The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

by William Golding A man disfigured as a boy in the fires of WWII London  and a beautiful young woman represent polar opposites of the spiritual spectrum, the first a literal-minded social outcast who believes himself to be in communion with holy spirits and undergoes great sacrifice in order to do their bidding and the second a believer in chaotic chance who exploits herself and others in order to satisfy her need for autonomy.   William Golding is on a serious mission here.   William Golding He is concerned with questions of judgment, morality, community, and spirituality, but he denies the possibility of easy answers.   The result is a dense novel, generally difficult, sometimes entertaining, written in prose that I found to be needlessly verbose. It is an interesting book, but I did not find the main characters to be convincing as individuals so much as vehicles for the author's explorations of the extremes of human nature.   Some of the secondary characters...

Director: Susan Johnson Writers: Sofia Alvarez, based on the novel by Jenny Han Stars: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Andrew Bachelor, Trezzo Mahoro When a teenage girl's (Lana Condor) confidential  letters to the boys she has had crushes on get mailed without her knowledge, all kinds of teenage rom-com shenanigans ensue.  While the stakes might seem rather low to a viewer like me, whose teenage years are well behind him, the talented and charming cast do a good job of selling it.  While who likes whom may not matter very much in the grand scheme of things—and probably won’t even matter much to these characters several years later—it is in the nature of teenagers that such things are all-consuming while they are happening.   This film does a good job of communicating that.

Writer/Director: Michael Winterbottom Stars: Kieran O'Brien, Margo Stilley, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Don Blum, Marcie Bolen This film consists of nothing more than explicit sex scenes a lternating with live concert footage intended to tell the story of a young British scientist's (Kieran O'Brien) brief, physically intense affair with an American woman (Margo Stilley). Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the music.   More unfortunately, I didn't find either of the principal actors attractive, so I didn't like the sex either.  What's left?  Well, there are some nice shots of a man walking across the ice in Antarctica.   For me, this was a colossal failure, albeit a brave experiment.  Recommended for devotees of dull fucking and bad music.

by Bruce Sterling A sweeping history of man's future in space, a time  when humanity has reworked itself in dozens of different ways at the fundamental levels of thought, biology, and technology in order to adapt to its new environment.   These scattered, interrelated communities exist within two general, mutually antagonistic factions: the Shapers, who rely on genetic manipulation, and the Mechanists, who rely on advanced technology.   Bruce Sterling is an inventive writer with a lively intellect, but his novel often introduces such a barrage of names and factions that it was difficult for me to orient myself.   Bruce Sterling Furthermore, the action sometimes leaps years forward with scarcely any attention given to what happened in between.   "Schismatrix +" (French) Sterling's focus is more on developing his complex history than his characters and the novel suffers as a result. "Schismatrix Plus" (Czech) Fortunately, this volume also contains Sterling...

Director: Wolfgang Petersen Writer: Jeff Maguire Stars: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, Fred Thompson Once again, Clint Eastwood is the central figure in an action movie.  However, this time he plays a man with flaws and vulnerabilities.  He is Frank Harrigan, a Secret Service agent who is still tormented by his failure to protect John Kennedy on that tragic day in Dealey Plaza.  Fate hands him an opportunity for redemption when a psychotic assassination buff (John Malkovich) targets the President.   He is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the killer, who is fascinated by Harrigan's role in history as the only active agent to have ever lost a president.   Harrigan struggles with self-doubt and age as he attempts to prevent history from repeating itself.  Spoiler alert! This is from the climax! An excellent film. Spoiler alert! This is from the climax!