Anime Review: I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying

Anime Review: I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying Kaoru is a typical office worker in her mid-twenties who by chance meets, falls in love with, and marries Hajime, who is slightly younger than her and a dedicated otaku (A person who is a big fan of a particular esoteric subject and has poor social… Continue reading Anime Review: I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying

Book Review: Mort

Book Review: Mort by Terry Pratchett Mort is a farm boy who is completely unsuited to farming.  Or, it seems, to any other occupation.  He’s all elbows and knees and random thoughts.  In desperation, Mort’s father takes him to a village festival where boys are apprenticed.  Mort is the last boy left after being rejected… Continue reading Book Review: Mort

Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler The title of this volume is slightly misleading; “locked room” stands in for the general idea of impossible crimes in mystery stories.  A man  is found stabbed in the back in a windowless room with the door locked from the inside.… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (USA) 2014

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (USA) 2014 It’s the second anniversary of this blog, so it’s time for the annual look at the online edition of Shounen Jump Weekly, the best-selling manga anthology in Japan. The big news this year was the end of the long-running and popular Naruto series (see my previous post on the… Continue reading Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (USA) 2014

Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone

Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone Years ago, Schuyler Jarvis (Louis Jordan) was a young entertainer who fell in love with a woman named Lovey Lynn (Bea Griffith.)  She liked him plenty too, but her mother disapproved because Jarvis was a poor man, and forced Lovey to break off the affair.  Lovey was married to… Continue reading Movie Review: Reet, Petite and Gone

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter edited by Mary François Rockcastle This literary journal is published by Hamline University in Minnesota.  The title comes from another name of the Philosopher’s Stone, the transformative agent which turned base metals into gold, in the search for true immortality, as literature turns ordinary words into art.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter

Movie Review: All-American Co-Ed

Movie Review: All-American Co-Ed The movie starts with chorus girls’ feet and legs kicking behind the title sequence.  Then the camera is pulled back and we discover that the “chorus girls” are all men.  The Zeta Fraternity of all-male Quinceton University are putting on a drag revue. Matilda Collinge (Esther Dale) sees a description (but… Continue reading Movie Review: All-American Co-Ed

Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By

Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By This 1946 musical, filmed in glorious Technicolor, is loosely based on the life of songwriter Jerome Kern (Robert Walker).  It opens with the opening of Showboat, the famous Oscar Hammerstein play he wrote the music for.  After several numbers, we skip to the end of the performance.  Mr. Kern… Continue reading Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By

Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?

Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? Satomi Kotaro’s father has gone abroad on business, but he’s staying in Japan to attend high school.  Their family is not well off, and to stretch his living allowance as far as possible, Satomi jumps on Room 106 at Corona House because it costs the equivalent of $50 a… Continue reading Anime Review: Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops (1938) Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper) is a show producer who has a star act, Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne), who is also his sweetheart.  Their current show, “Sepia Scandals” is doing very well in the small Southern cities it’s playing.  A big-time East Coast agent wants to put Ethel on… Continue reading Movie Review: The Duke is Tops