All posts by ERTorre

E. R. Torre is a writer/artist whose first major work, the mystery graphic novel The Dark Fringe, was optioned for motion picture production by Platinum Studios (Men In Black, Cowboys vs. Aliens). At DC Comics, his work appeared in role-playing game books and the 9-11 Tribute book. This later piece was eventually displayed, along with others from the 9-11 tribute books, at The Library of Congress. More recently he released Shadows at Dawn (a collection of short stories), Haze (a murder mystery novel with supernatural elements), and Cold Hemispheres (a mystery novel set in the world of The Dark Fringe). He is currently hard at work on his latest science fiction/suspense series, Corrosive Knights, which features the novels Mechanic, The Last Flight of the Argus, and Chameleon.
Movies

Hickey and Boggs (1972) a (very) belated review

So Kino/Loder decides to release the cult noir/detective 1972 film Hickey and Boggs this past week to BluRay aaaaand…could their timing be any worse?

After all, the film stars Robert Culp and….Bill Cosby.  Yup.  That Bill Cosby.

I ordered the film when its release was first announced several months ago, before the current Bill Cosby media blow up.  I guess if this film was in the planning stages for release at this moment, the studios would have scuttled it completely.  Which I suppose means fans of the film should be happy it was released at all.

Now, I happen to be a big fan of good film noir/detective dramas.  I’m also a very big fan of the early works of Walter Hill, the movie’s screenwriter.  I might have seen Hickey and Boggs many years ago.  Maybe not the whole thing, perhaps no more than a scene or two, and I remembered next to nothing about it.  Still, I had to get it, if only for Mr. Hill’s contribution.

I’m glad I did.

Having said that, let me address the obvious: Yes, it is uncomfortable to watch Bill Cosby, even this very young Bill Cosby, given the current stories surrounding his alleged behavior.  I know there are those who refuse to see any films, past or present, featuring Mel Gibson because of his well documented meltdowns and bizarre behavior.  The same will most certainly be the case with Mr. Cosby.

Having said that, if you can divorce artist from art, which is what I had to do, you will probably love the hell out of Hickey and Boggs.

The film’s story involves the two very much down on their luck private detectives (Culp, who also directed this film, and Crosby) and what happens to them after they are hired to find a woman.  The man hiring them is sleazy but in the case of the two detectives, beggars can’t be choosers.  Hickey and Boggs follow their sleazy client’s list of associates the woman might have ties with and sink deeper and deeper into an increasingly violent hole that, in the end, involves much more than a simple missing woman.

The rapport between Culp and Crosby, who had starred together from 1965 to 1968 in the popular I Spy detective show, is what makes this movie hum.  The two act and talk as if they have known each other for a long time (which by that point they had in real life) and their on screen relationship is easygoing and natural…just as their character lives are a disaster.

Taking on this particular case eventually puts them in the bullseye of both hired thugs and the police while tempting them to find a missing stash of money.

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the hell out of this film and would easily put it up there with some of my favorite noir/detective dramas.  The action is good, the plot interesting, and Culp and Crosby are fascinating to watch as they warily pace the streets of a not so-sparkling L.A.

If you can forget for a moment the terrible stories associated with Bill Cosby and give Hickey and Boggs a try, you will not be disappointed.  If you can’t ignore the stories surrounding Mr. Cosby and find it difficult to separate the artist from his art, then you best stay away.

Movies

10 Greatest Banned Movie Posters of All-Time…

Can’t disagree with many of the choices, particularly the #1 poster!

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/10-Greatest-Banned-Movie-Posters-All-Time-68067.html

And from HitFix, the 10 Best Movie Trilogies of all time:

http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/10-of-the-best-movie-trilogies-of-all-time

Unlike the previous list, I can only agree with a handful of the choices -those I’ve seen- and disagree (sometimes strongly) with some of the other choices.

I would say that of the best trilogies they present, I’d put the Dollars trilogy at the very top of the list.  Each film in that fabulous Sergio Leone directed, Clint Eastwood starring series was better than the one before it, culminating in the incredible The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.  Now, there were further western films directed by Sergio Leone, including the very well regarded Once Upon a Time in the West which many feel is the best of his westerns.  I like the film a lot, but still consider TGTBATU the best.

The Bourne trilogy I would also put on this list, though unlike the Dollars series I didn’t feel the films necessarily got better as they went along.  Rather, they maintained a very high level and were very entertaining throughout.

The Dark Knight Trilogy, similarly, worked very well from film to film.  Even the much derided final of the three films, in my opinion, delivered.

The Star Wars Trilogy.  We’re talking about the original three Star Wars films here.  I’ve noted before I’m not a big fan of the trilogy but can certainly understand if you liked the first one, you liked all three, including the weakest of the bunch, Return of the Jedi.

Near Misses

To me, these trilogies featured at least two really good, even exceptional films in their group but one was a misfire:

The Mad Max Trilogy.  I loved, loved, loved The Road Warrior.  I liked the first film, Mad Max but felt the low budget hampered it along with the general downbeat nature of the story.  Yet that first film was still very good.  The final film in the original trilogy, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, was to me a misfire.  They took what made the first two film so good (the insane car chases) and for the most part eliminated them.  A big mistake.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, like the Mad Max Trilogy, to me started with two damn good films but totally fizzled for the finale.  Understand: I’m a big fan of those first two movies but the third one broke me, especially with its superprolonged “conclusion”.  It broke me so bad I’ve had no interest at all in seeing The Hobbit.

The Godfather Trilogy.  Again, first two films were incredible.  Third simply wasn’t.

No Way

The Matrix Trilogy:  The first film was mind-blowing stuff.  The other two were confusing and anti-climactic.  There were some great scenes here and there in those last two films, but it felt like I was watching a rushed, half-thought out story.

As of yet unseen…

I cannot offer opinions about the remaining trilogies as I haven’t seen them through (if at all).  Toy Story is the trilogy I came closest to seeing all the way through, having seen the first two movies but having my fill and deciding not to check out the third.  The first two films were delightful, though.  It’s just that there are so many hours in the day and spending them with the Toy Story cast once again doesn’t interest me.

Movies, TV

Get off my lawn…!

Rather…um…interesting article by Lewis Beale arguing that Star Wars “ruined” science fiction:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/opinion/beale-star-wars/index.html

As you can tell by this blog’s title, I do indeed accuse Mr. Beale of being a fuddy-duddy regarding this article.  And, unlike him, I was never a big Star Wars fan.

For those who haven’t read my blogs before, I was a very ripe 11 years old when the original Star Wars came out in 1977.  I distinctly recall the hysteria at the time and wound up seeing the film to a very packed house upon the very first week of its release.  The theater was filled with other boys roughly my age (it was an early showing) and they were whooping and hollering at every gee-whiz effect and clapping at every near escape…

…and when it was over, the whole experience left me cold.

So cold, in fact, that I didn’t bother seeing Empire Strikes Back when it came to theaters a couple of years later.  It wasn’t until the film aired on TV that I first saw it…and found it was about on par with the original, IMHO, that is to say: It left me cold.

Please don’t think me some kind of snob.

If you like Star Wars and its sequels, more power to you.  I love science ficiton (which should be obvious given my novels) and certainly loved, loved, loved it with a great fervor back in 1977.  Yet Star Wars didn’t connect with me.  I didn’t hate the film, but just didn’t like it all that much.  Different strokes, I suppose.

Fast forward to Mr. Beale’s article and…come on, Mr. Beale.  You seriously think there haven’t been attempts at more serious science fiction in cinema since Star Wars?  The advent of this film and series certainly has had an impact and, yes, I agree that there are many 1940’s-like cliffhanger serials on steroids released nowadays, but there are also plenty of more cerebral sci-fi works.

Most recently we had Interstellar (still in theaters!), but in recent times and on TV there have been works like Battlestar: Galactica and Lost, both series which ended on a whimper yet delivered some fascinating storylines in their prime.  You mention The Matrix but one can list many recent vintage films that weren’t just about action-action-action, movies like Donnie Darko (forget the “director’s cut”) up to last summer’s fabulous Edge of Tomorrow (a film even Tom Cruise haters will surely like).  Even the absolutely unnecessary (and, in my opinion, failed) Robocop remake eerily probed into the idea of how much humanity a person retains when most of his body is gone.

The point is that culture has a tendency to move along and release a broad range of works which you may like and which you may not.  I suspect there will always be the modern version of those old cliffhanger serials just as there will appear works that try to stretch the genre and offer food for thought.

Just because Star Wars was successful and led to many imitators doesn’t mean the genre is ruined.

Music

Nothing Has Changed (2014) a (very mildly) belated music review

When I heard my favorite musician, David Bowie, was about to release a new “greatest hits” set called Nothing Has Changed, I wasn’t particularly excited.  Looking over the list of songs on the release, I had almost all of them, and many were “radio edits”, which meant the songs were cut down to fit radio playing times.  Sometimes these cuts were simply brutal and harmed the songs more than helped.

David Bowie Nothing Has Changed

Still, after giving the list a second look I found a number of tracks interested me.  There was the new song, Sue (or in a Season of Crime) along with three tracks taken from the aborted Toys album which I heard snippets of but was curious to hear in full (Let Me Sleep Beside You, Your Turn to Drive, and Shadowman).  There were also some interesting curios/remasters.  Of those, the one I most wanted to hear was the remastered The Man Who Sold the World, one of my all time favorite Bowie songs.

Then, at the tail end of the set were five very, very early Bowie tracks that predated his first big hit, Space Oddity: In The Heat of Morning, Silly Boy Blue, Can’t Help Thinking About Me, You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving, and Liza Jane.

Taken together, there were at a minimum ten songs I was curious to hear/have out of the 59 in the set.  Had I bought those ten songs individually, I would have paid roughly $10.29 for them…if they were all available for download (amazon.com does not allow you to buy three of the very early Bowie songs individually).  The full album, on the other hand, was $19.99.

With an approximate $9 difference, I decided to go for the whole thing.

Now, I’m a David Bowie fanatic and willing to make the investment in the overall product.  Even so, I’m level headed enough to warn those who have most of these songs and maybe aren’t as big a fanatic of David Bowie to go over the track list like I did and consider whether you want to spend their money on the whole thing or just some of the songs in this particular set.  As I said, the extra nine bucks for me wasn’t too big a hurdle but to others the price difference might be greater.  Even so, did I get my money’s worth?

Well…sorta.

I really enjoyed the three songs from the so-far lost Toys album and wish Mr. Bowie would officially release the whole thing.  As for the new song…it’s Ok, a jazzy piece that neither blew me away nor severely disappointed.  The very early works of Mr. Bowie, I knew coming in, would be more curiosity pieces than songs worth listening to over and over again.  I was happy to have them in the set, but again, they aren’t necessarily earth shakers.

The remastered works were clear and sounded great, but at least to my ears weren’t necessarily a significant step up from what you find in other recent releases.

My overall impression of the album is that it is a good, pretty comprehensive effort but one that those unfamiliar with Mr. Bowie’s oeuvre will enjoy more than “old fans” like me.

A few days back Keith Harris at the Concourse wrote a snarky column about new boxed sets…

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/2014-music-box-sets-a-guide-for-the-bemused-and-disgus-1664336893

…and basically trashed most of the sets offered this Christmas/Holiday season, including Nothing Has Changed.  Most egregious was this statement regarding David Bowie’s more recent output:

I know a bunch of Bowie fans who, against all reason, continued to buy his albums into the ’90s and beyond, and then sold them back in disgust.

If you were a David Bowie fan up to Let’s Dance and tuned out afterwards, Nothing Has Changed should prove Mr. Harris and his supposed friends’ opinion quite wrong.  While I would agree that Mr. Bowie floundered a bit after Let’s Dance, his output since 1993’s Buddha of Suburbia has been on par, in my humble opinion, with some of his great 1970’s work, though obviously not as commercially successful.

In conclusion, if you’re not very familiar with Mr. Bowie or haven’t checked out his more recent output, you might want to give Nothing Has Changed a try.  Otherwise, consider what songs you want and what songs you need and then decide whether getting this album is worth the investment.

General

I’m back…!

It’s been a loong time, since November 19th, since I last posted and for this I apologize.

I wish I could say I was on vacation or doing something thoroughly enjoyable during that time but the opposite was true.  Others were taking vacations, forcing me to work extra hard to take up their place.  Meanwhile, my daughter came in for an extended Thanksgiving break so whatever time wasn’t devoted to covering others was spent with family.

As of today, the “normal” routine sets back in, although only for a little while.  The Christmas/New Years Holidays are bound to create more time crunches, so we’ll see.

Regardless, I’ll try to make up for lost time!

General

Grim readings…

A list of famous last words…

First up, Ironic Comments:

http://dying.about.com/od/reviews/fl/Famous-Last-Words-Ironic-Comments.htm

Perhaps the most chilling is Vic Morrow’s statement before filming the scene that so tragically took his life and the lives of two boys in The Twilight Zone Movie.

Next up, the last words of some famous authors:

http://dying.about.com/od/reviews/fl/Famous-Last-Words-WritersAuthors.htm

Found Washington Irving’s final line most amusing, in a very dark way.

Finally, several Actor’s last words:

http://dying.about.com/od/reviews/a/Famous-Last-Words-Actors-Actresses.htm

You know, it only makes sense that Groucho Marx would deliver one of the better final quotes.

Morbid stuff, I know, but interesting!

TV

Spenser: For Hire (1985) a (very) belated TV show review

Waaaay back in 1985 I recall hearing about this new detective show starring the late Robert Urich and based on novels by the then -to me- unknown author Robert B. Parker.  It was called Spenser: For Hire.

Back then I watched the show on and off, liking it but not really loving it.  It was a rather standard detective series but it did feature one thing that, admittedly, made it stand out more than it likely would have: The presence of Avery Brooks as the enigmatic, scene stealing tough guy Hawk.

As with the novel version, Hawk was presented as a dangerous man you simply don’t mess with.  Avery Brooks took the role and ran with it, positively relishing his every scene and delivering dialogue that was filled with as much menace as, at times, mirth.  Robert Urich, for his part, played the “straight” man and to his credit, held his own when opposite the far more flamboyant Hawk.  The show lasted a mere three years before being cancelled (a surprise move, apparently).  Before it was done it spawned the A Man Called Hawk TV series which I never saw but heard changed the character to be a “softer” troubleshooter (Avery Brooks would go on to land the protagonist role in the Star Trek spinoff Deep Space 9).

After Spenser: For Hire’s cancellation, the studios released four TV movies featuring Mr. Urich and Brooks reprising their roles but featuring different actresses playing the role of Sarah Silverman, Spenser’s lover.  For the movies the Boston locale, central to the Spenser stories, was moved to the far more economical Toronto, though I don’t know if the show’s creators attempted to pass Toronto off as Boston (I think they did).

Anyway, long after the show and its sequel movies and spin offs were gone, I found Spenser: For Hire Season 1 on sale via Amazon for a reasonable price and decided to check the show out again.

What I found was interesting, in a time warp kind of way.

Now, I haven’t seen the entire first season yet, but I did watch the pilot and the first two episodes, all of which take up the first DVD disc.

The pilot, “Promised Land“, was an adaptation of Robert B. Parker’s fourth Spenser novel which featured the first appearance of the character of Hawk.  While I haven’t read the novel, it was a wise choice for a pilot episode as we are introduced to the three principle characters and, nicely, aren’t quite sure where Hawk’s loyalties lie.

However, of the three Spenser episodes I saw, this was the least of them as it featured some at times very torturous dialogue (What works on the novel page doesn’t always work when said out loud) and some curious 80’s style filmmaking.  It was the later that amused me.  I started to count the times a character said something “deep” and then the camera slooooowly zoomed into their face.

The mystery itself, involving a runaway wife who, Spenser later finds, is involved in a radical group of two (count ’em two) terrorist women doesn’t seem like such a big thing.  Further, I’m certain in the novel Hawk’s evolution was better presented.  In the pilot Spenser decides for no apparent reason (again, based on what’s in the pilot) to tip Hawk off on a bust, thus ensuring he will get away, and Hawk subsequently becomes his “partner”, of sorts, because of this.

“No Room At The Inn“, the very first actual Spenser episode, winds up being a Bullitt homage (calling it a ripoff seems too cruel…and yet).  Spenser is hired to protect a witness against the mob and, in true Bullitt fashion, things aren’t quite what they seem.  Yes, the plot is lifted almost whole from Bullitt, yet the episode was breezy enough to enjoy…provided you weren’t too hung up on the overly familiar plot.

The next episode, “The Choice” features a psychopathic young duo who get their kicks killing random people, but who are drawn to Spenser’s world when they realize they need to up their game.  What’s most fascinating about that episode proves to be the first screen appearance of Patricia Clarkson, who would go on from here to have quite a career in film and TV.  She plays one half of the psychopathic young duo and isn’t all that bad in her role.  Interestingly, this episode also features early appearances by William H. Macy and Angela Bassett.

In sum, I enjoyed what I saw.  True, my opinion of the series didn’t entirely change.  I wound up liking what I saw but not really loving it.  On the other hand, I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time.  Speaking of which, if I should find the free time, I’ll give the other episodes a look-see.

Should be fun

Movies

Snowpiercer (2013) a (mildly) belated review

While science fiction movies/tv shows often present audiences with pure, unadulterated escapism, there have been plenty of examples of using this genre to reflect on, analyse, and/or critique society.

One of the earliest (and greatest, in my opinion) science fiction films, Metropolis (1927), was a story of how the haves and the have-nots function in a society…and where their breaking point -and ultimately peace between them- lies.  The original Star Trek series would frequently present episodes which were thinly veiled looks at the then present, and at times turbulent, mid to late 1960’s era.

Sometimes, however, well meaning creators present their futuristic works in silly, obvious, and/or ham-handed ways which makes the whole endeavor fall apart.  The highly anticipated 2013 film Elysium, for example, figuratively hit this particular viewer over the head with its tale of societal dysfunction.  The whole endeavor was so obvious, so hammy, that I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

Incredibly, many of the elements found in Elysium showed up in Snowpiercer.  Yet while the former failed to deliver (or delivered to heavily) on its concepts, the later does so in spades.

To put it bluntly, Snowpiercer totally blew me away.

The movie’s plot goes as follows: In the near future, humanity tried to stop global warming by spiking the atmosphere with some new, experimental chemical.  The result proved horrific: Instead of cooling the Earth down, it froze it, encasing all lands in snow and ice (this concept, by the way, is not entirely new.  It found its way in the for the most part forgotten –and with good reason– low budget film The Colony).  What’s left of humanity rides in a perpetually operating train that runs on tracks around the frozen globe.

The train is divided into sections and we follow the passengers crammed into the dreary rear as they plan a revolt against their oppressors, the ones who live in the sections beyond.

This is all you need to know about the film’s basic story, but be prepared for some very interesting questions regarding humanity, revolt, and true independence.  There’s a delightful added extra for those familiar with -and have a negative impression about- the works of Ayn Rand.  The movie appears to be almost like an anti-Atlas Shrugged, complete with a Ayn Rand lookalike (I’ll get into that later) and a railroad magnate.

Unlike Elysium’s off-putting sledgehammer approach, Snowpiercer offers a far more meaty plot that leads you into interesting, and at times almost avant-guard directions.  The protagonist of the story, rebellion leader Curtis (Chris Evans), proves to be far more than he at first appears and carries some very dark secrets.  His mentor, Gilliam (John Hurt), proves to carry is own secrets as well, and they may be darker yet.

Perhaps the most fascinating character is Mason (Tilda Swinton).  Ms. Swinton delivers a terrific, at times over the top turn as the medium between the “head and the heart” (take that, Metropolis fans!) in what I can only guess is a full on parody of Ayn Rand herself.

It’s rare that a movie has hit me like Snowpiercer has.  Walking into it I was cautiously optimistic.  Walking out, I couldn’t help but feel totally blown away.

Snowpiercer is the real deal.  Highly recommended.

General

What exactly are the odds?!

A little while ago, October 15 to be exact, I was summoned for Jury Duty.  A great inconvenience, but whatever.  About three or so months before, my daughter, who at the time quite literally just turned 18, was summoned to Jury Duty on her very first year -no, months!- of eligibility.

And yesterday, November the 6th, we received through the mail a summons for Jury Duty for my wife, to be performed in the first week of December.

Really?!

All three people eligible for Jury Duty in this household were all summoned to do just that and in such a short period of time?

What are the odds of that?!

I wonder: Is my family among the only ones in this entire county eligible for Jury Duty?

General

Ain’t this the truth…

Jon Stewart pretty much nails it, as usual:

It is exasperating seeing the Democrats flounder so much with so much on the line.  It is incredible to think that at one time liberals were very much capable, willing, and able to go after conservative philosophies and succinctly point out their deficiencies.  Nowadays, they do what Mr. Stewart says.  They act like a bunch of chickens*#ts and, surprise surprise, they get wiped out.