As you noted, your post had a lot spoilers in it, so out of an abundance of caution, I deleted it.

Also, I get that you wanted to see various elements in the book reflected on the screen.  This is natural enough and reasonable people will certainly disagree on this kind of thing (look at all the controversy that ensued when Sony cast a blond, blue-eyed Bond for Casino Royale).  But please, let's be courteous in expressing those preferences.  A lot of people worked hard on this movie and made difficult choices about what in the book to leave in, what to take out, and what to do differently so the movie would be as effective as they could make it.  Certainly different people would make different choices, but having gotten to know the filmmakers, I know they put their hearts into this project and did the best adaption they could.  I'm sure you respect that.

I love discussions about how this or that could have been done differently in a story, but I'd like those discussions here on the forum to defy internet conventions and remain positive, respectful, and therefore ultimately productive.  Don't forget, there is already talk of a Hollywood remake, some of the people involved in those efforts drop by here from time to time, and who knows?  If you make your points in a positive spirit, you might even see some of your ideas reflected in a future Rain movie...

Thanks for your understanding and again, for coming by this morning.

Cheers,
Barry

[Rayna]

I was about to ask you how you felt about it Barry,
Glad to see you liked it and its interesting to see its Krav Maga in it... I guess its just easier that way...


Hope i get to see it here


Rayna