Movie Review: The Terror (1963)

The baron and the lieutenant trade suspicious words.

Movie Review: The Terror (1963) directed by Roger Corman Lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) of Napoleon’s French army is separated from his unit and very lost. His compass has stopped functioning, and he’s no longer even sure what country he’s in. It’s probably one occupied by France at the height of the Empire, though. Rapidly approaching… Continue reading Movie Review: The Terror (1963)

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Lieutenant Raine addresses his troops.

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009) directed by Quentin Tarantino In 1941 France, SS officer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), already known as “The Jew-Hunter”, ferrets out a hidden family, killing most of them, but decides to let Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) the almost-adult daughter to outrun him to, perhaps, have the pleasure of hunting her down again later.… Continue reading Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

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: Fort Apache

Miss Thursday, Lieutenant O'Rourke, and Captain York chat on the stairs.

Movie Review: Fort Apache (1948) directed by John Ford Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) was a general during the American Civil War. He showed his brilliance in a particular battle, at the cost of his friend Sam Collingwood’s (George O’Brien) career (that man is now a captain.) After the war, Thursday lost his brevet rank… Continue reading Movie Review: Fort Apache

Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction

Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction edited by Groff Conklin “A Treasury of Science Fiction” was first published as a hardback in 1948; the edition I read was the paperback reprint from 1957 which only contains eight of the original thirty stories. This was one of the first major science fiction collections, and set… Continue reading Book Review: A Treasury of Science Fiction

Magazine Review: High Adventure #172: The Hell’s Angels Squad

Magazine Review: High Adventure #172: The Hell’s Angels Squad edited by John P. Gunnison This time around, the focus is on the French Foreign Legion stories of Warren Hastings Miller originally published in Blue Book magazine back in the late 1920s. As I’ve discussed before, tales of the Legion were a popular subgenre of pulp… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #172: The Hell’s Angels Squad

Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970

The stories illustrated on the cover are, from left, "The Shrine of Temptation", "Sword of Flowers" and "Planet of Change".

Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970 “Strange Fantasy” was a short-lived reprint digest-sized magazine from Ultimate Publishing. This issue’s stories were originally published between 1959 and 1964, which somewhat belies the cover text. “The Shrine of Temptation” by Judith Merril starts us off with an anthropologist’s tale of a mysterious shrine on an isolated island.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Strange Fantasy Spring 1970

Book Review: Beyond Human Ken

Book Review: Beyond Human Ken edited by Judith Merril This 1954 paperback anthology is a partial reprint of the 1952 hardback of the same title, choosing twelve stories of the original twenty-one and skipping the prefaces that were in that edition. The theme is non-human beings of various kinds, pulled primarily from the science fiction… Continue reading Book Review: Beyond Human Ken

Movie Review: The Black Room (1935)

Gregor and Anton reunite for the first time in a decade.

Movie Review: The Black Room (1935) directed by Roy William Neill In the Tyrol region of Austria, twin sons are born to Baron Frederick de Berghman (Henry Kolker). He is not pleased by this turn of affairs, as there is a prophecy about his family line. The first Baron de Berghman was stabbed to death by… Continue reading Movie Review: The Black Room (1935)

Book Review: Mister Roberts

Book Review: Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen It is early spring, 1945, and World War Two rages on…somewhere else. Here in the backwaters of the Pacific Ocean, the Reluctant, an auxiliary cargo vessel of the United States Navy, sails from miserable coral island to miserable jungle island, delivering loads of non-urgent supplies. This old tub… Continue reading Book Review: Mister Roberts