Ed Gorman's Blog, page 227

Hey, Big Spender: Hollywood Isn't in the Mood

Hey, Big Spender: Hollywood Isn't in the Mood

By BROOKS BARNES and MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: August 28, 2010


Joel Silver's office at Warner Brothers was built for Frank Sinatra in 1963. Mr. Silver refurbished it and has settled in.
JOEL SILVER stands on the Warner Brothers lot and points to the remnants of a house where he filmed parts of four "Lethal Weapon" movies. "We blasted a toilet out of that window," he says, smiling proudly. "Over there, we drove a car straight into the living room."

Ah, ...

The film that killed a career - Telegraph UK

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Michael Powell's 'Peeping Tom': the film that killed a career
The critics poured scorn on Michael Powell's 'Peeping Tom' when it first came out 50 years ago, but now it is regarded as a masterpiece.

By David Gritten
Published: 10:37AM BST 27 Aug 2010
13 Comments

PEEPING TOM Photo: KOBAL COLLECTION / ANGLO AMALGAMATED

Half a century ago, in the early months of 1960, director Michael Powell enjoyed a reputation as one of Britain's most respected and beloved filmmakers. Under the aegis of their produ...

Detour To Otherness

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Ed here: As regular readers of this blog know, one of my favorite writers is the late Henry Kuttner. And of course you can't mention Henry without mentioning his wife and writing partner (Catherine) C.L. Moore. Good as they were individually they were great as a team. In his fine introduction to this volume Robert Silverberg relates a story that shows just how indivisible they were. For lovers of science fiction, fantasy and the type of story only the Kuttners wrote, this is one of the most i...

New Books: Caretaker of Lorne Field by Dave Zeltserman

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From Dave Zeltserman:

Caretaker of Lorne Field Day

My 8th novel, The Caretaker of Lorne Field, is available at bookstores everywhere today. I can make two guarantees about Caretaker:

(1) this book is going to surprise anyone familiar with my crime fiction

(2) this will be the best allegorical fable/horror novel dealing with weeds which might or might not be world-destroying monsters that you'll read all year!

Below is some of the early response to Caretaker. I hope folks check this one out.

"Superb...

Forgotten Books: Missionary Stew by Ross Thomas

Forgotten Books: Missionary Stew by Ross Thomas


Our story opens in a grubby African prison with an American named Citron who will, in the course of this introductory chapter, and I'm not making this up, eat a child. It seems the sociopath who is the exalted grand wazoo leader of this country is a cannibal. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Citron, a decent guy, asks what happened to the little kid who came around the prison. The henchman in charge of the prison tells him that the...

Virginia Quarterly scandal - suicide

Thanks to Todd Mason for sending this. From The Wrap.


After staffer's shocking death, accusations fly; future of the Virginia Quarterly Review, once an National Magazine Award darling, is in doubt

By Dylan Stableford
Published: August 23, 2010
The suicide of the managing editor at an Ellies-winning [1:] literary magazine late last month has sparked an investigation into alleged bullying by its editor -- and is putting the publication's long-term future in serious doubt.

Kevin Morrissey, the 52-year...

A book packager/author goes e-books

From Seth Godin's blog:

Linchpin will be the last book I publish in a traditional way.

One of the poxes on an author's otherwise blessed life is people who ask, "what's your next book," even if some of them haven't read the last one. (Jeff did, of course). To answer your question, this book is my next book. I think the ideas in Linchpin are my life's work, and I'm going to figure out the best way to spread those ideas, in whatever form they take. I also have some new, smaller projects in the wo...

Comic books and prose; Bob Randisi

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Ed here: I thought this was an interesting piece on how, in this age of the graphic novel, one novelist readily admits his debt to comic book writing. This is from Mulholland Books

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Batman Is My Mr. Miyagi

by Brad MeltzerAug 11, 2010 in Books, Comic Books, Guest Posts

I write mysteries. I love writing mysteries. And I also write comic books. So when I was recently at Comi-Con, someone at one of the panels asked me how comics have influenced and/or seeped into my mystery and novel writing. Indee...

Film Review: Quest for Honor

Writer Seamus Scanlon will be contributing occasional film reviews for this blog. This is his first review. Thanks, Seamus. Ed

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Quest for Honor. NR, 67 Minutes, In English and Kurdish with English subtitles, USA/Iraq, 2009, Mary Ann Smothers Bruni (Dir).

This sobering documentary, which has just had a release in New York and Los Angeles after being screened at the Sundance Film Festival highlights the twisted logic and bleak cruelty behind honor killings – a pernicious misnomer if there ever wa...

Mystery Scene; Ray Bradbury; Tom Piccirilli; Stranglehold

Hi everyone,

Brian and I are very pleased to announce that Mystery Scene will be printed in full color beginning with the Fall Issue #116 in September.

This is a big step but we believe that it will allow Mystery Scene to better showcase writers, books, films, etc., while also attracting more readers, advertisers, and retail sales.

And it's definitely going to be fun!

Best wishes,
Kate

PS The single issue or subscription prices will remain the same.


----------------------------Ray Bradbury-
The wil...