My Summer Lair Chapter #298: Would You Got On An Epic Adventure With A Bookworm?
Gather around the campfire, oh children of the ‘80s. Have I got a movie for you!
Here’s the TV Guide description of Bookworm: “11-year-old Mildred’s (Nell Fisher) world is turned upside down when her estranged father, the washed-up magician Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood), comes to look after her and agrees to take her camping to find a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.”
You know Elijah Wood aka Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. That production was shot entirely in Jackson’s native New Zealand. Good things usually happen when Elijah Wood is shooting a movie in New Zealand. Add Bookworm to that list.
You probably don’t know Nell Fisher. Oh, but you will. IMDb says she was born on November 2, 2011 in London, UK. Wee Lass; Big Talent. You’ll soon see Nell Fisher in Stranger Things 5 streaming on Netflix in 2025. Based on her freshtastic Bookworm performance? Demogorgons should be nervous. You’ll want to keep an eye out for her. Meet her in Bookworm and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
As for the Canterbury Panther? Unlike Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher it’s not real. Or is it? Is Bigfoot real? Is the Loch Ness Monster real?
Imagine scoring an honest to goodness, clear not blurry photo of Bigfoot. How that would change everything and change nothing all at the same time.
Mildred has a plan…her loser and reluctant magician father is gonna take her camping in the radiant yet rugged New Zealand landscape so she can snap photos of a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther. Think about it…how much is a Bigfoot photo worth? She gets a couple of photos of this rumoured Panther, sells em and she can help her struggling single mother pay some bills. The worst that happens is…they go camping. Right?
Bookworm had its world premiere at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival on July 18, 2024.
I welcome to My Summer Lair the movie’s director Ant Timpson who revealed to me:
“Bookworm was like a camping adventure for all the cast and crew. We all sort of went on a very strange summer camp, and just prayed that we weren’t going to be attacked by a mythical beast.”
Which makes sense…nobody wants to go camping only to be attacked by a “mythical beast.”
I so enjoyed that this attached delightful conversation with Bookworm’s director Ant Timpson includes referencing the Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot and The Amazing Kreskin. Just fantastic old-timey references that if you were a child in the ‘70s or ‘80s, were absolutely mesmerizing.
That me—a left handed Egyptian from Scarborough could joyful connect with a film-nerd-filmmaker from New Zealand…over the dazzling puzzle of the Bermuda Triangle demonstrates how connective the mysteries of this bizarre universe truly are.
Be sure to list your response to this episode’s poll via My Pal Sammy.
Behold the Bookworm trailer:
Ant Timpson @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Friday July 19, 2024 at 10:50 am (EST)
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