Stu’s Reviews – Page 64

Stu’s Reviews- #211- Album- Neil Young- Live at the Blue Note Cafe

Genre: Album

Grade: A-

Notable People: Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Horn section

Title: Live at the Blue Note Cafe

Review: My, my, hey, hey….Another one of Neil’s discs (2 CD set) from his endless archive series. This one in from his dabble in the Blues in 1988 which produced a tour and the album “This Notes for You”. This was in the middle of a run that included his bluegrass persona (The International Harvesters), his Rockabilly persona (Neil and the Shocking Pinks) and his wild electronic persona (giant mice walking around the stage). Suffice it to say, Neil is an unparalleled original in our musical times. This is an interesting album of somewhat countrified blues music done over many concert stops on that tour. The horn section is a bit overdone (should have consulted The Band on this)- but Neil’s eccentric guitar work shines through , along with his plaintiff vocals and the rock steady rhythms from Crazy Horse (Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot, Frank Sanpedro). Nothing new here, but really- who cares? It’s another wild notch of feedback on this guy’s incredible musical journey.

Stu’s Reviews- #210- Film- The Hateful Eight

Genre: Film

Grade: A-
Notable People: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Walton Goggins, Directed by: Quentin Tarentino
Title: The Hateful Eight

Review: My, my , my…it’s the new Tarantino. The man is utterly outrageous- a non-stop ride for almost three hours. This nod to classic westerns takes place for a bit inside a stagecoach and then the rest is all in a one room cabin (Minnie’s’ Haberdashery!) with 8-9 people inside in a blizzard (listen to that wind blow throughout the film). You get the usual flashback stuff, vice-overs, hidden surprises, and philosophical rambling psychopaths. There are also the great long narrative- monologue stories- in this case presented by Jackson. Russell does a pretty good job channeling John Wayne and Jackson is in his element. Leigh gives a great portrayal of a crazy woman going to get hung and defying everything with a snarl and a snicker. I cannot but like every film this man puts out (this is his eigth)- but I did not think this ranked with one of his best- I got a little fidgety in the middle parts…but it typically ended with bang. You know you’re going to see this- so got out and do it.

Stu’s Reviews- #209- Novel- The Big Seven- Jim Harrison

Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+/B
Notable People: Jim Harrison
Title: The Big Seven

Review: First thing is, as you may know, I am a huge fan of Jim Harrison. In addition, to an extraordinary legacy of great fiction, he has been a master of the short story collection in recent years. His prose is that of the great legends of the craft. That all said, his recent novels have been a bit tiring with an almost absurd Hemingway-like focus of conquering nature, living the good fight, traumatic aging and conquering younger woman. This is the second is a series he started a few years ago, featuring the retired Upper Peninsula police detective, Sunderson. Sunderson is having hard time living without his ex-wife and turns this into an endless reflection on loss and endless sexual pursuit that tends to drift across the country. The cases to be solved are secondary-it’s certainly not a detective novel-almost a parody of one. The “Big Seven” refers to the seven deadly sins, to which Sunderson wants to add an eight. Harrison remains a great writer and these novels showcase his aging humor, but I long for the more serious novels which left you moved in many ways. Good-not great

Stu’s Reviews- #208- Film- The Big Short

Genre: Film

Grade: B
Notable People: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Directed by Adam McKay
Title: The Big Short

Review: Illuminating film about the bust of the housing bubble and the subsequent financial collapse of 2008. Fascinating look at the people who predicted this would happen and how they profited from it…and pretty damning about the big banks and government having their heads up their arses and/or powder up their noses. I found the film very disturbingly informative but VERY dry- almost like a funny documentary with a lot of weird artistic flourishes. The ensemble cast is good, but I was not moved in any way by it. I’d wait to see on Netflix or such.

Stu’s Reviews- #207- Film- Novel- Mendocino Fire

Genre: Novel

Grade: B+ (B)
Notable People: Elizabeth Tallent
Title: Mendocino Fire

Review: This is an interesting set of stories/novellas by this California writer/academic that are alternately set in California and Iowa. they roughly trace the life path of a college professor (clearly the author) through a series of romantic entanglements, life changes and family crisis. Very-very well written but somewhat obtuse and quite esoteric at times. You almost have to have gone to grad school to keep up. If you’re willing to struggle a bit with her intellectualism, there is some vivid material here. Hard to rate this one…so I took the easy way out with a range

Stu’s Reviews- #206- Film- The Water Diviner

Genre: Film

Grade: B+
Notable People: Directed by and starring Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, many Turkish actors
Title: The Water Diviner

Review: This was second movie we watched on all day flight to Hawaii and a surprisingly good one. I am not a big Crowe fan but he is undeniably good in this film about a grieving father in Australia trying to bring back his lost three sons’ bodies from the Battle of Gallipoli. Great cinematography, wonderful period costumes and flourishes and an intriguing story. Kurylenko is a ravishing Turkish beauty and her interactions with Crowe are riveting. The story is a bit of a tear- jerker, but well done nonetheless. A good one to rent.

Stu’s Reviews- #205- Film- Bridge of Spies

Genre: Film

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Tom Hanks, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, Mark Rylance, Directed by Steven Spielberg

Title: Bridge of Spies

Review: This is real biography and one of three films we watched on our exhaustive flight to Hawaii. Not only directed by Spielberg, but produced and co-written by the Coen brothers, it is bit of a surprise for their resumes. Still, a well done film about late 50’s cold war antics between Russia and the U.S. with the closing down of Berlin and the erecting of The Wall as a backdrop. Hanks is his usual steady but magnificent self and Ryan is really understated as the committed Eisenhower era American housewife. Rylance is a revelation as the Soviet spy- very coyly played and a lot more subtly complicated than he might have been . The simmering tensions underlying the time are well done….see the scene with Hanks son filling up the bathtub to deal with the potential nuclear attack he hears about in school each day. This was a very good in-flight movie and worth seeing at the cinema.

Stu’s Reviews- #204- Novel- The English Major- Jim Harrison

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-

Notable People: Jim Harrison

Title: The English Major

Review –As I’ve noted before, in my opinion Jim Harrison is probably our greatest living American writer- so he starts with an “A” in my book. That said, this one is not one of his best novels, though still phenomenally well written. Like all is books- it is clearly a variation of his story taking place in his friendly confines of most Northern Michigan (Deb Hodges will note that part is set in Harbor Springs!). Sixty year old man loses his wife, his dog and his farm and sets out to visit each state- re-naming the states and their state birds along the way. He also tries to fulfill his 50 year old sexual fantasies while attempting to stay out of the modern world (he flushes at least three cell phones down the toilet). Maybe this character hits close to home!!!Harrison has gotten more humorous in his later stages, which may or may not be a plus. A delightful read, though not in the same class as Legends of the Fall or Dalva.

Stu’s Reviews- #203- Novel- The Cuckoo’s Calling

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-
Notable People: Robert Galbraith
Title: The Cuckoo’s Calling

Review –This is a the first novel in a series (three to date) by the author who is really J.K Rowling of Harry Potter immortality. Why she is using a pseudonym and still telling everybody who she is – is one of those literary world secrets or inside jokes I guess. So, first off I am not a Potter fan. Tried the books once, but did not really take, and have not seen the movies (my kids were already grown when the books were the rage). That said, she/he is a brilliant writer- these books are very well written and the stories are pointedly told, and she has a great ear for dialog. Cormoran Strike is a down on his luck private detective in London, who has lost his leg in Afghanistan and his heart to a tigress. He is also the estranged bastard son of a famous rock star- and is called on, very mysteriously, to investigate the apparent suicide of a super model. This one is filled with wild goose chases and greedy, manipulative characters. London is well portrayed. I’m going out and get the next two.

Cooking with Fernet Branca

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-
Notable People: James Hamilton- Patterson
Title: Cooking with Fernet Branca

Review –This is a hilarious and irreverent book about and English writer living in the hills of Tuscany. The wacked out story is secondary to the two narrators’ musings about life, art and each other. The book is interwoven with the primary narrators’ recipes that can best be described as haute- disgusting (stuffed udder in butterscotch sauce). Very well written with some laugh out loud moments- a perfect light summer book and would carry over onto the fall. Very unusual.