- The Anderson Tapes (1971)
- Murder On The Orient Express (1974)
- The Great Train Robbery (1978)
- The Untouchables (1987)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Hunt for Red October (1990)
- Finding Forrester (2000)
Friends and readers know that I have long been a fan of author Carl Hiaasen. He is a newspaperman in Florida, and has become a full-time novelist, writing over a dozen comic crime novels that take place in the State of Florida. Beneath the crazy crimes and criminals that he describes, and the comic elements involved with them, Hiaasen has also described the ecological devastation in his home state as a result of over-development and climate change. He delivers a message in each of his stories that needs to be noted.
His latest newly released novel is "Squeeze Me." The story revolves around Angie Armstrong, a "critter control" specialist in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida. It seems that a non-native Burmese python, has found its way onto the grounds of a swanky estate where a swanky charity ball is being held. Angie is called in to see that the snake is removed. But what is that huge lump in the middle of the snake's body, and is it somehow connected to the disappearance of an elderly, wealthy, and petite dowager, Kiki Pew, who was in attendance at the event?
(The invasion of Burmese pythons, non-native to North America, into the Florida Everglades is a real phenomenon. Hiaasen explains how this has happened, and the devastation this is causing native Florida species. The creatures are reproducing at a rate that has far exceeded the abilities of wildlife experts in trying to eliminate them from the region.)
The crime, if it really was a crime, is described in typical Hiaasen fashion, and if you are a fan like me, you will love it. Lots of laugh out loud moments. What the book really is though is Hiaasen's take on West Palm's most famous resident, the Current Occupant of the White House. In "Squeeze Me", the President and First Lady are never mentioned by name, only by the code names given to them by the Secret Service, Mastodon and Mockingbird.
A passage from pages 53-54:
The President's Secret Service code name was "Mastodon." He loved it.
"Perfect!" he'd boomed when he was told. "Fearless, smart, and tough."
And enormous, she'd (the First Lady) said to herself. Don't forget f**king enormous.
On his second day in the White House, the President had ordered his chief of staff to arrange a trip to the National Zoo for a close-up look at a real mastodon. The chief of staff wasn't brave enough to tell the President the truth, so he cooked up a story that the Zoo's beloved mastodon herd was on loan to a wildlife park in Christchurch, New Zealand. The President scowled, muttered something about "those snotty Kiwis," and soon gotten sidetracked by another daft notion.
It goes on from there, and it's quite the portrait of the President. In fact, it may tell a better story about the guy and his Presidency than many of the weighty historical tomes that are sure to be written in the years to come. I don't think I need say that if you are a fan and supporter of the COOTWH, you should probably skip reading this one.
"Squeeze Me" has all the elements of a Carl Hiaasen novel, including an appearance by Skink, a character who has not made an appearance in one of these books for awhile now. If you've read the previous novels, you know the guy I am talking about.
Four Stars from The Grandstander.
Hiaasen dedicates this novel "In memory of my brother Rob." Rob Hiaasen was a journalist for The Capital Times, the newspaper serving Annapolis, MD. In 2018, Rob Hiaasen and four other Times journalists were shot and killed when a shooter invaded the offices of the paper and opened fire. The gunman is in custody and awaits trial, two years after the fact.
A little bit of a smorgasbord this Monday.....
STEELERS 27 -TITANS 24
The Steelers steamrolled the 5-0 Titans in the first half yesterday and took a 24-7 lead into the locker room. The Titans, who I once again remind you were also undefeated at the time, stormed back into the game, and only a wide right FG attempt at the end prevented the game from going into overtime. Of course, the never satisfied members of Steelers Nation can only focus on how "they almost blew it." People in the national media are not nearly as critical of Rooney U as are the yinzers of Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are 6-0. They are the only undefeated team remaining in the NFL. I'm happy.
Elsewhere in the NFL....
Names like Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, and William Kunstler may have receded into the recesses of history for many of us, and may be completely meaningless for people under, say, 60 years of age. If so, then you really should watch "The Trial of The Chicago 7", written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. It serves as a history lesson (insofar as we should construe movies as "history"), and it is also a compelling and entertaining courtroom drama of a movie.
In the summer of 1968, various elements of the counter-couture of the era converged on the City of Chicago to protest the war in Viet Nam during the Democratic National Convention taking place in that city. Clashes ensued with the Chicago Police and the Illinois National Guard, and even within the ranks of the protesters themselves. Political motivations of the new Nixon Administration, spearheaded by a vengeful Attorney General John Mitchell, who, in time, would be proven to be a rather unlawful guy himself, resulted in federal conspiracy charges against eight defendants and a trial in federal court in Chicago that can charitably be described as a circus, and that a subsequent federal appeals court ruled to be a sham. One of those defendants, Black Panther Bobby Seale, was eventually separated from the charges of that particular trial, hence the moniker of Chicago 7.
It is a fabulous cast that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, and Jeremy Strong as Hoffman, Hayden, and Rubin. Also great in the cast are Mark Rylance, as Kunstler, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Federal Prosecutor Richard Schultz, Frank Langella as the far from honorable Judge Julius Hoffman, and in a brief appearance, Michael Keaton as former AG Ramsey Clark. It is my understanding that "The Trial of the Chicago 7" has already appeared in a movie theater somewhere, which makes it eligible for the Academy Awards this year. I have heard on some podcasts that there's some buzz to an acting nomination for Cohen and his depiction of Abbie Hoffman, and deservedly so, but, honestly, I could make a case for any number of the actors in this one, especially Redmayne, Langella, Rylance, and even Keaton for his very brief time on camera. I would also venture that Sorkin is a cinch for a Best Screenplay nomination and maybe even a Best Director nod.
I would like to say that this movie is purely a historical work, but when one sees the operation of the Justice Department in recent years, the movie is, sadly, an all too real example of the old adage that "those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it."
Go to whatever device you use to steam via the Netflix Machine and watch this movie. I haven't seen many 2020 movies this year for reasons alluded to above, but "The Trial of The Chicago 7" has jumped to #1 on my list of Favorites for the Year.
It gets the full Four Stars from The Grandstander.
Yes, what was once the premier event on the American Sports Calendar, the World Series, begins tomorrow, and I will address that, but first.....
How about that 38-7 ass-whipping that the Steelers laid on the CleveBrownies yesterday?
We are all well aware what an awful year 2020 has been for the world and the USA, and nowhere is this more true than in the number of Hall of Fame caliber baseball and football players that have left us, particularly in the last month or so. Yes, ball players get old and die, but the glut of such passings in recent weeks has been almost overwhelming. So much so, that The Grandstander is delivering a sad doubleheader.
When I did my Absent Friends tribute to Dianna Rigg last month, I made mention that while she was a Bond Girl, she did it in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the Bond movie that starred George Lazenby, which probably made it the least viewed film in the entire Bond Franchise. This comment caused one of my movie maven pals, Bob Cassinelli, to comment that OHMSS gets a bad rap because Lazenby had the nerve to not be Sean Connery. This was the first Bond movie made without Connery, and the Aussie Lazenby was relatively - completely? - unknown to American audiences. Bob told me that the the production values were high, Telly Savalas was great as the villain Blofeld, and that Rigg's performance was spectacular. Also, in light of the fact that several actors have now played the role, Lazenby's performance deserves a second look and a re-evaluation.
I got around to getting hold of a DVD of the movie, watched it last night, and Bob was right on all counts.
The plot.....an evil villain has a plot that will destroy humans' ability to procreate....unless his demands are met, he will unleash it...Bond has to stop him...Bond falls in love....you pretty much get the idea. In the end, though, who cares about PLOT in a James Bond movie? The people are handsome and beautiful, the wardrobes are extravagant, the scenery is gorgeous. There are explosions, fights, lovemaking, and chase scenes. What more do you need? There was even one perfectly meta moment, before anyone even know that "meta" would one day become a thing, when Bond/Lazenby looks into the camera and says "This never happened to the other guy."
Did I mention chase scenes? The movie opens with a mini-chase between two cars that ends on a beach. Throughout the rest of the movie we see a chase scene on skis going down the Alps (pretty spectacular), a chase on a stock car race track, a chase between two bobsleds, and, just because that wasn't enough, we get another chase scene on skis with an avalanche thrown into the mix.
As for Diana Rigg, she was indeed terrific in the role, and absolutely gorgeous.
See what I mean?
As an aside, in some of the stuff I read after Rigg's death, some speculated that, in another era, Diana Rigg would have been absolutely perfect to be the first woman to play "James Bond." Couldn't agree more.
She also pulls off what no other Bond Girl before or since ever managed to do. She married James Bond......
We all know that that didn't last, but why didn't it? Well, even in a 51 year old movie, The Grandstander is not about to give any spoilers, but he will give "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Three Stars. Well worth tracking down and watching.
Bob Gibson | vs. Pirates | Career | 1968 | World Series |
W-L | 25-16 | 251-174 | 22-9 | 7-2 |
% | 0.610 | 0.591 | 0.710 | 0.778 |
ERA | 3.20 | 2.91 | 1.12 | 1.89 |
WHIP | 1.233 | 1.190 | 0.85 | 0.889 |
IP | 410.1 | 3,884.1 | 304.2 | 81 |
R | 146 | 1,420 | 49 | 19 |
ER | 125 | 1,258 | 38 | 17 |
CG | 22 | 255 | 28 | 8 |
ShO | 5 | 56 | 134 | 2 |
K/9IP | 7.70 | 7.22 | 7.92 | 10.2 |