The Editors of Rotten Tomatoes, the movie review web site, published this compendium of reviews of “Rotten Movies” (movies with a 59% or less rating) to spark further analysis and debate. I haven’t seen all these movies (my best guess is I’ve see maybe 25%) but some of the ratings (in percentages) of the movies I have seen seem a bit low. For example, I liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer better than the critics. The same with Die Hard: With a Vengeance. These were not great movies, but I found them fun and entertaining. How many of these “Rotten Movies” have you seen? Do you think any of them should be rated higher? Rotten Movies We All Love is a browser’s delight! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Forward by Paul Feig — x
INTRODUCTION by Joel Meares, Editor-In-Chief, ROTTEN TOMATOES — xiii
People’s choice : box office slayers and household names — 1
Every Which Way But Loose (1978) 37% — 2
Problem Child (1990) 0% — 4
Book Club (2018) 54% — 5
Cocktail (1988) 5% — 6
Hocus Pocus (1993) 33% — 8
The Holiday (2006) 48% — 10
Bad Boys (1995) 42% — 12
Stepmom (1998) 45% — 13
Space Jam (1996) 43% –14
I, Robot (2004) 56% — 16
Hello, Dolly! (1969) 43% — 18
CRITIC ESSAY by Monica Castillo: Maleficent 92014) 54% — 21
The First Wives Club (1996) 49% — 24
The ‘Burbs (1989) 53% — 26
Teen Wolf (1985) 44% — 28
Twins (1988) 44% — 29
Young Guns (1988) 41% — 30
San Andreas (2015) 51% — 32
CRITIC ESSAY by Kristen Lopez: The Greatest Showman (2017) 55% — 35
So bad they’re good : incomparably weird sci-fi and fantasy — 39
Cherry 2000 (1987) 40% — 40
I Come in Peace (Dark Angel) (1990) 31% — 42
Zardoz (1974) 50% — 44
The Lord of the Rings (1978) 50% — 46
Robot Monster 36% — 47
Masters of the Universe (1987) 17% — 50
CRITIC ESSAY by Leonard Martin: Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) 29% — 53
INFORGRAPHIC: 1994: The Rottenest Year Ever — 56
Not their best work (or so they said) : rare rottens from big-name fresh directors — 59
The Wiz (1978) 44% — 60
A Chorus Line 40% — 62
Hook (1991) 26% — 64
CRITIC ESSAY by Jessica Kiang: The Portrait of a Lady (1996) 45% — 67
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) (2004) 56% — 70
Willow (1988) 50% — 72
Marie Antoinette (2006) 56% — 74
Legend (1985) 36% — 75
CRITIC ESSAY by K. Austin Collins: Miami Vice (2006) 46% — 77
Cult leaders : hard to love for many, loved very hard by some — 81
Wet Hot American Summer (2001) 36% — 82
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) 39% — 84
CRITIC ESSAY by Nathan Rabin: MacGruber (2010) 48% — 87
Valley of the Dolls (1967) 33% — 90
Death Becomes Her (1992) 52% — 92
Xanadu (1980) 24% — 93
CRITIC ESSAY by Eric Kohn: Gummo (1997) 35% — 95
The Last Dragon (1985) 59% — 98
Empire Records (1995) 29% –99
Burlesque (2010) 36% — 100
CRITIC ESSAY by Terri White: The Craft (1996) 57% — 103
Mars Attacks! (1996) 53% — 106
The Cell (2000) 45% — 108
Mommie Dearest (3981) 50% — 110
INFOGRAPHIC: ROTTEN HALL OF FAME — 112
Ahead of their time : oh, now we get it — 115
The Strangers (2008) 48% — 116
The Trip (1967) 36% — 118
CRITIC ESSAY by Bilge Eribi: Event Horizon (2007) 53% — 121
Jennifer’s Body (2009) 44% — 124
The Frisco Kid (1979) 50% — 125
The Cable Guy (1996) 53% — 126
Ishtar (1987) 38% –128
CRITIC ESSAY by David Stratton: Across the Universe (2007) 53% — 131
The Watcher in the Woods (1980) 48% — 134
In the Cut (2003) 33% — 136
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) 35% — 137
Harlem Nights (1989) 21% –138
CRITIC ESSAY by David Fear: The Way of the Gun (2000) 45% — 141
Practical Magic (1998) 21% — 144
American Dreams (2006) 38% — 145
Blade (1998) 54% — 146
Sequels worth a second look : follow-ups that recaptured the magic–or made strange magic of their own — 149
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) 32% — 150
Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) 35% — 152
CRITIC ESSAY by Amy Nicholson: Rocky IV (1985) 40% — 155
Dracula’s Daughter (1936) 55% — 158
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) 52% — 159
Grease 2 (1982) 38% — 160
Scream 3 (2000) 39% — 161
Return to Oz (1985) 52% — 162
CRITIC ESSAY by Candice Frederick: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) 29% — 165
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) 38% — 168
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) 38% — 170
Jurassic Park III (2001) 49% — 172
INFOGRAPHIC: SPLAT STATS — 174
Basic instincts : just because they make us laugh, scream, and pump our fists — 177
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) 40% — 178
Faster (2010) 42% — 180
Bloodsport (1988) 39% — 181
CRITIC ESSAY by Joshua Rothkopf: Step Brothers (2008) 55% — 183
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) 28% — 186
Hot Rod (2007) 39% –187
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) 31% — 188
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) 43% — 189
Orca–The Killer Whale (1977) 7% — 190
Tango & Cash (1989) 31% — 191
CRITIC ESSAY by April Wolfe: Dr. Giggles (1992) 17% — 193
The Amityville Horror (1979) 29% — 196
Police Academy (1984) 54% — 198
Three Amigos! (1986) 46% — 199
Reign of Fire (2002) 42% — 200
Clash of the Titans (2010) 27% — 201
CRITIC ESSAY by Jen Yamato: Road House (1989) 38% — 203
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 42% — 206
Zombi 2 (1980) 42% — 206
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) 42% — 209
Over the Top (1987) 27% — 210
Billy Madison (1995) 40% — 212
Clifford (1994) 10% — 213
GLOSSARY — 214
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 215
INDEX — 216
ABOUT ROTTEN TOMATOES — 224
CONTRIBUTORS — 224

PS Publishing has collected four of Matthew Hughes’s short novels into a nice paperback edition called Forays of a Fat Man. The fat man in question is Luff Imbry, a master thief, forger, and confidence man who resides in a faux-Dying Earth future similar to Jack Vance’s Old Earth. Each of the adventures in this book take Luff Imbry to exotic locales and sinister dangers. I own the original editions of these stories, but they are now out-of-print and very expensive. This paperback edition deserves to be enjoyed by fans of Hughes and Vance. Quartet and Triptych involves a living maze with deadly protectors. The Yellow Cabochan presents Luff Imbry with an opportunity to secure a fortune (you can read my review here.)  Check out my reviews of Of Whimsies and Noubles here, and Epiphanies here. Entertaining and fun! GRADE: B+ (for all four stories)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction — vii
Quartet and Triptych — 3
The Yellow Cabochan — 79
Of Whimsies and Noubles — 151
Epiphanies — 221

I was standing in line at the Circulation Desk to check out some books at the Library. The woman ahead of me had an armful of Robert Parker’s Spenser novels. “I’m rereading the Spensers in order,” she confided to me. We chatted and I mentioned I’d just finished reading a Jack Reacher novel. She said, “Have you read the Peter Ash series? They’re better than Jack Reacher!” So, of course, I tracked down a copy of the first book in the Peter Ash series, The Drifter and read it in a day. Yes, there are some similarities between Peter Ash and Jack Reacher. Both have military backgrounds. Reacher was a military cop, Ash was a Marine with deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The differences between Ash and Reacher are more mental than physical. Ash has Post-Tramatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) which causes him to react whenever he’s inside a building or any enclosure. So Ash sleeps outside (mostly in his truck) and works outside as a handy-man. When Ash’s best friend commits suicide in Milwaukee, Ash travels to the city to try to help his friend’s wife and kids. Things go to a different level when Ash finds a suitcase with $400,000 in it while he’s fixing his dead friend’s wife’s porch. The suitcase also has some plastic explosives in it, too.

Like a Jack Reacher novel, once things get rolling it’s action, violence, and mayhem that keep the pages turning. I need to read the other Peter Ash novels before I can weigh in on whether Ash is better than Reacher. But the competition–so far–is a close one! GRADE: B+
PETER ASH SERIES:
The Drifter (2016)
Burning Bright (2017)
Light It Up (2018)
Tear It Down (2019)
The Wild One (2020)

Kate Weinberg’s first novel, The Truants, is being marketed as a mystery. It contains many of those mystery aspects: a suspicious death, some secrets from the Past that disrupt the Present, and a whole lot of lying. The narrator of The Truants is 19-year-old Jessica Walker. Jess, as she prefers to be called, attends East Anglia College solely to be in a class taught by charismatic Professor Lorna Clay. Dr. Clay’s course on Agatha Christie both binds the two major characters together, but also plants the seeds of the book’s puzzles. Jess is dating Nick, another student, when she finds herself strongly attracted to the boyfriend of her roommate, Georgie. Dr. Clay advises Jess to “think about triangles.” Could this be an allusion to The ABC Murders or something else? Instead of triangles, Jess thinks about sex.

It takes until page 130 for a death to show up, but then more deaths–Past and Present–complicate the plot until the oblique conclusion. Many of Agatha Christie’s mysteries were full of repellent characters, but there was always Miss Marple and Poirot to deliver Morality and Justice. The conclusion of The Truants just left me flat. GRADE: C

The only commonality between Robert Parker’s Spenser and Mark Wahlberg’s Spenser is the name. Forget Parker’s private eye, forget Spenser’s best friend Hawk, and forget Spenser’s psychiatrist girl friend Susan. Mark Wahlberg plays a former cop who is sent to prison for beating up his boss. Wahlberg serves his five-year sentence and the Netflix movie opens with Wahlberg being released. His ditzy girl friend, Cissy, shows up at the prison to greet him, but Wahlberg avoids her. Cissy is a dog boarder played by Iliza Shlesinger. Later in this movie, Cissy enters a Men’s Room and “seduces” Wahlberg. It’s an awkward scene in this current sexual behavior era.

My favorite character in Spenser Confidential is Black Panther actor Winston Duke who plays Hawk as an aspiring Mixed Marshal Arts fighter. After overcoming some initial hostility, Wahlberg and Duke start to work together to solve the murder of Wahlberg’s former boss and a cop who seems to have been framed for the murder. The script, by L.A. Confidential writers Sean O’Keefe and Brian Helgeland, veers towards vigilante justice in The A-Team fashion. Director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriot’s Day) keeps things moving even if the plot is a bit loopy. Will there be more Spenser Confidential episodes? In the Age of the Coronavirus and people hunkering down, I think it’s a good bet that we’ll be seeing Mark Wahlberg’s Spenser again. Were you a fan of Spenser: For Hire? GRADE: C

Dr. Martha Claire Morris shares 25 years of research into the connection between diet and Alzheimer’s. The research found that study participants had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a slower rate of cognitive decline with:
1. an intake of vitamin E in their diet
2. intakes of vitamin B12, folate, and niacin
3. intakes of lutein, beta-carotene, and bio-flavonoids
4. consumption of seafood and omega-3 fatty acids
5. daily consumption of vegetables–in particular, leafy green vegetables
6. dietary fat comsposition that is low in saturated and trans-fats and high in vegetable fats
(p. 8)

As you might guess, possessed foods and fast foods accelerated cognitive decline. Morris also recommends berries (especially blueberries) because they are packed with antioxidants and phytrochemicals. And they taste good! In addition to all the research findings, Morris and her daughter, a nutritionist, include 80 brain-friendly recipes. I tried the Blueberry-Apple Pancakes (p. 143) and found them to be delicious!

If you want to stave off Alzheimer’s and dementia, Diet for the Mind is a good place to start. Are you worried about getting Alzheimer’s? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Where the Heart and Mind Meet ix
Part I Mind-Healthy Science
Chapter 1 Cognitive Decline and Dementia 3
Chapter 2 Essential Nutrients for the Brain 33
Chapter 3 Foods for Everyday Eating 53
Chapter 4 Foods to Eat Every Week 69
Chapter 5 Brainless Foods That Harm the Mind 87
Chapter 6 Comparing the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND Diets 103
Part II Mind-Healthy Lifestyle and Recipes
Chapter 7 Create Your Healthiest Life 119
Chapter 8 Breakfast 139
Chapter 9 Whole Grains 151
Chapter 10 Leafy Greens 167
Chapter 11 Other Vegetables 181
Chapter 12 Beans and Legumes 195
Chapter 13 Seafood and Poultry 211
Chapter 14 Entertaining 225
Chapter 15 Snacks and Desserts 239
Acknowledgments 251
Notes 255
Index 261

This is the last Emma version I’ll be reviewing for a long, long time. Kate Beckinsale plays a childish Emma in this Andrew Davies costume drama. Mark Strong (who usually plays Bad Guys) manages to animate the character of George Knightly. Olivia Williams captures the reticence of Jane Fairfax perfectly (and she sings very well, too!). While the four-hour Emma starring Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller is the Gold Standard for me (you can read my review here), this adaptation presents Jane Austen’s Emma in an entertaining compact version. Kate Beckinsale portrays a rich socialite and beautiful young woman who tries her hand at matchmaking. Of course, Emma’s efforts produce unforeseen consequences. Kate Beckinsale moved on to more exciting roles as a vampire in the Underworld series. Are you a fan of Kate Beckinsale…or Mark Strong? GRADE: B+

My Emma binging continues with this new movie version directed by Autumn de Wilde. Yes, the screen radiates color and spectacle, ritzy Regency-era outfits and bonnets abound. England of 1815 never looked so good as de Wilde’s cameras capture the glamorized mansions with their luxurious furniture, paintings, and sculptures. Anya Taylor-Joy may be the most beautiful of all the Emmas in these film presentations of Jane Austen’s novel. Taylor-Joy plays Emma as petulant and occasionally arrogant–which makes her fall at the end of the movie much steeper than in most of the Emma films I’ve seen. The script is by Eleanor Catton who slowly builds the action throughout the movie. I’m a big Bill Nighy fan, but he is mostly wasted as the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse. Johnny Flynn plays Knightley without Jonny Lee Miller’s apparent aloofness. De Wilde makes it clear that her Knightley is hot for Emma early in the film. Mia Goth captures the fragility of Harriet Smith convincingly. Miranda Hart manages the difficult role of Miss Bates by making her character both a chatter-box and a woman with heart-rending vulnerabilities. Although she wasn’t given much to do, Amber Anderson as Jane Fairfax steals every scene she’s in.

Diane and I saw Emma at our local AMC theater with six other people in the audience. If this becomes typical of movie audiences in the time of the coronavirus, then a lot of movies are going to fail at the Box Office. GRADE: B

This volume of THE GREAT SF STORIES series features two iconic stories. The first, Clifford D. Simak’s wonderful “The Big Front Yard,” brings back memories of reading the story in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION in the late 1950s. That issue had a brilliant Kelly Freas cover illustrating “The Big Front Yard” that remains etched in my memory.

The second story, C. M. Kornbluth’s dark “Two Dooms,” rocked my world when I first read it in the 1960s. Later, I learned Kornbluth died shortly after “Two Dooms” was published at the age of 34. Kornbluth shoveled snow from his driveway, which delayed him. Then, running to meet his train, Kornbluth suffered a fatal heart attack on the platform of the train station. What a tragic loss of a great talent!

Avram Davidson’s “All the Seas with Oysters, Silverberg’s “The Iron Chancellor,” and Sheckley’s “The Prize of Peril” still entertain after all the decades. But my favorite surprise in this anthology is Rog Phillips’s “The Yellow Pill” which cleverly explores the nature of Reality. Volume #20 of THE GREAT SF STORIES series is a winner! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction 9
The Last of the Deliverers by Poul Anderson (MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, February 1958) 13
The Feeling of Power by Isaac Asimov (MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, February 1958) 29
Poor Little Warrior! by Brian W. Aldiss (MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, April 1958) 41
The Iron Chancellor by Robert Silverberg (GALAXY, May 1958) 49
The Prize of Peril by Robert Sheckley (MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, May 1958) 77
Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson (GALAXY, May 1958) 99
Two Dooms by C. M. Kornbluth (Venture Science Fiction, July 1958) 111
The Big Front Yard by Clifford D. Simak (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, October 1958) 167
The Burning of the Brain by Cordwainer Smith (IF, October 1958) 229
The Yellow Pill by Rog Phillips (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, October 1958) 243
Unhuman Sacrifice by Katherine MacLean (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICITON, November 1958) 259
The Immortals by James E. Gunn (STAR SCIENCE FICTION #4) 297

I just finished doing our taxes with TURBOTAX DELUXE (including New York State taxes). You would think that doing taxes with just four sources of income–Diane’s pension and Social Security, my pension and Social Security–whipping through the Income and Deductions (we don’t have any that count with Trump’s new tax structure) would be a breeze. Nope. There’s still the Audit Risk Meter to contend with. Fortunately, we’re at Low Risk of an Audit based on our tax return.

The last few years we’ve had to pay both New York State and the Feds because we were estimating withholding from my pension and Social Security (I just started collecting it in the Summer of 2019) while phasing out Spousal Benefits. And our estimated withholding needed to be tweaked. Now, we’re getting pretty close to breaking even. We owe New York State ZERO! We owe the Feds a small amount. That’s about as good as it gets. With Trump’s tax strategy of forcing most people to take the Standard Deduction, our years of getting refunds are a thing of the Past. Have you done your taxes? Are you happy or sad?