Graham Weber, successful businessman, is appointed by the President as the new Director of the CIA. Weber immediately gets embroiled in a tangled plot involving James Morris, the former hacker who runs the CIA’s Internet Operations Center. Morris has his own agenda. Weber finds he has to play an intelligence game as well as a political game. Ignatius captures the paranoia and deception of the spy services. My complaint is that Ignatius spends too much time on the details of hacking computer systems. A year from now, all of those protocols will be Ancient History. In this post-Snowden world, The Director shows the implications of a world without secrets. GRADE: B

Fargo is the best series on cable right now. Casting Billy Bob Thorton as a stone-cold hitman was brilliant casting. But casting Allison Tolman as Deputy Sheriff Molly Solverson (an echo of the great role of Frances McDormand as a pregnant Minnesota police chief in the movie version) was an act of genius. Martin Freeman, of Sherlock and The Hobbit fame, starts out as a mousey insurance agent but evolves into something very creepy. Every episode of Fargo had a surprise (which I loved!). Tonight’s finale on FX is 90-minutes. I’ll be staying up to watch it in Real Time. If you haven’t been watching Fargo you’ve been missing a great program. GRADE: A

I’ve been a fan of Kenneth Turan for years. Turan shows up on CBS SUNDAY MORNING from time to time and he’s a regular on NPR’s Morning Edition. His insights into movies are enlightening. In Not To Be Missed, Turan chooses the 54 favorite movies that he’s reviewed over the decades. After each essay, Turan recommends movies in the same genre and books about the novie if you want to learn more. If you love movies as much as I do, Not To Be Missed is a must-buy. For casual movie fans, you might want to request this book from your local public library. After reading each essay in Not To Be Missed I wanted to drop everything and see the movie! How many of these movies have you seen? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
IN THE BEGINNING
Fantomas, 1913-1914
Silent Comedy Double Feature:
Sherlock Jr., 1924 and Pass the Gravy, 1928
THE THIRTIES
Introduction
I Am a Fugitive form a Chain Gage, 1932
Bombshell, 1933
The Dybbuk, 1937
Leo McCarey Double Feature:
Make Way for Tomorrow, 1937 and Love Affair, 1939
the forties
Introduction
Pride and Prejudice, 1940
Ernst Lubitsch Double Feature:
The Shop Around the Corner 1940 and To Be or Not to Be 1942
The Lady Eve, 1941
Strawberry Blonde, 1941
Casablanca, 1942
Random Harvest, 1942
Children of Paradise, 1945
Great Expectations, 1946
Bicycle Thieves, 1948
The Third Man, 1949
THE FIFTIES
Introduction
All About Eve, 1950
The Asphalt Jungle, 1950
Sunset Boulevard, 1950
Casque d’Or, 1952
The Importance of Being Earnest, 1952
Singin’ in the Rain, 1952
The Earrings of Madame De…., 1953
Seven Samurai, 1954
Kiss Me Deadly, 1955
Seven Men from Now, 1956
Sweet Smell of Success, 1957
Vertigo, 1958
THE SIXTIES
Introduction
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, 1962
The Gospel According to St. Matthew, 1964
Point Blank, 1967
Le Samourai, 1967
Kes, 1969
THE SEVENTIES
Introduction
The Godfather, 1972
Chinatown, 1974
THE EIGHTIES
Introduction
The Day After Trinity, 1981
First Contact, 1983
Distant Vocies, Still Lives, 1988
THE NINETIES
Introduction
Howard’s End, 1992
Leolo, 1992
Unforgiven, 1992
THE NEW CENTURY
Spirited Away, 2001
The Best of Youth, 2003
The Five Obstructions, 2003
Documentary Double Feature:
Stranded 2007 and Senna 2010
A Prophet 2009
Of Gods and Men , 2010
Footnote, 2011
Orson Welles Double Feature:
Touch of Evil, 1958 and Chimes of Midnight, 1965

The Fifty-Fifth Film
A Second Fifty-Four
Acknowledgements
Index

Sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm), facing business disaster, decides to go to India and find young men who have the potential to pitch in Major League Baseball. And, sure enough, through a competitive process J.B. finds two young men who fit the bill. He brings them back to the U.S. to work with a USC baseball coach (Tom Paxton). The young men from India develop, but cultural problems intrude. J.B. finds himself falling in love with his renter, Brenda Fenwick (Lake Bell). Based on a true story, Million Dollar Arm is entertaining and diverting during this summer of blockbusters and super-hero movies. A nice change of pace. GRADE: B+

I found a copy of this Revised Edition of Mystery Writer’s Handbook in a thrift store. It was published in 1982 so some of these essays are dated. But many of the essays are still relevant today like John D. MacDonald’s “How a Character Becomes Believable.” I liked Richard Martin Stern’s essay on “Suspense.” Rex Stout tells us “What To Do About a Watson.” Michael Avallone explains “The Narrative Hook.” I found Gregory Mcdonald’s “On Dialogue” thought-provoking. This book was a bargain at a quarter! You can find Mystery WRiter’s Handbook at the usual online booksellers, but I doubt you’ll get it for 25 cents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface, By Lawrence Treat
1. Why Do You Write?
2. Into Something Rich and Strange, By Bruce Cassiday
3. Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
4. Where Do You Get Your Plot? By Fredric Brown
5. How to Achieve Story Structure, By Pauline Bloom
6. Why I Don’t Outline, By Hillary Waugh
7. Plotting from a Situation, By Dana Lyon
8. When and How Do You Write?
9. The Series vs. the Non-Series Detective, By Hillary Waugh
10. Homicide and Other Investigations, By Thomas M. McDade
11. How to Please and Editor, By Eleanor Sullivan
12. How to Make It Authentic, Barbara Frost
13. The Narrative Hook, Michael Avallone
14. How a Character Becomes believable, By John D. MacDonald
15. Deciding on Viewpoint, By Janet Gregory Vermandel
16. What to Do About a Watson, By Rex Stout
17. Suspense, Richard Martin Stern
18. Background and Atomosphere, By Dorothy Salisbury Davis
19. On Dialogue, By Gregory Mcdonald
20. Style, Aaron Marc Stein
21. The Ungentle Art of REvision, By Stanley Ellin
22. Once Over–Not Lightly, By Lawrence Treat
23. Cutting: Surgery or Butchery? By Helen McCloy
24. Avoiding Cliches Like the Plague
25. How Do You Handle Stumbling Blocks?
26. What Do You Mean, “Gothic”? By Phyllis A. Whitney
27. The Softcover Original, By Dan Marlowe
28. The Pleasure of the Short Story, By Edward D. Hoch
29. Writhing the True Crime Story, By William T. Brannon
30. Writing for Television and Movies, By William P. McGivern
31. On Agents, By Bill Pronzini
32. Legal Aspects, By Harold Q. Masur
33. Tricks of the Trade
Index

Ethan Gage is an adventurer and one-time assistant to Benjamin Franklin. Gage wins a medallion in a card game and then finds himself framed for murder. He flees Paris amid the turmoil of the French Revolution and joins Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt. Gage finds clues that his medallion may hold the secret to the treasure of a pyramid. More fighting and adventures propel the plot of Napoleon’s Pyramids to a high-flying conclusion. This is fun summer reading! Think Indiana Jones at the end of the 18th Century. There are seven more books in the Ethan Gage series and I plan to read them all. GRADE: B+

Alien infestation is a minor genre but there have been some outstanding works chronicling the infection of Earth. I’m a big fan of Stephen King’s “The Mist.” The Brits have a knack for this sort of tale. John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids and J. G. Ballard’s The Crystal World are good examples. Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Authority are two-thirds of his “Southern Reach Trilogy.” The final book, Acceptance will be published in September.

Annihilation is told in the first person by a woman identified as “the biologist.” She and three other women–“the psychologist,” “the surveyor,” and “anthropologist”–are the 12th expedition into Area X. Physical and psychological changes abound in Area X. The first expedition returned with totally false reports of a pristine setting. The second expedition ended in a mass suicide. The third expedition ended in a gun battle where all the members died. Electronic instruments fail quickly in Area X. Annihilation is the harrowing account of a doomed expedition. Jeff VanderMeer changes gears in Authority, told in the third person, as he has the new director of the Southern Reach government agency charged with investigating Area X confront the mysteries surrounding it. I found Authority less compelling than Annihilation. I’ll be reviewing the final book as soon as it’s published. ANNIHILATION: GRADE: B+; AUTHORITY: GRADE: B

The success of the movie version of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars rests on the casting of Shailene Woodley as 16-year-old Hazel (but she doesn’t look 16) and Ansel Elgort as her friend, Augustus. The Fault In Our Stars (2012) is John Green’s fifth novel and has sold 10 million copies. You would think that a story about two kids with cancer would be a disaster. But both The Fault In Our Stars book and movie are all about a love story. I read the book first and far from being predictable, The Fault In Our Stars manages a couple of surprises that the movie captures perfectly. With the wrong actors and the wrong script or the wrong director, the movie could have been a mawkish mess. But the vivid on-screen chemistry of Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort keep the movie grounded and focused. If you’re going to see The Fault In Our Stars bring some Kleenex. GRADE: B+

So far, 65 feels pretty good. The Physical Therapy sessions have diminished my sciatic nerve pain. The Stock Market is reaching new highs. And it’s been a good Summer Movie season.

Tonight, my sisters and my brother are joining us for some pizza and wings and Birthday Cake. Plus, an apple pie for the non-cake eaters. Life is Good.