Queen Latifah plays a physical therapist who loves the New Jersey Nets. When her favorite Nets player is injured in an All-Star game, Queen Latifah works to get the superstar ready to perform in the playoffs. Of course, love enters the picture and romantic complications ensue. Just Wright is a routine, predictable romantic comedy. What lifts it above mediocrity is Queen Latifah’s radiant presence. If you like Queen Latifah (and I do), you’ll like this movie. GRADE: B

Torchlight is a video game (I have the PC version) cloned from DIABLO and DIABLO 2. Torchlight sends you on quests in the scary caverns. You can choose to be accompanied by a pet (I picked Spot, a dog). But by catching fish in the frequent fishing holes, you can feed the fish to your pet and they will take on new forms and abilities. Yes, this is just mindless fun. I find it very relaxing to play Torchlight about 20 minutes at a time. The game allows you to save anywhere at anytime (many games don’t). If you’re a gamer who wants a well designed game (2 of the guys who worked on DIABLO helped to design Torchlight) that provides plenty of entertainment, pick up a copy of Torchlight. Great game play and wonderful graphics. I love the guitar based soundtrack, too! I bought my copy at Sam’s Club for $15. A bargain! GRADE: B+

Here’s part of what arrived in the mail last week:

What a long, strange trip it’s been with 24. Eight years ago, in the wake of 9/11, FOX presented this novel program where each episode represented a hour in a day. The 24 episodes would concern a terrorist threat that would be thwarted by Jack Bauer of the Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU). The show was an immediate success and Dave Barry started blogging about the unintentional humor of Bauer’s battle against the Bad Guys (and Dolls). However, after eight seasons, the innovation and spark are gone from the series. Right now, Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) is on a murderous mission to avenge the assassination of his lover, Rene Walker. He’s left a long trail of dead bodies (literally!) behind him. The series finale will be broadcast in a two-hour episode tomorrow night, May 24, from 8:00 to 10:00 E.D.T. Check your local listings. This is the end of an era. The only suspense is whether they’ll kill Jack off. I’m guessing NO.

Diane and I wanted to see this story about the last days of Leo Tolstoy and his wife for months. Finally, we watched the movie and came away with mixed responses. There’s no doubt that Christopher Plummer (as Tolstoy) and Helen Mirren (as Countess Sofya Tolstoy) throw themselves into their roles. Their 48-year marriage is stormy and coming apart as Tolstoy cares less about his writing novels and more about his Utopian vision of Russia. Paul Giamatti plays the scheming Vladimir Chertkov who manipulates the ancient Tolstoy to build a commune. Kerry Condon as the sexy Masha steals every scene she’s in. Patrick Kennedy plays the naive secretary, Sergeyenko. Director Michael Hoffman’s pacing of this film is a bit slow. The story is sad. GRADE: B-

Manly Wade Wellman wrote dozens of stories for Weird Tales but the stories about John Thunstone, battler of the powers of darkness, are my particular favorites. The John Thunstone stories explore voodoo, as in “The Third Cry to Legba,” and curses, demons, black magic, and things that go bump in the night. Many of the Thunstone tales have a Lovecraft twist to them. The Necronomicon shows up in one of the stories, for example. Night Shade Books collected all the John Thunstone stories in Volume One (of Five) of the Collected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman. Later, Wellman wrote two novels about Thunstone and his battle against the forces of darkness: What Dreams May Come (1982) and School of Darkness (1985). Both novels are well worth reading. It goes without saying that the John Thunstone stories from Weird Tales hold up after more than 60 years.

Other FORGOTTEN BOOKS can be found by clicking on the links below. If I’ve inadvertently left you off the list, send me a comment and I’ll make it right. Patti will be doing the SUMMING UP sans the cheerleaders.

Paul Bishop
David Cranmer
Bill Crider
Martin Edwards
Ed Gorman
Randy Johnson
Patrick Lennon
Evan Lewis
Steve Lewis
Todd Mason
James Reasoner
Richard Robinson
Kerrie Smith
Patti Abbott
BV Lawson
le0pard13

Robin Hood resembles Braveheart more than the Errol Flynn or Richard Greene incarnations of the Outlaw of Sherwood Forest. In fact, until the end of the movie, Sherwood Forest is a no-show. Russell Crowe plays a grumpy Robin, returning from the fiasco of the Crusades. When King Richard the Lionheart dies in France, Crowe, with his band of men, flee to Nottingham. There, Crowe accepts the offer to play the role of the returning son of a local baron (the real son was murdered by one of evil King John’s minions). Part of the role is to pretend to be the husband of Cate Blanchett. I wish director Ridley Scott involved Cate more in the action (she missing for most of the first hour). There are plenty of battles and the action seldom flags in this 140 minute film. The ending suggests a sequel. GRADE: B

Last night, Diane and I attended a Jennifer Koh recital. Ably accompanied by pianist Shai Wosner, Koh dazzled the audience with her technique and energy. She scintillated in Mozart’s “Sonata in F Major, K.377” and “Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 454.” Koh also performed Schubert’s “Sonatina in A Minor, Op. 137, No. 2” and “Sonatina in D Major, Op. 137, No. 1.” This seems to be a time of wonderful violinists. Within the past year, we’ve heard Hilary Hahn, Gil Shaham, and now Jennifer Koh. Violinists just don’t get much better than that.

The students of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society at my College, voted me “Teacher of the Year.” I attended a ceremony yesterday evening where I formally received my award, gave a little speech, and did the meet-and-mingle thing. This award means a lot to me because it comes from the students I teach, not some bogus bureaucrat in the academic hierarchy rewarding favorite suck-ups (we have plenty of those “awards,” too). Trust me: receiving an award from grateful students is better than money!

Rick Robinson and Marcia (at http://printedpage.us/2010/05/16/mailbox-monday-may-17th/) came up with the idea of listing, on every Monday, the week’s acquisitions for others to see. Since I buy way too many books, this Mailbox Monday feature might be short-lived on this blog. Last week I was at a library sale and here’s a sample of what I bought: