The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin Enterprise engineer Trip Tucker embarks on a career  of espionage in an effort to forestall the Romulan threat while Captain Jonathan Archer and crew attempt to rescue a group of Andorian telepaths who are pivotal to Romulan war plans.  Meanwhile, the Coalition of Planets gets off to a shaky start.  I was a fan of “Enterprise.”   "What Good People Do" (German) Even when the stories were underwhelming, I was won over by the cast and the setting of a pre-Federation universe.  I was saddened by its cancellation, especially in light of the fact that it had finally begun to reach its full potential in its final season.  Although I’m late to the party, I’m happy to see the story continued in novelized form.   Andy Mangels This book has its moments, but it never really took off.  Authors Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels seem to think that the emotional moments in the story are strengthened by writing paragraphs of internal perspective instead

by Lisa McMann Janie has the unfortunate knack of getting pulled into  other people’s dreams. Involuntarily. Over and over. She suffers. But. She finds love. "In Sleep" (Thai) Despite being a pretty short novel with many choppy sentences and paragraphs like the ones above, “Wake” comes off feeling very padded. "Sounds" (Spanish)  For me, it fails on every level.   "Dream" (Polish) Its worst sin is just being dull.   "Awakening" (Turkish) Lisa McMann seems to have decided where her story needs to go and just plodded there without much flair.   Lisa McMann If you’re going to write about people’s dreams, you better be ready and able to call upon a vivid imagination to present some very surreal shit, but McMann doesn't accomplish this.   "Awakening" (Chinese) Her sex fantasies read like something written by an adolescent boy rather than an adult woman.   "Awakening" (Slovak) I don’t recall one genuine surprise that didn’t feel

by Michael Reaves This one really drags.  The characters are all stereotypes through a milieu  of Los Angeles street life that reads as if it were lifted straight from movies about Los Angeles street life.  All of this could be forgiven if it moved quickly and was done with style.  However, there was too much uninteresting characterization and hardly any action at all.

by Sam Merwin, Jr. This tale of a man outwitting computers is pretty dull  stuff and author Sam Merwin is not nearly as clever as he seems to think he is.   Sam Merwin, Jr. It reads like kin to one of those episodes of the original Star Trek where Kirk gets a computer to blow itself up by confusing it, only not as entertaining.  I’ll give it one thing: it doesn’t fall prey to the naive infatuation with infallible computers that plagued much Golden Age SF.

Director: Paul Flaherty Writers: William Porter & Steven Kampmann Stars: Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, Dabney Coleman, Richard Kind, Jennifer Savidge A monstrously self-centered little shit (Martin Short)  will do anything, say anything, and destroy anyone in order to fulfill his dream of visiting Dinosaur World, a rickety old amusement park.   This is a bizarre movie that was almost unanimously panned by critics.   I’m on the fence about whether the casting of Short as a little boy was a brilliant move or just a weird choice. (I guess it could be both.)   However, it is certainly the most memorable thing about a movie that I like more than I should.

Director: Phillip Noyce Writers: Christine Olsen, from a book by Doris Pilkington Stars:  Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan, Kenneth Branagh, David Gulpilil, Ningali Lawford Based on a true story, this film tells the tale of Gracie,  Daisy, and Molly (Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan), three half-white, half-Aborigine children who, in accordance with official Australian policy, were kidnapped from their home and sent to a boarding school to train for life as domestics so that they could enter the white world, thereby "rescuing" them from a supposedly inferior indigenous world.  Unwilling to endure the separation from their loved ones, the girls dedicate themselves to escaping back to their home.  The three untrained child actors deliver stunning, authentic performances.  Kenneth Branagh's performance as policy director A.O. Neville is chilling because he honestly seems to care about what happens to the children of the Stolen Generations, as they

by Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum's second case involves missing coffins  and stolen military weapons.   Author Janet Evanovich writes a light, breezy novel with endearing characters, but as a mystery, it doesn't satisfy.   Janet Evanovich Whenever Stephanie needs a piece of information, it is offered up by one of her many well-placed friends, be it Mancuso the cop, Ranger the tough bounty hunter, a friend at the DMV--you get the idea.   "Twice Is Once Too Much" (German) She doesn't seem to figure much out on her own.  However, since Evanovich's plot is really just a showcase for her characters, it is still an enjoyable and quick read. "Others for a Penny" (Bulgarian)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Writer: Guillermo Arriaga Stars: Goya Toledo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Emilio Echevarria, Alvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas Three stories play out at various levels of Mexican society: a supermodel (Goya Toledo) faces the consequences of a devastating accident, a young man (Gael Garcia Bernal) becomes involved in the world of dogfighting to finance a dream, and a homeless man (Emilio Echevarria) turns out to be more—and less—than the wretch he seems to be.   This was director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s first film. With his screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, he has made a complex hyperlinked narrative whose characters live in different strata of society but whose lives are connected through a number of commonalities: a terrible accident, the human weakness of betrayal, and the presence of that most loyal of companions, the dog. The human characters in these stories are put through the wringer, and their canine companions are not spared the c