Judi Dench is marvelous in Philomena. But, her co-star, Steve Coogan, is terrific, too. Steve Coogan plays an out-of-work British journalist who reluctantly takes up Judi Dench’s character’s search for her missing son. The director, Stephen Frears, takes the Steve Coogan/Jeff Pope script and turns it into a plot pretzel. I loved the unexpected twists. The chemistry between Judi Dench and Steve Coogan is special. Coogan’s foppish journalist learns some Life Lessons from Philomena. But the journalist is relentless and discovers key clues about Philomena’s missing son. Philomena is one of the Best Movies of 2013. GRADE: A

The woeful Buffalo Bills were blown out last Sunday in Tampa Bay, 27-6. They failed to score a touchdown. Rookie QB E.J. Manuel threw FOUR interceptions. The Bills defense gave up an 80-yard TD run on the second play of the game! The Bills stayed in Florida after the Tampa Bay game this week because they’re playing another Florida team today. Whether that strategy works out…we’ll find out. How is your favorite NFL team going to do today?

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the story from the first Hobbit movie. A band of Dwarves accompanied by Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit and Gandalf the Wizard resume their quest to reclaim Erebor, the Dwarves’ homeland, from Smaug the evil dragon. Bilbo Baggins has a mysterious magical ring that allows him to be invisible. Director Peter Jackson cleverly keeps all of the subplots spinning for the film’s two hours and forty minutes. Tolkien purists will quibble about the addition of the warrior Elf, Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly), but not me. I have a weakness for feisty redheads wielding a deadly bow. Of course, the conclusion leaves the audience hanging…and yearning for the third and final installment of The Hobbit. GRADE: A

cover back

You can click on the cover and back cover links above to see bigger versions of Murder at Christmas to see what this paperback from the 1990s looked like. I reviewed The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries a couple days ago, but I thought this collection would capture some of the spirit of the season. If you check the Table of Contents below you’ll see what I mean. These stories were first published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Between The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries and Murder at Christmas there are plenty of Yuletide mysteries to keep us all entertained at this time of year. Happy Holidays!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
“The Theft of the Christmas Stocking” by Edward D. Hoch
“‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip” by Julian Symons
“Death in the Christmas Hour” by James Powell
“Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story by Paul Auster
“Christmas Gift” by Robert Turner
“Rumpole and the Chambers Party” by John Mortimer
“Murder at Christmas” by C. M. Chan
“Father Crumlish Celebrates Christmas” by Alice Scanlan Reach
“A Matter of Life and Death” by Georges Simenon
“Miss Crindle and Father Christmas” by Malcolm Gray

To get into the spirit of next week’s second movie installment of The Hobbit, I read this collection that is subtitled: “Classic stories That Inspired the Author of The Lord of the Rings.” This is blatant marketing. As Douglas Anderson writes several times in the commentary to these stories, Tolkien “might” have read them. Of course, some of these stories Tolkien did read (we know that because he wrote about them) like “The Song of Sigurd” by Andrew Lang. I have a few quibbles. Anderson could have chosen some stronger stories by Lord Dunsany and Arthur Machen. But, overall, Tales Before Tolkien is an enjoyable anthology if a tad uneven. My favorite stories were by Andrew Lang, H. Rider Haggard, and L. Frank Baum. Inexpensive copies are available at the usual Internet sites. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Elves /Ludwig Tieck
Golden key /George MacDonald
Puss-cat mew /E.H. Knatchbull-Hugessen
Griffin and the minor canon /Frank R. Stockton
Demon pope /Richard Garnett
Story of Sigurd /retold by Andrew Lang
Folk of the mountain door /William Morris
Black heart and white heart: a Zulu idyll /H. Rider Haggard
Dragon tamers /E. Nesbit
Far Islands /John Buchan
Drawn arrow /Clemence Housman
Enchanted buffalo /L. Frank Baum
Chu-bu and Sheemish /Lord Dunsany
Baumoff explosive /William Hope Hodgson
Regent of the north /Kenneth Morris
Coming of the terror /Arthur Machen
Elf trap /Francis Stevens
Thin queen of Elfhame /James Branch Cabell
Woman of the wood /A. Merritt
Golithos the ogre /E.A. Wyki-Smith
Christmas play /David Lindsay.

There is something for everyone in this yuletide collection. Every style, every mystery taste is represented in The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. This is the perfect gift for the mystery lover on your list. Check out the Table of Contents below. There might be some stories you’ll want to read! GRADE: A
Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION Otto Penzler

A Traditional Little Christmas
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING Agatha Christie
GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MURDER Catherine Aird
BOXING UNCLEVER Robert Barnard
THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING Peter Lovesey
THE ADVENTURE OF THE DAUPHIN’S DOLL Ellery Queen
MORSE’S GREATEST MYSTERY Colin Dexter
MORE THAN FLESH AND BLOOD Susan Moody
THE BUTLER’S CHRISTMAS EVE Mary Roberts Rinehart
THE TRINITY CAT Ellis Peters 91

A Funny Little Christmas
THE BURGLAR AND THE WHATSIT Donald E. Westlake
DANCING DAN’S CHRISTMAS Damon Runyon
A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS Ron Goulart
THE THIEVES WHO COULDN’T HELP SNEEZING Thomas Hardy
RUMPOLE AND THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS John Mortimer
A REVERSIBLE SANTA CLAUS Meredith Nicholson

A Sherlockian Little Christmas
A SCANDAL IN WINTER Gillian Linscott
THE CHRISTMAS CLIENT Edward D. Hoch
THE SECRET IN THE PUDDING BAG & HERLOCK SHOLMES’S
CHRISTMAS CASE Peter Todd
CHRISTMAS EVE S. C. Roberts
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE Arthur Conan Doyle

A Pulpy Little Christmas
DEAD ON CHRISTMAS STREET John D. MacDonald
CRIME’S CHRISTMAS CAROL Norvell Page
SERENADE TO A KILLER Joseph Commings

An Uncanny Little Christmas
THE HAUNTED CRESCENT Peter Lovesey
A CHRISTMAS IN CAMP Edmund Cox
THE CHRISTMAS BOGEY Pat Frank
THE KILLER CHRISTIAN Andrew Klavan
THE GHOST’S TOUCH Fergus Hume
A WREATH FOR MARLEY Max Allan Collins

A Scary Little Christmas
THE CAROL SINGERS Josephine Bell
WAXWORKS Ethel Lina White
CAMBRIC TEA Marjorie Bowen
THE 74TH TALE Jonathan Santlofer
THE UNINNOCENT Bradford Morrow
BLUE CHRISTMAS Peter Robinson

A Surprising Little Christmas
NOEL, NOEL Barry Perowne
DEATH ON CHRISTMAS EVE Stanley Ellin
THE CHINESE APPLE Joseph Shearing

A Modern Little Christmas
AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE Ed McBain
AN EARLY CHRISTMAS Doug Allyn
THE LIVE TREE John Lutz
THREE-DOT PO Sara Paretsky
MAD DOG Dick Lochte

A Puzzling Little Christmas
SISTER BESSIE Cyril Hare
THAT’S THE TICKET Mary Higgins Clark
DEATH ON THE AIR Ngaio Marsh
THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS Isaac Asimov
THE CHRISTMAS KITTEN Ed Gorman
THE SANTA CLAUS CLUB Julian Symons

A Classic Little Christmas
THE FLYING STARS G. K. Chesterton
CHRISTMAS PARTY Rex Stout
THE RAFFLES RELICS E. W. Hornung
THE PRICE OF LIGHT Ellis Peters
A PRESENT FOR SANTA SAHIB H. R. F. Keating
THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN Will Scott
MARKHEIM Robert Louis Stevenson
A CHAPARRAL CHRISTMAS GIFT O. Henry
THE CHOPHAM AFFAIR Edgar Wallace
A CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY Agatha Christie

For that Tom Clancy fan on your holiday gift list, this new Blu-ray edition of The Jack Ryan Collection shows up at the perfect time. The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears look great in high-definition. I enjoyed all of these movies. My favorite is The Hunt for Red October. I thought Alec Baldwin made a perfect Jack Ryan. But Baldwin got into a fight with the head of Disney (who made the film), calling Michael Ovitz “the Eighth Dwarf: Stupid.” If you buy this box set now, you get a free ticket to the soon to open Jack Ryan movie, Shadow Recruit. GRADE: A

Foreverly gets my nomination as the most surprising album of the year. Billie Joe Armstrong (of Green Day) and Norah Jones team up to replicate the classic Everly Brothers album, Songs Our Daddy Taught Us from 1958. This bizarre project turns out incredibly well. The instrumentation is sparse, basically guitars with a piano and a muted rhythm section. The focus is on the vocals. Billie Joe and Norah harmonize beautifully. No one sings like this anymore. If you’re in the mood for some mellow songs from the past, you’ll find them here. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. Roving Gambler 4:08
2. Long Time Gone 3:28
3. Lightning Express 5:00
4. Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine 3:38
5. Down In The Willow Garden 4:32
6. Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet? 2:56
7. Oh So Many Years 3:03
8. Barbara Allen 4:48
9. Rockin’ Alone (In An Old Rockin’ Chair) 3:00
10. I’m Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail 4:19
11. Kentucky 3:26
12. Put My Little Shoes Away 3:21

After last Sunday’s debacle in Toronto where the Bills snatched defeat from the jaws of Victory by committing not one but two fumbles late in the game. The Bills fans who were smoking funny substances and thinking the Bills had a shot at the Playoffs by winning five games in a row (although they haven’t won two games in a row this season) have had their dim hopes dashed. So this Bills vs. Bucs game is a glorified pre-season game as both teams look toward next season. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

“You master form you master time.” That’s Glyn Maxwell’s mantra throughout this clever little book. Books like On Poetry basically give the author a chance to display his favorite poems and to celebrate his favorite poets. Glyn Maxwell likes Robert Frost, Yeats, Emily Dickinson, and Shakespeare. I always enjoy books where the writer is passionate about his material. You’ll find Glyn Maxwell an amiable guide to poetry and its forms. GRADE: B+