Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Chris Pine, and Keira Knightley star in this “reboot” of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit isn’t based on any Clancy novel. Even when the four previous Jack Ryan movies appeared, loosely based on Clancy’s work, Clancy wasn’t happy with the results. Clancy told the Washington Post that “giving your book to Hollywood is like turning your daughter over to a pimp.” Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a typical action movie. Chris Pine plays intelligence analyst Jack Ryan as a smart and brave operative. Keira Knightley plays Jack Ryan’s fiancée who doesn’t know he’s in the CIA. Kevin Costner plays Jack Ryan’s boss. Kenneth Branagh plays the Russian Bad Guy and directs the movie. There are explosions, car chases, some computer hacking, and a cool motorcycle. Very vanilla, very predictable. I had a free ticked to this movie. GRADE: B

What better way to celebrate Martin Luther King Day than with an inspiring movie about Nelson Mandela. I’m a big fan of Idris Elba from The Wire and his performance on BBC America in Luther as well as his appearance in the Thor movies. Mandela is the story of Nelson Mandela’s life from childhood to his activism in civil rights to his years in prison through his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. The struggle for freedom and civil rights continues, but this story is uplifting. GRADE: B+

In their second game this season (aka, “The Real Super Bowl”) Brady and Manning face each other again. Denver is favored by 5 1/2 points, but don’t make the mistake of counting New England out. The Patriots have been winning with smoke and mirrors all season long. They lost their two tight ends, they have crappy wide receivers, they’ve become a running team. No matter. The Patriots find a way to win. This game should be fun to watch.

Sorry Niner fans, I think Seattle will win this game. Seattle impresses me as the best team in the NFL. They are very tough to defeat on their home field. If any team can do it, it could be the Niners. But that would be a huge upset. The Seahawks are favored by 3 1/2 points. I’m going with the Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots in the Super Bowl February 2.

Nick Bilton’s zany story of the origins of Twitter is full of lies, deception, trickery, and back-stabbing. Yes, nerds can be vicious too, when billions of dollars are at stake. Bilton shows how the super-popular social media tool went from obscurity to an addictive app on almost every cell phone. My students tweet dozens of messages per day. I have to admit that I’m not on Twitter and regard it as a vast waste of time. But I understand the attraction have having thousands of followers who read about what you’re having for breakfast and where you’re going and what you’re doing. Narcissism to the max! GRADE: B+

Ramble House and Surinam Turtle Press achieve something close to a publishing miracle with the appearance of What If? Volume #3. The first volume of What If? Stories that Didn’t Win a Hugo, But Should Have was published in 1980. The second volume of What If? was published in 1981. The third volume of What If? was in the galley stage of the publishing process when the series was canceled. Decades passed. Then editor Richard A. Lupoff found those long-missing galleys and bought them from a dealer. Now, we have all three volumes of stories that should have won the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction story of the year. The bonus is Lupoff’s detailed history of the Hugo Awards year-by-year. I was astonished to learn that in 1953 there were 43 different science fiction magazines available on the newstand! Sadly, little by little, the publishing business changed and paperbacks became more popular than SF magazines. If you’re interested in great science fiction stories with intriguing essays by Lupoff on the development of the genre in the Fifties to the Seventies, I highly recommend the What If? series.

What If? Volume 1
Introduction: Earned Glory-Richard A. Lupoff
1952 “Firewater!:-William Tenn
1953 “Four in One”-Damon Knight
1954 “The Golden Helix”-Theodore Sturgeon
1955 “One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts”-Shirley Jackson
1056 “The Man Who Came Early”-Poul Anderson
1957 “The Mile-Long Spaceship”-Kate Wilhelm
1958 “Two Dooms”-Cyril Kornbluth

What If? Volume 2
Introduction: My Aunt Cora-Richard A. Lupoff
1959 “The Pi Man”-Alfred Bester
1960 “The Lost Kafoozalum”-Pauline Ashwell
1961 “The Sources of the Nile”-Avram Davidson
1962 “Where Is the Bird of Fire?”-Thomas Burnett Swann
1963 “Stand-by”-Philip K. Dick
1964 “Now Is Forever”-Thomas M. Disch
1965 “All the King’s Men”-Barrington J. Bayley

What If? Volume 3
A Note on Publishing History-Richard A. Lupoff
Shining Examples: An Introduction-Richard A. Lupoff
1966 “Light of Other Days”-Bob Shaw
1967 “The Star-Pit”-Samuel R. Delany
1968 “The Barbarian”-Joanna Russ
1969 “Sundance”-Robert Silverberg
1970 “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”-Gene Wolf
1971 “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”-Ursula K. Le Guin
1972 “Painwise”-James Tiptree, Jr.
1973 “My Brother Leopold”-Edgar Pangborn

Dangerous Women weighs in at 784 pages. The idea obviously is “a little something for everyone.” Several genres are represented: science fiction, fantasy, crime fiction, and historical fiction. My favorite story in Dangerous Women is Brandon Sanderson’s eerie “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell.” The more I read of Sanderson’s work, the more respect I have for Sanderson’s talent. Megan Abbott’s noirish tale is a gem. Joe R. Lansdale’s “Wrestling Jesus” sparkles. For fans of political intrigue, Sharon Kay Penman’s “A Queen in Exile” delivers several surprises. The Big Attraction in Dangerous Women is “The Princess and the Queen,” another installment of George R. R. Martin’s fabulously popular “A Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy series. If you’re in the mood for a sprawling anthology, Dangerous Women delivers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
SOME DESPERADO, by Joe Abercrombie
MY HEART IS EITHER BROKEN, by Megan Abbott
NORA’S SONG, by Cecelia Holland
THE HANDS THAT ARE NOT THERE, by Melinda Snodgrass
BOMBSHELLS, by Jim Butcher
RAISA STEPANOVA, by Carrie Vaughn
WRESTLING JESUS, by Joe R. Lansdale
NEIGHBORS, by Megan Lindholm
I KNOW HOW TO PICK ‘EM, by Lawrence Block
SHADOWS FOR SILENCE IN THE FORESTS OF HELL, by Brandon Sanderson
A QUEEN IN EXILE, by Sharon Kay Penman
THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR, by Lev Grossman
SECOND ARABESQUE, VERY SLOWLY, by Nancy Kress
CITY LAZARUS, by Diana Rowland
VIRGINS, by Diana Gabaldon
HELL HATH NO FURY, by Sherilynn Kenyon
PRONOUNCING DOOM, by S.M. Stirling
NAME THE BEAST, by Sam Sykes
CARETAKERS, by Pat Cadigan
LIES MY MOTHER TOLD ME, by Caroline Spector
THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN, by George R.R. Martin

Once again, I want to thank you for your role in making this blog what it is today. I appreciate your insightful comments, humor, and knowledge. I appreciate Patti, Jeff, Deb, Rick, Beth, Todd, Art, Bill, Bob, Prashant, Sergio, Carl, Lauren, Steve, Jerry, Stan, Dan, Kelly, Scott, Jim, John, and all of you who make this blog part of your day. Cicero once wrote: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.” Or as Elvis said: “Thank you, thank you very much.”

Scarlett Johansson is the best thing about Her, but you only get to hear her voice. The premise of this Spike Jonze movie is that Theodore (played by Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with his cell phone’s operating system. Of course, Theodore is a goofy guy (he writes letters for other people in this future world) who divorces Rooney Mara and has Amy Adams as a neighbor. I was annoyed at the tedious patches in this 2-hour movie. And, I’m still bothered by the ending. Still, if you’re in the mood for something very different, give Her a try. GRADE: B

I’ve been reading the Pushcart Prize series since it started in 1976. As the years went by, the volume grew and grew. This 2014 edition is 653 pages! As usual, I found the poetry awful. I can’t recommend any of the poems. The fiction in this volume is mediocre. But the essays are great! I loved “Human Snowball” by Davy Rothbart where Rothbart travels to Buffalo, NY to try to reconnect with his high school sweetheart. Charles Baxter’s “What Happens in Hell” tells the disasterous story of Baxter’s trip to L.A. “The Healing” by Howard Norman centers around the murder/suicide that occurred in Norman’s house. “Father of Disorder” by Jessica Wilbanks interweaves entropy with the author’s dysfunctional family. Andre Dubus III’s “Writing & Publishing a Memoir: What the Hell Have I Done?” relates what happens on Dubus’ book tour (it isn’t pretty). Hal Crowther writes “Out of Date: The Joys of Obsolescence” that captures what every 60-year-old feels. Finally, “The Gentleman’s Library, A Nowaday Redux” by Bill Cotter describes a dream job: building a private reading library for a patron. Marvelous! So I can only recommend about a third of this collection. But, your mileage may vary.

The Niners are favored by 2 points, but this game could go to Overtime. Cam Newton and the Panthers are red-hot. But the Niners have the edge in Playoff experience (and it isn’t 20 degrees below zero for this game). I’m going with the Niners in a squeaker. Peyton Manning struggles in the Playoffs. The Broncos are favored by 10 points. The Chargers beat the Broncos a few weeks ago, but I suspect some of the starters were being rested. I’m sorry to say the Chargers’ dreams come to an end in Mile High Stadium. What do you think of today’s games?