Iron Man 2 launches the Summer Movie season with plenty of action. Tony Stark finds that the palladium in the power source that keeps him alive is also poisoning him. Meanwhile, Stark’s enemy, Hammer, finds a renegade Russian physicist (played my Michael Rourke) who can duplicate the Iron Man armor to create an army of drones. Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow) are eye candy. There’s nothing profound here, just mindless summer entertainment. GRADE: B+
I read Manly Wade Wellman’s Who Fears the Devil? back in the 1960s when Ballantine Books first published it. But Wellman kept writing about Silver John, a wanderer and balladeer, both in short stories and in five novels. Now, PLANET STORIES has published the complete stories of Silver John. John confronts evil in the little communities of the South. You’ll not find more satisfying collection of domestic fantasy stories anywhere. Wellman was a master of this type of rustic story-telling. If you haven’t read these stories, I encourage you to give them a try. You’ll be delighted!
This completes the May part of Carl V.’s fantasy challenge. To learn more about the fantasy challenge, click here.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Robert Harris’ stylish thriller, The Ghost. Yesterday, I saw the movie based on Harris’ novel, The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski. Ewan McGregor is hired to ghost-write the memoirs of a former British Prime Minister, obviously based on Tony Blair. Pierce Brosnan plays the ex-Prime Minister with panache. Olivia Williams plays Brosnan’s quirky wife, and Kim Cattrall is Brosnan’s personal assistant–and more. As McGregor finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into Brosnan’s political crisis, he finds critical information that changes everything. The Ghost Writer follows Harris’ book faithfully, until the ending. Polanski opts for a more dramatic ending that was fine by me. The Ghost Writer isn’t Chinatown, but it’s the most clever thriller you’re likely to see this year. GRADE: A
Diane and I saw Jersey Boys last night. For those of you who have been vacationing on Jupiter the past couple of years, Jersey Boys is the story of the famous Sixties group, The Four Seasons. Plenty of music and drama. If the touring company shows up in your neighborhood, this musical is well worth seeing. Here’s a partial song list and a sample of what we saw:
1. Ces Soirees
2. The Early Years: A Scrapbook Jersey Boys
3. Cry For Me
4. Backup Sessions
5. Sherry
6. Big Girls Don’t Cry
7. Walk Like A Man
8. December 1963 [Oh, What A Night]
9. My Boyfriend’s Back
10. My Eyes Adored You
11. Dawn [Go Away]
12. Big Man In Town
13. Dialogue: A Little Trouble
14. Beggin’
15. Dialogue: See How You Handle It
16. Medley: Stay/Let’s Hang On/Opus 17 [Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me/Bye, Bye, Baby]
17. C’Mon Marianne
18. Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
19. Working My Way Back To You
20. Fallen Angel
21. Rag Doll
22. Who Loves You
Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do presents a glimpse of what college education may be in the future. “Justice” is the most popular class on the Harvard campus. This 3-DVD set presents Micheal Sandel’s class in 12 hours. Sandel is an engaging professor. His dry humor and quick wit keep the lectures moving even when confronted by the mind-numbing philosophies of Kant and Bentham. Some of this performance centers on getting the students involved by using Jerry Springer techniques: challenging cases of cannibalism and suicide and surrogate mothers allows Sandel to indulge in audience interaction. I can see colleges and universities offering courses in this DVD format (perhaps available on the educational institution’s web site) in order to cut costs. Sandel also wrote a useful book to accompany the course. I enjoyed taking the course and highly recommend it. I’ve included a sample episode below. GRADE: A
Disney’s elves have remastered this animated feature from the 1980s. The Great Mouse Detective is based on Eve Titus’s book Basil of Baker Street, about a Victorian-era mouse who mirrors Sherlock Holmes. Basil’s arch-villain is Professor Ratigan, voiced by Vincent Price, who plans a diabolical crime of colossal proportions. There’s spirited music by Henry Mancini. If you’re a Sherlockean, you’ll be amused by this pastiche. If you’re just looking for 74 minutes of clever entertainment, you can’t go wrong with The Great Mouse Detective. GRADE: B
The only reason to watch The Back-Up Plan is Jennifer Lopez. I’ve admired Lopez since her marvelous performance as U. S. Marshall Karen Sisco in Out of Sight. But that Jennifer Lopez is not to be found in this film. Lopez plays an owner of a pet shop in New York City who desperately wants a family. She’s artificially inseminated by her doctor (Robert Klein) and then meets Alex O’Loughlin, owner of a goat cheese farm. Their relationship is rocky, but there’s real chemistry between Lopez and O’Loughlin. The familiar “boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again” template is followed rigorously. No surprises here. If you’re a Jennifer Lopez fan, you’ll want to see this routine romantic comedy. GRADE: C
About 10 years ago I took my daughter and her teenage friends to a Christina Auguilera concert. It was entertaining. Even I liked “Genie in a Bottle” as Christina popped out of a giant bottle amid a flurry of pyrotechnics. As the years past, I pretty much lost track of Christina Auguilera. But, with the release of “I’m Not Myself Tonight” it’s clear Auguilera is headed in the direction of Lady Gaga both musically and stylistically. I don’t know if this S&M approach will work, but there seems to be a market for this kind of “art” today. Christina Auguilera has certainly “evolved” since I attended her concert 10 years ago! If you want to see the entire sexy video, you can go to the Offical Web Site here.
Christina Aguilera – Genie In A Bottle (Official Music Video) – Watch more top selected videos about: Christina_Aguilera
This special edition of Friday’s FORGOTTEN BOOKS features short story collections. I decided on Dangerous Women edited by Otto Penzler because it’s a very good anthology that somehow slipped under a lot of readers’ radar in 2005. Plenty of Big Name Writers contributed to this project. Here’s the Table of Contents:
Improvisation By Ed McBain
Cielo Azul By Michael Connelly
Give me your heart By Joyce Carol Oates
Karma By Walter Mosley
Dear Penthouse forum (a first draft) By Laura Lippman
Rendezvous By Nelson DeMille
What she offered By Thomas H. Cook
Her lord and master By Andrew Klavan
Mr. Gray’s folly By John Connelly
A thousand miles from nowhere By Lorenzo Carcaterra
Witness By J. A. Jance
Soft spot By Ian Rankin
Third party By Jay McInerney
The last kiss By S. J. Rozen
Sneaker wave By Anne Perry
Louly and pretty boy By Elmore Leonard
Born bad By Jeffery Deaver
As you can see, there’s something for everyone.
(This completes the April 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.)
This is the first time this legendary concert is available on DVD. It’s hard to imagine a concert with more great performers at the beginning of their careers. In fact, the big headliner for this concert was Leslie Gore! The Rolling Stones were still a nascent band. James Brown was still looking for his first Billboard Top 10 hit. Most listeners thought the Beach Boys were fading. Here’s the amazing lineup:
Filmed at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, October 29, 1964, performances include:
Jan & Dean- (Here They Come) From All Over The World
Chuck Berry- Johnny B. Goode, Maybellene, Sweet Little Sixteen, Nadine (Is it You?)
Gerry And The Pacemakers- Maybellene, Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying, Its Gonna Be Alright, How Do You Do It?, I Like It
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles- That’s What Love Is Made Of, You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, Mickeys Monkey
Marvin Gaye- Stubborn Kind Of Fellow, Pride And Joy, Can I Get A Witness, Hitch Hike
Lesley Gore- Maybe I Know, You Don’t Own Me, You Didn’t Look Around, Hey Now, Its My Party, & Judy’s Turn To Cry
Jan & Dean- The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena) & Sidewalk Surfin
The Beach Boys- Surfin U.S.A., I Get Around, Surfer Girl, & Dance, Dance, Dance
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas- Little Children, Bad To Me, I’ll Keep You Satisfied, & From A Window
The Supremes- When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, Run, Run, Run, Baby Love, & Where Did Our Love Go
The Barbarians- Hey Little Bird
James Brown & The Flames- Out Of Sight, Prisoner Of Love, Please, Please, Please, & Night Train
The Rolling Stones- Around and Around, Off The Hook, Time Is On My Side, It’s All Over Now, & I’m All Right
All Performers- Show Close: Lets Get Together
To hear Milo Miles’ take on The T.A.M.I. Show just click on PLAY below.