There are a dozen Poirot collections out there, but this one looks like the pick of the litter. I found this 12 DVD collection at BJ’s WAREHOUSE for $34.99 (AMAZON wants $79.99 for the same thing). Some of my favorites are here: MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN, MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA, and EVIL UNDER THE SUN. All in all, there are 12 full-length David Suchet/Hercule Poirot classics in this collection. Just think of this as 19 hours and 39 minutes of delight!

Although the complete Perry Mason TV series is being issued season by season, this collection showed up at my local Sam’s Club for $15 (AMAZON wants $35 for the same thing). How could I resist? In addition to a dozen Perry Mason episodes (of uneven quality) it’s the “Special Features” disk most fans will be most interested in viewing. The syndication promos are fun to watch (and bring back a lot of memories). Raymond Burr’s Charlie Rose interview is here. The Photo Gallery is a nice touch. If you’re fan of the Perry Mason TV series this is a “must-have” set.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” wrote Charles Caleb Colton. I’ve admired Bill Crider’s Friday feature of reviewing a “Forgotten Book” for Patti Abbott’s Friday’s Forgotten Books each week. My first candidate is Theodore Sturgeon’s The Dreaming Jewels. The edition I recommend is the Bluejay Books edition with the creepy cover by Rowena Morrill and more Rowena interior artwork. Like all of Sturgeon’s work, there’s a blending of reality. In this case, a young boy, a circus, and bizarre extraterrestrials produce a mind-bending plot. As Bill Crider pointed out in his review of John D. MacDonald’s The Brass Cupcake it seems incredible that a great writer like JDM could be out-of-print and nearly forgotten. I feel the same way about Theodore Sturgeon. If you haven’t read Sturgeon, or haven’t read him in awhile, The Dreaming Jewels is the perfect place to start. GRADE: A

It’s far fetched and frequently ridiculous, but given this dismal TV season 24 stands as a shining light of hope (for some entertainment) this weekend. Essentially, 24 is a soap opera with violence. Lots of violence. Agent Jack Bauer (played by the wooden Kiefer Sutherland) takes on various terrorists and deals with corrupt bureaucrats. The show’s conceit is that each one hour episode equals one hour of a day of mind-bending action. If you haven’t watched the previous seasons of 24, not to worry. It isn’t that deep. An added bonus is that Dave Barry posts entries on his blog during each episode of 24. Hilarious!

After reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and then viewing the recent movie with the same name you’ll notice only two similarities. Both the story and the movie have the same title and both have a character named Benjamin Button who ages in reverse. Other than that, there are no commonalities. Of course, the movie has the fetching Cate Blanchett who delivers a wonderful performance. Brad Pitt does his Brad Pitt thing. If you like this time-in-reverse type of trope, try Philip K. Dick’s Counter-Clock World.

This might be the last of Nostalgia Ventures’ reprints of The Shadow series. Nostalgia Ventures at nostalgiaventures.com is also reprinting the Doc Savage series. But after over 20 volumes, both series might be suspended. You can’t order the latest issues from AMAZON anymore. And the Nostalgia Ventures web site is offering discounts on just about EVERYTHING! Not a good sign. However, if you want these wonderful reprints at reduced prices, buy them now…while they’re still available.

Dickensian is the word that comes to mind when trying to describe Slumdog Millionaire. Like Oliver Twist the two orphans who move around Bombay’s (later Mumbai’s) hellish slums fall into the clutches of a man that makes Fagin look like Mother Teresa. As the brothers grow up, one turns to crime and the other follows his passion to reunite with the girl he loves. The juxtaposition of modernity–cell phones, computers, sky scrappers–and the millions of poor people living in savage slums is unnerving. For a “feel good” movie, there’s a disturbing amount of casual violence. However, if you want to see one of the best movies of the year, run–don’t walk–to Slumdog Millionaire.

Leigh Brackett’s space adventures are fun reading and kudos go to Planet Stories for bringing her work back in-print. This edition includes another enthusiastic Introduction by Michael Moorcock. He must the Planet Stories house writer of Introductions. Also included with The Secret of Sinharat is People of the Talisman. I remember these two stories shared an ACE Double long, long ago.

At the core of Doubt is a mystery: is Father Flynn a pedophile or not? Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is certain he is. Sister James (Amy Adams) isn’t so sure. John Patrick Shanley’s movie based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play cleverly provides evidence for both interpretations. Philip Seymour Hoffman is at the top of his game as the likable priest who may or may not have a Dark Side. This is one of those movies you’ll be talking about long after you’ve left the theater. GRADE: B+

Dope Menace: The Sensational World of Drug Paperbacks 1900-1975 is a fabulous collection of great covers. Stephen J. Gertz located some obscure sleaze: when is the last time you saw a copy of LSD Orgy? Dope Menace will provide you with hours of reading and ogling pleasure. Every home should have one.