In The Area of Critical Commentary....

Some quickie critical commentary as The Grandstander still tries to catch up from vacation.....

We saw the new "Wonder Woman" movie last week, starring the incredibly beautiful Gal Gadot in the title role.

You have heard me say time and again that I am not a super-hero, comic book movie fan, but something drew me to this one, and, yeah, maybe it was the chance to see a beautiful actress in a skimpy outfit, but Mrs. Grandstander attended as well, and we both liked this movie quite a bit.

If you can accept the idea that there actually ARE super-heros, then this was a pretty good story.  There were a lot of neat special effects and slow motion filming that I enjoyed, and Miss Gadot was charming and delightful as the kick-ass amazon warrior princess.  Like a lot of these movies, it went on too long (2:24), and the climactic battle between Diana and the Evil Bad Guy was implausible, even by comic book movie standards, but when the next WW movie comes out, and as this movie is killing it at the box office, there will be more of them, we shall be in line to see it.

Three stars from The Grandstander.

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The newest Lucas Davenport thriller from John Sanford finds Lucas in his new role as a US Marshall.   A couple of crooks/killers have robbed a drug cartel of millions of dollars and killed several people, including a little girl, in the process.  This sets both the Cartel and the US Marshalls on their trail.  Typical Davenport/Sandford action - brutal criminals, some new partners for Lucas, a compelling storyline, and a most interesting ending to the story that will set up future stories in the series.  As a side note, the story also describes a US Presidential election with fictional candidates, of course, but comparisons can certainly be made.

Three and one-half stars.

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In 2001, a college freshman is drugged and gang raped at a college fraternity party.  Thirteen years later, the woman commits suicide, and shortly thereafter, one of the football players who took part in the rape, is killed, and another one turns up missing.  

The missing guy was last seen in Portland, Maine, and that brings Portland police detectives Michael McCabe and Maggie Savage into the case.  This is the fifth novel in James Hayman's series about McCabe and Savage, and I have written of this series before. "The Girl on the Bridge" continues the series and is another excellent police procedural thriller.

There is a bit of a twist in this one as to who the villain is, and, I must say, I did see it coming, but not at first!  I highly recommend this one, and all of the novels in the series.  Oh, and this one also ends with a hint of a possible change in store for McCabe and Savage in the future.  Can't wait for the next book.

Four stars.

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Yesterday we took advantage once again of the fabulous TCM/Fathom Events Series of classic films on a Big Screen.  This one was Billy Wilder's 1959 classic - and it truly is a Classic - "Some Like It Hot".

Has anyone not seen this one?  In 1929 Chicago, musicians Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. In order to escape the Mob, they disguise themselves as women, join an all girl orchestra to escape Chicago and get to Florida, where they will then ditch the band and go on their way.  Of course, another musician and singer in the band is played by Marilyn Monroe, and complications, and hijinks, ensue.

This movie is lauded as the Best Comedy Movie ever made, and it is hard to argue the point.  The three stars, Curtis, Lemmon, and Monroe may never have been better in anything that they ever did, Wilder's direction and script (with I.A.L. Diamond) was fabulous, and, of course, there was that memorable closing line from Joe E. Brown.

No matter how many times you've seen this movie, it is always funny. Always.

Four stars all the way.

The Books of 2016

Yes, it is that time for my eagerly awaited summary of the books that I have read in the recently completed year.  2016 saw me read 45 books.  Mostly fiction.  Mostly for relaxation.  Mostly the kind of stuff that I enjoy when I am reading it, but usually forget what it's all about once I am done.  However, some books do stay in your mind long after reading, so allow me to share them with you one final time.  If you want to know more about them, just type the name of either the book or the author into the search box in the upper left corner of this page.

So, in no special order of significance.....

Non-Fiction

"American Pharoah" by Joe Drape.  The story of the thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown in 2015, from the moment of his conception (yep, that's exactly what I mean) to his retirement to a Kentucky stud farm.  Great study, not only of American Pharoah himself, but of his owner, trainer, jockey, and all of the characters that populate the Sport of Kings.

"I'd Know That Voice Anywhere: My Favorite NPR Commentaries" by Frank Deford.  The title of this one should be self-explanatory.  A collection of commentaries over several years by perhaps America's best and most literate sportswriter.

"The Arm" by Jeff Passan.  A study of arm injuries to pitchers, primarily in Major League Baseball, but extending all the way down into amateur baseball played by young teenagers. Why are there so many serious injuries to baseball's most precious commodity, and what can be done to prevent them?  Interesting and disturbing at the same time.

"Hamilton the Revolution" by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter.  A series of essays surrounding the creation and presentation of the transformative Broadway show, "Hamilton", that also includes the complete libretto of the musical with footnotes from Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Read the essays, and then read the lyrics on a printed page while listening to the music.  It gives you an entirely deeper appreciation of this epic work.

"American Heiress" by Jeffrey Toobin.  The story of the kidnapping, search for, and the arrest and trial of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.  It was one the biggest ongoing news stories of the 1970's, and it is pretty much forgotten about today.  Thoroughly researched and wonderfully written by the author.  

Fiction


"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.  I reread this classic 1928 detective story, and make no mistake, it is a classic.  If you've only seen the movie and never read the book, do yourself a favor and read it.  Hammett is considered the father of the classic hard-boiled American detective story, and "The Maltese Falcon" shows you just why that is.

"Miller's Valley" by Anna Quindlan.  Not the sort of novel I usually read, but this was truly a terrific story about a young girl's life and dreams while growing up on a small farm in a central Pennsylvania valley, and twists, turns, and breaks, both good and bad, that are dealt to her on her journey to adulthood.  Great book.

"Better Dead" by Max Allan Collins.  Collins delivered to us a new novel in his series of Nathan Heller "memoirs".  This one involved, among others, Joe McCarthy, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg,, and Dashiell Hammett.  Collins and Heller never disappoint.

"The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore.  A novelization of the real life battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over "who invented the light bulb".  Sounds simple, but it wasn't.  Truth really can be stranger, and more interesting, than fiction.

I also discovered a series of police novel by an author named James Hayman.  They feature Portland, Maine police detectives Michael McCabe and Maggie Savage.  There are four of them out there, and I believe that a new one is scheduled to be released this month.  Can't wait for it.  See http://grandstander.blogspot.com/search?q=James+Hayman

The past year also saw the following novels published by some of my favorite authors:

"Breakdown" by Jonathan Kellerman
"Extreme Prey" by John Sandford (a Lucas Davenport story)
"Escape Clause" by John Sandford (a Virgil Flowers story)
"Razor Girl" by Carl Hiaasen

There you are. If you are looking for something to pass the time in the cold winter months ahead, you could do a lot worse that reading any one of the books listed above. 

Allow Me To Recommend....

Earlier this year, the book "The Girl in The Glass" by James Hayman was offered on one of those Amazon "Kindle Deal of the Day" emails, it looked interesting, so I bought it.  It was terrific.

The book centered around Portland, Maine police detectives Michael McCabe and Margaret "Maggie" Savage, and the crime involved the death of a young heiress in Portland who was murdered in an amazingly similar fashion to the death of her great-great-grandmother that took place 108 years earlier.  It was a fast paced story and a great mystery with, in the case of McCabe and Savage, terrific characters.

This led me to see if there were other books in the series, and indeed there were. In fact, "The Girl in The Glass" was the fourth novel in the series, and I immediately ordered the other three.

In chronological order, the books are "The Cutting", "The Chill of the Night", and "Darkness First".  You needn't read them in the order in which they were written, but if you are obsessive about things like that, Amazon is making it easy for you to do so.  All four of them can be purchased for you Kindle for $5.96, or, you can buy them individually for $.99 for the first three books, and $2.99 for "The Girl in the Glass".  I mean, they are practically giving them away.

You can also learn more about the series and about author James Hayman at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com.

The bad news is that I have now finished all four books, and have to wait until Hayman comes out with a new one, which probably won't be for another year or so.

So, if you are in the market for a good mystery/police/crime novel, give any or all of these "McCabe and Savage Thrillers", as they are being marketed, a shot.  I do not think that you will be disappointed.