Frances Ha tells the story of a twenty-something wannabe dancer who struggles to find her footing in New York City (with detours to Sacramento and Paris). Greta Gerwig captures the quirky character of Frances perfectly. Frances’ best friend, Sophie (ably played by Mickey Sumner), struggles for her place in the world, too. Plenty of random events happen which makes the plot lurch from episode to episode. Co-written (with Greta Gerwig) and directed by Noah Baubach, Frances Ha is a different kind of coming-of-age movie. GRADE: B

Back in 1943, when A. E. Van Vogt was just beginning his career as a science fiction writer, Van Vogt wrote a fantasy story for Unknown Worlds. The setting was a depleted planet Earth 200 million years in the future (with the same tone as Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth stories). Ptath, summoned from a previous time line, arrives in this future with an impaired memory. Through trickery, Ptath is manipulated into disarming several of the guardian spells that keep the forces of Evil at bay. Ptath, like many of Van Vogt’s characters, operates with fragmentary information and has to figure out what the Truth is. Even in this early work, plenty of Van Vogtian plot and character devices are at work. You can see the signs of Van Vogt’s future greatness in The Book of Ptath.

The Six-Gun Tarot is R. S. Belcher’s first novel so that explains some of the problems with this weird western. Let’s start with the cast of characters: a sheriff who seemingly can’t be killed, a banker’s wife who belongs to a secret order of pirates and assassins, a deputy who was once a coyote. On top of all that, the End of the World teeters on the brink as an ancient evil attempts to break out of its prison. There’s a lot going on in this book. Too much, really. I wish Belcher had focused on one or two of his exotic characters and told their stories. The Six-Gun Tarot has a “kitchen sink” feel to it as the author threw in every plot and off-beat character he could think of. But, despite my quibbles, I’m looking forward to R. S. Belcher’s next book, The 32 Killers of Golgotha! GRADE: B

The new Lone Ranger movie opens tomorrow, but today this double feature starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels brings back a lot of memories at a bargain price ($5.99 on AMAZON). In the 1950s, The Lone Ranger TV program was a fixture on Saturdays. I watched every episode (but, the truth be told I was also a big fan of Sky King). The Lone Ranger and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold showed up at our local movie theater. Yes, they’re low budget compared to the July 3rd Lone Ranger extravaganza, but fun nonetheless. Sadly, westerns are pretty much a dead genre today, but I still hold fond memories of the Lone Ranger and Tonto and those thrilling tales of yesteryear.

I’m a huge fan of Mark Bittman’s cookbooks. I use HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING constantly. In VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 Bittman shows how he lost 35 pounds by adopting a vegan life-style during the day and then eating anything he wanted after 6 P.M. Bittman provides 60 recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to demonstrate how changing your diet to a more plant-based one pays off in better health and weight-loss. After reading VB6, I’ve decided to give Bittman’s strategy a try. If it works, you’ll see the results at the Albany BOUCHERCON! Check out Bittma’s video below.

My favorite Elinor Lipman essay in I Can’t Complain is “The Funniest and the Favorite.” Elinor Lipman’s favorite book is Max Schulman’s The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. I am a huge Max Schulman fan and after reading this essay I wanted to drop everything and reread that Dobie Gillis book. If Lipman was just writing about her favorite book, it would have been a fine essay. But Lipman adds another layer. Lipman reads The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis because her father recommended it to her when she was a kid. And, together, Lipman and her father grow closer together because of the love of books and humor. There are plenty of other fun essays in I Can’t Complain–I enjoyed the “Sex Ed” essay a lot–but none of essays moved me as much as the one where Lipman fell in love with reading. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents:
◾My introduction and my thanks
◾Meet the family.Julia’s child
◾The funniest and the favorite
◾How to get religion
◾Good grudgekeeping
◾No thank you, I think
◾Sex ed
◾The rosy glow of the backward glance
◾I still think, Call her
◾A tip of the hat to the old block
◾My soap opera journal
◾On writing.Confessions of a blurb slut
◾No outline? Is that any way to write a novel?
◾Which one is he again?
◾It was a dark and stormy nosh
◾Assignment: What happens next?
◾I touch a nerve
◾My book the movie
◾You author’s anxieties: a guide
◾Coupling columns.Boy meets girl
◾May I recommend
◾
◾I want to know
◾A mister and missus
◾Monsieur clean
◾Ego boundaries
◾I married a gourmet
◾I sleep around
◾The best man
◾Since then.This is for you
◾Watching the Masters by myself
◾We [heart] New York
◾A fine nomance.

None of the songs on Motown: The Musical sound as good as the original songs. Here’s the track list:
1 Battle of the Stars: Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Prologue) / I Can’t Help (4:15)
2 Hey Joe (Black Like Me) (2:02)
3 Get Ready / Dancing in the Street (3:24)
4 The Motortown Revue: Please Mr. Postman / You’ve Really Got a Hold on M (4:22)
5 Where Did Our Love Go? / Stop! In the Name of Love (2:00)
6 My Girl (2:46)
7 You’re All I Need to Get By (3:07)
8 War / What’s Going On (4:05)
9 I Heard It Through the Grapevine (2:12)
10 I Want You Back / ABC / The Love You Save (2:28)
11 Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) (3:42)
12 Happy Birthday / Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours (2:55)
13 Can I Close the Door (On Love) (3:49)
14 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (2:47)
GRADE: C

Instead of wasting your money (like I did) on this lame soundtrack, the better move would be to buy Motown: The Musical Originals – 14 Classic Songs That Inspired The Broadway Show!. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who realized the soundtrack to the musical was vastly inferior to the original songs. Here’s the tack list for Mowtown: The Musical Originals:
Disc 1:
1. Get Ready (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 2:39
2. Dancing In The Street Martha & The Vandellas 2:39
3. Money (That’s What I Want) (Stereo Version) Barrett Strong 2:38
4. Shop Around (Stereo Version) The Miracles 2:51
5. Stubborn Kind Of Fellow (Album Version (Stereo)) Marvin Gaye 2:48
6. Fingertips, Part 2 (Second Pressing) Stevie Wonder 3:12
7. Please Mr. Postman (Single Version) The Marvelettes 2:31
8. Two Lovers (1966 Version) Mary Wells 2:47
9. You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (1966 Version) The Miracles 2:53
10. Do You Love Me (1966 Version) The Contours 2:54
11. My Guy (Single Version) Mary Wells 2:52
12. Where Did Our Love Go (Stereo) The Supremes 2:33
13. Stop! In The Name Of Love (Stereo Version) The Supremes 2:54
14. Baby I Need Your Loving (1966 Version) The Four Tops 2:46
15. Shotgun (Extended Stereo Mix 2005) Jr. Walker And The All Stars 3:20
16. Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone (Alt. Version) The Supremes 2:48
17. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Album Version (Stereo)) Marvin Gaye 3:15
18. War (Single Version) Edwin Starr 3:22
19. What’s Going On (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 3:54
20. Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today) (Stereo Version) The Temptations 4:05
Disc 2:
1. Love Child (Album Version (Stereo)) Diana Ross & The Supremes 2:56
2. Cloud Nine (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 3:29
3. For Once In My Life (Album Version) Stevie Wonder 2:50
4. Who’s Lovin’ You (Album Version) The Miracles 3:05
5. I Want You Back (Single Version) Jackson 5 3:01
6. I’ll Be There (Album Version) Jackson 5 3:58
7. Up The Ladder To The Roof (Single Version) The Supremes 3:13
8. My Girl (Album Version (Stereo)) The Temptations 3:00
9. You’re All I Need To Get By (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 2:50
10. I Hear A Symphony (Album Version) The Supremes 2:40
11. My World Is Empty Without You (Stereo) The Supremes 2:34
12. Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand) (Single Version) Diana Ross 3:05
13. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) (Album Version) Marvin Gaye 3:15
14. Cruisin’ (Album Edit) Smokey Robinson 4:27
15. Brick House (Album Version) Commodores 3:30
16. I’m Coming Out (Album Version) Diana Ross 5:21
17. All Night Long (All Night) (Album Version) Lionel Richie 6:24
18. Super Freak (Album Version) Rick James 3:26
19. Remember Me (Alternate Vocal And Mix) Diana Ross 3:42
20. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Single Version (Long)) 3:33
GRADE: A

In 2011, McSweeney’s 39, the literary magazine, included an Elmore Leonard story: “Chick Killer.” I’m not sure if many mystery and suspense fans read McSweeney’s so I’m guessing most people are unaware of this fine story. The story is about Karen Sisco, one of my favorite Elmore Leonard characters (played to perfection in Out of Sight by Jennifer Lopez). Karen Sisco wants to resign from the U.S. Marshalls, but before she can Sisco is confronted by a man who has killed four women. The story of how Sisco deals with this criminal is vintage Elmore Leonard. I hope some mystery anthology reprints “Chick Killer” for a wider audience.

Sound City was the legendary recording studio located in the San Fernando Valley. Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Johnny Cash, Guns & Roses, Cheap Trick, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, and Nirvana recorded classic albums at Sound City. This documentary tells the story of Sound City from its early days in the 1970s until its closing in 2011. The sound on the albums is unique because of the NEVE control panel that made Sound City a favorite studio for many musicians. I also enjoyed the scenes explaining how the studio operated over the years. If you’re interested in rock history and the nuts-and-bolts of old-fashion analog recording, Sound City will fascinate you. Check out the trailer below. GRADE: A