Daredevil S02 E06: Regrets Only

We open this episode of "Daredevil" in Quentin Tarantino style reminiscent of Kill Bill as motorcycled Yakuza drag through the streets on their way to take on Daredevil and Elektra to the sound of "Date with the Night" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Cliche and apropos, but I loved it. Great opening. Too bad our 'heroes' make short work of them. The horrifying part is at the end where Elektra, clearly enjoying herself, wants to go out for a bite.

As we know from the last episode, Elektra is more than an adrenaline junkie, she's a sociopath. At the diner sucking down soda and inhaling French fries she matter of factly tells Matt she knows all about Daredevil and even though he wears a mask, "you can't mask that ass, I'd know it anywhere." Another secret identity out the window.

A deal is struck, no killing, and Daredevil will help Elektra with the Yakuza. And if you think that's an unholy alliance, things get more interesting when Nelson and Murdock decide to take DA Reyes on head to head. To keep the Punisher from getting the death penalty, they're going to defend him. I don't like the Punisher, but I like when this show surprises me, and this is one of those times.

The Matt and Karen relationship is moving along wonderfully, as long as you remove the factors from the equation that ruin it all - the Punisher and Elektra. This dishonesty just flushes all the fun and sincerity of Matt and Karen's sweet innocence right down the toilet. It's like a magician doing tricks when you can see the wires and mirrors. Not fun, and not cool.

Karen is pulled deeper into the Punisher's past when he gives a hospital bed confession of his secret origin to her, and her alone. The fact that she knew about his family allows him to trust her. In this way, the Karen/Castle relationship is just a bit more pure than hers with Matt, and it's a shame. Still, even bound to a bed, Jon Bernthal shines in this role.

Meanwhile, Matt and Elektra attend a ritzy Roxxon/Yakuza party. The heist vibe is strong and it's interesting how Daredevil's powers are put to use in this situation. I'd like to see more of this. They get away with something called the Roxxon ledger while a pseudo-reveal is made that this isn't the Yakuza. The Hand, perhaps?

It gets worse. Though convinced to plead guilty, when he gets in front of the judge, Frank Castle pleads not guilty. That means it going to trial. Matt may have to choose between Elektra and the case now. A good episode, more linking than anything else, but good just the same.

Next: Semper Fidelis!

A Preacher Virgin Looks at Preacher

Unlike a lot of comic book properties that move to television and film, I don't really know all that much about Preacher. I've never read it. I know it was by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, for mature readers, and that it had characters like Jesse Custer, Cassidy the vampire, Arseface, and the Saint of Killers - but that's about it. I also knew it's fans were passionate and loyal. When I watched the AMC TV series however, it was all-new to me.

I didn't know what to expect in its first moments with its purposefully cheap effects, but they were soon forgotten as I was enveloped by the tale of Preacher Jesse Custer possessed of a power called Genesis in a quirky Texas town named Annville. While Jesse on the whole is well played but fairly boring, his situation is not, and neither are his somewhat companions Cassidy and Tulip. Dominic Cooper, and especially Ruth Negga and Joseph Gilgun are wonderful. And the more I see of them, the more I want them in the show, but the showrunners seem to be holding back giving me what I want. The screen shines when either are on it.

Annville itself seems to me to be what "Twin Peaks" might be as a comic book written by Quentin Tarantino. Episodic, bizarre, violent, and defiantly Lynch-ian. I love it. As more quirky characters are introduced, notably two angels sent to retrieve Genesis by ridiculous and arcane methods, I am enjoying myself but find the storytelling lacking. Like "Twin Peaks," we don't actually seem to be going anywhere.

There are subplots I want to see more of like Tulip's quest for revenge and Cassidy's pursuers, but these are overshadowed by others that I either don't care about or don't understand - like Jesse's childhood or Quincannon's madness or these old west flashbacks. They may well be Easter eggs that comics readers get and love, but I don't get them.

I'm eight episodes out of ten in, and I have to say I'm losing interest. The things I want to see I'm not getting and what I am getting is just not doing it for me. I suspect they are stuffing as much as they can into the show despite the effect it might have on virgin viewers like me. I'm still watching, but I prefer the early episodes to the later ones.

For a different view on the series, this one from a fan of the comics, check out Amanda Blue's reviews of "Preacher" at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point ~ Now this is a film of legend. The only way it could be seen when I was a kid was on late night Friday nights on local ABC affiliate channel 6. It was notorious to many teenaged boys in the pre-cable 1970s for having ever-so-quick topless scenes the censors forgot to clip.

Later in life when I managed a video store, it was one of those films like Disney's Song of the South and John Wayne's The High and the Mighty - it just wasn't available on video. If I had a dime for how many times I had to tell some disappointed customer one of those titles wasn't available... well, I'd have a whole buncha dimes. Vanishing Point from 1971 eventually came out, as did High and the Mighty (don't hold your breath for Song of the South) but in the meantime the film achieved a sort of cult status.

The premise is simple. Vietnam vet Kowalski has to deliver a car from Denver to San Francisco over the weekend. Already exhausted, he makes a bet he can get the car - a beautiful white 1970 Dodge Challenger - there the next day, in just fifteen hours. The race begins. Pursued by the police, and guided by the words of a blind disc-jockey Super Soul in Las Vegas, Kowalski becomes a folk hero as he makes the impossible run.

Now from the above, this might sound like a precursor to Smokey and the Bandit or any of the sillier car chase movies of the seventies, and they do owe a certain extent to Vanishing Point, but this is a spiritual journey. One could even say the weird almost-psychic connection Kowalski shares with Super Soul is supernatural. This movie is a lot more than it at first appears.

Barry Newman plays the at times inexplicable Kowalski, a man on the hero's journey across a short western expanse of Easy Rider America. His companion on the car radio, with whom he shares an empathic kinship is Super Soul, played with the youthful enthusiasm of a young Stevie Wonder crossed with an evangelist in the spirit is a pre-Blazing Saddles Cleavon Little. How these two escaped Oscar nods for this is a mystery.

Another mystery is the plot of the film itself. Why does Kowalski do the things he does? Why is he driving to what is eventually his death? Does he know? And what is the weird psychic connection between him and Super Soul? Is the entire film an allegory? An after-death flashback, a loop in Hell that Kowalski must somehow keep running? There are so many theories, and will probably continue to be.

No matter what you think happens in Vanishing Point, it has become a cult film, a legend. It has inspired so many, from the kids who drove Dodge Challengers in the 1970s because of it to Quentin Tarantino who honored it in Death Proof. It is probably one of the greatest car movies of all time, and worth seeing for the fortieth time or the first. Great soundtrack, great scenery, highly recommended.

Daredevil S01 E12: The Ones We Leave Behind

Who is Karen Page? If I'm being honest, and I always am with you readers, I don't know. I can't say that I have ever read a comic book with her in it that has stood out. I mean I know who she is, but I don't know who she is, ya know?

Karen Page began life as a typical Stan Lee supporting cast player, the mutual romantic interest of both Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock. At this point in 1964, she was interchangeable with other Lee women like Pepper Potts, Betty Brant, and even Sue Storm to an extent. She didn't really become interesting until Matt told her he was Daredevil and they split up.

Disappearing for short periods of time, she bounced around the Marvel Universe as an actress, spending some time with Ghost Rider, but eventually returning to Daredevil. Her father was revealed to be the super-villain known as the original Death's-Head, so in the comics her background wasn't always squeaky clean. Later she starts working in porn, abusing drugs, and sells Daredevil's secret identity to the Kingpin. At the end of her downward spiral, she is murdered by Bullseye.

After the events of the last episode, killing James Wesley, it seems as though TV Karen might not have that pretty a past or future either. She tries to drink away the memory but is haunted by nightmares of the Kingpin, one particularly scary one in the pre-credits opening sequence. Her fear is compounded by both her drinking, and the fact that her law office is now just three people that don't talk to each other any more.

The plainclothes Matt parkour chase scene was impressive. And it leads to something even more impressive. The blind sweatshoppers making Madame Gao's heroin took their own eyes, because they have faith in something beyond this world. I had suspected that perhaps Gao might be from K'un L'un, a mystical land associated with the training of hero Iron Fist. And did Gao knock Daredevil across the room with the power of an iron fist? Da da dum.

Madame Gao makes one last appearance, to confer with The Owl, sans translator. As it turns out, it was the two of them who poisoned the Kingpin's benefit, trying to pull his attention away from Vanessa and back on business. I liked my Wesley theory better. Gao says she is going home to reflect on the situation. Owlsley asks if home is China, but she replies, not for the first time in the series either, that her home is a considerable distance further. My bet is on the otherdimensional K'un L'un. I'm sure we'll find out for sure when Iron Fist gets his Netflix turn.

An interesting tidbit came out of a talk between Urich and Daredevil. The heroin marked with the sign of the Steel Serpent, that we know from the comics as such, is actually called 'Steel Serpent.' More Iron Fist links.

Just as we had been punked in the opening of this episode with Fisk showing up in Karen's apartment, only to be revealed as a dream, it actually does happen to Ben at the end of the episode. Determined to print the entire story of Wilson Fisk in the Bulletin, they fired him. Still unharried, he decides to blog it online when he gets home. As he starts to type, Fisk is there.

What follows is a conversation worthy of Quentin Tarantino, and then the most brutal of the Kingpin's kills. It's true, we have seen him lose his cool serious more than few times, but this is entirely a whole new level. Do not mess with Wilson's mother.

Next: finally, Daredevil...

Daredevil S01 E07: Stick

I had mentioned before that I'm not a big Daredevil guy. If that's not embarrassing enough, the next bit will be. My introduction to Stick was Splinter. That's right, the rat sensei of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Splinter, was my introduction to Stick, Daredevil's martial arts teacher and enemy of The Hand - or as they're known in the TMNT universe, The Foot. And the thing is, I was only barely aware of the Turtles.

When the TMNT cartoon was hot, a friend who was really into them pointed out that they were originally based on a comic I might enjoy. He thought it was a comic I would dig because it mocked the comics I didn't like. TMNT was a parody of all that ninja mumbo jumbo nonsense that Frank Miller had made Daredevil into. My Daredevil was a swinging swashbuckler in San Fran who fought the Jester, the Owl, and the Stilt-Man - not what I'd seen in that title of late. But TMNT intrigued me. I loved the parody, and shameful as it is, it's where I learned of Splinter, I mean Stick.

In the comics, Stick was also a blind man, and like Daredevil possessed a kind of radar sense, and so when he encountered the young Matt Murdock, trained him in the use of it. Stick was the leader of a martial arts/super powered group called The Chaste, whose students also included Elektra. The Chaste's mission was to eradicate The Hand. Stick eventually died in that pursuit. He might have also encountered Wolverine back in the 1930s. As I've said, I'm not a big Miller fan, so beyond that, details are iffy in my mind.

Stick, as portrayed by Scott Glenn, makes his first and supposedly only appearance in Netflix's "Daredevil" in this self-titled episode. Rumor has it that originally showrunner Steven S. DeKnight wanted Sonny Chiba for the role, but I think this works out better. Of course as we see in our pre-credits scene, Scott Glenn is pretty damned Sonny Chiba...

In the opening, Stick is after a businessman in Japan, and by after, I mean Quentin Tarantino style. Somebody is going to die horribly either by gun or sword. Stick is looking for something called Black Sky, and takes first the guy's hand, and then his life to find out what he wants to know. Whatever Black Sky is, it's on its way to New York.

Back in New York the Owl is doing some accounting for Mr. Nobu, and intimates that he knows that his people (are they The Hand?) are bringing something into the docks. Owlsley's intention is an unofficial alliance in case the Kingpin turns on them as he did the Russians, but Nobu will have none of it. Just as they leave and we know whatever Black Sky is, Nobu's people are getting it, Daredevil confronts The Owl, and as he's about to get the info he needs, his prey gets the upper hand and tases our hero. When Stick coincidentally finds Daredevil, it's flashback time.

Folks who are regular readers of my reviews know my feelings on superhero secret origins especially in film and television. Get in and get out, or don't mention it at all, and get right to the real story. I was so proud of this "Daredevil" in that they did the origin in just a couple minutes in the first episode. Daredevil is a Silver Age Stan Lee superhero, blah blah blah, radiation creates heroes, villains, and monsters. We get it, move on.

Based on those thoughts, one might think I would hate this episode. Logically you'd be right, but I don't. Scott Glenn, doing his curmudgeonly best David Carradine crossed with Robert Durst, saves these sequences. I love the bit in the park where Stick trains young Matt to open his world and read it, and equally love when he judges the adult Matt for what he's done with his life.

Stick is here in Hell's Kitchen, fighting the war he spoke of so often when training young Matt. This war this night involves the weapon called Black Sky, what Stick refers to as the bringer of shadows. It's not something Matt wants in his world. The two strike an alliance. Matt helps Stick stop Black Sky, and Stick promises he won't kill anyone. Yeah, that's gonna work, especially when he says it Robert Durst style.

We also get a bit of our work triangle - Matt, Foggy, and Karen. Over and above their discussion of the vigilante the paper is calling 'the devil of Hell's Kitchen,' we get just enough of the three actors' chemistry to know we want more. Charlie Cox and Elden Henson are especially good together, as I've said before. Even Foggy knows now what we've known since episode one, Karen is hiding something. Maybe she's a vampire? Oh yeah, that's right.

Speaking of Karen and her secrets, no matter how good Deborah Ann Woll and Vondie Curtis-Hall are separately, they unfortunately lack that same chemistry I mentioned above. When Karen and Ben Urich get together to trade notes, even the master actor can't save the scene from seeming awkward and long. At least he's aware he was the target last episode. Perhaps in the future the awkwardness might be saved as Karen finally brings Foggy into Ben's house of cards circle.

Black Sky turns out to be a child, in torn clothes and chains, delivered to the docks in a big storage unit. While Black Sky appears to be a boy, Stick only refers to him with the 'it' pronoun, as if he is a thing. In the comics, The Hand does have an interest in artifacts of supernatural or demonic origin, just as Stick himself has an interest in powered individuals. Witness his seeking out Daredevil and Elektra as students with The Chaste.

Stick claims to have killed Black Sky but it happens off-screen, and given his past with the truth, I wonder if it happened the way he says it did. "Daredevil" takes place on the edge of a universe of superheroes. Matt and company co-exist with the Avengers but the worlds don't really intersect. I think this is one case where the edges start to blur, and we'll be seeing more from this particular episode in future Netflix series as we build toward "The Defenders."

The appearance of Stone at the end seems to be an assurance of that, whether here, in future series, or in the second season of "Daredevil." Scott Glenn is amazing as Stick, and equally amazing are the fight sequences between him and Matt, both as a kid and as an adult. Props go to Skylar Gaertner as young Matt. The kid is really good too. Excellent episode all around.

Coonskin

Coonskin ~ Up front, folks, this one may be rough, so if you have certain sensitivities, you might want to skip this review. And, as a white writer in a politically correct world, I also feel the need to tread lightly when talking about this 1975 animated feature by Ralph Bakshi. Like I said, it's rough, take a deep breath, and follow me if you dare.

The opening, visually and verbally is strikingly and disturbingly racist. It's a precursor to what is to come, and sets the pace well. I understood what it was, accepted it for its time, and still winced as if physically struck. No matter how much DMX using the N word one listens to, there's just no preparing for this opening. What followed the racist Vaudeville joke told in animated blackface, was also hard to take, but at least it was full of talent and power.

Scatman (Scat Man in the opening credits) Crothers sings the seemingly racist song "Coonskin No More" with liberal use of the N word, but it's an amazing song as well. It's sad that many folks have forgotten what a tremendous talent the man was musically, although he's usually remembered for his acting. After recovering from thinking about how Crothers went from doing "Hong Kong Phooey" to this and then moved on to The Shining, I realized what Bakshi was trying to do, a little song and dance, and a little shock and awe.

This was his attempt to show the black experience, granted from the eyes of a boy who grew up in a black and Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Bakshi was creating what he called his own ghetto art, blending the genres of blaxploitation, crime drama, and folk tales with a realistic and unapologetic racism that maybe a lot of the world doesn't want to admit existed, or sadly, still exists. Yeah, I'm putting a fancy spin on it, and despite its truth, it's very hard to watch in 2015.

Coonskin is a mix of animation and live action, owing much to The Song of the South as its characters and lessons are similar. The cast also includes Philip Michael Thomas who later gained fame on "Miami Vice," Pulitzer Prizing winning actor/director/writer Charles Gordone, and the one and only Barry White. The actual story is very seventies, so seventies in fact, I am sure that Quentin Tarantino loves this flick. And he does.

About an hour into Coonskin I realized that I had in fact seen some of it at least before. Doing a little research I learned that it had also been released as Street Fight, which is where I saw a bit, and also Bustin' Out. This is not a great movie, it's not even a good movie. There's a lot going on, a little bit of everything, with very little to hold it together. Some interesting animation, and music, some intriguing commentary on race, but also a lot of the usual crap like sex and drugs that Bakshi throws into everything he does for no reason.

I can't recommend Coonskin, except for the curious, the fans of folks involved, and those with strong stomachs and high tolerance for the politically incorrect. Watch at your own risk.

Hobo with a Shotgun

Hobo with a Shotgun ~ Yeah, so I finally saw this. The number of times this film has been recommended to me by friends whose opinions I respect, and even those I don't, is countless. Many of those friends have even nagged me with occasional "Did you see it yet?" inquiries.

The title revealing subject matter and the way sometimes I was recommended or asked about the flick has made me wonder about the sincerity of these friends. Ya know how someone will take a bite of something terrible, and then, not wanting to be the only one who is suffering, will offer you a taste? Yeah, that's the vibe I have gotten in the past from Hobo with a Shotgun.

Right off the top, I have to give props to the director Jason Eisener and the cinematographer Karim Hussain. The color of this flick is insanely vibrant, no doubt a thematic choice to cash in on the 1970s action exploitation vibe that drives the picture. Even the movie poster reflects that homage, sans the Technicolor of course.

Based on the originally fake trailer from Rodriquez and Tarantino's Grindhouse, the movie delivers its particular brand of hyperviolence almost from the start. Rutger Hauer is the hobo in question, and runs afoul of The Drake, the warlord who rules Hope Town. yeah, that's the name, or in light of events and graffiti, it's now called Scum Town.

Hauer is good here, playing apathetic at first and more than a little crazy, much better than his recent turn in "True Blood" as a subtly and hilariously similar character type. Actually had Sookie's gramps been more like the hobo, it might have saved this season. When a shotgun eventually makes it into the hobo's hands, he decides to become a crazed force for good, battling the bad guys and inspiring the frightened townspeople.

Trust me, this hyperviolent tale of good vs. evil set in a hellish Technicolor suburban wasteland sounds much better than it actually is but its misshapen heart is in the right place. Hauer watches and reacts for the most part, but for the rest of the cast it's an over the top acting massacre that would make Lloyd Kaufman of Troma positively jealous.

Speaking of which, if you love Troma Films, you will love Hobo with a Shotgun. On the other hand, if you don't, this movie is not for you. And neither is it for the squeamish. Either way, the color is fabulous. And maybe Robert Downey Jr. can fight The Plague in Iron Man 4...

The Man with the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists ~ This film is a mad alternate universe martial arts adventure written by RZA and Eli Roth, an insane love letter to the Shaw Brothers movies of the 1970s. With the backing and support of Quentin Tarantino, a decent budget, an awesome cast, and even cooler soundtrack, the film succeeds on all points of professing its love, providing proper homage, and entertaining the hell out of viewers.

The flick is high camp adventure at its best, and great actors like Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu roll with it with skill. RZA plays the title role, an American emancipated blacksmith who becomes embroiled in this bloody cartoonish tale of greed, revenge, and warring clans, all set to frenetic hip hop soundtrack.

This is pure Shaw Brothers with a big budget and better music, imagine Crouching Tiger without the grace and slow parts but mixed with a bizarre steampunk UFC sensibility and you've got the vibe. It even turns almost superhero-ish toward the end.

The red band trailer below is NOT family or work safe. You've been warned.



I dug this flick a lot, but found myself a bit bored waiting for the next fight with outrageous opponents to occur. It suffers in these places, but the battles more than make up for it. Recommended for those who grew up with Saturday afternoon martial arts flicks, and loved them despite the silliness and the effects, The Man with the Iron Fists is for you.

Beware the Batman

I approach this new Batman series with both trepidation and resentment. We're getting this series as not only a replacement for the old "Brave and the Bold" series, which gave us an intriguing and entertaining new direction for the character, but also a replacement for the much loved, and inexplicably ended "Green Lantern" and "Young Justice." I would have much rather had either of these series back, or a JLA spin-off from the later than anything else Cartoon Network is offering lately, especially the superdeformed mutilation called "Teen Titans Go!" or this newest version of Batman.

"Beware the Batman" is a bit of an oddity, with, in my opinion, very little to like. The animation is CGI style like the aforementioned Green Lantern series, and there seems to be very little reason to have it done in this method. There are no wild scifi elements that this style would benefit. Batman's head is odd and his whole costume has a wet, almost slimy, vinyl rubber look.

It is also quite violent. I was surprised at how violent, and I'm pretty desensitized to that sort of thing, especially when it comes to superheroes and cartoons. This is also a very different concept for Batman. He is, once again (groan), early in his career and therefore inexperienced. Why can't we have the confident and competent Batman? That's the one we like, not the bumbling amateur.

I said this was a new concept, well, young and dumb isn't what I was talking about. Alfred is very different. More than a butler, he is an Australian ex-spy who looks like cross between Lex Luthor and Vin Diesel. It's an intriguing idea, but I don't like it.

Also in the way of change, I understand that the standard rogues gallery is being jettisoned for this new series. I think this is a very odd decision as Batman's bizarre enemies are as much a part of his popularity as everything else. In the opener, he fights the very strange Grant Morrison creations, Professor Pyg and Mr. Toad. I was not impressed.

Also featured in the episode were a non- Mr. Terrific Michael Holt and a decidedly pre-Metamorpho Simon Stagg. Was this just for the Easter egg name drop then? Let's face it, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho are what makes these characters interesting, without them, why use them?

I'm giving this series a wait and see option. I haven't really decided yet. It could go either way after watching just one episode, but I really don't know.

I did however like the DC Nation short featuring the Tarantino-esque Aeon Flux style retro Wonder Woman short. Can't wait to see more. Instead of another Batman, why not a series based on this, of one of the other better shorts like Amethyst, Sword of the Atom, Plastic Man, or Thunder and Lightning? Or if you insist on Batman, how about Batman of Shanghai?

James Gandolfini Dead at 51

Actor James Gandolfini died today in Italy from a massive heart attack, he was 51. The three time Lead Actor in a Drama Emmy winner was best known for playing bipolar modern gangster and family man Tony Soprano in HBO's "The Sopranos." He was also a producer, and a star of stage and screen, besides his television work.

I first became aware of the man when he played a very evil piece of work in Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino's True Romance. His menacing presence made him perfect for the complex character of Tony Soprano in my opinion.

"The Sopranos" first entered my wheelhouse during its second season. I had written a still unpublished novel with hyper-violent overtones. Two beta-readers told me I needed a balance between the violence and the drama of everyday life, and both, separately suggested that I had to see "The Sopranos" so I could see how it's supposed to be done. I got HBO, and was blown away. I quickly caught up, and was addicted to the show until its end.

Most of the reason the show was so successful was Gandolfini's talent and presence. If we did not believe Gandolfini as Tony, the show falls apart. He was the show in many ways.

The man was perhaps the best lead in perhaps the best show ever made for TV.   It is so sad to lose such a talent so young. Who knows what might have been in his future. James Gandolfini will be missed.

Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark

LOWCOUNTRY BRIBE by C. Hope Clark has the best opening line I have read in quite some time: "O-positive primer wasn't quite the color I had in mind for the small office, but Lucas Sherwood hadn't given the décor a second thought when he blew out the left side of his head with a .45." I was hooked.

Hope's descriptions don't end with that beautiful Tarantino-esque opening. In what sounds at first like the last thing I would ever read - an agricultural mystery in the Deep South - Hope delivers fast paced, easy reading, absolutely compelling prose. Her sense of place and people put you there, and the tension and twists don't let you put the book down. I read it in one sitting, and I don't do that often. I loved the characters, and the edge. And this is coming from someone for whom mysteries are just not in the wheelhouse.

Carolina Slade Bridges is a strong female protagonist, a good woman drawn from equal parts Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Cornwell, and Elmore Leonard. She's tough, she's harsh, she's by the book, and quite often, she's Hope Clark herself - or at least the woman, mentor, and friend I have come to know after a decade of interviewing her at The Writer's Chatroom. It's no secret the book is loosely based on real events, but how close, no one's talking. Any way you slice it, Slade (don't call her Carolina) rocks, and I can't wait for the next installment - TIDEWATER MURDER, due next month. Four stars out of four, highly recommended.



Buy the book here, and be sure to come by The Writer's Chatroom this Sunday evening for a chat/interview with the author.

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry ~ There was a time when I was a kid that I thought Peter Fonda was the coolest guy on Earth. He was in stuff like Race With the Devil and Futureworld and of course Easy Rider, so he could do no wrong. He was also in this charmer.

Until I saw Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry again recently I could remember very little about it. I remembered it starred Fonda, and Susan George, in the bizarre title roles, it was a car chase flick, and it was frequently one of channel 6's late night Friday movies - you know, the ones I wasn't supposed to be staying up watching - both because of the content, and because it was past my bedtime. Little else was retained by my memory.

Upon watching it again for the first time in almost maybe forty years, I am struck by how really bad it is. It may have been okay or mediocre for the time (1974), but let's just say the years have not been kind. Rather than an interesting time capsule like other seventies films I've watched recently, this is a creaky relic.

Loosely based on the novel "The Chase" (later known as "Pursuit") by Richard Unekis, one can easily see the influence of earlier films of the genre like Vanishing Point, Two-Lane Blacktop, The French Connection, and even Bonnie and Clyde. The problem is that you can also see this film's own influence on the destruction and mocking of the genre later in the decade by stuff like Smokey and the Bandit, Eat My Dust, and The Blues Brothers. This is the beginning of the car chase movie becoming a joke, amusing or not.

This movie is so seventies, down to the theme song by Marjorie McCoy being used throughout as if choreographed by Quentin Tarantino, to the crazy fashions and ugly cars, to the endless shots of the scenic southwest. And the late Vic Morrow wonderfully eats up the screen as the obsessed pursuing cop. It's worth a look for the curious, but it's no masterpiece, but Peter Fonda is still cool.

The Green Hornet

I have been waiting for this movie for a long time. And by long time, we're literally talking almost two decades, as that's how long this property has been floating around Hollywood. At different times George Clooney, Jet Li and Kevin Smith have all been involved in its production in one capacity or another. I'm just happy it finally got made. And despite my trepidation at this Seth Rogan action comedy version, I still couldn't wait to see it, and the four days I had to wait since its release until I saw it were far harder to wait than the twenty years before it. Thankfully, the wait was worth it, this was a terrific surprise and a great flick.

For those not in the know, you might want to check out my article "Re-Introducing the Green Hornet" over at the All Things Fun! Blogs. If nothing else, it should hip you to the love I have for the character and the mythology. Yeah, this flick was pretty important to me.

My fears about this being an action comedy were somewhat relieved when I read an interview with co-writer and title star Seth Rogan. Despite his obvious slob comedy background, the guy has a pure and hardcore love for the Hornet, and while it does descend to the usual Rogan jokey depths, the quality and integrity of the mythos is upheld in my opinion.

The plot, slightly altered from the original has Britt Reid an irresponsible rich boy partier whose father is slain for writing an anti-crime editorial. Britt is forced to straighten out as he inherits his father's multi-million dollar newspaper. Accompanied by his father's mechanic, Kato, played by Taiwan pop sensation Jay Chou, he decides that he wants to do something with his life - that being a covert superhero believed to be a villain.

Now Rogan and director Michael Gondry are no fools, they have seen the 1960s "Green Hornet" TV series and they know that the Black Beauty, the badass car, is the real star here. There is much care put into the concept mixing contemporary and retro that make the Black Beauty just as cool now as it was in 1966. I don't know about you, but I always liked the Black Beauty better than the Batmobile, and still do.

The Green Hornet and Kato have a very unique relationship in the world of superheroes, they are partners rather than hero and sidekick, and this is explored well here, as it would be in the beginning of such a partnership dynamic. Even when it deteriorates into foolish and comedic combat, it rings true.

Seth Rogan toned up for the role and looks good, and when things get serious, he is right on top of it. I love the tie and the vest, both nods to the TV series. Jay Chou, much like Bruce Lee before him, steals the show. He's the reason to see this, and he'll be big after this. Christoph Waltz, Oscar winning Nazi from Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, is an intriguing take on the super-villain. Meek, middle-aged, sand oft spoken but still a dangerous sociopath, he is subtlety incarnate here. Another prize performance. Cameron Diaz and Edward James Olmos are lost here in my opinion. Hopefully there will be a sequel to make better use of their talents.

It's not a perfect movie, and I do have some fanboy nitpicks that did bother me. I wish we had seen the Hornet Sting, and I wish we had heard more of the theme song "Flight of the Bumblebee." I mean we heard more of it in Kill Bill in homage to the Green Hornet than we did in the actual Green Hornet film. And of course the whole final chase/fight at the climax of the flick could have been avoided had the Black Beauty had wireless. I mean, really, it's got rocket launchers, machine guns, even a record turntable, but no wireless?

My big problem was of course the identity of the main villain. It hurt me deep. Really, having him be the big bad is the same as having Commissioner Gordon revealed as the main villain in the Batman films. It just doesn't work. Again, I should say it does work. I don't like it but it works.

All in all, this was a great flick, and has done better than I think folks thought it would have. The Green Hornet is the best flick I've seen so far this year, and heartily recommended. See it.