Political Animals on USA Network ends its six-episode run tonight. I, of course, love Sigourney Weaver as Secretary of State. I also like Carla Gugino as the ambitious newspaper columnist. But there’s plenty I don’t like. I don’t like Sigourney’s gay, drug-addicted son. And, I’m not so fond of her straight-arrow son, either. Sigourney’s ex-husband, based on Bill Clinton, steals scenes sometimes and goofs up the action of the plot at other times. I’m not sure if this series will be continued. And, if it is continued, I don’t know if I would watch it unless Major Changes take place. But, as TV summer filler, Political Animals was worth watching.

Here’s another value CD set. I purchased this 14-CD set for a mere $25 on AMAZON. I’m a fan of Leopold Stokowski and this set collects plenty of his marvelous music. The sound is good. Many of these recordings have been unavailable for years. Now, this generous set fills the gap in Stokowski’s availability. If you enjoy classical music, this could be a wonderful addition to your collection. Plenty of great music to listen to here! GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
CD1
Beethoven Eroica and Coriolan Overture (London Symphony Orchestra, March 1974 and Stokowski’s only recording of the Overture, and quasi-only one of the Eroica: the other one is a live Philadelphia recording from 1963, once available on some obscure LP).

Brahms Academic Overture (New Philharmonia 21 June 74 only recording.)

Beethoven: Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’/Brahms: [Import] (the individual CD sells for more expensive today than this RCA/Sony box). The two Beethoven but not the Brahms are also available on a previous reissue, selling cheap, Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) Coriolan Overture

CD2
Shostakovich Symph. No. 6, Age of Gold-Suite op. 22a

Khachaturian Symph 3 (all Chicago SO, Febr 68, only rec.)

Stokowski Stereo Collection: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 / The Age of Gold, Ballet Suite / Khachaturian: Symphony No. 3 (Chicago/Stokowski, 1968)

CD 3
Menotti Sebastian-Suite

Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet (Stokowski’s own selection from the various suites)

(both NBC SO September & October 1954, and gorgeous stereo)

Prokofiev: Selections from Romeo and Juliet; Menotti Sebastian (Suite) – Stokowski see my review

CD 4
Wagner excerpts from Walküre, Tristan, Rheingold, Tannhäuser, Rienzi

Tannhäuser Overture & Bacchanale is with Symphony of the Air & Chorus from 28 December 1960

Rheingold’s Enty of the Gods with Martina Arroyo and Carlotta Ordassy, Walküre Ride of the Valkyries with Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett and various, and Tristan Prelude A. III are with Symphony of the Air, April 1961

Rienzi Overture & Walküre Magic Fire Music are with Royal Philharmonic October 1973

Stokowski Stereo Collection: Wagner Volume 1: Das Rheingold; Die Walkure; Tristan und Isolde; Tannhauser; Rienzi

CD 5
Wagner excerpts from Meisetersinger, Tristan, Gotterdämmerung

Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde, Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg, Gotterdammerung (Stokowski Stereo Collection, Vol. 2)

Royal Philharmonic October 1973 & London SO November 1974 and Stokowski’s ultimate Wagner recordings – see my review

CD 6
Stokowski Stereo Collection: Inspiration / Handel: Water Music Suite. The Water Music Suite was recorded in April 1961 with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, the rest is a collection of miscellanea, recorded in July 1961 with an orchestra dubbed “The New Symphony Orchestra of London”, which was I think the Royal Philharmonic, composers being the famous “Anonymous” (Deep River, the Old 104th), Bach, Beethoven, Gluck, Haendel, Humperdinck, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, see entry for details.

CD 7
Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne; Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5; Rachmaninoff: Vocalise – Stokowski, Moffo

American Symphony Orchestra 10-14 April 1964

CD 8
Dvorak: New World Symphony, New Philharmonia Orchestra 2 & 4 July 1973 and Stokowski’s last recording of seven (including an abridged version recorded in 1919)

Smetana Moldau, Bartered Bride Overture, RCA SO, 18 February 1960

CD 9
Tchaikovsky: Symphony Pathétique: London Symphony Orchestra 5,7,10 September 1973

Enesco: Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2: RCA Symphony Orchestra 7 February 1960

CD 10
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra February-March 1975, Stokowski’s last recording of six

Russian Easter Overture: Chicago Symphony Orchestra 20,21 Feburary 1968

CD 11
Bach transcriptions (LSO April 1974)
Handel Royal Fireworks (RCA Victor SO 24 March 1961)

CD 12 & 13
Brahms Symphony No. 4
New Philharmonia Orchestra 17,20 June 1974 and Stokowski’s last of four recordings

Mahler Symphony No. 2
Margaret Price / Brigitte Fassbaender / London Symphony Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra July-August 1974

CD 14
Bach Toccata & Fugue BWV 565(LSO 27,29 July 1974, Stokowski’s last of 13 recordings!), Rehearsals Toccata & Fugue, Wagner Rienzi, Beethoven Pastorale (NBC Symphony Orchestra March 1954), Mahler Symph. 2 (LSO 19 july 1974).

Philip Harbottle captures the Sense of Wonder of early science fiction in Britain in this marvelous volume. After World War II, prolific British writers like John Russell Fearn and E.C. Tubb burst on the scene. Other British SF writers like Arthur C. Clarke and Eric Frank Russell became international writers. Harbottle explores some of the pre-WWII writers, too. Vultures of the Void includes hundreds of covers from British SF paperbacks and magazines, most of which I’d never seen before. That, alone is worth the price of this book. But Harbottle’s enthusiasm and scope in documenting the history of British science fiction writing makes the stories he tells all the more entertaining and enlightening. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Homicide, the best cop series on TV, is now available at the bargain price of $59.99 (AMAZON wants $102.89). This package include 35 DVDs (all 122 episodes) for 97 hours and 34 minutes of classic police procedural wonderfulness. Homicide won two Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards, three Television Critics Awards, two Writers Guild Awards, and was named to TV Guide’s “Greatest Episodes in TV History” and “TV’s Greatest Characters” lists. Also included in this package are hours of commentary and interviews. If you’re a fan of this genre, this package is screaming your name! To check it out, click here.

Magic Hours collects Tom Bissell’s explorations of the creative process. Bissell shows what happens on the set of The Big Bang Theory. He analyzes Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Bissell interviews director Werner Herzog and surveys his films. Other essays investigate Iraq War documentaries and video-game character voices. In “Unflowered Aloes” and “Grief and the Outsider,” Bissell considers the longevity of literary fame. Using the works Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, Bissell shows how initial neglect led to eventual fame. The book ends with an essay on the novels and poetry of Jim Harrison, best known for his novella Legends of the Fall (which later turned out to be a pretty good movie). After I read this essay, I wanted to drop everything and read some Jim Harrison! GRADE: A-

This recently released Blu-ray collection of Marilyn Monroe’s movies should give those of you who haven’t upgraded to Blu-ray the excuse you’ve been looking for to buy one. Here are some of Marilyn’s most iconic movies in hi-def sharpness and color. It’s like watching these films again for the first time. If you don’t want to stimulate the economy like I did, get your local public library to buy this wonderful set!
Book 1:

Disc 1: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Disc 2: How to Marry a Millionaire
Disc 3: River of No Return
Disc 4: There’s No Business Like Show Business

Book 2:

Disc 5: The Seven Year Itch
Disc 6: Some Like it Hot
Disc 7: The Misfits

For the past seven seasons, The Closer has been the highest rated drama on cable. The series stars Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief of Police who specializes in interrogations of crime suspects that conclude with a confession. The first four seasons focused on solving murders. In Season Five, Brenda Leigh Johnson’s team became a unit called “Major Crimes.” This gave the writers more freedom to explore other crime plots. One of the aspects of this series that I enjoyed the most was the occasional humorous episodes usually featuring G. W. Bailey as crusty Louie Provenza and his partner, Andy Flynn (Tony Denison). Many of the cast are going to be part of the program’s morphing into a new series, Major Crimes, which will premier directly after the concluding episode of The Closer. I’ll miss The Closer and I’ll give Major Crimes a try for a few weeks.

Longmire on A&E wraps up its first season tonight. For my money, Longmire was the best cable program this summer. Great cast! Robert Taylor plays Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. He’s a wily veteran detective who solves some baffling cases. The scripts are above average. If you missed this fine series, you can watch Longmire online at the A&E website. It may be available to you on-demand with your cable system. And, I’m sure the DVD set will show up in stores within the month. I’ll be looking forward to Season Two of Longmire.

You don’t have to know much about the Bourne trilogy of movies to enjoy the latest installment: The Bourne Legacy. Without giving much away, all of these movies are chase movies. The Government wants to shut down a secret spy operation and instead of giving everyone a severance check, the Government decided to kill everyone associated with the secret program. Only, they didn’t quite kill Jason Bourne and in The Bourne Legacy they didn’t kill Jeremy Renner’s character (although they tried really, really hard!). Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton lead an impressive cast on this summer action thriller joy-ride. You will love the incredible motorcycle chase in Manila! GRADE: B+

Evan Lewis occasionally blogs about Race Williams, classic Private Eye, and I’ve finally gotten around to reading one of his classic adventures: The Hidden Hand. The Hidden Hand is a secretive crime lord who has put a $50,000 bounty on Race Williams’ head. The adventures in The Hidden Hand were originally published in a different form in Black Mask back in the June, July, August, September, and October issues in 1928. Obviously, this is a fix-up novel, but for those of you who like your noir straight, then this Race Williams novel will take you directly to the Dark Side. Race Williams is tough as nails, gets gassed, manages to survive a sniper attack, and eliminates gangsters with ruthless efficiency. If you’re looking for action and violence, The Hidden Hand has plenty!