The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

Director: William Friedkin Writers: Ernest Tidyman, based on the book by Robin Moore Stars: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frederic de Pasquale, Bill Hickman, Ann Rebbot A hard-boiled New York cop (Gene Hackman) becomes  obsessed with taking down a European drug kingpin (Fernando Rey) when he stumbles across a scheme to smuggle $32 million of heroin into the city.   Popeye Doyle appears to have no life outside of his job, which he throws himself into with aggression, rage, and a single-minded obsession.  We get a glimpse of where some of this rage may come from as Doyle and his partner (a terrific Roy Scheider) tail criminal figures in the scheme, watching the more powerful enjoy the spoils of their ill-gotten wealth; in a particularly telling scene, Popeye huddles in a cold doorway watching through the window of a ritzy restaurant as his targets enjoy a fine meal.  This film is as much a character study of Doyle’s mental c...

  Marvel Events and Crossovers Project Taking a broad historical overview of the Marvel Universe by reading through the major events and crossover events in order. (Thanks to The Marvel Event Timeline at https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/ and Marvel Unlimited) Story, Pencils, Coloring: Jim Starlin Inks: Al Milgrom  Captain Marvel has been spirited away to a far distant solar system to be confronted by Eon, He Who Waits. He has been told that Mar-Vell the warrior must die so that the Universe may live. Thus begins an issue-long deep dive into classic Marvel psychedelic cosmic head trip that one can easily imagine lying on the table between the bong and a sheet of acid tabs in a 70s college dorm room. Starlin spins the tale of an eternal cycle in which god-like beings alternate between periods of war... ...and peace. Beings of even greater power have been spawned out of this history, and they have none decreed that the Universe needs a protector to balanc...