Season's Greetings

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Not much time to do a meaty post at the moment, but how about a few quick tips?  Stephen King's The Institute is a fine novel, with a dark and involving story.  Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is a little busy and maybe a little too eager to please fans, but it's undeniably a very entertaining time at the movies.  And Robert Petkoff's narration of all the classic Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald kept me going back to Audible.com for audiobook after audiobook this past year.

I posted a little more in 2019 than I did in 2018, but here's hoping I get back to much more regular posing in 2020.  I do enjoy telling you all about all the stuff I've enjoyed reading, seeing, or listening to; I just need to be less lazy about posting. We shall see, right?  In the meantime, Happy New Year!

Couple of things

On this pleasant day-after-Thanksgiving Friday, let me hit you with one quick Thanksgiving joke as you enjoy your leftovers.  Courtesy of a signboard outside a local restaurant, here goes:

What side of the turkey has the most feathers?

The outside!

I know, kind of dumb. So how about if I leave you with a quick book tip, too??

The recently-reissued 1970's Hardman thriller series by Ralph Dennis continues to entertain.  I just finished the 6th entry, Murder Is Not An Odd Job, and it was another winner.  Aside from many other assets, the novel has one of the most satisfying "showdown in the wilderness" sequences between the heroes and the villains that I've read in ages.

Check out what I wrote a few posts ago about the first novel in the series, Atlanta Deathwatch, for more information on these highly recommended books.  All novels in the series are available in trade paperback editions or on Kindle.

Hands-on horror

On this lovely Halloween day, please let this slightly older blogger suggest a couple of slightly older horror movies that might provide a bit of frightful fun if you feel like watching something scary later on.  I picked these movies because they were both produced well before the CGI era, so if you see something that's memorably scary in them, it's because the filmmakers had to actually make that thing and film it, not simply animate it to life on a computer and cut and paste it into the movie later on. I'm not a CGI basher, but there is something to be said for the old hands-on approach to creating creatures and moody-looking spaceships and all the other things that went into making effective horror and horror/sci-fi movies in decades past.

Anyway, I'm just recommending two films for now: 1979's Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and 1982's The Thing, directed by John Carpenter.  Both were done in the pre-CGI era but both deliver very ambitious scares and monsters, some believing that the scares are much more effective because the actors were most likely interacting with elements right there in the shot with them at the time of filming. I often hold this outlook and you might, too, at least a little after seeing these films.  Both, by the way, are hard R-rated movies, given that rating for graphic violence and gore, as well as language. So, no, don't worry that these are quaint old horror movies.  They both still have bite.

And skill, too.  They both have skill.  Because if you are actually building a scary creature and filming it, that creature- and the things it does- better look good. Because a plastic and rubber monster will look like exactly that if your special effects people aren't top notch. And I guarantee that the best special effects artists and technicians were used in both of these movies.

Both Alien and The Thing shouldn't be too hard to find among all the available streaming services out there these days. Have fun hunting for them and have a fun Halloween!

Booze and pills and bullets, oh my

Reed Farrel Coleman has been doing a nice job continuing the adventures of the late Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone character, and the newest Stone book, Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill, keeps that track record going.  This time out, Jesse, the police chief of the seaside resort town of Paradise, Massachusetts, has to confront murder and violence stemming from the opioid crisis, while at the same time getting acquainted with the grown son Jesse has only recently discovered existed. Oh, and the chief is also seriously confronting his drinking problem for the first time. And while juggling all this Jesse enters into a new romantic relationship.  It's a busy book.

With all this going on, though, the book never feels crowded or overstuffed, just pleasantly moves along in a breezy, involving fashion with everything getting the right amount of attention.  The alcoholism plotline is particularly interesting, as it veers off from what Robert Parker would have probably done.  Parker seemed to believe that a person's weaknesses and demons had to be managed and co-existed with, rather than eliminated.  Under Parker's watch, Jesse never gave up his problem drinking or his obsession with his ex-wife Jenn, only got enough help to keep those things enough under control so that he could do his job and live his life.  That approach provided a lot of complex, involving reading over the years, but I'm also enjoying Coleman's more blunt method: in recent books, Jesse has given up his preoccupation with Jenn and has made a kind of productive peace with her, and, in The Bitterest Pill, Jesse goes the full AA route after some tentative steps in the previous novel.  And it's all very interesting, and no less complex than Parker's approach.

The crime story this time is good, too.  The tragedy of kids and adults getting hooked on opioids is well presented here, with all details ringing true from what we readers unfortunately all know from our own associations with those confronting the same problems. And while Coleman is realistic about the prospects of Chief Stone making serious headway in his war against these particularly nasty and seductive drugs, he also gives us a handful of fairly nasty criminals at the top of the drug chain that Jesse might have at least some success against.

Some villains have to be defeated in these books, after all.

"Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill", by Reed Farrel Coleman, is currently available in hardback, Kindle, and audio editions.

Makes sense

Just seen on a local restaurant's outdoor message board:

Time flies like an arrow.

Fruit flies like a banana.

Mini-reviews

I recently caught two movies that went a bit beyond the usual summer blockbuster fare.  Both made the viewer work a little.  The less successful of the two at being "entertaining" was Ari Aster's Midsommar, a horror movie about a group of American college kids visiting a remote cult-like group in Sweden to study its rituals.  Also strong with "artistic leanings" was Quentin Tarantino's latest, Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood, but Tarantino being Tarantino, this one also never strayed far from being fun to watch.

Midsommar was a little long and dull for my tastes, at least while I was watching it.  Later, though, I found myself mulling over its haunting imagery and complex ideas.  Though the Tarantino film also felt a little long to me, it did a better job being both entertaining while I was watching it and entertaining in my head later.  Though I'm open to the value of both types of "complex" films, I prefer those in the latter group. Alfred Hitchcock also made movies that fit in that group: supremely entertaining as suspense thrillers, but loaded with all kinds of thematic material under the surface if you cared to look for it.

So, both of these films are worth seeing if you are in the mood for something more challenging at the movies this summer. But maybe lean more toward the Tarantino if you still want a fun night out.

Signage silliness

Funny sayings on businesses' outside message boards always make my drive time a little more amusing.  How about you?  Here are a couple bits of cleverness I recently spotted outside local restaurants:

Just say no to negativity!

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What did the pig say on a very hot day?

I'm bacon.

*     *     *

Well, I thought these were cute, anyway.

Listen up

Enjoy audiobooks? I do, and get them mainly from Audible.com.  The company is running a nice deal now.  If you subscribe to any of their plans (I'm on their one audio per month plan for $14.95), they will throw in two free additional audios from its self-produced Audible Originals line.  So I'm now getting three audio downloads a month for my $14.95 instead of one.

By the way, the way the system works is that every month Audible charges my credit card the $14.95 fee and gives me a "credit" that I can use to purchase any audiobook.  If you don't participate in a credit plan with Audible and just want to buy an occasional audio, they usually cost a good bit more than $14.95. The plan also substantially discounts any additional audios you might purchase beyond the one you get with your monthly credit.

I think it's a pretty good deal for a frequent listener like me, though I still often think of Audible as a bit of a luxury.  But now with the two free audios thing, the $14.95 I give the company every month has a bit more value added to it.

Anyway, the Audible Audio Originals titles I've selected have been pretty interesting so far, with some of my choices being quite off the beaten track of my usual mystery/thriller preference.  I figure, they're free so why not try something different?  So far I've listened a very good Johnny Cash audio about the making of his famous Folsom Prison live album; several comic dramas about relationships and finding love (in modest doses I enjoy the breezy banter this genre usually offers); and some richly-produced full-cast adaptations of all manner of things, including an original story featuring Ripley from the Alien movie franchise (though I prefer a single reader performing an audiobook, a full-cast production with sound effects and music is another thing I can enjoy in modest doses).

Right now I'm listening to The Wild Heart of Stevie Nicks, a short (just under three hours) biographical piece about singer Stevie Nicks and her adventures recording with Fleetwood Mac and on her own, written and nicely narrated by music historian Steve Sheffield.  Fun stuff.  And something I probably wouldn't have chosen and experienced if I had to pay for it.

So, if you enjoy audiobooks and have occasionally thought about trying out Audible.com, now might be the time.  I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of my Audible membership these days, and you might find the same enjoyment, too.

Not hard to enjoy

I'll have more to say about these books later, but for now I'll just share a quick tip: I'm really enjoying the recently back in print (thanks to Brash Books) Hardman series by Ralph Dennis.  Originally marketed in a cheap fashion to the men's adventure market in the 70's (via gaudy paperbacks for drugstore spinner racks, newsstands, and so forth), this series nevertheless eventually gained a reputation for quality storytelling and decent characters among genre devotees.

The main character is sort-of P.I. (and ex-cop) Jim Hardman and his co-lead (and extra muscle) is ex-NFL player Hump Evans.  Hardman and Evans sort of remind me of Robert Parker's Spenser and Hawk, before Spenser and Hawk started to talk about art and literature a lot. But they only sort of remind me of those more famous characters; Hardman and Hump definitely cut their own swath in their own style through the Atlanta underworld.

I'm now on the fourth book in the newly re-issued (and with nicer covers) series, and still thoroughly enjoying the ride.  While never straying far from the action/thriller/P.I. genre, we are nevertheless treated to sharp writing, sensitive and intelligent observations about the issues that cross Hardman's and Hump's paths, and plots that are more clever and imaginative than author Ralph Dennis probably needed to make them to collect his checks.

The series is about a dozen entries long and most of the tiles are currently available on Amazon, with the Kindle editions being a particular good deal.  Check out the first book in the series, Atlanta Deathwatch, and see if you agree with me that this previously lost-for-decades series is a real discovery, and definite treat, for modern-day thriller fans.

Small, graceful, glorious

I've been reading and listening to a number of books lately (as usual) and most have been pretty entertaining.  But before I get to them, I thought I'd quickly mention a pretty good movie that I saw today: Gloria Bell.  Starring the always very good Julianne Moore, the film is basically a fun, interesting character study of a divorced late middle-aged woman making her way in the world.

The movie is actually an English-language remake of the 2013 Chilean film Gloria, with director Sebastian Lelio remaking his own film with American actors.  In any event, what I liked about the movie is that it's an easygoing, breezy look at the life of a modern American woman, nothing more and nothing less.  There is no big plot, no major challenges, no big tragedies, or anything like that, yet the movie is always engrossing and very entertaining. There is drama and some sadness, but also lightness and fun.  Oh, there's also a funny cat, perhaps the movie's one concession to commercialism.  But maybe not, as the cat's presence and circumstances seem to carry some thematic weight, even as he makes us chuckle (and Gloria roll her eyes).

Well, that's it. I just wanted to briefly mention the movie, in case such a gentle, understated film with many graceful flourishes might appeal to you, too.  I had read enough about the movie beforehand that I had an idea that the movie would have those qualities, and I wasn't disappointed.

Gloria Bell is currently in theaters.

We interrupt this program...

I have a few reviews in progress that I look forward to posting shortly, but until then, please enjoy these little bits of book-themed silliness...

Why did the Romanian stop reading for the night?

To give his Bucharest.

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Never judge a book by its movie.

J.W. Eagan

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Hear the one about the guy who was immersed in a book about anti-gravity?  It was so good he couldn't put it down.

*     *     *

Why don't they let accountants into the library?

They're bookkeepers.

*     *     *

Why was the book so good at using Tinder?

It had a great opening line.

*     *     *

Okay, I think we've reached our silliness limit.  Check back in a little while for some actual meaty content.

Crossing the streams

Streaming is the new thing. I mean, it's not even new anymore, right? But I don't think it's going anywhere soon. Blockbuster disappeared, DVDs are only kinda/sorta still around (though Blu-Ray DVDs still seem to have a stubborn foothold), but I think streaming isn't going anywhere for the next decade or so. What could possibly replace it anytime soon: TV shows and movies being directly wired into your brain?

Anyway, here are a few things I've enjoyed via streaming in recent weeks:

Ozark (Seasons one and two available on Netflix)

A pretty typical American family is forced to move to a lake resort in the Midwest and launder money for the (very violent in this case) mob. The show is sort of a metaphor for the American Dream, only here mom and dad have to do more than get that office promotion so the family can move ahead.  You'll plow through the two current seasons and count the days to the third.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Seasons one and two available on Amazon Prime)

Informed by the trials and tribulations of female comedians trying to break into the business in the late 50's and early 60's, this cool, funny comedic drama (set in the early 60's) follows the smart and fetching Midge Maisel as she attempts to start a career in stand-up comedy. Of course, her good looks are an initial hindrance (the thinking being that you can be cute or funny but not both), as are her quirky, skeptical parents and husband. But she nevertheless starts moving ahead.  Great period production values are an added plus.

The Punisher (Seasons one and two available on Netflix)

Frank Castle is ex-military, yet still finds himself caught up in capers and plots featuring the CIA and other shadowy government agencies on the fringes.  The character premiered in the second season of Daredevil (also on Netflix) but very much has come into his own during the two current seasons of his own show.  Think Jason Bourne only with a tougher, more violent feel.

More suggestions on what you might like watching coming shortly.