Movie Review: Blood Brothers (1973) directed by Chang Cheh (original Chinese title “Ci Ma”, “The Blood Brothers” on the title card, aka “Dynasty of Blood.”) Ching (Qing) Dynasty government official Ma Hsin-yi (Lung Ti) has been assassinated. The assassin, Chang Wen-hsiang (David Chiang) has been arrested, but seems unusually calm and in good spirits. Hauled into… Continue reading Movie Review: Blood Brothers (1973)
Tag: wives
Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files
Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files edited by Max Allan Collins and Martin H. Greenberg In 1990, the venerable Dick Tracy comic strip got a movie adaptation, Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty and Madonna. To cash in on the publicity, the then-writer of the strip, Max Allan Collins, was asked to do both a… Continue reading Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files
Movie Review: Better Off Dead
Movie Review: Better Off Dead (1985) directed by Savage Steve Holland Al Meyer (David Ogden Stiers) is a lawyer in the small Northern California town of Greendale, a short drive away from the mountains. Life is rough for him. His wife Jenny (Kim Darby) is an improbably bad cook who refuses to stop trying and is… Continue reading Movie Review: Better Off Dead
Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind
Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind by Carter Dickson Sir Henry Merrivale, brilliant amateur detective, barrister, baronet and holder of a medical degree, has had many exciting adventures in Britain, Europe and America. He feels that he’s earned a bit of a holiday, so he’s incognito on a flight to Tangier. Except that the very… Continue reading Book Review: Behind the Crimson Blind
Movie Review: Paint Your Wagon
Paint Your Wagon (1969) dir. Joshua Logan It is the height of the California Gold Rush, and a motley assembly of prospectors from around the world have joined a wagon train to the next possible strike. The wagon of two Michigan ex-farmer brothers goes off a cliff, killing one of them. Affable scoundrel Ben Rumson (Lee… Continue reading Movie Review: Paint Your Wagon
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
Book Review: Dead Men’s Plans
Book Review: Dead Men’s Plans by Mignon G. Eberhart Sewal Blake is the stepdaughter of Julius Minary, the child of his first wife. Only a few years into their marriage, Sewal’s mother died, and Julius almost immediately remarried. She bore him a daughter, Amy, and a son, Reg, before passing away herself. Bereft and knowing… Continue reading Book Review: Dead Men’s Plans
Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Twelve
Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Twelve by Makoto Yukimura Note: SPOILERS for previous volumes, check out the previous reviews if you’ve skipped any. Previously: Thorfinn, once a vengeance-seeker, now has chosen a path of peace. He wants to go to the fabled place Vinland, where there is no war or slavery, to start a new… Continue reading Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Twelve
Movie Review: I Walked With a Zombie
Movie Review: I Walked With a Zombie (1943) directed by Jacques Tourneur It’s a particularly cold and snowy winter in Ottawa, so recently graduated Canadian nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is quite willing to be hired for private nursing duty to take place on the island of San Sebastian in the West Indies. On the ship… Continue reading Movie Review: I Walked With a Zombie
Book Review: Widows Wear Weeds
Book Review: Widows Wear Weeds by A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) Erle Stanley Gardner became famous thanks to his Perry Mason stories, featuring a defense attorney whose client is always innocent (of the particular murder the story is about.) But not every one of his story ideas fit that mold, so under the pen name… Continue reading Book Review: Widows Wear Weeds