Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time

Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time by Gardner Dozois in collaboration with Jack Dann, Michael Swanwick, Susan Casper and/or Jack C Haldeman II. The art of collaboration is an interesting one; two authors (rarely three) blending their skills to create a story neither could produce individually.  Ideally, the reader should be able to see the… Continue reading Book Review: Slow Dancing Through Time

Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people.  So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes.  (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: The Hugo Winners Volume 5 1980-1982

Book Review: The Hugo Winners Volume 5 1980-1982 edited by Isaac Asimov The Hugo Awards are given out every year by the membership of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon.)  This series of books from 1986 collected the winners in the three short fiction categories: Novella  (17,500-40,000 words), Novelette (7,500-17,500 words) and Short Story (less… Continue reading Book Review: The Hugo Winners Volume 5 1980-1982

Book Review: Empire of Sin

Book Review: Empire of Sin by Gary Krist A criminal called “the Axman” opens this story, and after a thirty-year flashback through New Orleans history, wraps it up as well.  No one is sure who the Axman actually was, how many of the crimes attributed to him he actually did, or his final fate.  Rather… Continue reading Book Review: Empire of Sin

Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone

Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone Years ago, Schuyler Jarvis (Louis Jordan) was a young entertainer who fell in love with a woman named Lovey Lynn (Bea Griffith.)  She liked him plenty too, but her mother disapproved because Jarvis was a poor man, and forced Lovey to break off the affair.  Lovey was married to… Continue reading Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone

Movie Review: Trocadero (1944)

Movie Review: Trocadero (1944) Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson (playing himself) needs a story for his Sunday slot, and goes to his favorite nightclub, the Trocadero.  It’s hopping as usual, but headwaiter Sam (Ralph Morgan) finds a moment between celebrity cameos and musical numbers to talk to the columnist.  He reveals that things were not always… Continue reading Movie Review: Trocadero (1944)

Film Review: Hi-De-Ho (1947)

Film Review: Hi-De-Ho (1947) Jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway (Cab Calloway) has a new manager named Nettie (Ida James).  His girlfriend Minnie (Jeni Le Gon) becomes insanely jealous, despite the relationship being purely professional.  When Nettie lands Cab and his orchestra a gig at the ritzy Brass Hat Club, Minnie hies herself over to… Continue reading Film Review: Hi-De-Ho (1947)

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops (1938) Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper) is a show producer who has a star act, Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne), who is also his sweetheart.  Their current show, “Sepia Scandals” is doing very well in the small Southern cities it’s playing.  A big-time East Coast agent wants to put Ethel on… Continue reading Movie Review: The Duke is Tops

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014 edited by Hydra M. Star Disclaimer:  This magazine came to me through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Infernal Ink is a horror fiction and poetry magazine aimed at ages 18+.  As such, it contains sex, violence, sexualized violence (Trigger Warning for rape)… Continue reading Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies

Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies by Jason Little It is the 1990s, before the digital photography explosion.  Bee works in a one-hour photo shop as a finishing technician.  She enjoys her job, not least because she takes copies of the more…interesting pictures shot by the customers home for her own collection.  One day, Bee notices… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Shutterbug Follies