Movie Review: Airplane! (1980) directed by Jim Abrahams Taxi driver Ted Striker (Robert Hays) has problems. A former pilot, he lost his self-confidence after a failed mission during “the war” which killed several of his comrades and he blames himself for. He’s been unable to hold a steady job and drifted from city to city. Today,… Continue reading Movie Review: Airplane! (1980)
Tag: taxi drivers
Comic Strip Review: Modesty Blaise: The Scarlet Maiden
Comic Strip Review: Modesty Blaise: The Scarlet Maiden Story by Peter O’Donnell, Art by Neville Colvin In 1945, an amnesiac little girl escaped from a Displaced Persons camp in Greece. After wandering around the post-war Mediterranean for a while, she was taken in by a Jewish Hungarian scholar named Lob, who gave her an education… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Modesty Blaise: The Scarlet Maiden
Movie Review: Total Recall (1990)
Movie Review: Total Recall (1990) directed by Paul Verhoeven Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has a recurring dream set on Mars. In it, he is exploring the landscape with a woman who is not his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) when he has an accident and his helmet breaks, causing Quaid to suffocate. When he awakens, Quaid wants… Continue reading Movie Review: Total Recall (1990)
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949 edited by Ellery Queen It’s time for another issue of this venerable mystery magazine. The cover this time is uncredited, and does not directly match any of the stories in the issue. “Double Exposure” by Ben Hecht opens the issue with a tale of a psychiatrist who… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine August 1949
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails edited by Mary Francois Rockcastle It is time again to look at Hamline University’s annual literary magazine. This issue is from 2006. It’s dedicated to Frederick Busch, author of Girls, who had visited the university shortly before his death the previous year. The subtitle, borrowed from one… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails
Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)
Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944) directed by Phil Rosen Six months ago, Thomas P. Manning, businessman and chess expert, was shot to death in his study, the door locked from the inside. The police have been unable to solve the case. Daughter Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury) is dismayed to discover that a new book… Continue reading Movie Review: The Chinese Cat (1944)
Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK
Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK edited by Scott Nybakken Disclaimer: I received this volume from a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. I don’t talk a lot about colorists. In most comics, they’re not noticed unless they really screw up, or there’s a particularly striking image.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK
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
Book Review: First Polish Reader (Volume 2)
Book Review: First Polish Reader (Volume 2) by Wiktor Kopernikas Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This is a book of simple stories in both Polish and English, designed to help students learn to read Polish. It’s printed by Language Practice Publishing, and uses… Continue reading Book Review: First Polish Reader (Volume 2)
Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners
Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners written by Alan Moore, art by Gene Ha In an alternate America with science heroes and other weird or wonderful “characters”, it’s been decided to move everyone who isn’t “normal” to one city, Neopolis. It’s 1949, and war veterans Jetlad and Sky Witch are reunited on the relocation… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Top 10: The Forty-Niners