If you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead (zombie apocalypse movie) or Hot Fuzz (cop movie pastiche), you know what you’re in for in The World’s End: wacky British humor. The same group was involved in all three movies: Edgar Wright (director) and Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, and a zany cast of extras. Five friends meet to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years ago. But they discover everything isn’t as it Should Be. If you’re in the mood for an off-beat humorous action movie, give The World’s End a try. Check out the trailer below. GRADE: B+

I found a batch of Galaxy Science Fiction Novels (digest format) this Summer while I was organizing a donation for SUNY at Buffalo. Two of the novels were S. Fowler Wright’s The Amphibians (1924) and its sequel The World Below (1929), both examples of vintage story-telling. S. Fowler Wright’s two works will remind you of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. In both of these adventures, a 20th Century man (named George!) is sent 300,000 years into the future. He searches for two other missing time travelers. Wright creates an intriguing future with weird flora and fauna. It quickly becomes apparent that S. Fowler Wright was not a big fan of technology. The future world finds humans divided into amphibians and giant Dwellers who rule the largest landmass. One of the amphibians agrees to help George on his quest. Much of The Amphibians and The World Below consists of long philosophical sociological arguments between George and the amphibian. A third book was planned to complete the trilogy, but Wright never got around to writing it.

Barack Obama will speak to a crowd of 6,000 excited supporters at 11 A.M. today at the State University of New York at Buffalo (about 10 minutes from my house). The lines of people trying to get tickets to the event were a mile long. The President is supposed to speak about funding for college students and the economy. With the Debt Limit debate looming next month and the threat of a government shut-down to defund Obamacare, the Fall looks like a bleak and contentious time. Today’s crowd of enthusiastic supporters should give Obama a lift. Whether the President will visit the George Kelley Paperback and Pulp Fiction Collection during his campus tour is unknown.

Dewey Lambdin’s For King and Country weighs in at 1,098 pages which certainly qualifies it as a Big Fat Book. Actually, For King and Country is an omnibus volume of three Alan Lewrie naval adventures: The King’s Commission (1991), The King’s Privateer (1992), and The Gun Ketch (1993). I find these naval adventures perfect Summer Reading. Escape to the Caribbean where the British fleet spars with the French fleet and the Spanish fleet. Lambdin provides his main character, Alan Lewrie, with an active love life. But the test of nautical novels usually boils down to the action scenes. Lambdin, like C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian, excels in the battles between ships. You’ll learn a lot about life aboard a sailing vessel. I’m enjoying this series and will post more reviews about Alan Lewrie’s exploits in the months ahead. GRADE: A

Lee Daniels’ The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a butler in the White House who serves eight presidents. Director Lee Daniels tries to do too much in this film. There’s an entire sub-plot with Cecil Gaines conflicting with his wife (played ably by Oprah) and his eldest son. Then there’s the interaction between the butler and the Presidents (which could have been more detailed). I have several quibbles with this movie. There’s no way Robin Williams looks anything like Dwight D. Eisenhower. Liev Schreiber is too young to play LBJ. There’s no way John Cusack resembles Richard Nixon. And it’s jarring to realize Alan Rickman is under all that make-up as Ronald Reagan. Bizarre casting choices! But Lee Daniels’ The Butler manages to portray the racial changes in the United States from 1926 to 2008 in vivid fashion. I found the pacing choppy. GRADE: B

After the producers of The Closer launched Major Crimes, I wasn’t sure the spin-off program on TNT would succeed. But the talented cast–Mary McDonnell (Sharon Raydor), G. W. Bailey (Louie Provenza), Tony Denison (Andy Flynn), Michael Paul Chan (Michael Tao), Raymond Cruz (Julio Sanchez), Kearran Giovanni (Amy Sykes), Phillip P. Keene (Buzz Watson). and Graham Patrick Martin (Rusty Beck–held on to The Closer audience with a blend of serious and humorous episodes. I’m still a bit skeptical of the Rusty sub-plot, but most viewers seem to like it. There’s been no word as to Major Crimes being renewed for 2014, but if it is I’ll be watching.

I’ve been a fan of Daniel Silva’s books for years. His latest novel, The English Girl, features the kidnapping of the English Prime Minister’s mistress. Daniel Silva’s master spy, Gabriel Allon (whose cover is an art restorer), is racing against the clock to rescue the woman before the kidnapper’s deadline. Of course, there are plenty of twists and turns that keep the pages turning quickly. If you haven’t read any of Daniel Silva’s spy novels, The English Girl is the perfect place to start. You don’t have to read these books in order. But once you read one of Daniel Silva’s books, you’re going to want to go back and read the rest. GRADE: A

Ashton Kutcher’s resemblance to Steve Jobs is uncanny. And, for the most part, I felt like I was watching the real Steve Jobs ranting and raving and firing employees. Yes, Jobs shows Steve Jobs, warts and all. The fun part of the movie centers around Apple’s beginning in a garage (literally!). Steve Jobs’ partner, Steve Wozniak, played to perfection by Josh Gad captures the geeky spirit of Apple’s origins. Wozniak loves circuit boards and making something new. But as Apple becomes more successful, Steve Jobs gets darker and more obsessive…and less fun. Wozniak leaves Apple and shortly thereafter, Steve Jobs is fired. I found the movie well done, but limited. Not much is made of Steve Jobs’ cancer. Jobs’ introduction to the iPod is presented, but nothing about the iPhone and iPad (both fascinating stories). Jobs captures some aspects of Steve Jobs’ life, but plenty is left out. GRADE: B

While weeding my collection for a donation for SUNY at Buffalo’s George Kelley Paperback and Pulp Fiction Collection, I discovered a fistful of digest-sized Galaxy Science Fiction novels. This was a series of books that started in 1950 and continued to the Sixties (see list below). The early issues in the series were priced at 25 cents (a bargain in my book!). I reread Jack Williamson’s classic The Legion of Space and it brought back a lot of memories of space operas from the 1930s. Sure, the science is completely bogus. But the story-telling is still entertaining. If you haven’t read Jack Williamson’s high-adventure Legion of Space series, this is the place to start.
GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS:
1.1950 Eric Frank Russell. Sinister Barrier (1943)
2.1950 Jack Williamson. The Legion of Space (1947)
3.1951 Arthur C. Clarke. Prelude to Space (1951)
4.1951 S. Fowler Wright. The Amphibians (1925)
5.1951 S. Fowler Wright. The World Below (1949)
6.1951 Raymond F. Jones. The Alien (1951)
7.1951 Clifford D. Simak. Empire (1951)
8.1952 Olaf Stapledon. Odd John (1936)
9.1952 William F. Temple. Four Sided Triangle (1949)
10.1952 Jay Franklin. Rat Race (1950)
11.1952 Wilson Tucker. The City in the Sea (1951)
12.1952 Sam Merwin, Jr.. The House of Many Worlds (1951)
13.1953 John Taine. Seeds of Life (1953)
14.1953 Isaac Asimov. Pebble in the Sky (1950)
15.1953 Leslie Mitchell. Three Go Back (1932)
16.1953 James Blish. The Warriors of Day (1953)
17.1953 Lewis Padgett. Well of the Worlds (1952 in Startling Stories, March 1952)
18.1953 Edmond Hamilton. City at World’s End (1951)
19.1953 James Blish. Jack of Eagles (1952)
20.1954 Murray Leinster. The Black Galaxy (1949)
21.1954 Jack Williamson. The Humanoids (1949, expansion of “With Folded Hands…”, in Astounding Science Fiction July 1947)
22.1954 Sam Merwin, Jr.. Killer To Come (1953)
23.1954 David Reed. Murder in Space
24.1955 L. Sprague de Camp. Lest Darkness Fall (1939–1941)
25.1955 Murray Leinster. The Last Spaceship
26.1956 Lewis Padgett. Chessboard Planet
27.1956 Malcolm Jameson. Tarnished Utopia (1956, originally in Startling Stories, March 1942)
28.1957 Fritz Leiber. Destiny Times Three
29.1957 Ron Hubbard. Fear
30.1957 Fletcher Pratt. Double Jeopardy
31.1957 C.L. Moore. Shambleau
32.1957 F.L. Wallace. Address: Centauri
33.1958 Hal Clement. Mission of Gravity
34.1958 Manly Wade Wellman. Twice in Time
35.1958 Frank Riley (author) and Mark Clifton. The Forever Machine
36.1959 (236) Olaf Stapledon. Odd John (1936, second time, see above)
37.1959 (242) Raymond F. Jones. The Deviates
38.1959 (256) George O. Smith. Troubled Star
39.1959 (263) Laurence Janifer (as “Larry M. Harris”) and Randall Garrett. Pagan Passions
40.1960 (270) Poul Anderson. Virgin Planet
41.1960 (277) Philip José Farmer. Flesh (1960)
42.1960 (284) Sam Merwin, Jr.. The Sex War (1960, expansion of “The White Widows” in Startling Stories, October 1953)
43.1960 (291) Philip José Farmer. A Woman A Day (1960, expansion of “Moth and Rust” in June 1953 Startling Stories)
44.1960 (298) A. E. van Vogt, The Mating Cry (1960, revision of The House That Stood Still, 1950)
45.1961 (305) Brian Aldiss, The Male Response (1961)
46.1961 (312) Cyril Judd. Sin in Space (1952, originally as Outpost Mars)

Rick Robinson is curious about my Big Fat Book Summer Reading. I’ll be posting more Big Fat Book reviews over the coming weeks, but let me share with you The Alchemists. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the banking system, The Alchemists presents one of the clearest descriptions of how our monetary system works. But, that’s just a small part of The Alchemists. The bulk of the book addresses the world’s financial melt-down that we’re still struggling with. Neil Irwin tells his stories through three of most powerful men on the planet: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Mervyn King of the Bank of England, and Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank. Together, these three bankers kept the Western World from going off the financial cliff as the housing bubble popped in 2007. After reading The Alchemists, I’m more sympathetic toward Ben Bernanke, who I have been critical of for not doing more to improve the economy. Neil Irwin shows the powerful political forces who resist increasing the money supply (the classic Keynesian solution to a Recession/Depression). The countries who went in the opposite direction–cutting spending–find themselves in worse economic shape today. I’m sure all three of these bankers would have liked to do more to get people back to work and to get their economies growing faster, but the politicians make improvement dicey. We’re just going to have to struggle along. GRADE: A