The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

Coco (2017) Directors: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina Writers: screenplay by Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich; original story by Lee Unkrich, Jason Katz, Matthew Aldrich, Adrian Molina Stars: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor, Jaime Camil, Alfonso Arau Although Miguel is raised in a loving family that has rejected music ever since his great-great grandmother was abandoned by her musician husband, he longs to be a musician himself and idolizes the late, great Ernesto de la Cruz.  An attempt to borrow de la Cruz’s iconic guitar for a talent show results in an adventure in the Land of the Dead that will lead to astonishing revelations and moving lessons.  This wonderful movie has so much to offer.  I am in no position to judge its cultural authenticity, but from what I read it appears to be a success in that regard.  This is the ideal time for a film that provides such a rich appreciation of Mexican culture, a time...

The Green Mile (1996) by Stephen King Paul Edgecomb and his fellow prison guards are profoundly changed when John Coffey, a hulking inmate charged with the murders of two little girls, takes up residence on the Death Row wing where they work and astonishes them all with his extraordinary abilities.   Stephen King has written a powerful novel about decent people coping with the pain and existential terror of mortality.  Stephen King Paul may be the most likable first-person narrator I have ever encountered in a work of fiction, and his basic goodness is appreciated as a filter for the very bleak view of existence presented here.  He and his little band counter both the horror they see all around them and the implacability of death with simple kindness.  The rambling, expansive style of storytelling King employs presents a fully realized world within a richly detailed Depression-era setting.  Highly recommended.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) Director: John S. Robertson Writers: Clara Beranger, from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson Stars: John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Martha Mansfield, Charles Lane, Cecil Clovelly, Nita Naldi, Louis Wolheim An early silent film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale about the duality of man, as an idealistic young doctor (John Barrymore) attempts to give free rein to his baser nature without tarnishing his soul by developing a serum that will embody his id in a separate being.   Barrymore gives an extraordinary performance.   His transformation into Mr. Hyde is accomplished largely without any special effects, and the result is a truly loathsome character.   This is not the powerful brute that Edward Hyde is portrayed as in so many other adaptations, but a slimy character that inspires disgust in all who see him.   As such, he is truer to the film’s subtext as a metaphor for drug and alcohol addiction.   The stor...

Director: Jonathan Glazer Writers: Louis Mellis, David Scinto Stars: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, James Fox, Cavan Kendall, Julianne White A retired ex-patriate gangster (Ray Winstone), living in Spain, is reluctantly pulled back to his native England to do One More Job.  The one doing the pulling is an absolutely ferocious Ben Kingsley, delivering a startling performance that appears to have taken everyone by surprise.  It's a pity that his memorable Don Logan doesn't appear in a movie that is worthy of him.   Much of the first part of the film consists of Logan bullying Gal Dove, his wife (Amanda Redman), and friends (Cavan Kendall and Julianne White) in order to get Gal to agree to do the job.  Don disappears from the film, with no particular consequences for anyone.  The heist goes off in peremptory fashion, hardly seeming to be worth all of the build-up.  All through the film, I felt that director Jonathan Glazer and screenwr...

The First Men in the Moon (1901) by H.G. Wells A British scientist and his neighbor travel to the Moon, where they run afoul of the local Selenites and find themselves on the run for their lives.  H.G. Wells does an exceptional job of extrapolation on the science of his day.  H.G. Wells The lunar ecology is fascinating and poetic: each sundown all the plant life dies and the air falls to the ground like snow.  Wells betrays his interest in class once again: the Selenites have a society based on that of social insects, with each member possessing specializations necessary to its function, an idea that was no doubt fresher then than it is now.   The first part of this novel is a rousing adventure, as Wells makes imaginative use of the fact that the Earthlings are virtual supermen in the 1/6 gravity of the Moon.  No doubt this novel was greatly influential to later adventure writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs.  The second part is more thoughtful and subtle, ...

Super Size Me (2004) Director/Writer: Morgan Spurlock Independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald’s meals every day three times a day, “supersizing” when given the opportunity, and got fat.   No real surprise there.   The only real entertainment value is in watching Spurlock abuse his body, which turns out to be not very entertaining.   I recommend watching the restaurant scene from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life instead.   It’s shorter, funnier, more satisfying, and conveys basically the same message.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1)(1995) by J.K. Rowling Raised in the mundane everyday world by an aunt and uncle who detest him, young Harry Potter's eyes are opened to a universe of magic when he learns that he is actually the child of famous wizards and the sole survivor of an attack by Voldemort, a being so evil that other magical folk hesitate even to use his name.  Thus, JK Rowling begins an entertaining saga that became a publishing phenomenon.  JK Rowling Like so many others, I have also been enthralled by Harry and his world.  I like the meticulous way that Rowling constructs a world that coexists with everyday reality, complete with its own sports, economy, and political organizations.  She peoples it with colorful, memorable characters, all of it anchored by the tight friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Rowling develops her story over the next six books.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years #1) (1995) by Gregory Maguire Gregory Maguire’s novel fleshes out the character of the Wicked Witch of the East from L. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz,” revealing her as a tragic figure in the true sense of the term, a character whose unfortunate fate is not simply imposed on her by events but is a natural, even inevitable, outcome of her own personality and character flaws.  Gregory Maguire It is a beautifully written portrait of Oz as a fully realized fantasy setting with its own geography, history, politics, and mysteries.  This is not a happy story, but it is a very wise one.  I was especially impressed by the way Maguire depicted how the vitality and fire of youth is tamed, diminished, and compromised by age.