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There are some people we trust no matter what. Judy Post/Judi Lynn, friend and fearless leader/mother hen of Summit City Scribes is someone you can rely on in every way. If she tells me to jump, I just do it. It’s a joy to get her notes and suggestions. I’m so pleased have her visit my lowly blog. She’s a great blogger. I am…meh. Take it away Judi! M.L. Rigdon/Julia Donner and I have been…

If you are into Norse myth/legends or marauding Vikings, this is the film for you. If you’re into unfettered views of a ripped torso, this is very much the film for you. If you like mystical, magical settings and glorious vistas, you will get all that and a bag of chips. Gorgeous, scenic cinematography with gloom, mist, creepy witches and blood and guts fighting—it’s all that and more chips. It’s…

CW Superman & Lois

Stuck in the house with a vicious illness (not Covid) left me at the mercy of symptoms. No brain, no ambition, and with nothing else to do but binge, I looked into my curiosity about the newest Superman on the CW. It had many good reviews and gushing adoration from fans. Now I know why. OK, I’m an unashamed closet Superman freak. As a tot I sat on the linoleum floor and waited in squirming…

Saw newest version of West Side Story and liked it. Different and grittier than the Robert Wise version, but Maria and Tony are wonderful—all of the characters more accessible. The dancing and choreography was not as sharp without Robbins at the helm, especially when it comes to Bernardo, David Alvarez, who has a great screen presence and remarkable eyes. But it’s cruel to compare any male dancer…

OMG, this is so much fun, creepier and more intense than the first two GB flicks. To be honest, I went not expecting much. I will always be a fan of the original cast and remember the first time I saw Aykroyd on SNL. Still crushing. (Who can ever forget Bassomatic and the refrigerator repair man with the crack showing? My mom nearly had a stroke laughing at that.) This newest version is now my…

As a movie goer, I get burnt out on the anti-hero themes and the constant push for inclusiveness for the sake of inclusiveness spurred by present popularity. Getting those story types crammed down my throat was blissfully absent in this film. It’s about family, hard times and good times, the ups and downs and tragedies of living on the financial edge and the battleground of East LA. The main…

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain A thread ⬇️

My takeaway on this film is that it’s a eulogy mainly about the effect Bourdain had on his friends. Profound disappointment ensues as it digresses into a maudlin confessional and outpouring of grief. It’s all about their issues regarding his death with the excuse that he possessed a mercurial personality. There is never enough of the story-telling his friends rave about. There is never enough of…

Better title: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Better title: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. (Sorry about it being previously used but it fits.) I’ve been a fan of Chris Pratt since he kicked and danced his way through the opening credits of Guardians of the Galaxy to Come and Get Your Love. This time, I suspect that he and his agent read the original screenplay and signed up. Then the producers and script writers got their fingers in the…

Much has already been written about this film. (See link to NYT article below) What struck me strongest was its uniqueness. Director Chloé Zhao has done something extraordinary. There are scads of movies about character studies, the coming of age later in life, processing grief, discovering oneself, but Nomadland is all of that and more. We are allowed inside the lives of nomads. We know what to…

Couldn't hold out any longer. I double masked, and even though the theater was almost empty, threw my clothes in the wash and the mask in the trash when I got home. It was worth it.

Civil war veteran, Captain Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks) avoids confronting his emotionally damaged life by giving public readings from newspapers. It seems strange to us that people would eagerly gather to listen with rapt focus as they do in News of the World, but lecturing and public speaking was highly valued and appreciated in that era. It didn’t matter what the subject was. In the rough…

It’s Alive

It’s been months since doing anything with this blog. What with movie theaters shut down, there’s not much in the way of films to review, so I’ve been writing. The second book in a my newest fantasy series, Seasons of War, comes out tomorrow. This is a short story from that world. The character was inspired by my son, who passed unexpectedly, in September. The book released tomorrow, Out of the…

Just in time for Halloween!

LOVE IT WHEN IT’S FREE

Judi Lynn, friend and critique partner, is offering a free chapter of her Muddy River Mystery series today. Since she has generously and repeatedly offered her blog for guest postings for my works, it’s time to repay, and I do so happily.

Muddy River is atmospheric, sometimes grizzly, and full of juicy characters, most especially her H&H, both wicked scary with magical powers. Neither of them…

EMMA

Having seen numerous versions of Emma, the real draw to the newest was Bill Nighy. I must say right away that he is splendid. With a twitch of his hand or a barely-there shrug, he conveys everything needed to be expressed. He added the right touch of humor, and IMHO, with a subtly that would please Austen. Many of her characters were meant to be whimsically humorous.

Austen’s Miss Woodhouse…

A Short History Lesson (for me) for the Regency period

What would we do without our writing buddies…can’t imagine.

Lately I’d been thinking about a friend I hadn’t heard from in a few years, Allen Etter, artist, teacher, film director, author, and innovative writer of Christian Science Fiction. I don’t know about the genre now, but when Allen wrote Entropy Gate, I’d never read anything like it. As I searched out his website to see if he still taught at the university, I was saddened to learn that he had died,…

This morning I drove by a man with metal legs. He stood in the freezing cold at an intersection, holding a placard stating that he served as a Marine.

I went to the store, did my shopping and readied some folded bills. I don’t usually hand money to panhandlers, but this was different. He was a veteran.

What is wrong with this nation that we let this happen to our service people? I drove home so…