On this day in movie history - Adaptation (2002 movie & book):

Adaptation

directed by Spike Jonze,

written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman,

based on the book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean,

was released in the United States on December 6, 2002.
Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Judy Greer, Bob Yerkes, Jim Beaver, Litefoot, Jay Tavare, Doug Jones, Peter Jason, John Cusack, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, Lance Acord, Spike Jonze, Doug Jones, Curtis Hanson, David O. Russell.

Recommended reading:

The Orchid Thief:

A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

By Susan Orlean.

Filmed as Adaptation (2002), directed by Spike Jonze.

First published 1998.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 044900371X

ISBN-13: 978-0449003718

Description:

A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower – the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii – a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean – and the reader – will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion.

In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the “orchid thief,” Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay.

Praise for The Orchid Thief:

“Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean’s] gifts in full bloom.” – The New York Times Book Review.

“Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.” – Los Angeles Times.

“Orlean’s snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.” – The Washington Post Book World.

“Orlean’s gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.” – Boston Sunday Globe.

“A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.” – The Wall Street Journal.

On this day in movie history - Manhunter (1986):

Manhunter

directed and written by Michael Mann,

based on the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1986.
Music by Michel Rubini and The Reds.

Cast:

William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Stephen Lang, Tom Noonan, David Seaman, Benjamin Hendrickson, Michael Talbott, Dan Butler, Michele Shay, Robin Moseley, Paul Perri, Patricia Charbonneau, Bill Cwikowski, Alexandra Neil, Norman Snow, Jim Zubiena, Frankie Faison, Garcelle Beauvais, Joanne Camp, David Allen Brooks, Elisabeth Ryall, Chris Elliott, Gary Chavaras, Chris Cianciolo, Ken Colquitt, Ron Fitzgerald, Dennis Quick, David Meeks, Sherman Michaels, Robin Trapp, L.A. Winters, Daniel T. Snow, Cynthia Chvatal, King White, Mickey Lloyd, Dawn Carmen, David Fitzsimmons, Robert A. Burton, Steve Hogan, Mickey Pugh, Kin Shriner, John Posey, Kristin Holby, Greg Kelly, Brian Kelly, Ryan Langhorne, Hannah Caggiano, Lindsey Fonora, Jason Frair, Bryant Arrants, Christopher Arrants, Melvin Clark, Renee Ayala, Dana Dewey, Stephen Hawkins, Leonard Johnson, Keith Pyles, Michael Russell, Michael Vitug, Pat Williams, Charles Yarbaugh, Bill Smitrovich, Peter Maloney, Michael D. Roberts, Marshall Bell, Gusmano Cesaretti, Melody Gold, Annie McEnroe.