The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

by Miyuki Miyabe A man and his young mistress are murdered in separate incidents, and the police investigation finds that the man was also part of an Internet group in which strangers took on the roles of the members of a nuclear family—father, mother, son, and daughter.  "Blood on the Web" (French) This novel deals with the false promise of the Internet, which seems to offer a retreat into fantasy as an antidote to the difficulties of real life without accounting for the fact that we are active agents and participants in those difficulties and therefore bring them with us into new surroundings.  "RPG" (Chinese) Although their online behavior seems like idealized familial interactions, things become more complicated when they are assembled in the same interrogation room by the police. "Virtual Family Play" (Korean)  This is where nearly all the action of the novel takes place.  "Shadow Family" (Danish) Author Miyuki Miyabe does not seem very inte

Writer/Director: Frances Ford Coppola Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Mac Rae, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford A reclusive surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) fears that his current assignment may involve setting two young lovers (Frederick Forrest and Cindy Williams) up to be murdered.   This is one of Francis Ford Coppola’s 70s masterpieces that established him as one of our most important directors.   It is a thriller for people with an attention span, something all too rare in today’s smash-cut style of cinema.  Coppola establishes a quiet atmosphere of dread and slowly mounting tension while presenting the compelling character study of a man who makes his living by invading the privacy of others but is so terrified of being seen that he has nearly isolated himself from the rest of the human race.  He allows a woman he loves (Terri Garr) to slip away because he cannot bring himself to share even the most superfi