[Note from Steve: This is a special, unannounced posting. I thought it was important to post this review.]

BlacKkKlansman. Spike Lee, dir. Two cops infiltrate the KKK chapter in Colorado Springs. The black cop, Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington), provides the voice on the telephone; and the white cop, Flip Zimmerman (played by Adam Driver), provides the body. There are some comical moments in this true story based on Stallworth’s book (same title minus the extra K), but this is serious stuff. The KKK chapter is filled with racists, bigots, and haters yearning for a white America where other inferior races are their slaves. The dialogue is filled with the N-word and the K-word (for Jews), and both cops have their heritage attacked consistently and have to grin and bear it. There are some close calls and some sad notes about relationships in politically charged atmospheres even among the same race.

Harry Belafonte has a cameo where he’s telling to a group of blacks the history of a black teen who was tortured by a crowd. The crowd cheered. The organizers of the event made post cards of it and sold them—they were shown, black and white photos of an atrocity racists celebrated.

Spike Lee has done a great job letting the historical events speak for themselves. The acting is a wee bit stereotyped (maybe for this reason?), but the movie is powerful and moving. It’s probably Lee’s best movie. I could have done without the beginning (it seemed to just provide a role for Alec Baldwin) and the end that connects with our current problems (viewers in the audiences will already have made the connections with the current administration’s actions). The movie would have been more powerful, shorter, and still packing a punch without that beginning and end. I know why Lee included the end; I just think it was overkill. Movie goers who couldn’t make those connections have their heads in the sand to begin with; the movie is wasted on them.

As part of the coverage of the first anniversary of the Charlottesville riots, I watched CNN interview the KKK grand wizard who was arrested a year ago for trying to kill a black man during those events. We hear every day Mr. Trump’s MAGA slogan and “America First,” but in the movie we see that David Duke coined those. Times change, but too many problems stay the same. This movie offers both a steamy, historical biopic as well as a current look at the bigotry and hatred that still plague our nation. I’m afraid it won’t be popular with America’s current bigots and haters, but the truth never is.

***

In libris libertas!

Incredibles 2. I’m often a sucker for cartoons and other animated features. I learned to read and write as a pre-schooler “making” my own comic books, and those cartoons sandwiched between Saturday matinee features were a popular pastime as kids (probably my favorite was Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd parodying The Barber of Seville, a classic!).

Animation has changed a lot, and I can’t stand a lot of it. My favorite animated features are the Ice Age series (love the prehistoric squirrel); my least favorite is Frozen (mostly for that annoying song “Let It Go,” but also because I don’t like the cold—Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire” told this California boy he wouldn’t do well in cold climates, yet here I am living in the NYC area after spending almost thirty years in the Boston area). Minions was good too (not so much the others in the series—I like “origin stories”), and so was the first Shrek.

That’s all a preface to explain why I went to see the movie in question with preconceived doubts. Surprise, surprise! I liked this sequel, maybe better than the first. No stupid or annoying songs; no preachy stuff or political correctness taken to the extreme.

The plot appealed to me too: supreheroes are banned, and the Incredibles family struggles to improve their public image as much as fight the nefarious, demented villain (a nice twist that I anticipated with about 60% probability, but I wasn’t sure). Unlike the Marvel movies (I grew up reading Stan Lee, of course), where I often wish the superheroes are banned (I prefer the DC heroes, unless it’s an origin story), I rooted for Mom & Pop Incredible. I liked Craig T. Nelson as Coach; I like his voice as Mr. Incredible too.

This movie is worth seeing (to be honest, at the time, there wasn’t much competition). As is often the case, kids might not get many of the wink-wink jokes, but there’s enough for both kids and grown-ups to have some movie fun. It’s not Ice Age funny, but better than Ant-Man and Wasp.

***

The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection. This trilogy is my version of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Unlike the inimitable Isaac’s, my universe is replete with ETs. Starting with dystopia on Earth and in our solar system, the reader heads off to the stars to encounter ET cultures and some strange collective intelligences. Humans have their problems, and not just with ETs. Dystopian, militaristic, and paranormal sci-fi awaits you. (The first book in the trilogy is included here; it might remind you of where humanity might be heading right now, which is why it’s dystopian, of course.) This bundle is on sale now at Smashwords—you’ll pay only $2.99 versus the $5.99 retail price during the month of August—just use the coupon code on checkout. (Of course, even $5.99 isn’t a bad price for three full novels of sci-fi adventures.) Great for summer reading!

In libris libertas…. 

Solo. Ron Howard, dir. I went in with low expectations. Frankly, I’m tired of this light-saber fantasy series, with princesses and Jedi warriors, trying to be sci-fi. But this movie was much better than I expected. I liked it, even though Disney probably doesn’t, as they compare it to the Marvel Avengers movie, a huge money maker that’s a mixed-up mess with little plot.  Is the Star Wars enterprise becoming like the Star Trek one with only die-hard fans extolling its virtues?

I don’t see why that should happen.  Compared to Avengers, this movie’s plot, for what it is, holds together and is far better.  It’s an origins story; I lov’em! And, for a Star Wars movie, there’s less fantasy and more sci-fi (if you can get past the hyperfuel plot device!). That’s a break in tradition. I didn’t see one princess looking for a protecting Jedi!

Besides learning how Han Solo ended up on Tatooine and other details about his early life including the origin of his last name, how he met Chewbacca, and won the Millennium Falcon, the plot gets right down to the point. Just cowboys and aliens from a galaxy far, far away at the shootout at the OK Corral most of the time—multiple times! With all those fancy laser guns Han et al possess, they’re just gunslingers, and you might think you’re lost in an episode of Firefly. (Nothing wrong with that and entertaining, but certainly not original).

The best acting was from Woody Harrelson as Beckett. Donald Glover was too much of a comic character as Lando, and it was hard to imagine him morphing into Billy Dee. (His role was akin to that other Glover’s stint with Mel Gibson in that other famous shootout series). Alden Ehrenreich was OK as Solo, but same comment when imagining him morphing into Harrison Ford’s Solo—I can’t make the transition. The rest of the cast was just OK. Of course, I’m biased by my memory of the original characters—sort of like seeing Roger Moore (no relation) instead of Sean Connery as James Bond.

There are great special effects, of course, and some of the ETs are great fun (multiple-eyed creature at the two card games, for example, but guess who was the cheater). Definitely worth a watch…and far better than the latest movies in the main series—sorry J. J. Abrams. It’s been a bad spring and summer for movies so far, but this one will entertain you…and maybe be worth the price of admission so you can make Disney happy?

***

Great Spring Thaw Sale? Still on at Smashwords! My author page there lists all my ebooks there, and you’ll find at least two on sale to the end of June.  My oeuvre contains both oldies (more current today than ever before) and new releases. Great late spring and summer reading.

In libris libertas!

A new Avenger’s movie is drawing crowds to the silver screens around the land. It provides me more fodder for asking, “What’s going on?” And then wondering further, “Do readers ever get this excited over a book?”

My books, in particular. I once smiled upon reading a review of Angels Need Not Apply, something akin to “This book is awesome!” Except for the excitement expressed, it isn’t a particularly good representative of reviews that are useful for readers or writers, although it might indicate that sort of elation viewers of a Marvel movie might feel.

That’s the only example related to my personal book list, but, then again, I don’t have many reviews.  After two dozen plus books, I haven’t been discovered yet, except by ebook pirates—that’s not unusual, I suppose, but all my books are probably more current than when I wrote them, and the majority have action scenes comparable to most thriller movies, if not the Marvel movies.

I was a comic book reader. That even made me create my own, which is how I learned to read and write at a pre-school age—I needed something to put in the balloons, after all. Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Walt Disney (I loved the adventures of Donald and his nephews when they traveled with Uncle Scrooge—I suppose that was a precursor to reading H. Rider Haggard books, with Alan Quatermain as the original Indiana Jones?), Tarzan, and a few others (if I’d saved them, I’d be a wealthy old curmudgeon—now I’m just a poor one). I’ve even reviewed a graphics novel for Bookpleasures—a great story about a divided U.S. with one new country, the bad guys, dominated by Ayn Rand followers.

I’ll confess I enjoyed Wonder Woman—I like the actor, and the plot was an origins story.  I didn’t like Black Panther as much because the origins story played second fiddle to the generalized mayhem.  I liked the last Wolverine movie—the antithesis of an origins story and akin to The Lone Ranger, where Depp’s character Tonto walks, not rides, off into the sunset, a poignant twist on Hollywood westerns’ tradition (of course, that movie isn’t Marvel, just to head off the nitpickers). Bottom line: most Marvel movies do nothing for me because they add nothing to my experience obtained by reading the comics—elaborate visual mayhem and sound effects can’t compete with my childhood imagination!  Or even my current imagination.

(more…)

[Wow! Installment #60 of this regular feature. That means I’ve reviewed 60+ movies (I sometimes review two). I guess Hollywood has made some money off me. I try to give you an alternative to the blathering reviews you find elsewhere—almost anywhere, in fact. Like in my book reviews, I tend to speak my mind, but no really rotten tomatoes thrown either. I don’t give a star-ranking. You’re smart enough to figure that out if you need one. I hope my reviews help you decide what movies are worth your time…and money!]

Beirut. Brad Anderson, dir. So the cops for “political correctness” wanted to boycott this movie because it makes Jews and/or Muslims look bad? FYI: it also makes Americans look bad too. (Among those cops you’ll find ye olde Huffington Post, for example.) I object to all that call for political correctness in this case. First, this movie’s period setting is the chaotic decade when Lebanon in particular and the Middle East in general were bloody battlegrounds with people living in squalid conditions and fearing for their lives among war’s rubble—most of that hasn’t changed much. It’s appropriate that no one comes out of this movie looking squeaky clean!

Second, I’m probably just as progressive, if not more so, as any of the cops pushing political correctness, but I’ll not buy into the ubiquitous blathering of the far left that sweeps so much dirt under the rug. There are good and people there (and everywhere), and good and bad groups too.  Why hide either the bad or the good (yeah, I know, the media thrives on telling us about the bad–they say no one is interested in the good).  I’ve lived abroad and seen a lot of the good and the bad. Faux liberals in the U.S. smugly sit on their back patios drinking their cocktails and preaching political correctness, but too many of them don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the world and can’t imagine the horrors. Contrary to the media, they also want to emphasize only the good (mind you, there’s plenty of that).  It often appears that they worry more about pushing their definition of political correctness over solving humanity’s problems.  It’s almost as if political correctness has become their overarching mantra, and damn historical correctness if it doesn’t fit their definition!

OK, now that’s off my chest, what about the movie?  (A few spoiler alerts might be in order for the following.) This movie starts with the almost obscene contrast between a lavish American diplomatic fiesta in a palatial house amidst a Beirut and Lebanon torn by civil war. The house belongs to Mason, a weak something-or-other diplomat who works closely with the CIA, played by Jon Hamm in an admirable performance. He has his party interrupted by terrorists. Just before that, we learn that the thirteen-year-old Arab boy his wife and he want to adopt (admirable on their part–some of the good?) has an older brother who’s a terrorist. During the terrorist attack, Mason’s wife is killed and the nice Arab boy is kidnapped by the older brother.

Fast forward ten years to when Mason is called back to Lebanon. A major CIA operative, Mason’s good friend, has been abducted, and the terrorists have asked Mason to broker an exchange.  The terrorists can sell Mason’s friend to anyone for all the many secrets he has in his head, exposing multiple CIA agents working in the Middle East in various questionable agendas (hmm, isn’t that what Scooter Libby did?), but they want to exchange the abductee for that brother who is missing. The CIA and Mason think the equally nefarious Israelis have the brother, but the Israelis don’t have him but would like to kill him. PLO terrorists and various of their and Lebanese factions, the CIA, and Mossad are not among the good guys—in fact, there are no good guys! Mason comes across as a flawed main character; a female CIA agent, played ably by Rosamund Pike, comes across as a flawed secondary character. Their characters are about as good as they come in this movie. The Arab kid the Masons wanted to adopt becomes a tragic figure as everyone gets caught up in this mess created by competing agendas, power struggles, and a Middle East run amok.

This is an old-style spy thriller, a la John le Carre.  The sepia tints at the movie’s beginning signify the sadness of it all more than backstory. We must show and understand this horrible past in the Middle East if we are going to perform the true politically correct miracle of achieving a true peace in the region. Faux-liberals who don’t like us to do that aren’t true progressives; they’re idiots who wallow in their “politically correct” ideologies and agendas without accomplishing a damn thing. It’s a complex problem. The more people who understand that objectively, the more likely something positive will actually happen. Nothing will be accomplished if we use the excuse of political correctness to bury our heads in the sand.

***

[Note from Steve: Due to circumstances beyond my control, there’s been a problem for readers wishing to make comments on articles in this blog. That problem has now been solved, so comment away! I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.]

Great Spring Thaw Sale. Every two weeks, with one week overlap, starting April 1, one of my books will be on sale at Smashwords (the overlap means that there are usually two books on sale). (Yes, it’s been going on…sorry about that, but it was announced on my Home page and elsewhere.) Take advantage of this to download some entertaining spring reading. Each ebook will be on sale for $1.99, regardless of the normal retail price. Access my author page for the entire list of ebooks. (Remember, Smashwords offers ALL ebook formats, including mobi format for Kindles.) Use the coupon code for the ebook on checkout.

In libris libertas!

Chappaquiddick. John Curran, director. Let’s assume for the moment that conservatives are right in their claims that this movie is an honest portrayal of the young Senator Ted Kennedy. So what? His legacy resides in what comes after the accident during his long career in the Senate.

Of course, the movie is NOT an honest portrayal. First, no one was there when Mary Jo and Ted went off that bridge and she died, so the portrayal of her drowning and Ted’s actions afterwards that night are unknowns—at best we can call the movie’s portrayal artistic license. Second, Papa Joe’s first word to Ted in the movie, “Alibi,” is even more fictional because the old bootlegger had suffered a stroke and couldn’t speak—we might even call this slanderous, but I guess you can’t slander a dead person, which includes Papa Joe and Ted and almost all the people portrayed in the movie. Third, Ted is made out to appear like a spoiled rich boy and mentally challenged.  While there’s no denying the first, the second is debatable. His many subsequent years in the Senate showed him to be a crafty fox who brokered many bipartisan deals that have bettered the country.

I wasn’t impressed by this movie—far from it! Its free interpretation of history amounts to character assassination. It’s also boring and poorly acted (a lot of that rests with the director, of course), with the actors’ portrayals parodies of the real persons emphasizing a few (mostly negative) character traits as if they were in an SNL skit, except there’s nothing humorous here.

I’m not varnishing this review with my own politics. In fact, I never liked the Kennedys. I don’t like political dynasties of any kind, and that includes the Bushes, Clintons, Gores, and Kennedys. And I don’t like how the American public treats political families like royalty (or the worshipping of the British royal family, for that matter). The Kennedys always were faux liberals (Ted’s NIMBY attitude toward windmills off Hyannis is a case in point) who exhibited a smug sense of entitlement they never deserved (and still do, I suppose). But they sometimes did good things, and Ted had a much longer career in which to do them, so I also can’t stand obvious character assassinations a la Fox News being disguised as real history and honest filmmaking.

So see this movie if you must, but don’t believe any of it beyond the name of the little island.  There are already good and honest biographies about the Kennedy family and Ted Kennedy, and a new one is coming out.  The movie is neither a biography nor a documentary; it’s the filmmakers making a character assassination to further a political agenda. Who financed this piece of trash anyway? I have my suspicions.

***

Great Spring Thaw Sale. Every two weeks, with one week overlap, starting April 1, one of my books will be on sale at Smashwords (the overlap means that there are usually two books on sale). (Yes, it’s been going on…sorry about that, but it was announced on my Home page and elsewhere.) Take advantage of this to download some entertaining spring reading. Each ebook will be on sale for $1.99, regardless of the normal retail price. Access my author page for the entire list of ebooks. (Remember, Smashwords offers ALL ebook formats, including mobi format for Kindles.) Use the coupon code for the ebook on checkout.

In libris libertas!

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. Martin McDonagh, writer, producer, and director. Who said a movie can’t tell a great story? Most can’t, or important story threads are left on the cutting room floor, but this one does. If this were a book, I’d call it minimalist writing akin to what I like to practice, because a lot is left to the viewers’ imaginations, allowing them to participate in the creative process. But this movie has a great plot and fantastic characters who are both flawed and heroic. Without being a mystery story, there are plenty of twists and turns that made me admire McDonagh’s skills as a writer.

Except for Woody Harrelson, I hadn’t heard of any of the actors, but Frances McDermott, Sam Rockwell, and Woody all deserve their Oscar nominations, especially McDermott, who is great as the frustrated mother of a wild daughter who was raped and murdered. After a year or more, the case still hasn’t been solved, so she creates three billboards that embarrass the local police department, headed up by Woody.

There aren’t many people who are all bad here, and they’re not who you might expect. And there will be scenes everyone will remember. The one with the dentist ranks right up there with the outhouse scene in Jurassic Park, comedy noir corresponding to physical justice.

Intense and clever, this movie is definitely among the best I’ve seen in the 2017 offerings.

***

Rembrandt’s Angel (a mystery/thriller from Penmore Press). To what lengths would you go to recover a stolen masterpiece? Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques Inspector Esther Brookstone goes the extra mile. She and paramour/sidekick Bastiann van Coevorden, an Interpol agent, set out to outwit the dealers of stolen art and recover “An Angel with Titus’ Features,” a Rembrandt painting stolen by Nazis in World War Two. Their efforts lead to much more as they uncover an international conspiracy that threatens Europe. During their dangerous adventures, their relationship solidifies and becomes a full-blown romance. This book is available in ebook format, including a .mobi (Kindle) version, at Smashwords and the latter’s affiliate retailers (Apple, B&N, Kobo). It’s also available as a print version at Amazon, B&N, or your favorite bookstore (if not there, ask for it).

In libris libertas!

[A note from Steve: Added bonus this week due to the holiday greetings and important announcement that follows….]

The Shape of Water. Guillermo Del Toro, dir. What more can I say when I see a perfect story brought to life with beautiful imagery on the silver screen? This movie has a great plot, great characters, great settings and visuals.  There’s not a moment wasted in this fantasy thriller that is magical realism in film format. To end the year in grand style, I hope this is the last movie I see this year.

Sally Hawkins is fantastic as the sensual and mute cleaning lady Elisa Esposito.  Octavia Spencer continues her list of great performances as Elisa’s friend Zelda. Michael Shannon is the sufficiently odious and complex villain Col. Richard Strickland.  And let’s not forget Amphibian Man, the creature from the Amazon kidnapped for study in a secret government laboratory by Strickland. He’s played by Doug Jones and steals the show without one spoken word. The emotional connection between the creature and Elisa is palpable and beautiful.

Forget about Star Wars and Marvel Comics movies.  Don’t miss this gem!

***

In libris libertas!

Victoria and Abdul. Stephen Fears, dir. I’d been meaning to see this one for a while. First, it’s based on a book. Second, it’s a true story. Third, it points out the racial and social prejudice in Queen Victoria’s court, which the Queen found despicable. Fourth, it shows how arrogant and the British upper class was in the Victorian age (they still are, of course)—even the Queen’s servants were complicit in the snobbery. Fifth, it’s a grand story about a class of cultures, how a lowly Indian gives many lessons about civility, courage, and humanity to those same Brits. All save Victoria. When she passes, the royal family, led by future King Edward, deports Victoria’s friend, Karim, and tries to obliterate any mention of him from British history.

Victoria is played by Judy Dench, and she deserves an Oscar for her performance. Abdul Karim, her faithful friend and poor Muslim from a country dominated by India’s own racist and social prejudice, is played by Ali Fazal, and he does a great job at it too. Karim teaches Victoria Urdu and many other things, including what asses her son, peers, and servants are, already she was already having doubts about all of them, yet felt trap in her inherited job.

George Bernard Shaw’s quotes are featured in my novel Rembrandt’s Angel (see below). The Irish playwright poked fun at the British aristocracy and their arrogance toward the common man. This movies does more than that. It’s an indictment of a gilded but tarnished age and an empire that caused many problems in the modern world, not just India.

***

Rembrandt’s Angel (a mystery/thriller from Penmore Press). To what lengths would you go to recover a stolen masterpiece? Scotland Yard’s Arts and Antiques Inspector Esther Brookstone goes the extra mile. She and paramour/sidekick Bastiann van Coevorden, an Interpol agent, set out to outwit the dealers of stolen art and recover “An Angel with Titus’ Features,” a Rembrandt painting stolen by the Nazis in World War Two. Their efforts lead to much more, as they uncover an international conspiracy that threatens Europe. During their dangerous adventures, their relationship solidifies and becomes a full-blown romance. This book is available in ebook format at Amazon and at Smashwords and its affiliate retailers. It’s available as a print version at Amazon, B&N, or your favorite bookstore (if not there, ask for it). Check out the review and interview on Feathered Quill. Happy reading!

In libris libertas!

Surburbicon. George Clooney, dir. Is there such a genre as “violent comedy”? The Cohen brothers must think so. They contributed about 2/3 to this noir story, probably the most important part. Clooney and Heslov added an initially parallel story about a black family moving into a white suburb. Mind you, this supposedly all took place back in the fifties when, as we know from Hidden Figures, not even NASA was integrated. Unlike some movie reviewers (do I dare put myself in that scurrilous group?), I think the Clooney/Heslov tale completed the screenplay for a memorable that really involves too boys—Noah, played by Noah Jupe, the son of a white VIP, Gardener Lodge (played by Matt Damon), and Andy, played by Tony Espinosa, the son in the black family who makes friends with Noah.

The Cohen brothers’ contribution features Gardener’s lust for his sister-in-law (Julianne Moore—no relation—plays both Gardener’s paraplegic wife and the sister-in-law) that leads to their plotting and descent into violence. The reasons aren’t just lust either. Matt Damon channels a bit of evil Ripley role, although being the bad guy isn’t his usual flick-shtick. He isn’t the only evil adult here, and he and the other actors give some masterful performances, especially the two kids. The last scene with the latter is a finely crafted piece of symbolism—don’t miss it!

It was interesting to see the audience’s reaction which probably apes the majority of reviewers who declared this movie DOA. The slow, tense pace obviously didn’t sit well with some. Did I say tense? Intense is the better word, an intensity magnified by camera angles, settings, and an interesting score. At best, I can only say the reviewers the movie that I saw. At worse, they’re ignoramuses who don’t understand excellent movie-making. Or maybe all these people were expecting Jason Bourne?

***

Smashwords book sale. Mystery, suspense, sci-fi, conspiracies, and a multitude of thrills await you with the “Mary Jo Melendez Mystery Series.”  Mary Jo, an ex-USN Master-at-Arms trying to get her new civilian life established, is framed in Muddlin’ Through.  Her search to prove her innocence takes her around the world from one skirmish to another, a gypsy romance, winning new friends, and a new self-understanding.  In the sequel, Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By, the bad guys are back, she acquires a stalker/serial killer, and she finds a new love. On sale on Smashwords from November 1 through 30—use the coupon code during checkout.

In libris libertas!