Reviews - And I'll Try To Be Quick About It

Ever since I heard about Francis Ford Coppola's new movie "Megalopolis", I knew that I wanted to see it, and from what I had read about it, I also knew that there was a good chance that I wouldn't like it.  And I was right.

The movie is striking visually, and Coppola used everything in his Auteur Bag of Tricks, so that is kind of fun, but what exactly is this movie about?  A guy wants to design, build, and control a futuristic city?  The evils of big money men when it comes to who exactly controls whom when someone wants to achieve something?  An allegory on the 45th President and all that he has wrought over the last ten years?  

"Megalopolis" also has in supporting roles Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, together again fifty-five years after "Midnight Cowboy".  If only Coppola could have thrown in an Easter egg of Hoffman yelling "I'm walking' here."

The most fun part of the movie was Aubrey Plaza chewing the scenery in her role as, and what terrific name for a character, Wow Platinum.

I figure that guy like Francis Ford Coppola has earned the right to do just about anything he wants to do when making  a movie, but "Megalopolis" ain't the second coming of "The Godfather " trilogy.  Trust me on that.

Word is that Coppola financed this movie himself using proceeds from his wine business.  I enjoy and buy Coppola's wines, so I guess that I am partially responsible for this one.

One and one-half Stars from The Grandstander.

British mystery novelist Richard Osman decided to take a break from his Thursday Murder Club series, which I wrote about HERE a few months back, and introduce a new series starring two new central characters, father-in-law and daughter-in-law Steve and Amy Wheeler.

Steve is a retired police detective and widower and, much like Osman's Thursday Murder Club characters, he likes to relax in his retirement, hang with his mates at the local pub, and play pub trivia every Wednesday night.

Amy is a "private security/protection specialist" who travels all over the world and is somewhat of a killing machine.  

In this one, clients of Amy's firm keep getting killed, and Amy is being framed for the murders.  To get out of this mess, Amy recruits a reluctant Steve to help her out.  There is also  horny female best selling mystery novelist (a sex-crazed Agatha Christie?) who is involved here and helps out Amy and Steve.  There are professional high level hit men involved, an elaborate money laundering scheme, and travels all over the world (in addition to England, action takes place in South Carolina, St Lucia, Dublin, Hawaii, and Dubai).  I found the whole thing to me a big mish-mash of a story, I practically forced myself to slog through it until the end.  Had I not enjoyed the author's other books, I would probably have given up on it at the hundred page mark.

I might - might - give the next installment of the Steve and Amy series a chance now that Osman has established the characters, but, mostly, I will anxiously await his return to the fictional community of Cooper's Chase and his Thursday Murder Club folks.

One and three-quarters Stars from The Grandstander.