* Books: Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

Books: Started Early, Took My Dog (2010) by Kate Atkinson (Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995), Human Croquet (1997)).  This crime novel, part thoughtful travelogue, of loves and losses, follows semi-retired private investigator Jackson Brodie as he attempts to trace, through the good, bad old days and the precariously, obliquely good, bad new days, the origins of a client, adopted a young age.  More than touching on a diversity of themes: of adoption, of dogs that belonged to women, of shockingly, rashly, bought children, of kidnapped, history-less children, of forcibly orphaned children; of adaptation to ever-changing circumstances, and glimpses of true, and erroneous, self-knowledge; confusion of names; childhood, the good, and, so often, the bad, the thwarted, the difficult and the ugly; parents and children and families in all their stifled hope, errors, lies, and miscommunications; not to mention inspiring, uplifting, dark and hopeful poetry; and of course, crime, with its police, private investigators, cover-ups, murders, power and money.  Sounds like a lot?  It is.  But with Atkinson’s deft, even tender touch, and her sensitive portrayals, Started Early, Took My Dog, is an easy, captivating novel, and a very agreeable, if at times brutal, read. (PR)

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* Movies: Kiss the Girls – starring Morgan Freeman & Ashley Judd

Movies: Kiss the Girls (1997)  Directed by Gary Fleder, starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, with a screenplay by David Klass based on the novel Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.  Morgan Freeman is excellent in his portrayal of a police forensic psychologist detective, full of calm, effective determination and Ashley Judd, as a surgeon, is vibrant, complex and very good, indeed.  Unfortunately, Freeman and Judd are the only two positive points in Kiss the Girls, an overly complicated thriller, with clear overtones of The Silence of the Lambs.  With poor acting on the part of the rest of the cast, and a poorly written screenplay with a prominent lack of character development, Kiss the Girls received a largely negative critical reception.  Nevertheless, for fans of Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, Kiss the Girls may be worth watching, though it leaves one wishing that the film around them was worthy of their participation. (PR)

See our post on the film Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

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* Dementia 13 – The first feature film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Dementia 13 (1963)  Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), Youth Without Youth (2007)), starring William Campbell (Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)), Luana Anders (Night Tide (1961), That Cold Day in the Park (1969)) and Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975)).  Dementia 13, a horror thriller, and the first feature film directed by the immense Francis Ford Coppola, is, at best, at pseudo-quasi-Hitchcockian psychological thriller, with a screenplay, written by Coppola, that is extraordinarily fragmented, if not desperately lost in its loose ends.  Nevertheless, as Coppola’s first feature directorial effort, at the very least, and thanks to some wonderfully moody directing of scenes in an ancient, and haunted, Scottish castle, and a clear feel for the building of psycho-thriller tension, Dementia 13 is a must-see for any fan of Coppola, B-movie psychology, or, in fact, kitsch. Perhaps the promotional film poster says it all. (PR)

See our post on the film Youth Without Youth, written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola.

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* Monsters – Directed by Gareth Edwards, starring Whitney Able & Scoot McNairy

Monsters (2010)  Directed by Gareth Edwards, starring Whitney Able and Scoot McNairy.  This British independent science fiction film is the first film by award-nominated (for his special effects editing) Gareth Edwards, who, as well as directing, wrote, shot and, of course, created the special effects.  Monsters is more atmosphere and ambiance than rampaging space aliens, and the details of the atmosphere are what make it a success, this despite the less than effective acting of Able and McNairy.  Not only is there hardly a spark between them, odd for a love interest (not to mention the fact that they are married in real life), but both their characters are rather annoying, and alienating, especially McNairy as a photo-journalist.  Described as a post-modern science fiction film, vaguely in the vein of Cloverfield and District 9, and like the latter imbued with a social message, Monsters follows the journey of a photo-journalist and his boss’s daughter through the Infected Zone, the northern part of Mexico bordering on the U.S., infected, in fact, by very large tentacular extraterrestrials, fallen to earth in a crashed NASA space probe.  Science fiction and independent film fans will, no doubt, find Monsters very agreeable viewing. (PR)

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* The Expendables – Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li & Mickey Rourke

The Expendables (2010) – Directed by Sylvester Stallone and starring Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li,  Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren and others.  This unabashed action film with quite a few of the great action stars old and new, follows a group of elite, and perhaps a bit worn out, mercenaries on a mission to Central America.  And though it received a mixed critical reception, it did quite well at the box office.  And for reason.  As one could expect, and even hope, for this sort of film, there’s an A to Z of automatic weapons, fiery explosions, and bone-breaking hand to hand combat and it offers a tender pleasure to see the grandfathers of contemporary action films together, wrinkles and all, giving it a good go.  Of course, and being rather kind, the story isn’t much, but that’s not the point in films of this genre, is it.  With all its exploding heads, and other flying body parts, The Expendables is not for the weak at heart, or those who won’t suspend their moral judgement, almost a non sequitur when it comes to this sort of film.  Nevertheless, for a testosterone-filled action film, with at least one moment of soul searching, in an excellent scene with Mickey Rourke,  The Expendables could be worth watching. (PR)

See our post on the film The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham.

We recommend that you buy your DVDs.  Have a great personal film library.  Here are links to amazon.com (Amazon Instant Video, DVDs, and Blu-ray Disks, in the order, when available):

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