Ed Gorman's Blog, page 230

The Top Ten Stupid Comedies for Intelligent People

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Ed here: Today Salon ran a piece called The Top Ten Stupid Comedies for Intelligent People. Some pretty good choices. You can find the rest on the link below. But for me the number 10 entry is my favorite. I wrote a lot of really bad plays when I was in my late teens and early twenties and was involved with numerous little theater groups filled with daydreamers, misfits and dead-enders very much like myself. This movie depicts these yearners with a gentle comic touch than only makes them seem...

When Titans Collide

Ed here: I thought this might be of interest. Two big shots in a shoot-out. Just like all those old Whip Wilson movies (I wonder how many of you remember Whip--he always struck m as the laziest movie cowboy of all. He didn't walk, he moseyed. :) BTW you'll note that the link reads "when assholes collide." I'm sure Huff Post nixed that for the headline.



When Titans Collide by Matt Stewart

Two publishing industry titans smashed into each other last week, and it couldn't have come sooner.

Basicall...

A spectacular new Cinema Retro

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Ed here: This is a SPECTACULAR issue and not only about Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone but about the entire movie making process itself. I was laughing out loud when I came to the bit about the trepidation Italian movie makers felt when they had to put their films in the hands of the Roman labs of that time. The film you submitted might not be the film you got back!

From Cinema Retro:

Cinema Retro's eagerly-awaited limited edition Movie Classics tribute issue to the Sergio Leone/ Clint Eastwo...

Guest blogger Carolyn Hart - For Love of Cats

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Ed here: This is reprinted from Dear Reader

Today's author is Carolyn Hart. Carolyn loves cat, old mysteries, the verdant South Carolina Lowcountry, hot and dusty Oklahoma, and dark chocolate. She's written 44 books. GHOST IN TROUBLE will be debuting this coming October. Carolyn would love to hear from you and she's giving away 10 signed copies of LAUGHED 'TIL HE DIED. Email her at: chart@carolynhart.com

Thank you Carolyn...

FOR LOVE OF CATS

One of my earliest memories is of Baby Face, a gray tab...

The Whistler with Vince Keenan

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Ed here: Be sure to get your copy of the new Noir City Sentinel. It's the best issue yet packed with everything from articles on British B movies to articles on Elisha Cook and Billy Wilder. And much more more. All you need do is make a contribution to Eddie Muller's Film Noir Foundation http://www.noircity.com/foundation.html

One of the most interesting pieces is Vince Keenan's well-researched and very well written piece about the B-movie series, The Whistler. Vince and I are both fans of th...

Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out by Lee Goldberg

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"For him suffering was a way of life, a vocation and an art form..."

Who else could be be talking about? Adrian Monk, of course, as seen through the eyes of his weary assistant Natalie in the latest Monk adventure Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out.

I've given up trying to decide which is the best book in the series because they all seem to be equally funny, clever and cunningly quirky. That said maybe this one is the best because here we have the spectacle of Monk, who never pays attention...

Too stupid not to be true

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From Gawker:

Man Stabbed at Comic Con Over Resident Evil Panel Seating Dispute

A guy in a Harry Potter shirt stabbed someone in the eye with a pen at Comic Con last night over a seat at the Resident Evil: Afterlife panel. Now he'll never get to ask his incredibly pedantic question![CBR:]

The home of Nero Wolfe

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Ed here: Carolyn Kellog of the LA Times' Jacket Copy appears to have found Nero Wolfe's actual home.

Carolyn Kellog:

Last week, Jacket Copy looked at a various projects focused on authors' homes. Today, we bring you something slightly different -- the real-life home of a fictional character.

When I was in New York for the Book Expo publishing conference, trundling to Javits Center from the subway, I stopped in a shadow for no particular reason and found myself face to face with a plaque declari...

Bill Crider on Murder in the Air

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Bill Crider on Murder in the Air

A couple of years ago, Joe Lansdale and I were having dinner in the Raven Grill, just down the street from Murder by the Book in Houston. There were others there, too, of course, but I remember that at one point in the conversation around the table, Joe asked me what I was working on. I told him that I was thinking about a book for the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, but that all I had was the name of the murder victim and the title.
(Digression: I've written bef...

Forgotten Books: Plunder Squad by Richard Stark

Forgotten Books: Plunder Squad by Richard Stark

One of the ways Donald Westlake kept his Parker novels fresh was to vary the the success his man had as a professional criminal. Sometimes the magic worked, sometimes it didn't.

Plunder Squad is a long (for a Parker novel) and intense study of how things can go wrong in trying to plan and execute a robbery. Not anywhere as easy as you thought.

Parker is near broke and in bad need of money. As often happens he's forced to deal with people who overe...