Angelina Jolie powers this action movie from start to finish. We first see Jolie being tortured by the North Koreans . Next, we fast-forward a couple of years and Jolie, a CIA operative, is accused of being a Russian spy. Jolie flees with the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and the Salvation Army giving chase. The plot is tricky and compelling. The action is non-stop. SALT is the perfect summer movie: amazing stunts, wild chase scenes, plenty of explosions, intense violence. I’d nominate SALT as the best action movie of the summer of 2010. I can’t wait for the sequel! GRADE: A

Season 4 of MAD MEN opens tonight with the enigmatic Don Draper making a mistake that could sink his new, renegade advertising agency. I’ve been a fan of MAD MEN from the start. I can’t think of another program with a stronger cast of quirky characters. The historical setting, the Sixties, blends realism and surrealism into the plots. Actual historical events are referred to, but the characters react in bizarre fashions. For example, Don Draper’s up-tight wife engages in anonymous sex during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later, she’ll travel to Egypt with her husband in an attempt to land the Conrad Hilton account. I’m hoping the writers focus more on the advertising business and less on the soap-opera aspects of the characters’ private lives.

Appointment with Death centers on Poirot’s investigation of the death of an old, bitter woman. Mrs. Boynton, a rich widow, brings her family on a trip to Jerusalem. Her family lives in fear of Mrs. Boynton’s capricious cruelty. Poirot just happens to be vacationing in Jerusalem, too. Poirot overhears a conversation where one of the parties says, “You do see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?” And, sure enough, Mrs. Boynton ends up dead. The original assumption was that Mrs. Boynton died of heart failure. But Poirot suspects murder. This is the third and last of the summer Poirots on PBS Masterpiece Mystery. The book was published in 1937 and I consider it one of Christie’s best. Tomorrow night, I’ll be watching to see if this excellent mystery is as good in the TV version.

At a certain point in the 1980s, I considered Dennis Etchinson the best horror writer in the world. Better than Stephen King. Better than Dean R. Koontz. Better than Peter Straub. I believed Etchinson was the best horror writer in the world based on his brilliant short story collection, The Dark Country, published by Scream Press (which is a name I’ve always been fond of). Classics like “It Only Comes Out at Night,” “The Machine Demands a Sacrifice,” and “Calling All Monsters” make this book one of best horror story collections ever published. It won a World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award. Etchinson went on to publish more short story collections: Red Dreams, The Blood Kiss, and The Death Artist. He wrote some pseudonymous novelizations of the HALLOWEEN movies. But my admiration for Etchinson’s work all started for me with The Dark Country. If you read it, you’ll be astonished.

Ben Greenman, an editor at The New Yorker, combines the loneliness and intimacy of men and women in unusual configurations in this short story collection. Greenman tells a story of a woman who marries a jealous farmer who punches her when he believes she’s having an affair with an artist. But, of course, there’s more to the story. There’s also a story of a brother and sister who live in a lunar colony whose father abandons them and returns to Earth. And the businessman who sleeps with women while he’s on the road. He sends his wife postcards after each infidelity. Greenman’s stories are quirky and edgy. This edition includes an interview with Greenman where he discusses his work. Greenman adds a reading list of his favorite books, too. And, I love the cover! GRADE: B

(This completes the July 2010 portion of my Short Story Reading Challenge. I will read and review one short story collection per month in 2010. To find out more about the Short Story Reading Challenge, be sure to click: “http://theshortstorychallenge.blogspot.com/”>Short Story Reading Challenge.

Director Christopher Nolan channeled Philip K. Dick while making Inception. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a corporate spy whose specialty is “extraction.” That is, DiCaprio’s character enters the dreams of his victim and extracts the secrets he’s been paid to find. However, now DiCaprio is hired to accomplish something much harder than extracting information: inception. That is, planting an idea in the mind of the victim. In order to accomplish this difficult feat, DiCaprio puts together a team and a dangerous strategy to plant an idea deep within the subconscious of the industrialist target. The plan involves a dream within a dream within a dream. This is Philip K. Dick territory with multiple realities that move on different time-lines. I wasn’t confused–Nolan does a masterful job juggling his multiple worlds–but I can see where some movie-goers might get lost in the complexity. Christopher Nolan is the most cerebral of Hollywood directors and it shows in this brilliant movie. GRADE: A

As we grow older, our aches and pains increase. Julie Daniluk believes we can reduce inflammation in our bodies with an improved diet rather than popping Motrin, Aleve, and Advil like Tic-Tacs. Daniluk recommends foods that naturally possess effective anti-inflammatory properties. Salmon, anchovies, mackerel, and sardines are excellent sources of eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) that can drastically reduce inflammation. Turmeric, a spice, contains the powerful compound curcumin that may be as effective as hydrocortisone but without the side-effects. Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that reduces swelling and can be used to treat indigestion, trauma, and arthritis. Daniluk also recommends blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, currants, raspberries, and mulberries. Foods that tend to cause inflammation, like fatty meats and cheeses, margarines, peanut and other salad oils, fried foods should be avoided. Nightshade vegetables, like tomatoes, white potatoes, red and green bell peppers, and eggplant can worsen arthritis pain. Nightshades contain high levels of alkaloids which can cause bones to excrete calcium. If you want to lessen your aches and pains, take a look at Julie Daniluk’s Meals That Heal Inflammation at http://www.meals-that-heal.com/

Law & Order | UK morphs from the U.S. version to an English version. The producers “cherry-picked” the best episodes from the hit U.S. series and had their writers translate them into a United Kingdom setting with all the accents, slang, and the British court-room wigs. The plots and most of the dialogue from the original scripts are relatively unchanged. If you’ve seen the U.S. versions of these episodes, you’ll get a sense of deja vu when you watch these English versions. The talented cast generates some fine drama. I noticed that almost half of the 13 episodes in this 3-DVD set involve crimes by or about children, a curious selection. All three disks include deleted scenes. There are also commentaries and interviews with the actors, writers, and producers. I found this to be a wonderful package! However, for some weird reason, LAW & ORDER | UK can only be purchased at TARGET. Go figure… GRADE: B+

Agatha Christie published The Third Girl in 1966. Many think the late Christies are inferior books. Others think Christie’s late novels were affected by Christie’s alleged Alzheimer’s. I found The Third Girl uneven, but the solution is clever (Christie stumped me). A young girl shows up at Poirot’s doorstep and says, “I may have committed a murder.” Then, she disappears. Mystery novelist Mrs. Oliver, Christie’s surrogate, shows up and gets bashed on the head. Tonight PBS Masterpiece Mystery broadcasts the TV version of The Third Girl. I’ll be watching.

Knight and Day basically knits together one chase scene after another. The plot is ludicrous. So why am I giving this movie a mild recommendation? Well, the stunts explode off the screen. When you watch the credits, you’ll see a page of names under STUNTS. And those folks earned their money. There are car chases, motorcycle chases, bull chases, and fireworks with helicopters and jets. This a Big Budget movie with two Big Names (though not as big as they used to be), Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. No chemistry between them, but the action pacing is so quick there isn’t enough time for much hanky-panky. If you’re in the mood for a mindless action movie, Knight and Day fits the bill. GRADE: B-