Category: Books

No Country for Old Men (2007)

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No Country for Old Men (2007)

Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Cohen

Screenplay: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy

Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root, Rodger Boyce, Beth Grant, Kit Gwin, Gene Jones, Myk Watford and Kelly Macdonald.

The Pitch: “Hey, the Cohen Brothers want to make No Country for Old Men.”

Tagline: You can’t stop what’s coming.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the badlands of modern day Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) comes across a massacre – a massive drug deal that went sideways.  Among the dead bodies Moss finds two million dollars in cash.  Moss takes the money and leaves the scene unreported.  When the drug dealers discover the missing money, they send Anton Chigurh, a psycho hitman (Bardeem) to track down the money.  Chigurh kills without remorse and the bodies start piling up as he tracks Moss.

Once Moss realizes that someone is on to him he prepares for the worst having no idea how bad it will get.

No Country for Old Men is a modern day masterpiece.  It is a film that will stick with you.

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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) starring Lana Turner & John Garfield / Z-View

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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Director: Tay Garnett

Screenplay: Harry Ruskin Niven and Busch;  based on THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain

Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter and Alan Reed.

Tagline: Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Frank Chambers, a drifter stops at a diner and is offered a job by the middle-aged owner, Nick Smith.  As Frank begins to turn down the work, he spots Cora, a very attractive waitress and changes his mind.

Soon enough Frank learns that Cora is Frank’s wife.  Frank would be ready to move on except that Cora seems interested in him.  Although both Frank and Cora attempt to fight the attraction, it’s strong and won’t be denied.  It doesn’t take long until Frank and Cora are planning Nick’s demise.

And we all know how those things work out, don’t we?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Garfield and Turner definitely had chemistry.  I love how each of them fights the attraction.  

James M. Cain, who wrote the novel that the movie was based on, was so impressed with Lana Turner that he gave her a leather-bound copy of the book inscribed, “For my dear Lana, thank you for giving a performance that was even finer than I expected.”

The Postman Always Rings Twice has a couple of great twists.  The cast and direction are top notch.

A classic.

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Double Indemnity (1944)

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Double Indemnity (1944)

Director: Billy Wilder

Screenplay: Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novel by James M. Cain

Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Walter Huston


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn James Cain’s Double Indemnity into a movie!”

Tagline: From the Moment they met it was Murder!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Walter Neff [MacMurray], an insurance salesman, meets and falls hard for the wife [Stanwyck] of one of his clients.  Before too long they’re plotting his murder to cash in on an insurance policy that Neff tricked him into buying.  Because Neff is in the business he believes they can pull off the murder and make it look like an accident so they can collect on the double indemnity clause.

The only thing between them and the cash is to commit the murder and pull it off without a hitch or Neff’s partner figuring out it wasn’t an accident.

If you like noir, you’ll love Double Indemnity.  Directed by Billy Wilder with snappy dialogue and mounting tension.  If you only know MacMurray from My Three Sons or Stanwyck from The Big Valley, prepare to be shocked!

A classic.

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Robert B. Parker’s Kickback (A Spenser Novel) by Ace Atkins

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Robert B. Parker’s Kickback (A Spenser Novel) by Ace Atkins

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Putnam

First sentence…

Maybe he shouldn’t have gone out and celebrated.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Spenser faces one of his greatest challenges when he goes against a corrupt judge with organized crime ties.  Spenser takes on the case of a 17 year old kid, denied a lawyer and sentenced to a year in a youth prison that is run by a corporation with ties to, you guessed it, the judge.

Spenser won’t back down in his quest to right this wrong and finds himself up against cops with think they’re backing a zero-tolerance judge, and thugs who know the true score.

Not just another excellent Spenser tale by Ace Atkins but one of the best Spenser novels.

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The Story of Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas

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Eddie Deezen presents The Story of Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  If you click over you’ll learn How the Grinch Stole Christmas went from simply being a follow-up to the best selling The Cat in the Hat to become not only another best seller but a loved Christmas tradition for millions.

Oh, you’ll also learn who the Grinch was based on as well.

Source: Neatorama.

The Naked Edge by David Morrell

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The Naked Edge by David Morrell

Hardcover: 396 pages
Publisher: Morrell Enterprises, Incorporated

First sentence…

The sniper had a partner.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Cavanaugh is a retired Special Forces vet, and Security expert.  Now living the quiet life on an isolated Wyoming ranch with his wife, Jamie, their world is literally blown apart when an old friend and fellow vet shows up with a team to kill them.

Cavanaugh and his wife barely survive thanks to Cavanaugh’s training.  Cavanaugh learns that other operatives across the country have been killed.  When Cavanaugh and his wife are attacked again while under police protection, Cavanaugh realizes that the killers will stop at nothing to eliminate him.  Before it is over Cavanaugh discovers that his old friend is leading a group set on a terrorist act that will kill thousands.

David Morrell is the king of thrillers and Naked Edge is another great example of how he earned that title.

 

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Robert B. Parkers Cheap Shot (A Spenser Novel) by Ace Atkins

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Robert B. Parkers Cheap Shot (A Spenser Novel) by Ace Atkins

Hardcover: 308 pages
Publisher: Putnam

First sentence…

I had dressed for Chestnut HillL a button-down tattersall shirt that Susan had bought me, a crisp dress khakis, a navy blazer with gold buttons, and a par of well-broken in loafers worn without socks.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Spenser is hired by super star New England Patriots linebacker Kinjo Heywood’s sports agent.  Kinjo has had some shady characters following him and although Kinjo fells he can handle it, Spenser is given the task of looking into it.  Before Spenser can make a determination, Kinjo’s son is kidnapped.

The stakes have been raised and Spenser knows that the boy’s life may rest in Spenser discovering the kidnapper(s) identity.

Another excellent Spenser tale by Ace Atkins.

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Holy Death (A Billy Lafitte novel) by Anthony Neil Smith

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Holy Death (A Billy Lafitte novel) by Anthony Neil Smith

Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Down & Out Books

First sentence…

One-thirty in the morning in a truck stop outside of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Holy Death is the fourth yarn in Anthony Neil Smith’s Billy Lafitte series.  If you’re not familiar with it and you like crime stories, then you’re in for a treat.

Billy Lafitte is an ex-cop, an ex-con and is on the run from a prison escape.  Lafitte’s in bad shape from steroid abuse and the wear and tear of escaping from the joint during a prison riot.  Lafitte wants to make it back to his one true love to give her the merciful death she wants and then he hopes to disappear.

As luck [at least Lafitte’s luck] would have it, he crosses paths with DeVaughn Lagrenade, a professional gambler, ex-gang banger and brother of a kid that Lafitte killed.  Now in addition to all the cops looking for him, Lafitte has Lagrenade, his psycho girlfriend and members of Lagrenade’s gang hunting him down.  As they close in on him, Lafitte knows it’s his last chance to make it right [or as right as he can] for the love of his life and his dead child’s mother.

Holy Death is not for the faint of heart of the sqeemish, but if you like a gritty, modern crime story, then this may be for you.  Holy Death is the fourth in the Billy Lafitte series and I’m hoping there’s more.

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The Devil Doesn’t Want Me by Eric Beetner

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The Devil Doesn’t Want Me (A Lars and Shaine Novel Book 1) by Eric Beetner

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: 280 Steps

First sentence…

Seventeen years is a long damn time.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Devil Doesn’t Want Me is the first in Eric Beetner’s Lars and Shaine series.  Lars is a semi-retired hitman living on the west coast.  His boss, Nikki Senior, is one of the old guard mobsters who finds himself being pushed out by his son, Nikki Junior.

In an effort to clear the books and show his pop he can run things, Nikki sends a young hitman out to find Mitch the Snitch — a job given to Lars seventeen years prior.  Although Mitch was in government protection and killing him could cause more problems than it would solve, Nikki wants it done.

Enter Trent.  A cocky young hitman who immediately rubs Lars the wrong way.  Although Lars and Trent are at odds, they know they have to work together to find Mitch the Snitch.  And they do.  Without planning, Trent guns down Mitch and when the Snitch’s sixteen year old daughter stumbles in, Mitch turns to kill her as well.  Lars steps up and saves her and finds himself on the run with a sixteen year old orphan in tow.

It takes all of Lars’ skills and then some to keep himself and Shaine alive now that Nickki Junior has called out a team to kill them both.  And of course Trent killing a government protected witness has the feds on their trail as well.

Eric Beetner has never disappointed me.  I really liked  The Devil Doesn’t Want Me and have the sequel, When the Devil Comes to Call waiting in my to be read pile.

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Congo (1995) / Z-View

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Congo (1995)

Director: Frank Marshall

Screenplay: John Patrick Shanley based on the novel by Michael Crichton

Stars: Laura Linney, Tim Curry, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Joe Don Baker and Stuart Pankin.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn Michael Crichton’s Congo into a movie!”

Tagline: Where you are the endangered species.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A ragtag group joins forces in an effort to get into the Congo.  Two members are young guys who want to take a gorilla from the US back to her birthplace.  The other members are on a search and rescue mission to find what happened to an earlier team that discovered a rare diamond and was wiped out.  Neither group was expecting to find killer gorillas.

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The Girl on the Train (2016) / Z-View

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The Girl on the Train (2016)

Director: Tate Taylor

Screenplay:  Erin Cressida Wilson based on the novel by Paula Hawkins

Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney and Lisa Kudrowan.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a movie based on The Girl on the Train!”

Tagline: What you can see can hurt you.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

It’s rare for a movie to have as many unlikable characters as The Girl on the Train.  Get this, we have…

  • An alcoholic, out of work, ex-wife who rides a train daydreaming when she’s not showing up at her ex-husband’s house and scaring his wife.
  • An ex-husband who is cheating with every woman he can get his, uh, hands on.
  • A wife who gained her husband by cheating with him while he was still married.
  • A woman who is living with a man but is cheating on him with a married man.
  • An abusive man with a hair-trigger temper who is living with a woman.
  • A psychologist who is crossing the line with the sexual behavior of one of his clients.
  • Two detectives investigating a murder who seem to have no interest in solving it.

 There’s a murder.  Some red herrings are given.  What you see is not what you think you’re seeing.  The murder is solved.  One of those unlikable characters did it and gets his/her just reward.  The end.

Based on the best-selling book.

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