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Only Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt) can get away with wearing a bright yellow blazer. The one he sports in Prizzi’s Honor (1985) was a gift from his on-again-off-again squeeze, Anjelica Huston (The Grifters), who co-starred in this film and won an Academy Award for her performance as Maerose Prizzi. But that yellow blazer. It’s a classic. I know I’d get laughed out of the room if I wore anything like it. Nicholson plays Charley Partanna, a hitman and fixer for the Prizzi cr

This book, and this series, reminds me of the Leaphorn & Chee books by Tony Hillerman. I’ve watched the Amazon streaming series, and The Blessing Way is soon on my TBR List. Why I’ve decided to read Follow The Crow before The Blessing Way, I can’t really answer. Perhaps I want to support a newer, less established author. The novel centers on Navajo cop Ben Dejooli, whose sister Ana vanished six years earlier. Haunted by crows and unanswered questions, he partners with Carol

A friend of mine, Francine Roche Kay, just informed me of the type of reader I am. I’m a genre reader—an individual who delights in and focuses on books within a particular literary genre—and this knowledge gives me a fresh perspective on the books I read and the reviews I write. I have a steady reading diet of mystery and speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror), with occasional forays into nonfiction and other genres. I needed a palate cleanser after reading Kazuo Ishi

When I first saw Chef (2014) years ago, I thought it was a damned good piece of filmmaking, that all films should follow its model for excellence. When I rewatched it less than an hour ago, I realized it was something more. Much more. The film chronicles the fall and rise of Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau, Swingers), as he loses his shit and puts the pieces back together. The film is also a chronicle of discovery, as Chef Carl comes to realize that he is at his best and happi

I’ve always been interested in James M. Cain, especially his take on noir. So Rainbow’s End, one of his lesser-known novels, is up next. Caine's characters can be readily categorized into distinct types: clever femme fatales, manipulative drifters, and determined, working-class achievers. I’m keen on seeing how these archetypes play out their doomed-to-fail scheme here. As always, I’ll let you know what I think when I’m through.

I tried to like this novel. I really, really did. As both a reader and a writer, I anticipated encountering certain elements, but unfortunately, they were absent, if not too subtle to even notice. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, has an excellent premise and a promising dystopian world, but plot lines and worldbuilding mechanics are left underdeveloped. Ishiguro acknowledges that this book can be classified as a "soft-dystopian" narrative, emphasizing the human condition a

I went to see Masters of the Universe (2026) yesterday, and I enjoyed myself for every minute of its two-hour and fifteen-minute runtime, minus, of course, the scrolling of the ending credits and a bathroom run. I realized something this time, and in previous times when I went out to see movies—I did not even look at my smartphone for the entire time. Yes, that’s right. For the film’s entirety, I was not distracted, I had no urge to check notifications, I didn’t even care wh

I used to destroy my toys as a kid. Demolish them. Looking back, I often wondered why my parents bought more for me, for a while, anyway. GI Joe’s, when they were Barbie-sized, didn’t last. Hess trucks didn’t survive the season. And army men, though durable, still wound up damaged in some way after a miniature firecracker or two. I recall wanting to buy a He-Man toy, especially a Skeletor action figure, specifically to rip its arms off. But, alas, I was a bit too old at the t

There’s a common misconception about Young Adult, or YA, novels, mostly that they’re written exclusively for teenagers. While that might be the intended audience, the themes and events can be very mature, featuring elements like murder, sex, and drug abuse. The only constant and required factor about this genre is that the protagonists are all young adults. So adults too can have at. I know I do at times. Enola Holmes 2, a film inspired by the source novels—the first film is

I first heard of this movie a few weeks ago at BaltiCon 60, where a congoer told me about it after I handed him one of my Ectoverse, LLC. business cards. “There’s ectoplasm in the film. Cary Grant talks about it.” If that’s not an endorsement for a film, then I don’t know what is. Topper (1937), a screwball comedy about the fun of being dead, stars Cary Grant (His Girl Friday) as George Kirby, Constance Bennet (The Easiest Way) as his wife Marion, and Roland Young (The Phila

I recall attempting to watch this film when it initially premiered on premium cable channels. My family was away on a high school band trip to Ireland with my sisters, and I had to stay home. Poor me. Alas, I wasn’t left alone. My paternal grandmother had the dubious honor of babysitting my 13-year-old, prepubescent self for the duration. One evening, as I lay on the floor in front of the family television in a cramped space my family-of-six called the “TV Room,” and my grand

Presentism. It is defined as erroneously interpreting past phenomena in terms of current beliefs and knowledge. Anachronism is anything that is chronologically out of place in a specific time period. The differences between the two are subtle, yet noteworthy. Anachronism denotes the erroneous positioning of a person, object, or custom in a time period where it is not appropriate, whereas presentism is a specific type of anachronism that entails using modern attitudes, beliefs

I need more Pulitzer Prize-winning novels in my life. And here’s one of them: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. It promises to be a tale of growing up and realizing that all is not kopacetic with your past. I’ll tell no more of this—I don’t want to know until I read it—but I’m looking forward to an engaging speculative fiction novel that is award-winning to boot. I’ll share my thoughts when I’m through.

When I told my friend, Francine Roche Kay, that I was reading St. Helena - The Most Significant Woman in Human History: From Tavern Maid to Saint: the Woman Who Found the True Cross and Changed the Faith of Civilization, she was excited and said that it sounded right up her alley. Then I told her it was narrative nonfiction and gave examples of dialogue from the book. Her mind duly changed. This genre deserves a definition. Also referred to as creative or literary nonfictio

This book looked interesting to me. And, I think, it was on sale. And I’ve as of late added nonfiction books to my usually steady diet of mystery and urban fiction. St. Helena - The Most Significant Woman in Human History: From Tavern Maid to Saint: the Woman Who Found the True Cross and Changed the Faith of Civilization, by Steve Castlen, looks like a book with a lesson to impart. I hope I’m not too dense to comprehend it. As usual, I’ll share my review when I’m finished r

I’ve been a fan of westerns for as long as I can remember. Certain revisionist Westerns, such as Unforgiven (1992), have had a profound impact on me. I want to see more, and I want to see them done well. So when I caught wind that Elmore Leonard had written westerns, over thirty-eight published ones—yeah, I’m sometimes late to learn such things—I was thrilled. Thrilled, I tell you. Gunsights, one of his later ones, published in 1979, was a joy to read. From what I’ve seen o

There’s nothing like a balletically violent action film to start your Sunday morning. The intermittent splashy gore only adds to it. Ballerina (2025), from the World of John Wick, is just such a film. This is a revenge movie, much like many great action films, taking place in a world where, incongruously, analog communication systems work seamlessly with digital ones. I used to think that this worldbuilding choice was simply stylistic, which it is, but it also explains how t

This film is a lot of fun. Having read the play and seen the movie over twenty years ago, I now recall the absurdity, witty dialogue, philosophical insights, and the suggestions of discovery without payoffs that define Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990). “Deaths for all ages and occasions. Deaths of kings and princes…and nobodies.” This quote by the Lead Actor (Richard Dreyfuss, Jaws), while deftly defining what tragedy is, encapsulates the premise of this film quit

A western written by one of today’s greatest and most prolific crime novelists? Please, please, please sign me up! I really look forward to reading Gunsights: An Action-Packed Western Where Arizona Legends Become Enemies, by Elmore Leonard. As soon as I’m done, I’ll share my thoughts. And admiration.

I must confess, I preferred the movie over the book. In many cases, I read the book before I watch the film, but since the movie was chosen by my Weekly Movie Club—a bunch of college buddies and I get on Zoom every Sunday evening to discuss movies and other bull%#@t—decided on viewing the film, I did so, and decided to read the novel afterwards. And I didn’t think I would be so indifferent at first. Usually, I’m a bigger fan of the source material than I am of an adaptation.