Category Archives: Uncategorized

PHIL SPECTOR [HBO MAX]

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I grew up listening to Phil Spector’s music. At one point in his career, he was the most influential record producer in the business. Spector produced The Beatles’ last album.

“Phil Spector is renowned for his groundbreaking “Wall of Sound” production technique and his work with numerous iconic artists. Some of his biggest hits include “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” by The Righteous Brothers, and “He’s a Rebel” by The Crystals. He also produced hits like “Da Doo Ron Ron” by The Crystals, “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals, and “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers, among others.”

 But Phil Spector had a Dark Side. He had a hot temper and he loved guns. Those two flaws led to Phil Spector being charged with the shooting death of Lana Clarkson.

On the morning of February 3, 2003, American actress Lana Clarkson was found shot dead inside the Pyrenees Castle, the Alhambra, California, mansion of record producer Phil Spector. The movie, Phil Spector, written and directed by David Mamet, presents the lawyers who defended Spector in this case. It stars Al Pacino as Phil Spector, Helen Mirren as defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, and Jeffrey Tambor as defense attorney Bruce Cutler.

The movie focuses primarily on the relationship between Spector and Linda Kenney Baden, his defense attorney in 2007 during the first of his two murder trials for the 2003 death of Lana Clarkson in his California mansion, and is billed as “an exploration of the client–attorney relationship” between Spector and Kenney Baden.

“The film is controversial for fictionalizing aspects of the case and for neglecting significant evidence that was presented by the real life prosecution, leading to accusations that the movie was created as an advocacy piece in Spector’s favor. Spector was not involved with the film, and disputed its historical accuracy. Although it is based on real people and an actual event, it opens with an unusually worded disclaimer that states: This is a work of fiction. It’s not ‘based on a true story.’ It is a drama inspired by actual persons on a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome.”

I’ll watch anything with Helen Mirren in it. Al Pacino creates a believable Phil Spector. GRADE: B

COOL ROCK [2-CD Set]

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The relentless Sun cooked Western NY last week. Fortunately, we’ve backed off the 90 degree temps and are hovering around the 80s. Time for some refreshing Summer songs like the ones on Cool Rock.

Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ “Up Where We Belong” always pleases me. Same with the Thompson Twins’ “Hold Me Now.” I remember when Rosette’s “It Must Have Been Love” got heavy airplay on the radio (and on MTV).

Where would Summer music be without Ambrosia’ “Biggest Part of Me” and Toto’s “Africa”? They are mainstays in Hot Weather each year.

I’m a fan of Chris DeBurgh’s “Lady in Red” and Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You.” Many of these compilation CDs include filler in the form of One-Hit Wonders or obscure songs. But Cool Rock consists of readily identifiable songs with a Summer vibe. How many of these songs do you remember? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1-1Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes–Up Where We Belong3:55
1-2Naked Eyes–Always Something There To Remind Me3:41
1-3Club Nouveau–Lean On Me3:58
1-4Thompson Twins–Hold Me Now4:42
1-5Glass Tiger–Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)4:05
1-6Teddy Pendergrass–Love T.K.O.5:00
1-7Kool And The Gang*–Joanna4:22
1-8Christopher Cross–Think Of Laura3:22
1-9Tiffany–I Think We’re Alone Now3:47
1-10Joey Scarbury–Believe It Or Not (Theme From Greatest American Hero)3:11
1-11Roxette–It Must Have Been Love3:51
1-12Culture Club–Time (Clock Of The Heart)3:42
1-13The Motels–Suddenly Last Summer3:38
1-14The Tubes–She’s A Beauty3:58
1-15Ashford & Simpson–Solid5:07
1-16Sergio Mendes*–Never Gonna Let You Go4:15
1-17Wilson Phillips–Hold On4:24
1-18Ambrosia (2)–Biggest Part Of Me4:09
2-1Toto–Africa5:01
2-2REO Speedwagon–Can’t Fight This Feeling4:10
2-3Chris DeBurgh*–Lady In Red4:16
2-4Tina Turner–Private Dancer4:00
2-5Cutting Crew–(I Just) Died In Your Arms4:34
2-6John Waite–Missing You4:27
2-7Little River Band–Cool Change5:14
2-8Corey Hart–Never Surrender4:55
2-9Blondie–Call Me3:32
2-10Spandau Ballet–True5:35
2-11Marty Balin–Atlanta Lady (Something About You)3:27
2-12Mr. Mister–Broken Wings4:45
2-13Vangelis–Chariots Of Fire3:29
2-14Dan Hartman–I Can Dream About You4:09
2-15Taylor Dayne–Love Will Lead You Back4:37
2-16James Ingram & Patti Austin–Baby, Come To Me3:35
2-17Al Green–Let’s Stay Together3:18

WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #231: ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S DARING DETECTIVES Edited by Robert Arthur

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I’ve been reading “Alfred Hitchcock” mystery anthologies for decades (check out the list below). Alfred Hitchcock’s Daring Detectives (1969) includes an excellent blend of stories. I particularly enjoyed Stuart Palmer’s “Green Ice,” a Hildegarde Withers gem. The police struggle to find the thief of a value green diamond. Miss Withers shows them the way to solve the crime.

Also fun is Erle Stanley Gardner’s “Adventures of the Irate Witness” where Perry Mason fakes out the Prosecution. And, I’m a fan of August Derleth’s Solar Pons series. “Adventures of the Grice-Paterson Curse” involves a series of mysterious deaths. Solar Pons sees the pattern that no one else does.

Who doesn’t like a good spy story? Michael Gilbert’s “The Headmaster” involves the murder of a British agent and it’s up to Calder and Behrens to even the score. I’ve read a lot of Ellery Queen but somehow missed “The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats.” An infirm woman fears someone is trying to murder her so she buys a series of black cats–even though she hates cats. Ellery Queen becomes intrigued and investigates.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Daring Detectives is one of the best mystery anthologies I’ve read lately. How many Alfred Hitchcock anthologies have you read? GRADE: A-

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • “The Day the Children Vanished”: by High Pentecost — 3
  • “Through a Dead Man’s Eye”: by Cornell Woolrich — 30
  • “The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim”: by Agatha Christie — 57
  • “Green Ice”: by Stuart Palmer — 71
  • “The Grave Grass Quivers”: by MacKinlay Kantor — 88
  • “The Case of the Irate Witness”: by Erle Stanley Gardner — 104
  • “Adventures of the Grice-Paterson Curse”: by August Derleth — 120
  • “The Headmaster”: by Michael Gilbert — 140
  • “The Adventure of the Seven Black Cats”: by Ellery Queen — 153
  • “The Wicked Cousin”: by Leslie Charteris — 174
  • “The Footprint in the Sky”: by John Dickson Carr — 193

Hitchcock fiction anthologies chronology

A chronological list of Hitchcock fiction anthologies.

In general, only the first new edition of each American and British title is listed. The country, format (paperback or hardback/hardcover) and date of publication is shown in parentheses.

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Hitchcock_fiction_anthologies_chronology

BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL

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Diane and I traveled to Sheas Performing Arts Center in Buffalo to see Back to the Future: The Musical. As you recall, the 1985 film Back to the Future–directed by Robert Zemeckis–was a hit movie starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Michael J. Fox plays teenager Marty McFly who accidentally finds himself sent back in Time to 1955.

The humor of the movie–with Marty interacting with his parents when they were teenagers–still resonates in the musical version.  Of course, the real star of the musical is the cool DeLorean car/Time Machine.

My main complaint about Back to the Future: The Musical is…the music is bland and banal. The show includes songs featured in the film: “The Power of Love“, “Earth Angel“, “Johnny B. Goode” and “Back in Time“. The rest of the music is forgettable. Are you a fan of Back to the Future? GRADE: B- (but the DeLorean gets an “A”!)

PLAYING WITH REALITY: HOW GAMES HAVE SHAPED OUR WORLD By Kelly Clancy

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Playing With Reality is a revealing look at the hidden role that games have played in human development for centuries. Kelly Clancy provides a wide-ranging intellectual history that reveals how important games have been to human progress, and what’s at stake when we forget what games we’re really playing.

Clancy claims we play games to learn about the world, to understand our minds and the minds of others, and to make predictions about the future. Games are an essential aspect of humanity and a powerful tool for modeling reality. They’re also a lot of fun.

But, at the same time, games can be dangerous, especially when we mistake the model worlds of games for reality itself. The recent news stories about people falling in love with their Artificial Intelligence chat-bots is a prime example.

Playing With Reality explores the history of games since the Enlightenment. I enjoyed Clancy’s ability to weave a path through military theory, political science, evolutionary biology, the development of computers and AI, cutting-edge neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. She covers a lot of ground! But the details are enthralling!

It helps that Kelly Clancy is a neuroscientist and physicist. Her convincing analysis shows how intertwined games have been with the arc of history. War games shaped the outcomes of real wars in nineteenth and twentieth century Europe. Game theory warped our understanding of human behavior and brought us to the brink of annihilation—yet still underlies basic assumptions in economics, politics, and technology design. Games are more than just a tool…they can turn into weapons, too.

I used games to teach my students about using computers when I was a College Professor. Now, with powerful AI programs, games are being designed that could determine the shape of our society and future of democracy. In this astonishing book, Kelly Clancy makes a strong argument that the human fascination with games is the key to understanding our nature and our actions. What games do you play? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  1. Part I: How to Know the Unknown
  2. Chapter 1: The Play of Creation — 3
  3. Chapter 2: How Heaven Works — 16
  4. Chapter 3: Dice Playing God — 41
  5. Part II: Naming the Game
  6. Chapter 4: Kriegsspiel, the Science of War — 71
  7. Chapter 5: Rational Fools — 85
  8. Chapter 6: The Clothes Have No Emperor — 112
  9. Chapter 7: A Map That Warps the Territory — 137
  10. Part III: Building Better Players
  11. Chapter 8: Chess, the Drosophila of Intelligence — 107
  12. Chapter 9: The End of Evolution — 177
  13. Chapter 10: Nous ex Machina — 200
  14. Chapter 11: Cogito Ergo Zero Sum — 222
  15. Part IV: Building Better Games
  16. Chapter 12: SimCity — 249
  17. Chapter 13: Moral Geometry: Playing Utopia — 257
  18. Chapter 14: Mechanism Design: Building Games Where Everyone Wins — 278
  19. Epilogue — 301
  20. Acknowledgments — 307
  21. Notes — 309
  22. Bibliography — 325
  23. Index — 349

A DROP OF CORRUPTION By Robert Jackson Bennett

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I enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett’s first Ana and Din Mystery, A Tainted Cup (2024) so I was looking forward to the sequel, A Drop of Corruption (2025). Ana Dolabra (a genius who frequently wears a blindfold to suppress sensations) and her hand-picked assistant, hunky Dinios Kol, travel to the canton of Yarrowdale to investigate the mysterious death of an Imperial Treasury official.

Yarrowdale is best known for its island that houses The Shroud, a site for the processing of the gigantic Leviathan bodies. Leviathans occasionally attack cities of the Empire and cause widespread death and destruction. But the select few at The Shroud harvest the bodies of the Leviathans to produce incredible reagents that can cure diseases and boost life expectancy.

Ana and Din’s investigation link the murder of the Empire official with the secrets hidden in The Shroud. The implications lead Ana to believe the murderer intends to destroy the Empire.

If you’re in the mood for a mystery with long tentacles and a mind-boggling plot, A Drop of Corruption presents the perfect Summer Beach Read. GRADE: B+

POKER FACE, SEASON 2 [Peacock]

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Human Lie Detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) returns for a second season of being on the run from Bad Guys. No matter where she goes, Charlie stumbles onto a murder and feels compelled to solve it. Having the ability to know when people are lying is a Big Advantage!

Season 2 offers 12 episodes on Peacock, with new episodes dropping every Thursday, featuring a variety of guest stars. The first episode kicks off with a wonderful installment directed by Rian Johnson and written by Laura Deeley. “The Game Is a Foot” features Cynthia Erivo playing five sisters, one of whom killed their mother (Jasmine Guy). The five sisters starred in a TV series–Kid Cop: Nights–as child actresses. But their mother stole their residuals which amounted to millions of dollars. The sisters are struggling economically, especially Amber–the caretaker of the fatally ill mother.

Cynthia Erivo plays all five sisters with their unique personalities. I really liked the assortment of different hairstyles and accents each sister had. And, of course, Natasha Lyonne detects the lies that swirl around the death of the mother. If you’re looking for a contemporary Columbo-like mystery program with a satisfying blend of humor and cleverness, I highly recommend Poker Face. GRADE: A

FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #858: AMERICA’S BEST SCREENPLAYS 2 Edited by Sam Thomas

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A week ago I reviewed Best American Screenplays: First Series. You can read my review here. I ordered the next book in the series, also edited by Sam Thomas, and read the screenplays.

My favorite screenplay in this volume is James L. Brooks’s Terms of Endearment, a movie that I cannot watch without crying…no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Also very powerful is James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter.

The most fun reading is Billy Wilder and I.A. L. Diamond’s Some Like It Hot. And, I’m fond of David Ward’s The Sting, too.

How many of these movies have you seen? Any favorites here? GRADE: A

THE BEST OF THE J. GEILS BAND and WAITING ON THE MOON: ARTISTS, POETS, DRIFTERS, GRIFTERS, AND GODDESSES: A MEMOIR By Peter Wolf

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Before Peter Wolf became the lead singer for the J. Geils Band, he performed in New York City, rubbing shoulders with other musicians just starting their careers.

“Bob was always playing and trading songs with other musicians, and this exposed him to a wide array of influences, including Appalachian mountain music, Elizabethan ballads, and the songs of Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. I came to learn that this voracious curiosity was typical of Bob.” (p. 45)

Yes, Peter Wolf hung out with Bob Dylan. And Van Morrison, David Lynch, Muddy Waters, Andy Warhol, and dozens of other artists who would hit the Big Time.

Peter Wolf and The J. Geils Band also hit the Big Time for a short period with a couple of hits. But as Wolf writes: “Success, if it does come to a band, often comes with its own special price.” (p. 284). At the height of their success, the J. Geils Band broke up.

“Frank Barsalona, our agent, took me out for a dinner after his final meeting with the other band members. In disbelief, he said, ‘After al these years, the band finally made it. It’s really quite unbelievable. I’ve dealt with the craziest of crazies; the drugs, the girlfriends, the managers–nothing even comes close to this. Nothing as stupid, as senseless, and as wasteful in what these guys are insisting on doing. So, Peter, let’s start thinking about your solo career.'” (p. 285)

And the result: “Shortly after the split, I went on to release an album called Lights Out which rose to the top ten on the Billboard charts. All the songs on that album were the very songs the band had rejected. The J. Geils Band then released You’re Gettin’ Even While I’m Gettin’ Old. As a result of poor sales, the band was dropped from the record company, and the ‘new’ J. Geils Band came to an ignominious end.” (p. 285)

I learned a lot about the era where Peter Wolf began his career with so many other musicians and performers. The dynamics of being in a band and trying to make it in a competitive music industry was also fascinating. Opening for The Rolling Stones, hanging out with Sly stone, meeting Alfred Hitchcock and Tennessee Williams, and falling in love with Faye Dunaway is just part of Peter Wolf’s amazing life. GRADE: A (for both the book and the CD)

Track Listings:

1Centerfold
2Freeze-Frame
3Come Back (Single Edit)
4Love Stinks
5Sanctuary
6Give It to Me (Single Edit)
7Whammer Jammer (Live 1972)
8Looking for a Love (Live 1972)
9Musta of Got Lost (Live 1975)
10(Ain’t Nothin’ But a) Houseparty (Live 1975)
11One Last Kiss
12Teresa
13Angel in Blue
14Flamethrower
15Night Time
16Just Can’t Wait (Live 1982)
17I Do (Live 1982)
18Piss on the Wall