Movie Review: Detour (1945) directed by Edgar G. Ulmer When we first meet Al Roberts (Tom Neal), he’s hitchhiking east, unshaven, haunted-looking, and reacting badly to a jukebox song. That song used to mean something different, when he was a pianist in a small club, hoping for a break into the big time, and singer Sue… Continue reading Movie Review: Detour (1945)
Tag: automobiles
Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone By Night
Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) directed by Ana Lily Amirpour Bad City may be an oil town, but black gold hasn’t brought prosperity to the majority of its inhabitants. Arash (Arash Marandi) is a hard-working young man who works as a handyman for a wealthy family, but himself lives in the… Continue reading Movie Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone By Night
Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy His Greatest Cases #1: Pruneface
Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy His Greatest Cases #1: Pruneface by Chester Gould As a popular and long-running comic strip, Dick Tracy has had quite a few collections over the years. This paperback is from a 1970s series that collected particularly favorite plotlines from past years. It’s 1942, and America is at war. Police detective… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Dick Tracy His Greatest Cases #1: Pruneface
Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025
Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 edited by Robert Greenberger Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book. A lesser known aspect of pulp fandom is the creation of new stories in the tradition of the pulp magazines of old, action-packed and exciting. Thus this series of books which feature modern authors trying their… Continue reading Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025
Manga Review: Kitaro’s Yokai Battles
Manga Review: Kitaro’s Yokai Battles by Shigeru Mizuki Oh hey, I was missing one of the volumes of the Drawn & Quarterly Kitaro reprints! This one has an introduction that covers from 1966 to 1971. While the Hakaba no Kitaro series seemed like a good choice for animated adaptation, network executives thought it was too… Continue reading Manga Review: Kitaro’s Yokai Battles
Book Review: The Best of Analog
Book Review: The Best of Analog edited by Ben Bova After the death of long-time editor John W. Campbell in 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Fact needed a new person at the helm. The winner of the selection process was Ben Bova (1932-2020), who intended to stay only a few years, those years winding up… Continue reading Book Review: The Best of Analog
Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road
Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) directed by George Miller It’s been some years since we last saw Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy). He’s almost unrecognizable as the same person. By now, there are adults who were born after the fall of the previous civilization and have no memory of what once was. Max’s mental state… Continue reading Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road
Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again
Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940) directed by Ford Beebe A little background first. The Green Hornet was created for radio in 1936 by Fran Striker, who had also created the Lone Ranger. In the backstory, Dan Reid, nephew of the Lone Ranger, eventually grew up to become a newspaper publisher in an unnamed… Continue reading Movie Review: The Green Hornet Strikes Again
Movie Review: Drive Angry
Movie Review: Drive Angry (2011) directed by Patrick Lussier John Milton (Nicolas Cage) was a bad person who committed many crimes. It’s no surprise he ended locked up for many years. During those years, his daughter grew up, joined a cult, left the cult, got married, had a child, and then was murdered by the cult… Continue reading Movie Review: Drive Angry
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16