Scream and scream again

Maybe it still feels like a novelty to enjoy movies at the theater again, but I enjoyed the new Scream.  They dropped the numbers after the title, but it's still the same Scream characters from the other films, though a handful of new ones are along for the ride, too. Some of the reviews haven't been kind, using words like "retread" and "nothing new here" but, I don't know, one person's dull repetitiveness is another person's comfortable familiarity.

So, yeah, I went in expecting the usual tropes of this series: Pretty people, sharp and quick pacing, decent suspense with bursts of graphic violence, and a serviceable whodunit. And I got all that. If I can think of one criticism, the movie went a little heavy on the "rules of horror movies" discussions, but then all the movies in this series give you a little more of that than you need.

Anyway, it was fun to see this in a theater with other people, as scenes with knife-wielding maniacs always are more fun in a crowd. And in a couple of years, sure, I'll be ready to sit through another Scream movie. Because, while I'm certainly not against new elements and some updating, I'm also perfectly fine with having a pretty good idea of knowing exactly what I'm gonna get.

Best Wishes

Just some quick end of year greetings from the not-very-busy but still-not-quite-dead Kindle Taproom and its cheerful creator. I think I did some decent posts in 2021, meaning I hope they were entertaining and useful, but I can still stand to do a lot more than one or two posts a month. And, of course, that will be my New Year's resolution for 2022. I was up a bit in 2021 versus the number of posts in 2020, but I can do better!

But for now, have a Happy New Year's Eve, and tomorrow consider yourself wished a Happy New Year! See you all, and hopefully more often, in 2022!

Ticker Tape Tips

Some quick thoughts and tips from the mind of your humble host... The newest James Bond film, No Time To Die, is a fine entertainment that provides both richness and thrills, and very intentional echoes of Bond's finer, past adventures... Marvel's Eternals also takes a richer, more nuanced approach than past MCU films and I think most viewers will find that at least somewhat interesting... In Robert B. Parker's Stone's Throw, Mike Lupica has once again shown that he is perfectly at home with Robert Parker's characters, as police chief Jesse Stone tries to solve the murder of his town's mayor, and figure out why a proposed land deal is causing other deaths, too... Stuart Woods' third Stone Barrington novel, Dead in the Water, opens up the series (which I've just discovered) in fresh new ways- starting with its tropical locale- and was probably a reason that the series is still going strong today, more than twenty-five years after it started... The Hulu mini-series Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin and Martin Short, is a terrific light whodunit, set in an elegant Manhattan apartment building. No one actually lives like these people, but that's, well, actually part of the fun... And is anyone watching Seinfeld, yet again, now that it has returned to Netflix? Sigh, I am, and it's still just as much fun as always... end of ticker tape. More to come, but probably via more traditional multi-paragraph structure.

Finally meeting Stone Barrington

I've seen Stuart Woods' books around for years, as he is very prolific, but I never read him. But a new friend I met at a bar I go to, who has a passion for mysteries and thrillers like me, said I really ought to try the Stone Barrington series written by Mr. Woods. He said this after I mentioned that I always enjoyed thrillers that feature a central hero or protagonist that is excellent at his or her job yet often flawed and stumbling in their personal life. I just enjoy the contrast.

Well, I sought out the first book in this very long-running series, New York Dead from the early 1990's, and I really enjoyed it. The story reminded me a lot of what Lawrence Sanders used to do: write about sophisticated and polished businesses, fancy restaurants, the good life overall, but all laced with family secrets, dark crimes with weird motivations, and sex, lots of sex. All that is here in this tale of a beautiful network anchorwoman who either jumped or was pushed from her 12th story balcony, miraculously survived, but then disappeared from her ambulance as it was taking her to the hospital. Yes, the plot is original and ambitious.

And without saying too much, this first Stone Barrington book features a kind of origin story of our hero.  Barrington starts out as the police detective investigating the above crime, but then circumstances change for him and he ends up getting another job, all the while still investigating the crime. And Barrington's personal flaws and struggles? They're still being revealed in this first book, but as I'm now almost through with the second book in the series, Dirt, it looks like Stone's issues will be women-oriented. He likes, respects, and enjoys the company of women, but maybe can't commit to just one of them. He's also a bit contained and inward-looking, which sometimes annoys the women he's with because he's often not paying enough attention to them.  Also, talented though he is, Barrington is not perfect and makes mistakes in the course of his work. He can begin to doubt his own abilities when that happens, though so far he ultimately dusts himself off and resumes his work with renewed tenacity.

Anyway, New York Dead was really good, and the second book, Dirt, is also quite immersive and entertaining thus far, too. And, wow, if I continue on with the series after those, there are something like forty more entries to go. And Mr. Woods is still writing new Stone Barrington books even today, almost thirty years after initiating the series. I better get reading.

Breaking the wall of silence

Wall of Silence has been on my Kindle for a while (I think I idly picked it up as some kind of promotional freebie), but I finally got to it recently and I was wowed by its power. Tracy Buchanan created a dark, moody thriller that nevertheless moves quickly (despite its secrets being doled out in deliberately small, infrequent doses) yet is not without humor, just when it's needed to lighten the darkness.

Melissa Byatt returns home from a walk in her small and lovely English village to find her husband Patrick on the floor of their kitchen, felled by both a stab wound in his side and a head wound. A bloody knife is on the floor beside him. At least it is for a while until the knife disappears. Patrick is still alive but is soon put into a medically-induced coma to aid his recovery, so he can't immediately say what happened to him.  The book's title refers to the wall of silence Melissa experiences from her own children, a set of older twins and their younger sister, as it soon becomes clear they know at least something about what happened to their father but don't want to talk about it.

The effective moodiness of the book comes from the many dark secrets we slowly learn about the immediate Byatt family, their extended family, and many of the other residents of their village. It also comes from the dark, primeval forest on the edge of the village, where all sorts of darkly dramatic things have happened over the years and continue to happen. And the humor I mentioned never overtakes the book, just appearing from time to time when we need it. It mostly (almost entirely) comes in the form of the village's chatty Facebook group, where the village's residents just say what they want in typical gossipy fashion, not caring how increasingly outrageous their comments become.

Anyway, I don't want to say much more, just that this is an immersive little book with a good central mystery revolving around family secrets and prejudices, all of which feel like the real types of family issues we've all either witnessed or experienced, though hopefully without the violence on display here. But of course this wouldn't be a crime thriller without the violence and dark doings, right? And this is quite a good little crime thriller. I'll be on the look-out for more of Ms. Buchanan's works.

Cops and crooks and crime, oh my

I read a lot of detective and crime thrillers, so I guess it makes sense that I also often enjoy that type of thing when sitting in front of the television. And I also tend to enjoy shows more than movies, because they feel more like a book, with the way most shows these days tell one big story stretched over a ten-or-so-episode arc. All the dramas on the various streaming services have really embraced that type of narrative, so I feel sorry for those who miss the old getting-a-new-and-complete-story-every-episode way of doing things (I sometimes do, but not often).

In any event, Amazon Prime has a lot of good crime dramas of this type that you might find worth your time. Recently, I watched all three seasons of Goliath (the fourth season is dropping any day now, if it hasn't already), which stars Billy Bob Thorton as a defense attorney- supremely flawed personally and mostly brilliant in court- going against a huge, powerful, and connected lawn firm, which is probably where the title of the show comes from. Yes, you've seen this type of thing before but it's done well here. Quirky and interesting characters abound, most not all good or all bad, and Billy has a nice relationship with his teen daughter, who looks after him. Cynical crime-related legal shows need a little warmth, after all.

Bosch just included its seven-season run on Amazon Prime, and latecomer me lapped up all 68 or so episodes in, well, about 68 days (my idea of binging a show I really like is doling out one episode per night, so I watch it fast but not that fast, so it'll last a bit). Again, you've seen all this before... colorful cops with their various quirks, lots of station-house politics that often impede the real job at hand, dangerous criminals, and a central protagonist who isn't the easiest to deal with or the best at following orders, yet gets the job done. But, like Goliath, it does all its familiar tropes well. Oh, and Harry Bosch also has a devoted teen daughter to lend a little warmth to the proceedings.

Finally, I just completed the first of the two available seasons of Tin Star. Good show so far, though saying it's a show one likes might not be quite right. It's more like it draws you in despite your often wanting to look away. If Tin Star were a lurid paperback on one of those old drug store spinner racks, the promo copy on the book might be something like: "He took a nice job in a nice town, but Jim Worth is a cop with a secret... a secret that will spell doom for him and his family!" The show really embraces its gritty pulp/noir vibe, and Tim Roth really bites into his character, a nice guy (but not too nice) on the outside, with a darker side that slowly starts bubbling upward, especially when revenge becomes a factor. This one has a supportive daughter character, too... at least she's supportive at first. Remember, it's a dark show. But it's very involving and I'm looking forward to starting season two.

That's it for TV suggestions for now. I might actually get back to discussing a book or two next time!

 

Take it away...

For your brief amusement, here's what some writers say about books. And they should know, right?

Definition of a classic: a book which people praise but don't read.

Mark Twain.

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Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.

Jane Smiley

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If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book.

J.K. Rowling

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One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1000 years. To read is to voyage through time.

Carl Sagan

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Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

Neil Gaiman