Book Review: Stone Heart

Book Review: Stone Heart by Mallory Glass Lauren is a young stoneworker from Missouri, on her first big solo commission. Lord McCardle has hired her to restore the stone figures on his isolated tower in the Scottish Highlands. And I do mean isolated. It’s miles to the nearest village, and there’s no wi-fi or mobile… Continue reading Book Review: Stone Heart

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1 by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this collection. Ernest Bramah Smith, who dropped his last name for his literary efforts, was born in 1868, and was a school dropout and farmer before becoming a writer. His first published book in 1900 was The… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Toujima and Okada initially butt heads.

Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider First, let’s talk about Kamen Rider. It’s a children’s superhero television show that started airing in 1971 in Japan. In it, the evil organization Shocker, founded by surviving Nazis and their collaborators, wants to take over the world. To do so, they used cybernetic and… Continue reading Anime Review: Tanzaburou Toujima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Movie Review: McLintock!

George Washington McLintock learns his estranged wife is in town.

Movie Review: McLintock! (1963) directed by Andrew V. McLaglen It is summer, 1895, and Elizabeth “Betsy” McLintock (Stefanie Powers) is coming home from college in the East to her hometown of McLintock, named after her father George Washington “G.W.” McLintock (John Wayne). She has no idea what she’s walking in to. G.W. and his wife Katherine… Continue reading Movie Review: McLintock!

Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders

Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders by Lewis B. Patten Gene Autry (1907-1998) was one of the world’s great cowboy singers, who did well in live performances, record sales, radio, movies and television. You may remember him from such classic songs as “Back in the Saddle Again” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Like… Continue reading Book Review: Gene Autry and the Ghost Riders

Comic Strip Review: Don’t Make Me Laugh, Beetle Bailey

Comic Strip Review: Don’t Make Me Laugh, Beetle Bailey by Mort Walker From 1940 with World War Two looming to 1972 with the Vietnam War being lost, the United States of America had an active Selective Service (“the draft”) process. The amount of young men ebbed and flowed with requirements, but many folks were drafted,… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Don’t Make Me Laugh, Beetle Bailey

Movie Review: Militant Eagle

Fang contemplates the broken jade bracelet that symbolized his marriage vows and briefly regrets what he did to his wife.

Movie Review: Militant Eagle (1978) directed by Chia Chih Li At the end of a three-year war, a general bids a fond farewell to one of his best officers, who wants to return to civilian life. We jump to ten years later, after another war has just ended. By imperial (I think it’s the Tang Dynasty)… Continue reading Movie Review: Militant Eagle

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories edited by Philip Van Doren Stern In his introduction, the editor talks about the thrill of adventure stories, how often they are churned out as cheap entertainment, and that he has selected twelve really good ones for the reader. This 1945 book was designed to be easily… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Book of Adventure Stories

Movie Review: Fist of Fury (1972)

Chen faces off against the karate school.

Movie Review: Fist of Fury (1972) directed by Wei Lo; aka “The Chinese Connection” It is the 1930s, and Imperial Japan is on the rise. In Shanghai, they hold great power, especially in the International Settlement, and the native Chinese are treated as second-class citizens in their own country. Martial artist Chen Zhen (Bruce Lee) has… Continue reading Movie Review: Fist of Fury (1972)

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