Everybody Talks About the Weather . . .

. . . and I'm no exception. We've lived here for almost 29 years, and in all that time I've never seen the road in front of our house flooded -- until today. I had to run some errands this evening. It had already rained a lot the past few days, leaving the ground saturated, but while I was out I got delayed and a new downpour moved in, so that by the time I headed for home I didn't know if I'd be able to get there or not. Obviously I did, but as I told Livia later, if it hadn't been raining so hard and I could have see where I was going, I might have thought twice about driving through some of the places I drove through. I'm only half-joking, too. But I know the roads around here really well, having driven them for so long, and I was able to get through all right. I would have been a little more comfortable in a big pickup, though, rather than a midsize car. Anyway, the rain is supposed to be coming to an end later tonight and we'll dry out this weekend.

I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! -- Bob Newhart

I've been a Bob Newhart fan for more years than I like to think about. I remember watching him doing some of his routines on TV in the early Sixties, like "The Driving Instructor". I was aware of his best-selling, award-winning album, THE BUTTON-DOWN MIND OF BOB NEWHART, although I never owned a copy. (The first comedy album I ever bought, for what it's worth, was by the Smothers Brothers.) In the Seventies I was a big fan of THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, watching all the episodes when they were new and then watching them again in reruns until I had most of them pretty well memorized. I liked his other long-running TV show, NEWHART, too.

So it stands to reason that I would enjoy this book, and I did. It's not hilariously funny all the way through, although I laughed a lot. There's also quite a bit of autobiography to go along with the comedy, including some interesting behind-the-scenes material about Newhart's record albums, his TV series, and some of the movies in which he appeared, such as HELL IS FOR HEROES and CATCH-22. On a personal level, he talks about his long friendship with Don Rickles and doesn't shy from naming names in his comments on some of his fellow comedians, although he's certainly never mean about what he says. Plus you get the full texts, as they were originally written, of some of his most famous comedy routines. All in all, this is a fine book, and if you've ever enjoyed any of Newhart's work before, I think you'll enjoy reading it as I did.

The Departed

Proving once more that I'm out of step with popular culture, we watched this movie tonight -- which won the Academy Award for Best Picture a few weeks ago -- and I didn't like it much at all. I thought the performances were pretty good (although I have trouble taking Jack Nicholson seriously in anything anymore; he always just seems to me like he's doing a Jack Nicholson impression). I generally like movies with twisty, complex plots where nothing is what it seems. And I thought some of the scenes worked pretty well. But it sure didn't add up to much, and it was 'way too long and slow-moving for my taste. I'm not much of a Martin Scorsese fan, when it comes to that, but I liked his last couple of films, GANGS OF NEW YORK and THE AVIATOR, considerably more than I did THE DEPARTED.

More Twisted -- Jeffery Deaver

I’m not that familiar with Jeffery Deaver’s work. Several years ago I read THE BONE COLLECTOR, the first book in the Lincoln Rhyme series, and liked it well enough, but I’ve never worked up enough interest to read the others in the series, although I may get around to them one of these days. I also read his story in the anthology TRANSGRESSIONS and liked it, too.

Since I’m always in the mood for a good short story collection, I picked up MORE TWISTED, the second volume of Deaver’s stories, mostly reprints but a few originals, including a new Lincoln Rhyme yarn. He makes it clear in the introduction that his short stories are all about the twist ending. Well, you live by the twist ending, you die by the twist ending. And Deaver does some of both in this book. A few of the stories are so cleverly written that I smacked my forehead and said, “D’oh!” when I got to the endings. Should’ve seen the twist coming, but I didn’t. Those are the ones I liked the best. With some of the stories I figured out the ending well in advance, but the plots were interesting enough and the writing good enough that I didn’t care. In others the twist came from so far out in left field that I couldn’t believe them at all. And in still others – the ones I liked the least – for some reason Deaver brings the story’s momentum to a screeching halt several pages before the end to explain the twist, rather than letting it come out naturally. I suspect that most readers would have this same variety of reactions to the stories, although those reactions might be assigned to different stories than the ones that prompted them in me, if that makes sense. That’s why I haven’t singled out any of them by title. Read the book yourself, because I do think it’s worth reading for the good stories. I enjoyed it enough that since reading it I’ve picked up TWISTED, the first volume of Deaver’s stories.

Photos

There aren't very many pictures of me posted on-line, but you can see a couple of recent ones over on Livia's blog.

You, Me, and Dupree

We’re big on romantic comedies around here. YOU, ME, AND DUPREE is a decent example of the genre. Owen Wilson plays a slacker who is forced by circumstances to move in with his old college buddy, played by Matt Dillon, and his old college buddy’s new wife, played by Kate Hudson. Hijinks ensue. There’s nothing groundbreaking here – Owen Wilson is goofy and Kate Hudson is cute. (And at least once in every movie of hers that I watch, I find myself thinking, “Man, she really looks like her mama!”) But everything works out in the end and it’s certainly a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours.

I did find myself wondering, out of all the people who watched this movie, how many of them noticed that Matt Dillon’s character has the same name – Carl Peterson – as the arch-villain in the Bulldog Drummond novels by “Sapper” (H.C. McNeile). Not many, I’d bet. And even fewer would care.

Devil in a Blue Dress -- Walter Mosley

There are a lot of popular authors I’ve never gotten around to reading, and until now Walter Mosley was one of them. But I just read DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, the first novel in Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series, and liked it quite a bit.

The plot, with its missing girl, corrupt politicians, brutal cops, dangerous gangsters, and bodies dropping like flies, is pure hardboiled private eye stuff, going all the way back to BLACK MASK in the Twenties. Easy even gets hit over the head and knocked out a time or two, a classic ingredient of private eye fiction. The late Forties setting appeals to me, too. Contemporary PI novels are fine, but having grown up reading the stuff that was actually written in the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties, that era really resonates for me. Of course, Mosley’s Los Angeles isn’t exactly the same as, say, Raymond Chandler’s . . . but they overlap in places.

The only elements of, shall we say, post-Parker PI fiction are the psychotic sidekick and the more graphic sex scenes, but Mosley doesn’t let them overwhelm the other stuff, at least in this book. I think the plot all ties together okay, but I’m not sure; it’s awfully complicated. But Chandler didn’t know who murdered the chauffeur, either. I enjoyed DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS enough that I’ll definitely read the next book in the series and see how it goes.

Bambi vs. Godzilla -- David Mamet

I’m a big fan of THE UNIT, the TV series developed by David Mamet from Eric L. Haney’s memoir, INSIDE DELTA FORCE. (I’ll have some comments on that book when I get around to reading it; I have a copy sitting here in my studio.) I also enjoyed the film SPARTAN, which was written and directed by Mamet. His screenplay for the movie version of THE UNTOUCHABLES I consider a mixed bag – some really good lines, but also some things that just don’t make sense. That’s about the extent of my acquaintance with Mamet’s work. I was interested enough, though, to pick up his new book about the movie business.

Although BAMBI VS. GODZILLA touches on a lot of different aspects of filmmaking, it’s primarily about writing screenplays, since Mamet believes, rightly so, that everything else in the process starts there. His comments about story structure and editing are excellent and apply not only to writing scripts but also to any other sort of fiction. I found myself thinking about my own work and seeing ways I could improve it as I read this book. Mamet’s advice on how to handle bad reviews – ignore them – is familiar but also effective, if the writer can manage to do it. Easier said than done, of course. I also liked the fact that he’s open to finding good work wherever it may be, not just in the usual places. He mentions several films he finds perfect: THE GODFATHER, A PLACE IN THE SUN, DODSWORTH . . . and GALAXY QUEST. Now, I happen to believe that GALAXY QUEST is a fine film, too, but I wouldn’t have thought to call it perfect. When you think about it, though, it pretty much accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish, and that’s generally the standard to which I hold books and movies.

Some of what Mamet writes in this book edges over into psychobabble (either that or I’m just too dense to follow what he’s saying, which is always a possibility), but overall I think BAMBI VS. GODZILLA is a fine book. You could read it just as an entertaining look at the inner workings of the movie industry, but I think it has a lot to say to writers, too. And it makes me want to watch more of Mamet’s movies. (You don’t think that just might have been one of the book’s goals, now do you?)

Casino Royale

Most of you probably saw this movie months ago, but being an old geezer who no longer goes to the theater I had to wait until now. So bear with me as I make a few comments.

First of all, to get the important stuff out of the way . . . No, this is not, in my opinion, the best James Bond film ever. Nor is Daniel Craig the best James Bond. Those honors still belong to GOLDFINGER and Sean Connery, respectively. In fact, I’d say that both FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (yes, even with George Lazenby, who didn’t deserve the critical beating he got) are also better than CASINO ROYALE.

However, CASINO ROYALE is better than all of the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, better than all the Roger Moores (with the possible exception of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, which is a pretty good film), and as for the Timothy Dalton Bonds, well, I watched ’em but I have almost no memory of them, so I suspect CASINO ROYALE is better than they were, too. Daniel Craig does a great job, especially in the action scenes. He looks like he’s actually capable of doing all that stuff. I also liked the way the script at least tried to stick closer to Ian Fleming’s source novel. The updating didn’t bother me, nor did changes like switching Le Chiffre’s game of choice from baccarat to poker. (Le Chiffre did play baccarat in the novel, didn’t he? It’s been close to forty years since I read it.) I also liked the occasional subtle nod to what has come before, like having Bond driving a 1964 Aston Martin at one point. And the final shot of the movie, while inevitable, was great. My only real quibble is that some of the action set pieces, good as they are, seem to go on a little too long.

All in all, this film captures the spirit of what the James Bond movies should be better than any of them for a long, long time. At this point I’m actually looking forward to the next one quite a bit, something I haven’t been able to say in ages.

Invincible

As far as inspirational-sports-movies-based-on-true-stories go, INVINCIBLE is okay. Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale, a 30-year-old part-time bartender in Philadelphia who attends an open tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles and against all odds makes the team. That's it for the plot. What makes this movie work is the performance by Wahlberg, who actually looks and moves like a football player. The photography is also very good. As a long-time NFL watcher, I ought to remember the real Papale, but I don't. I do remember watching the real Brian Piccolo playing for the Chicago Bears in the late Sixties, and of course, the movie about him, BRIAN'S SONG, sort of reinvented this genre when it had fallen dormant. And before BRIAN'S SONG, sports movies were usually about baseball, like THE BABE RUTH STORY, THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, and FEAR STRIKES OUT. But to get back to INVINCIBLE, the football scenes are good, the scenes with Papale and his blue-collar buddies are also very good, and it's an entertaining film.