Like ADVENTURELAND and CHARLIE BARTLETT, I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER is a little more than the usual crude teen comedy. It is indeed pretty crude at times, and it’s not quite as smart as those other two films, but it’s not bad. Denis Cooverman is your typical high school geek/valedictorian with a film buff buddy who may (or may not) be gay. For years Denis has sat behind beautiful blond head cheerleader Beth Cooper in all their classes, and he’s in love with her even though she doesn’t know he exists. So at graduation, Denis uses his valedictorian’s speech to finally say what he’s always wanted to tell her (as well as taking shots at a number of his classmates). Then, surprisingly, Beth and a couple of her beautiful cheerleader friends show up at Denis’s graduation party that night.
Hijinks ensue.
A lot of the madcap adventures that follow fall into the typical teen comedy category, but the screenplay by Larry Doyle, based on his novel, also takes pleasure in turning some expected stereotypes on their ear. It makes for a pretty funny movie that’s occasionally touching, even though it’s not very believable most of the time. I think it was missing one final twist where one of the characters was concerned, but that’s just me. Overall, I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER is an entertaining movie and worth watching. And for some of you out there (you know who you are), let me add just one more thing:
Hayden Panettierre, who plays Beth, is old enough now to do nude scenes.
Back in the Eighties, Livia and I owned a store that sold comic books, among other things, and we did a brisk business in G.I. JOE issues, especially back issues. I read some of them myself and occasionally saw an episode of the cartoon series based on the action figures, but I was never a big fan.
So I was vaguely familiar with some of the characters in the recent movie G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA but didn’t really know what to expect from it. This was the second movie based on toys that we’d watched in as many weeks (the other being the second TRANSFORMERS movie).
But if you’ve read this blog for very long, you know that I’m a pretty soft touch where movies are concerned. Some of them I hate to the point of turning them off unfinished, but I seldom if ever blog about those. Most of them, though, I can find something to like about them, and that’s the case here.
First the things I didn’t like, and some of them are my usual complaints: quick-cut editing in most of the action scenes and bad lighting in some of them. There were too many times I said to myself, “Wait a minute. What just happened?” There are some lines in the script making fun of the characters’ action figure origins that are maybe a little too cute. And some of the acting is either wooden or too far over-the-top. (You didn’t think it was possible that anything could be too over-the-top for me, did you?) But acting isn’t generally a big concern for me in movies like this. Being able to follow the action is.
And that said, there’s a lot of action in G.I. JOE. This is a movie that hardly ever slows down to breathe. It’s one frantic, SFX-laden set-piece after another, with the occasional flashback to fill in the histories of some of the characters, as the international military unit known as G.I. Joe tries to track down some deadly nanomite warheads that the bad guys are going to use to take over the world.
So with all that going on, it baffles me how the filmmakers managed to do it, but I actually got caught up in the story and the characters. In my usual long-winded way, it’s taken me a while to get around to saying it, but I liked G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. Liked it quite a bit, in fact, and really enjoyed watching it. Yes, it’s a silly, cartoonish movie based on toys, but I think it’s a heck of a lot better than either of the TRANSFORMERS movies. Have I turned into a G.I. JOE fan after all these years? I wouldn’t quite go so far as to say that, but if they make the sequel that the end of this one is obviously leading up to, I’ll watch it. No doubt about that.
Originally serialized in the September through December 1939 issues of WEIRD TALES, H. Warner Munn’s KING OF THE WORLD’S EDGE was a prime candidate for reprinting in the Sixties paperback fantasy boom sparked by Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and J.R.R. Tolkien. It features swordplay, magic, and lost civilizations. What else do you need?
Well, an Arthurian angle doesn’t hurt. There’s also a nice framing sequence in which a mysterious bronze cylinder is discovered in Key West following a hurricane, and inside the cylinder there’s an ancient document purportedly written by one Ventidius Varro, a Roman legionnaire posted in Britain at the time of Arthur’s rise to power. Like Jack Whyte’s Camulod novels and the movies THE LAST LEGION and KING ARTHUR, KING OF THE WORLD’S EDGE is set during the last days of Roman occupation in Britain, when most of the Roman soldiers are actually second- or third-generation Britons. Ventidius Varro is one of them. Cut off from Rome, these hold-out legionnaires align themselves with Arthur and the enigmatic mage Myrdhinn in order to oppose the invading Saxons and unite the various British tribes. After Arthur’s efforts are crushed and he himself is mortally wounded in battle, Myrdhinn places him in what amounts to suspended animation, hides his body, and then sets sail with a band of legionnaires commanded by Varro in search of a place where they can regroup and figure out a way to retake Britain.
Things don’t work out that way, however. Instead, Myrdhinn and the rest of these British adventurers wind up in a new world far to the west, across the ocean, where they are captured by, escape from, and wind up doing battle with various groups of native tribes. Along the way Varro becomes the staunch ally of a native leader named Hayonwatha, founds his own empire in the new world, and battles to overthrow the evil Mia, who have extended their grasp over the entire continent.
Part of the fun of a book like this is seeing the way Munn comes up with new explanations for all the history and legends of early North America, from Florida up to the Great Lakes, across the continent to the Rocky Mountains and down to Texas. Varro, Myrdhinn, and their friends wander all over and have numerous adventures. The pace is a little slow at times and the writing style is old-fashioned, but after all, the story is being told by Ventidius Varro in a letter intended to be carried back to whatever emperor is currently in power in Rome.
Though it lacks the storytelling power of a yarn by Howard or Burroughs, KING OF THE WORLD’S EDGE is an entertaining, inventive novel with quite a bit of action. Getting the book back in print from Ace was enough to prompt the never prolific Munn to write a sequel, THE SHIP FROM ATLANTIS, almost thirty years after the original. I have that one, too, and hope to read it soon. (I believe both novels were also issued in a combined volume called MERLIN’S GODSON, from Del Rey in the Eighties, but I have the Ace editions.)Update: Don Herron informs me that there's a third book in the series, MERLIN'S RING, and refers to it as Munn's masterpiece. He also recommends Munn's historical novel THE LOST LEGION. There's two more books for me to look for!
If you check out the comments about this movie on IMDB, you’ll see that people either thought it was surprisingly good or absolutely hated it. Mark me down in the “surprisingly good” category.
BEER FOR MY HORSES is an action comedy written by its two stars, country singer Toby Keith and comedian Rodney Carrington. They play Oklahoma deputy sheriffs who run afoul of a Mexican drug cartel and a local meth manufacturing operation. The movie is a little schizophrenic: at times it seems like it wants to be a serious action movie, but then more goofy, good ol’ boy, redneck comedy comes along. Somehow, though, it works for the most part. A lot of the comedy is pretty funny, especially if you’re a good ol’ boy redneck yourself, which I certainly can be at times. Toby Keith is a decent actor, although having an imposing size and a great voice help a lot in the role he plays. I’ve always liked Rodney Carrington, and the cast also features the great Barry Corbin, as well as a host of cameos by various country music stars.
Then there’s Willie Nelson, who shows up in a truly bizarre scene featuring a traveling circus that has hardly anything to do with the rest of the movie. This is a scene that’s either borderline genius, or else Keith and Carrington had been hanging around Willie and breathing too deeply before they wrote it.
Overall, BEER FOR MY HORSES is an amiable, fast-moving, somewhat politically incorrect hour and a half, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. If you decide to give it a try, just remember those 50/50 odds I mentioned above.
Here's an interesting article about the half-dozen crime novels from Harlequin's early days as a publisher that have been reprinted recently to help celebrate the company's sixtieth anniversary. I plan to buy these but haven't gotten around to it yet. Now, if it had been me, I would have picked a Western and an adventure novel (probably something by H. Bedford-Jones) to be reprinted, too. I don't know how well these books are selling, but it would be nice if Harlequin would reprint more from the days when they published other genres besides romance. (Thanks to Frank Loose for the link.)
Livia is giving away one free copy each of her new mystery novels KILLER CRABCAKES and HUCKLEBERRY FINISHED. Head on over to her blog for the details.
Publishers Weekly has selected HUNT AT THE WELL OF ETERNITY as one of the Top 100 Books of 2009, and it's also one of only five mass-market paperback originals to make that list, I believe. They commented: "Reasoner launches the Gabriel Hunt series with a fast-paced tale of purely entertaining Indiana Jones–like adventure, smartly updated for modern sensibilities."
Needless to say, I am very happy about this, and also very grateful to Charles Ardai for giving me the chance to work on this series (as well as giving me such a great character to work with). And I also want to thank all the readers who enjoyed the book and let me know about it. Now, before this starts sounding too much like an Academy Award acceptance speech, let me just say . . . Yowza!
Another Wild West Monday has rolled around, and I'm sure by now all of you know what to do: go to your local bookstore and/or library and request that they carry more Westerns. I know from experience that this really does work. Due mostly to Livia's Wild West Monday efforts, the local Wal-Mart now has a pretty good Western section again (Westerns had all but disappeared from this store) and the books are selling really, really well. Many thanks to Gary for getting this initiative started, and now the rest of us have to do our part as well.
Since I posted about my Buck Jones/Bela Lugosi story yesterday, I thought it would be appropriate if I watched a Buck Jones movie and made a few comments about it. (I would have watched a Lugosi movie, too, but I don’t have one handy. Maybe next week.)
DAWN ON THE GREAT DIVIDE is a particularly poignant Buck Jones movie to watch, because it was the last one he made before he was killed in the famous Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston. In fact, this film hadn’t been released yet when Buck died.
Although it wasn’t promoted as such when it came out, DAWN ON THE GREAT DIVIDE is actually part of the Rough Riders series, a series of B-Westerns Buck made for Monogram Pictures co-starring Colonel Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton. McCoy isn’t in this one, having gone back on active duty in the military during the buildup to World War II. (The rank of colonel wasn’t honorary; McCoy was the genuine article and is worthy of a few blog posts devoted to him one of these days.) Jones and Hatton are on hand, though, playing their usual roles of Buck Roberts and Sandy Hopkins. McCoy’s place was taken by a mostly forgotten Western star named Rex Bell.
In the other Rough Riders movies, the trio are U.S. Marshals, but in DAWN ON THE GREAT DIVIDE they’re wagon train scouts, with no mention being made of any law enforcement connections. The plot is nothing special. It’s the old “white outlaws masquerading as Indians to raid the wagon trains” bit. (I once wrote a book using Livia’s suggestion that I have a group of Indians masquerading as white outlaws. It made a pretty good twist.) Several things make DAWN ON THE GREAT DIVIDE worth watching. The production values are good, with a lot of location shooting and not much stock footage. The script is unexpectedly rich in characterization when it comes to some of the people traveling on the wagon train, giving them more depth than you usually find in a B-Western. A lot of familiar faces populate the supporting cast: Tristam Coffin as a shady character trying to reform, Harry Woods as the main villain, the great Roy Barcroft as Woods’ main henchman and the one who engages in the final shootout with Buck, and Bud Osborne as another henchman. These are like old friends to B-Western fans.
Then there’s Buck himself, who by this stage of his career was an elder statesman of the genre and invests his role as Buck Roberts with the appropriate gravitas and dignity. He was never the most polished actor, but he had a great screen presence. I have several more of his movies on hand and look forward to watching them soon. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a good solid B-Western, DAWN ON THE GREAT DIVIDE is a fine example.
Like ADVENTURELAND and CHARLIE BARTLETT, I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER is a little more than the usual crude teen comedy. It is indeed pretty crude at times, and it’s not quite as smart as those other two films, but it’s not bad. Denis Cooverman is your typical high school geek/valedictorian with a film buff buddy who may (or may not) be gay. For years Denis has sat behind beautiful blond head cheerleader Beth Cooper in all their classes, and he’s in love with her even though she doesn’t know he exists. So at graduation, Denis uses his valedictorian’s speech to finally say what he’s always wanted to tell her (as well as taking shots at a number of his classmates). Then, surprisingly, Beth and a couple of her beautiful cheerleader friends show up at Denis’s graduation party that night.
