Saturday, June 29, 2013
First Lines: Paul Scott - Staying On
When Tusker Smalley died of a massive coronary at approximately 9.30 a.m. on the last Monday in April 1972 his wife Lucy was out, having her white hair blue-rinsed and set in the Seraglio Room on the ground floor of Pankot's new five-storey glass and concrete hotel, the Shiraz.
R.I.P. Richard Matheson
Obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/books/richard-matheson-writer-of-haunted-science-fiction-and-horror-dies-at-87.html?_r=0
Friday, June 28, 2013
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation plot against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Capt. Picard begins an open rebellion.
Moderately entertaining sci-fi yarn.
On second view: quite entertaining, especially for Trekkies, but basically another drawn-out TV episode...
Halliwell (no star): "A simple tale, of the sort that filled half an hour or less of television time, is here tricked out with special effects and rather more action; but it's still an example of more resulting in less."
Maltin ***: "Good entry in the long-running series...Reliably entertaining for Star Trek fans."
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First Lines: David Storey - Saville
Towards the end of the third decade of the present century a coal haulier's cart, pulled by a large, dirt-grey horse, came into the narrow streets of the village of Saxton, a small mining community in the low hill-land of south Yorkshire.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Triangle (2009)
The story revolves around the passengers of a yachting trip in the Atlantic Ocean who, when struck by mysterious weather conditions, jump to another ship only to experience greater havoc on the open seas.
Surprisingly intelligent horror thriller turning an otherwise simple plot into a surreal dreamlike experience with a series of twists.
The Crazies (2010)
About the inhabitants of a small Iowa town suddenly plagued by insanity
and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply.
Superior remake of the George A. Romero horror classic concerning production value, but without the angst and political urgency of the original.
Maltin **: "Remake of George A. Romero's 1973 thriller is intelligent and makes good use of real Midwestern locations, but the plotline is so familiar this is probably best left to genre diehards."
New Stuff: Aretha Franklin
Ashamed to say so far I had nothing from Aretha Franklin in my collection, this box are her first 5 Atlantic albums.
TRON: Legacy (2010)
The son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed.
The plot is nonsense and the movie is much too long, but otherwise well produced with some visual panache.
Maltin **: "Like the original TRON, this one is full of flashy visuals, with great production and costume design, but hasn't enough story to support it. Seeing Bridges "youthified" to the age of 35 by digital means isn't magical - just weird. Hard-core gamers may be more enthusiastic."
