Every Saturday morning in the early Seventies, I’d flip on the TV and watch Soul Train. Don Cornelius, the man with the velvet voice, hosted the shows back then. All the great soul artists, Aretha, Marvin Gay, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, showed up on this program. Don Cornelius died a few days ago, but memories of Soul Train will continue to live on.

Last month I reviewed Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making where John Curran culled hundreds of fascinating facts from Christie’s notebooks to enlighten creative the process she used to create her masterpieces. In this second volume, Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making, More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks, John Curran focuses more on Christie’s short stories. I also found “How I Created Hercule Poirot” and “Agatha Christie’s Booklists” to be interesting. If you’re a Christie fan, this is a must-buy.

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a troubled writer of Young Adult novels of the Gossip Girl variety. Mavis feels an overwhelming compulsion to reconnect with her high school boyfriend, Buddy. So she drives from Minneapolis to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota to rekindle an old flame. Along the way, Mavis meets the nerdy guy whose locker was next to her’s in high school, Matt (played brilliantly by Patton Oswalt), who she completely ignored for four years. Matt plays the Greek Chorus in this movie warning Mavis her quest will end in disaster since her old boy friend is happily married and has a new baby. Director Jason Reitman makes the most of Diablo Cody’s edgy script. Yes, there’s humor here, but it’s mostly dark and ironic. GRADE: A-

In 1982, an obscure Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer named Gaston Glock invented a new firearm. The Glock pistol featured a lightweight plastic frame and large-capacity spring-action magazine. The new pistol was adopted by the Austrian army. Timing, as they say, is everything. American law enforcement was looking for a new weapon to replace their old-fashioned Smith & Wessons. The Glock is built with only 36 parts. You could drop it in the water and it would still fire. It was reliable, accurate, lightweight, and cheaper to produce than Smith and Wesson’s revolvers. The standard semi-automatic Glock can fire as many as 17 bullets from its magazine without reloading. A Glock equipped with an extended thirty-three cartridge magazine was used to shoot Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others last year.

You’ve seen this weapon on TV, in the movies, and read about them in books. You might even own one. Paul Barrett tells a compelling story of how Glock became the most popular gun in America. If you’re interested in gun violence and gun control, Glock has to be part of the conversation. GRADE: A

Last week I reviewed Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly and this week I’m reviewing another Robert Aldrich film, Vera Cruz (1954). Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper are at the top of their games. The supporting cast, Ernest Borgnine as Donegan, Charles Bronson as Pittsburgh, Jack Elam as Tex, James McCallion as Little-Bit, and Archie Savage as Ballad, make a great band of cut-throats. Cesar Romero delivers a strong performance as Marquis Henri de Labordere. The plot involves a Mexican Civil War that attracts adventurers and mercenaries. Lancaster, Cooper, and their band of ruffians are hired to guard a carriage carrying the Countess Marie Duvarre (played by Denise Darcel) to Vera Cruz. But there’s also $3 million in gold hidden in the carriage and everyone is double-crossing (and triple-crossing) each other to get the gold. The Mexican scenery is spectacular and this new Blu-ray version shows it off in crisp detail. Vera Cruz is a Top Ten western. GRADE: A

Margaret Thatcher said that the best book on business is The Tale of Ginger & Pickles. Ginger is a yellow tom-cat and Pickles is a terrier. Together they operate a small general store that all the animals use. However, Ginger and Pickles extend credit to the customers. Tabitha Twitchit, who owns the competing general store, does not provide credit. In just a few pages, Beatrix Potter captures the essence of business, the nature of competition and consumer behavior. That’s impressive for a kid’s book.

Gina Carano kicks some major butt in this tricky Steven Soderbergh thriller. Gina plays Mallory Kane, a covert contract agent for a private security firm. When a hostage rescue turns into Something Else, Mallory is on the run from her employer. But, the men in this movie ALWAYS underestimate Mallory and suffer the consequences. Michael Douglas plays a wild card character. Ewan McGregor plays Mallory’s boss. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. And I’d like to see Gina Carano in a sequel or a clone of this action thriller. GRADE: B+

Diane read the newspaper review of One for the Money (one star) and worried that this long-awaited film would disappoint her and the legions of Stephenie Plum fans. So while I was watching Haywire, Diane and her friends went to One for the Money. Although Diane didn’t think Katherine Heigl fit her vision of Stephenie Plum, she pulled off a credible performance. Diane also thought that Sherri Shepherd was a very convincing Lula. One for the Money wasn’t as bad as Diane expected it to be. GRADE: C+

As you know by now, Michel Hazanavicius’s new movie, The Artist, is a silent movie. That’s the novelty that attracted so much attention to the film. But it’s the performances of Jean Dujardin as silent film actor George Valentin and the new “talkie” star Peppy Miller, played to perfection by Bérénice Bejo, that are the true attractions of this movie. The chemistry they have on-screen is terrific! Dujardin has been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar and Bejo is up for Best Supporting Actress. And The Artist is one of the nine movies nominated for Best Movie. Of course, The Artist is going to be a hard-sell to mass audiences who don’t like B&W films and can’t imagine a movie without dialogue. But for those of you who love classic movie-making, enjoy! GRADE: A-

Randy Johnson reviewed Tama of the Light Country and Tama, Princess of Mercury last month. You can read his take here. And Bill Lengeman also recommended the Tama books. Within the last month, I’ve posted FFB reviews of Michael Moorcock’s Kane of Mars series, Otis Adelbert Kline’s Mars novels. Ray Cummings’ Tama novels fit the same template. Both Tama tales were originally published in Argosy: Tama of the Light Country in 1930, Tama, Princess of Mercury in 1931. Take that into consideration if you decided to read these yarns. If you’re a fan of SF adventure novels, Cumming’s tales of the winged virgins of Mercury will entertain you.