Category: Stu’s Reviews

Stu’s Reviews #369- Book – “Die a Stranger”- Steve Hamilton

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: Steve Hamilton

Title: Die a Stranger

Review: for my money, Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series is the best around these days in the detective/mystery genre. The icy waters of Lake Superior in Michigan’s UP provide the dramatic backdrop for the barn burner tales of the ex-Detroit cop trying to lead a quiet life renting cabins his father built in the boonies in 20 years ago. Hard to imagine one guy getting into this much sturm and drang….but the stories are top notch. McKnight is a powerhouse character and he is surrounded by both extraordinarily portrayed environments and rich cohorts. What a read for the beach in San Diego on a mid-winter’s sojourn. Try this guy out.

Stu’s Reviews #368- Book – “John Woman”- Walter Mosley

Genre: Book

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Walter Mosley

Title: John Woman

Review: Mosley is back! The creator of the wonderful Easy Rawlins post war LA Noir series, periodically steps back into free standing novels…and this is a long awaited doozy. Complex, haunting, dark and at times, funny….a sweeping story of a young Black man , raised by a self-taught, share-croppers’ son, bed-ridden mystic and a wild gangster- involved lower east side Italian woman (separately). The tale wanders form the Alphabet –city mean streets of New York to the Arizona desert…and the transformation of young Cornelius Jones in to the Deconstructionist historian working at a cult university in the dessert. Murder, mayhem, dangerous right wing organizations, Zen-like prostitutes….this book is a whirlwind….Not for everyone….very heady and rich in language, Freudian analytic diatribes and metaphors galore. I found it hard going for the first half of the book, but enjoyed the ride once a groove was established with language an complexity. Very unpredictable.

Stu’s Reviews #368- Film – “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”- Coen Brothers

Genre: Film

Grade: A

Notable People: Liam, Neeson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Written, Directed and Conjured by: The Insane Coen Brothers

Title: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Review: this is a biased review…I LOVE these guys and their quirky, darkly comic and often perverted movies. Probably not the same for everyone…but for me…OOMPAH…..This a truly strange 6 part Western where there is barely a forehead that does not wind up with bullet in it sooner or later. Darkly funny does not do it justice….this is strange shit. Nesson is way out of character and wonderful…Blake as the singing cowboy/gunslinger, Buster Scruggs, is hardly describable (yes –there are full musical numbers)…and Tom waits steals the show as long suffering gold prospector in the majestic wilderness. The costumes are extraordinary, the dialog hilarious and the scenery spectacular. And…you can watch it on Netflix where it was simultaneously released with the theater opening. Give it at least two chapters before you give up. “People are like ferrets”

Stu’s Reviews #367- Book – “City of Beads”- Tony Dunbar

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Tony Dunbar

Title: City of Beads

Review: this it he second in Dunbar’s N’Awlins- centric Tubby Dubonnet mysteries…and as I had previously intimated, the writing improved A LOT from book one to book two. This one is much more Noir-ish and philosophical. Dubonnet is an interesting character- torn daily between being a shyster lawyer and doing the right thing for his family, friends and the city he loves. He has a little bit of early Saul Goodman in him- for Better Call Saul fans. The books are a spectacular visit to the Big Easy, for anyone who has spent considerable time there…..Tony frequents all the classic out of the way places that you would want to go to, if you knew about them. The story is good, the characters are evolving impressively. There’s a lot more of these- so I will keep busy this winter.

Stu’s Reviews #366- Album – “Doc and Dawg Live at Acoustic Stage”

Genre: Album

Grade: A

Notable People: Doc Watson and David Grisman

Title: Doc and Dawg Live at Acoustic Stage

Review: Got this for Christmas from The Nave….and it’s a stunner. The incomparable Doc Watson on guitar and the brilliant mandolin musings from the legendary David Grisman -captured live in 1997. Doc sits in for the usual Dawg pairing with Jerry Garcia, and takes it to another level. Joined by local NC fab flat picker Jack Lawrence and then for a magnificent set of acoustic blues by Docs late grandson, Richard…who was the last of the line of fabled Watson guitarists along with Doc and Merle, who had died tragically a few years earlier in a tractor accident. All gone now, except, foe the Dawg…but this music is timeless, and Doc’s between-songs patter is worth the price of admission alone. It’s quite a bar for any aspiring picker to live up to. Magnificent.

Stu’s Reviews #365- Album – “Jubilation” -THE Band

Genre: Album

Grade: B+

Notable People: THE Band-and guests

Title: Jubilation

Review: Some days are better than others….last week was reading the most recent issue of Rolling Stone, and came across a spread on the Band’s full music catalog with blurbs abut each album. Lo, and behold, I discovered (incredibly) an album I did not have or even had heard of. On to Amazon. What a treat…the last of the original group on the last of its original studio recordings in 1998. Richard Manual was long dead, and Robby Robertson was hanging in LA snorting coke with Martin Scorsese….but Levon, Rick and Garth were carrying on with the almost-Robby, Jim Wieder on guitar and several other Woodstock mainstays. Adam Hurwitz of the Beastie boys produced the album and got Eric Clapton and John Hiatt to come along. It’s nothing ground breaking, but Levon’s drumming and singing don’t miss a beat, Rick’s
voice is a bit frayed , but still heartbreaking and Garth is really out front on accordion, keyboards and horns. This made me tremble -felt like a very old friend has returned form far away. Too good to be true for any real fan.

Stu’s Reviews #364- Book – “Crooked Man” -Tony Dunbar

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Tony Dunbar

Title: Crooked Man

Review: Got new one! My friend, The Nave, referred this series to me as he knows of my lust for all things N’Awlins. Dunbar has created a classic Big Easy shyster, Tubby Dubonnet (you gotta love that, right)…and he is a pretty interesting character. I cannot really say the first book is all that well written (though I started the second and it seems quite an improvement)….but the characters are appropriately sleazy for the environment, the story is rich….and well…it’s N‘Awlins- and Dunbar clearly loves and portrays his home very, very well. It’s definitely got the vibe of this unforgettable place for anyone who has spent considerable time there…and has a rich look at its filthy history to boot. Definitely going to play this series out.

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.

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.