Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Bad. I don’t hate this movie as much as it probably deserves, maybe because I spent a lot of time looking into its history instead of watching it. I don’t know whether it could have been good, but it hamstrings itself by not choosing a lane: it wants to be a beautiful […]
The Book of God and Physics: A Novel of the Voynich Mystery, Joven. No. To be completely fair, I didn’t give this book much of a chance. In my defense, after skipping an introduction and enduring a prologue, I had rather hoped Joven might, well, get on with the story. I was disappointed and not […]
Albert and the Others, Guy Delisle I really liked Delisle’s books on Burma and North Korea, this is his first fiction graphic novel I have read, an A to Z of men in wordless vignettes. I like his visual style, but the stories didn’t grab me. Actually, I found them fairly unsettling. Hm. Two stars. […]
A newsflash from the Daily Mirror website: an excellent illustration of a pioneering monkey. Timely, as I am hoping to visit a space monkey grave next week.
Crazed by Cigarettes (Special to The World) KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 28. — James L. Householder, aged nineteen, died in the arms of his sweetheart, Miss Lue(?) Gilliam, aged seventeen, at her home in this city last night after taking carbolic acid. The young man left a note for his mother stating that Mack Dryser would […]
Fortysomething. Okay. While I don’t hate anything about this UK family comedy series, I don’t feel like it reaches deep enough to be actually good. Hugh Laurie is charming (and it’s something of a relief to hear him not doing the House American accent, impressive though it is) in befuddlement, and gets to direct a […]
Groom Lake. Awful. It may have been slightly better than I expected from a movie called Groom Lake directed and with a story by William Shatner, or it may just be that I stopped paying attention about midway through. I Netflixed it because it features Amy Acker, and her charm, professionalism, and ability were a […]
Human Traffic. Tolerable. This doesn’t really succeed as a movie, but it’s not too horrible as a series of vignettes. I’ve liked John Simm in everything I’ve seen him in so far, and the rest of the primary cast pulled their weight; otherwise, this would probably not have been tolerable.
The Starlost. Awful. I was happy to see this available on DVD, and happier still to see it available on Netflix. I vaguely remember its original appearance, and have read The Starcrossed and Ellison’s essay about the horrors that were its production. Ellison being Ellison, I suspect not every impartial witness who observed the events […]
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. Awful. There is nothing good about this movie, from the load-bearing column clumsily galumphing across the screen in the opening shot, to the inadequate lighting, to the amateur sound, to the ridiculous excuse for a plot. I’m not saying don’t watch it; I’m just saying there’s nothing good about […]