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Showing posts from June, 2020

The Best American Short Stories 1988

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The Best American Short Stories 1988 edited by Mark Helprin series editor: Shannon Ravenel I can't agree with guest editor Mark Helprin on all of his choices in this edition of the venerable anthology series (such as Robert Lacy's "The Natural Father"), but there is certainly some excellent reading here.  Mark Helprin For my money, the highlights are "Entrechat," by Edith Milton and "The Water-Faucet Vision," by Gish Jen. Gish Jen

Different Seasons (1982)

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Different Seasons (1982) by Stephen King This is a fine collection of four novellas from Stephen King.  Stephen King The best, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body," have both been adapted as films that can justifiably be regarded as modern classics ("The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand by Me," respectively).  These two stories are also early examples of King stepping outside the genre boundaries within which he had become such a literary megastar.  Stephen King promoting Creepshow on The David Letterman Show Of the remaining stories, "Apt Pupil" is also a good tale and much more in line with King's usual frightening fare.  "The Breathing Method" is an odd duck, an interesting misfire.  The meat of the story makes for a suitably creepy episode, and the framing story, which features a group of old men who tell each other scary stories in an otherworldly mansion, whetted my appetite for more information ab

The Mask of Dimitrios (Charles Latimer #1) (1939)

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The Mask of Dimitrios (Charles Latimer #1) (1939) by Eric Ambler A writer of detective fiction becomes fascinated by the sketchy details surrounding the life of a real criminal and decides to learn the truth for himself as a professional, intellectual exercise.  He will learn far more than he bargained for.  Though it builds slowly, lacking a real sense of danger for much of its length, Eric Ambler's fine writing and deft character work held my interest, as did his abilities as a guide through Europe on the eve of World War II. Eric Ambler

Conan (Conan the Barbarian #1)(1968)

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Conan (Conan the Barbarian #1) (1968) by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter Robert E. Howard's famous barbarian hero journeys among the nations of the Hyborian Age in this anthology of stories, seeking his fortune and reveling in bloody adventure.  I devoured several of these anthologies back when I was in junior high school and was pleasantly surprised to see how well they hold up now.  Howard's prose is muscular and direct, his characters brutal and equally direct, as befits the world in which they live.  Robert E. Howard I was surprised that Conan is actually a secondary character in some of the original stories, such as "The God in the Bowl," a Sherlockian tale with the Cimmerian as one of the suspects.  Although all of the tales written by Howard, either whole or in part, are strong, the pastiches produced by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp are weak.  Lin Carter The lengthy "City of Skulls" is particularly egregious for its careless

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

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The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Director: Henry Selick   Writers: Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, dissatisfied with his lot in life, decides to take over Christmas in order to bring shrieks of joy rather than terror to the people of the world.  He enlists the twisted denizens of his domain in his cause and it is rather touching to see their inadequate but sincere attempts to understand what brings delight to ordinary people.  As part of the plan, Santa is kidnapped, and the evil Oogie Boogie takes advantage of the situation to attempt a take-over of Halloweentown for himself. This is a very amusing story told through the art of stop-motion animation.  The visuals are eye-popping, and I am glad that artists like director Henry Selick are keeping the form alive in the face of the onslaught of computer an

A Dead Man in Deptford (1993)

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A Dead Man in Deptford (1993) by Anthony Burgess Anthony Burgess is a masterful novelist whose playful sense of linguistics informs this wonderful novel that speculates about the life and death of Shakespeare's contemporary, the playwright Christopher Marlowe.  Christopher Marlowe Burgess has steeped himself in the history and language of Elizabethan times, and the result is a completely successful evocation of that era in all its beauty and horror, with its philosophic adventurers bravely seeking truth and its dogmatic religious authorities plunging nations into war.  Anthony Burgess Intellectually challenging and emotionally moving, this is one of the finest novels I have read in quite a while.

A Simple Plan (1998)

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A Simple Plan (1998) Director: Sam Raimi Writer: Scott B. Smith, based on his novel Stars: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh, Chelcie Ross, Becky Ann Baker, Gary Cole Three average guys (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brent Briscoe) discover a crashed plane with more than $4 million dollars on board.  Suspecting that it is drug money, they decide to wait until spring and then divide it up if the authorities have not come looking for it.  The consequences of that decision will cost them far more than they can imagine. This terrific film blends a suspenseful story with a perceptive study of unfulfilled people who suddenly see a path out of their lives of uncertainty and insecurity.  It provides a glimpse of the evil deeds that can be performed by otherwise good people out of simple desperation.  Every performance is solid, but Thornton really shines here in a role that resembles a less extreme version of his character in Sling Blade.

Please Give (2010)

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Please Give (2010) Director/Writer: Nicole Holofcener Stars: Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Elizabeth Keener, Elise Ivy, Josh Pais, Sarah Steele, Ann Morgan Guilbert Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) are a comfortable New York couple who make their living selling used furniture that they pick up at estate sales.  Kate is guilt-stricken about what she sees as the predatory nature of her business and the fact that they are waiting for their elderly neighbor Andra (Ann Guilbert) to die so they can take possession of her apartment and enlarge their own.  They have a surly, unhappy teenage daughter with skin issues (Sarah Steele).  Andra, a selfish and unkind old lady, is cared for by two granddaughters; Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is dutiful and forgiving, always the peacemaker, while Mary (Amanda Peet) is self-involved and resentful. Director Nicole Holofcener's fine film shows how these characters interact with each other, showing that the closely observed det

H (2002)

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H (2002) Director: Lee Jong-hyeok Writers: Alex Kim, Oh Seung-uk, Lee Jong-hyeok Stars: Yum Jung-ah, Ji Jin-hee, Sung Ji-ru, Kim Sun-Kyung, Cho Seung-woo A pair of emotionally damaged police detectives (Yum Jung-ah and Ji Jin-hee) investigate a series of gruesome killings that emulate the murders of a serial killer (Cho Seung-woo) who was imprisoned ten months earlier.  They suspect that he has an accomplice on the outside.  In a sense, they are correct.  The truth provides a nice twist that would have had more impact if it had not been imbedded in a plot that has so many lapses in logic.  Unprofessional behavior makes it difficult to take these cops seriously.  They seem to make some pretty big intuitive leaps and there are plot elements that don't connect very well to the main story, although both of these could be the fault of poor subtitling.  The final moments of the film are intended to shock, but they require one character to behave in a way that contradicts what we have see