Author: stumberry

Stu’s Reviews #363- Film – “Vice”

Genre: Film

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockford, Directed by: Adam McKay

Title: Vice

Review: Well…this is must see for the times we live in. Extraordinary portrayal of the puppet master who controlled the word (along with Karl Rove) during the “W” years. McKay is very slyly funny in all the right places…especially in presenting W Bush (whom he created the character on SNL for along with his partner, Will Ferrell). The cast is superb: Carell really edgy as Rumsfeld, Adams really intense as Mrs. Cheney and Rockwell as Bush an absolute hoot….but the show stealer is clearly Bale-who is beyond unrecognizable as the cautious, restrained and conniving Dick Cheney. This is a really disturbing portrait. I found the film dragging in places and the “over-narration” bit did not do much for me….but if you want to see where our current cesspool came from, you gotta see it.

Stu’s Reviews #362- Book – “Massacre Pond”

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Paul Doiron

Title: Massacre Pond

Review: This guy and this series have really grown on me. Was not sue aft edit one that I would continue, but they have gotten better and better. Doiron’s Mike Bowditch is the complicated Maine Game Warden who finds more trouble than one can imagine in the woods of remote Maine. Bowditch is a conflicted character sounded by people who want to see him fail; he has a unique family history in Maine and keeps getting sent further into the boonies. The supporting characters are marvelous and Doiron’s knowledge of remote Maine is impressive (he is the publisher and editor of “Down East” magazine there). This is by far his best story yet….and it’s a barnburner.

Mid-Winter Interruptus

Greeting fellow travelers:

She stands before you naked
you can see it, you can taste it,
and she comes to you light as the breeze.
Now you can drink it or you can nurse it,
it don’t matter how you worship
as long as you’re
down on your knees.
So I knelt there at the delta,
at the alpha and the omega,
at the cradle of the river and the seas.
And like a blessing come from heaven
for something like a second
I was healed and my heart
was at ease.

Long live Leonard!

Lots of requests for a small missive from the heartland mid-winter……….missing the Greens…loving the grandkids…….dark, gloomy skies each day in the land of flat….but Chinese only five minutes way…..movie theaters, ethnic restaurants take the place of dirt roads an glimmering mountain sunsets….holidays come and gone….respite for the weary…back to the road soon for work travel projects from airport easily in striking distance….Band in regular schedule in lieu of folk club….house sharing with rodents….boom, boom, chicka , chicka…….Spring will spring…..soon off to Cali and the Keys’…..put truck to bed, bought a Jeep….Jenn becoming the Queen of Ecological Center…. newest obsession: “country condo living”….traveled to Maryland to see the soaring Byrds reprise Sweetheart album in 50th year…..Sloane….Quinn….Sloane….Quinn…….

Enough……Happy New year…..

Papi

Stu’s Reviews #361- “Film” – “The Favourite”

Genre: Film

Grade: B+

Notable People: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz

Title: The Favourite

Review: Very dark comedy-drama film surrounding the reign of Queen Anne (An excellent Colman, known for her turn in the BBC/Netflix TV drama, Broadchurch) of England in the early 18th century. Magnificent cinematography and period costumes set the tone for the disturbing look on two extraordinarily manipulative woman vying for the ear, affection and power of the mercurial and sickly Queen. Stone and Weisz are both riveting in their conniving and seductive roles. Not a very flattering portrait of the men of the Court, who are pawns of the women’s power plays and seductiveness. Dragged a bit with a certain level of predictability but the acting is top notch and the story compelling.

Stu’s Reviews #360- “Book” – “Lethal White”- Robert Galbraith

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Robert Galbraith

Title: Lethal White

Review: JK Rowland is an excellent writer-as any fan of Harry Potter can attest. In this strange evolution, she turns her attention to her pseudonym as Mr. Galbraith……where she has written her fourth in the Cormoran Strike series. Strike is a large, one-legged and moody Afghan war veteran trying take to make is as private dick in London. This book is her most significant effort yet..delving way into the startlingly longing subconscious’ of her two main characters: Strike and his erstwhile partner, the lovely and troubled Robin Endicott. The story itself is a barn burner and the settings and characters are well thought out and presented. If you like London, this is a canvas of the city. These books are well worth the time, though at almost 700 pages, I thought this one a bit of an investment.

Stu’s Reviews #359- “Film” – “The Mule”

Genre: Film

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Clint Eastwood, Dianne Wiest, Bradley Cooper, Lawrence Fishburne, Andy Garcia,

Directed by: Eastwood

Title: The Mule

Review: At this stage of his life, Eastwood makes must-see films. This is not a great film, but he is worth seeing it for. Does his usual job of well nuanced directing and telling a compelling story….with a few too many conveniences. But…Clint….really stretches himself. Probably speaks more in first 20 minutes of this film, than he has spoken in any entire film before now. He’s a bit naïve, kind of silly and whimsical….none of the things you expect with Eastwood. It is quite a performance. The supporting cat is good, and the story is just this side of believable (thug “based” on a true tale) . This is a good Christmas movie.

Stu’s Reviews #358- “Book” – “Cactus Heart” – Jon Talton

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Jon Talton

Title: Cactus Heart

Review: After four installments in his very fine David Mapstone series, Talton wrote a prequel, going back to the chaos of 1999 and the Y2K drama. This book provides a nice backdrop and history to the current in- progress series. As usual, Talton is focused on the criminal urbanization of the desert and Phoenix’s growth from sleepy 1950s hamlet to mega-giant snowbird fancy and developers’ dream. This one tells the story of a 60 year old murder (Mapstone is the erstwhile Deputy Sheriff in Maricopa County, who is also a PhD historian and works on very cold cases) of twin grandsons of one of the founding giants of Arizona. As usual the twist and turns are fabulous, the characters larger than life and the sex scenes are pretty dam vivid (the history Shamus is apparently a reluctant chic magnet). These books have steadily grown on me and I eagerly anticipate the next adventure.

Stu’s Reviews #357- “Book” – “Misery Bay” – Steve Hamilton

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Steve Hamilton

Title: Misery Bay

Review: this is the sixth in Hamilton’s very fine Alex McKnight series. Back up in Michigan’s wild Upper Peninsula on the shores of Lake Superior where our retired Detroit cop hero’s quiet life as a cabin renter turns haywire with a the next set of mysterious deaths. This one is as convoluted and harrowing as it gets, with story that takes three quarters of the book to unfold. Went a bit long for my tastes, but the setting and the characters are superb and the details are amazing. Reading this will make you feel like you live in a comparative tropical climate. Hamilton is as good as it gets with the cornet crop of this genre.

Stu’s Reviews #356- “Book” – “A Bullet for Cinderella” – John. D. MacDonald

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: John D. MacDonald

Title: A Bullet for Cinderella

Review: I have the serial reader syndrome. I order what I think is the next book in one of my series obsessions, from the library, only to get it home and find I have read that one already….ugghh….this has happened several times recently (senior momentitas?)…and recently left me heading out on the road with nothing to read. When this happens, I turn to my pile of ancient John D. paperbacks I liberated a few years ago from a Mexican Airbnb (shame ON me)….and the result is a few days with one of the absolute master storytellers of our times. Macdonald is most famous for the 70 or so he wrote in the Travis McGee series….but the man was utterly prolific, penning somewhere over 300 novels in his time . “Cinderella” is one of his “stand alones”…..and in my book, thus guy does stand alone. Dark, smoky, out of the ay places….with drifters trying to find some sense of meaning in their life against the odds. This one was written in 1955,an feels fresh and relevant today. Evil, lust, greed and the machinations of envy never go away. Warning- if you start, you may not put it down until you finish…..go to your local use bookstore, flea market, library used book sale…or on line…and grab some John D….you won’t be sorry.

Stu’s Reviews #355- “Book” – “Arizona Dreams” – Jon Talton

Genre: Book

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Jon Talton

Title: Arizona Dreams

Review: There is something to be said about writers who are really attached to the place they write about. Talton is an umpteenth generation Phoenician and knows everything there is to know about the desert oasis…and clearly a love – hate relationship. This is the seventh installment in his David Mapstone series (can you say serial reader obsession?)…and it a good one. As long as his protagonist/antagonist, Mike Peraltha is in the story….it’s good bet for adventure. Talton is good writer by any standard, though maybe a bit predictable. Desert reading in the Midwest winter is a bonus….