Intelligient, perceptive, and well-voiced tale told by and about an alienated and undisciplined 17-year-old boy whose social and academic failures are a complete mystery to himself. The kid, Holden Caulfield, isn't always wrong in his antisocial observations (that is, he's rarely entirely wrong), which makes the book that much more readable, but may make it of questionable value to younger readers who may find in it more validation for similar views than cause for concern. Absolutely on the mark, though; so much so that the setting -- Pennsylvania and New York in the early 50s -- is almost irrelevant. Written with verve and humor, and, concerning Holden, not entirely depressing.
****
Intelligient, perceptive, and well-voiced tale told by and about an alienated and undisciplined 17-year-old boy whose social and academic failures are a complete mystery to himself. The kid, Holden Caulfield, isn't always wrong in his antisocial observations (that is, he's rarely entirely wrong), which makes the book that much more readable, but may make it of questionable value to younger readers who may find in it more validation for similar views than cause for concern. Absolutely on the mark, though; so much so that the setting -- Pennsylvania and New York in the early 50s -- is almost irrelevant. Written with verve and humor, and, concerning Holden, not entirely depressing.
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*** Comedy starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, with 19-year-old Shirley Temple playing 17-year-old Susan Turner. This is a pleasant movie about a sophisticated artist (Grant) who is essentially blackmailed into dating Susan as a way of quashing her crush on him. Meanwhile, the artist and Susan's older sister (Loy) fall in love. The script, which has a number of funny lines, won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Refreshingly old-fashioned, by today's standards, from a time when it was okay to treat kids like...kids. ** Perhaps best described as an overwrought kinky sex fantasy, this metaphor machine tells the story of a husband discovering that his wife's search for sexual satisfaction has led her to consort with an inhuman monster. Isabelle Adjani is nothing if not committed to a role that won her critical praise as well as a Best Actress award at Cannes -- the fruits of unbridled hysteria. Also praised for its raw depiction of a failing marriage, which is, like the rest of the movie, ugly and messy and cruel, and about as enjoyable as a train wreck. Sam Neill, meanwhile, for whom love has become an addiction, eloquently, if advertently, extolls the virtues of an accidental overdose. With lots of yelling, loads of blood, and a DIY approach to What It All Means. *** Creasy, an aging, disillusioned mercenary, accepts a change-of-pace job as the bodyguard for an 11-year-old girl, taking it personally when she is kidnapped by the Italian Mafia. Character-driven thriller that is really less about the action than tough-guy Creasy's emergence into the larger world of human contact. Quinnell takes his time, and if he isn't particularly perceptive here, he does succeed in bringing Creasy off as likable and easy to root for -- and even touching as he learns to relate first to the little girl then to a woman whose status as a divorcée severely limits her social prospects. Nevertheless, Creasy eventually goes into revenge mode, with violent and satisfying results. Followed by The Perfect Kill (1992) and three additional sequels. Adapted twice to film, first in 1987, then in 2004. **** Jack the Ripper (David Warner) resurfaces in London in 1893 and escapes through time in a machine built by H. G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell); Wells pursues him to 1979 San Francisco, where he falls in love with bank employee Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen). Thoroughly enjoyable science fantasy that may not make a lot of sense (what time travel story does?) but compensates nicely with vigorous script, engaging characters, and noteworthy performances, especially by McDowell and Steenburgen. Lets Jack be Jack and picks up Wells before he began writing his famous novels, making of him a much more palatable man (one might have expected him to be wearingly wise) whose naivete in the face of 20th century violence connects well with the pessimism in real life works like The Time Machine. Based on Karl Alexander's at-that-time-unfinished novel of the same name. *** James Garner leads charismatic cast including Walter Brennan, Jack Elam, and Bruce Dern in this light western comedy about a drifter committed to bringing law and order to a small gold rush town. Pleasant and memorably funny. A must for fans of Garner's Maverick television series, in which he plays much the same brains-over-brawn character. Followed by the unrelated variation Support Your Local Gunfighter, starring Garner and many of the same supporting actors. ** The first Temperance Brennan book, in which Brennan is hardly recognizable as the inspiration for Emily Deschanel's character in the television series Bones and significantly less entertaining. Here she's a recovering alcoholic who likes cats; more interestingly, she's an American serving as the Director of Forensic Anthropology for the Canadian province of Quebec investigating a series of murders that may be linked to a serial killer. And that's about as interesting as it gets, as Reichs saddles her with a sexist, proprietary cop who's smart when he wants to be, dumb and exclusionary otherwise, and a generic killer we hardly ever see and who, when we do, behaves in generically stupid ways. Still, the book is reasonably well-written, if excessively detailed (though not regarding the science, oddly enough). But it's a slow starter that is almost embarrassing when it finally picks up a bit of steam: we want to berate Brennan for her foolishness in going into the field herself (she's much too smart for that), yet it's only when she does that the book becomes mildly involving. Followed, to date, by seventeen more books in the series, all written exclusively by Reichs, a forensic anthropologist herself. *** Low-end "3" that accomplishes what it sets out to do but sets the bar so low that it challenges neither itself nor the audience. Kiefer Sutherland is med student who convinces several classmates to join him in groundbreaking investigation of life after death by killing themselves on the operating table then being revived by the others. As each comes back, they bring with them disturbing elements from their past. Well-made, with good cast that also includes Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and William Baldwin, each of whom convincingly plays out his or her own Afternoon Special sub-plot. Makes dumb mistake of mentioning the commonality between near death experiences even as it offers its own completely different interpretation. Excellent candidate for a more intelligent remake. **** Set in 1962, with gorgeous cars, a great soundtrack, and spot-on performances, Lucas' second film tells the story of one very long night in the lives of four teenage boys, two of whom, having recently graduated, must face the prospect of leaving their small California town for college. Entertaining, funny film that captures the spirit, naivete, and budding awareness of boys on the cusp of manhood. Stars Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, and Charles Martin Smith. With Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, and Harrison Ford in a small role. Suzanne Somers is glimpsed as a teenage dream in a white T-Bird. Also with Wolfman Jack, as the voice of a generation. ** Collection of 21 stories by pulp writer and Weird Tales contributor Carl Jacobi somewhat tarnishes the mystique of that magazine (which originally published 11 of them). The stories, ranging in quality from indifferent to bad, show the author as a capable ideas man, but his plots are typically disorganized, self-contradictory, and laughably contrived. Jacobi’s favorite theme — and it appears in nearly all of these tales — is that of the outside, irresistible force that compels his characters to do things they cannot understand. Jove/HBJ’s 1979 reprint features the following Stephen King quotation on the front cover: “One of the finest writers to come out of the Golden Age of fantasy.” He must have been joking. |
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