Movie Review: The Comancheros (1961) directed by Michael Curtiz In 1843, gambler and womanizer Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) kills a man in an illegal duel in Louisiana. This ordinarily wouldn’t be a problem, except that the dead man (who’d falsely accused him of cheating at cards to eliminate him as a romantic rival) had a politically… Continue reading Movie Review: The Comancheros
Tag: gamblers
Book Review: The Gambler
Book Review: The Gambler by William Krasner Ben Wulfson hasn’t been back to his home city in a while. He got called up during the war, and when he mustered out, Ben decided to operate in Miami for a while. Miami went sour after a while, and he did not have many other places to… Continue reading Book Review: The Gambler
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953
Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953 edited by Ellery Queen Since this has floated to the top of my TBR pile, let’s look at another vintage issue of this classic mystery magazine. The cover depicting an aerialist falling to presumed death after being stuck with a dart has nothing to do with any… Continue reading Magazine Review: Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine June 1953
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
Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson
Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson edited by Roger Elwood Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was an influential American science fiction author, first published in 1947 and winning seven Hugos and three Nebulas for his work. By the 1970s, he was well enough known, and had a large enough body of short fiction, that DAW Books… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Poul Anderson
Manga Review: Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji #1
Manga Review: Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji #1 by Nobuyuki Fukumoto February 1996, Tokyo: Kaiji Ito is a loser. He’s long-term unemployed, isn’t taking any classes, and doesn’t have the grit to put in effort to improve his life. Kaiji’s also a gambling addict, which is unfortunate for someone who doesn’t have the money to spare. His… Continue reading Manga Review: Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji #1
Movie Review: Five Deadly Venoms
Five Deadly Venoms (1978) dir. Cheh Chang Many years ago, the Poison Clan used its powerful martial arts techniques for evil. By this means, they amassed great wealth, but also many enemies. The remaining members had to move into the remote wilderness to keep their lore alive. Now the last teacher of the Poison Clan (Dick… Continue reading Movie Review: Five Deadly Venoms
Book Review: Heart of the West
Book Review: Heart of the West by O. Henry William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), better known to most readers as O. Henry, moved to Texas from North Carolina for his health. There, he worked on a ranch for a few years before feeling well enough to take up his primary occupation of pharmacist, and fell in… Continue reading Book Review: Heart of the West
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense. It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Classic American Short Stories
Book Review: Classic American Short Stories compiled by Michael Kelahan This book is more or less exactly what it says in the title, a compilation of short(ish) stories written by American authors, most of which are acknowledged as classics by American Lit professors. The stories are arranged by author in roughly chronological order from the… Continue reading Book Review: Classic American Short Stories