MARCH 2022 - FILMS (CINEMA)

Another decent month's outings....

A couple of comedies, both based on actual events; an exciting action thriller albeit with a weak plot; a horror/slasher film and a Batman film.

The Duke (2020)

This one was a Saturday morning film outing, a bit of a time filler and one I had low expectations for and was one I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to.

Based on real events, the theft of a famous painting back in the early 60s. Family, social activism and a healthy disrespect for authority. Loved Jim Broadbent, but then I have in pretty much everything I've seen him in. Helen Mirren is excellent as well. She never comes across as warm or cuddly or especially domesticated in anything. Here she's a wife and mother, but still seems slightly disconnected from her family. I suppose in times of economic uncertainty and with a feckless husband, a marriage can't afford for both participants to be idealists or dreamers.   

From Google...

In 1961, a 60-year-old taxi driver steals Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. He sends ransom notes saying that he will return the painting if the government invests more in care for the elderly.

The Batman (2022)

Another kind of SuperHero film though with no real superpowers on display. I like seeing Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) on screen and Robert Pattinson is very good. I still find these films over-long and a bit self indulgent. I'm sure it could have been half an hour shorter without affecting the film in any appreciable way. Too much enigmatic, naval gazing IMO. If it had been a film I was watching at home it wouldn't be a problem as you can hit pause and get up stretch your legs, put the kettle on and have a comfort break. In the cinema any of the above means you miss some of the tale. 

About par for the course. I enjoyed it, I didn't love it. I won't be buying the DVD when it drops.

From Google...

Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

The Phantom of the Open (2021)

Another comedy film based on real live events as amateur golfer, Maurice Flitcroft makes absolute mugs of the R&A back in the 70s. I do like a film with a sporting backdrop.

You can go far to achieving your dreams with the a supportive family.

From Wikipedia and Google...

The Phantom of the Open is a 2021 British biographical comedy-drama film directed by Craig Roberts, about the exploits of Maurice Flitcroft. The screenplay by Simon Farnaby was based upon the biography The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer by Farnaby and Scott Murray. The film stars Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Rhys Ifans, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Mark Lewis Jones and Johann Myers. (Wikipedia)

Amateur golfer Maurice Flitcroft achieves his late-in-life goal of participating in the British Open Golf Championship, much to the ire of the staid golfing community. (Google)

X (2022)

I loved this one. My daughter thought it was poor, my wife hated it - absolute rubbish I think she said. Why am I the only one with any taste in our household?

A few scares, plenty of tension and an enjoyable story. If it was a book I'd definitely read it.

Liked the story, the setting, the characters, the backdrop of the 70s and the recurrent evangelism which gives a real contect to the plot. 

From Wikipedia...

X is a 2022 American slasher film written, directed, produced, and edited by Ti West. It stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. The film's plot follows a cast and crew who gather to make a pornographic film on an elderly couple's rural Texas property, but find themselves threatened by a killer.

X was filmed in New Zealand, with production primarily taking place in Fordell. Its score was composed by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 18, 2022, by A24. It received generally positive reviews, with critics noting its homages to 20th-century slasher films, in particular 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Ambulance (2022)

I do like an action thriller and one with a heist at its heart puts a lot of ticks in the boxes for me. 

Plenty of action here, a decent story, but a few plotholes which I struggled to get past.

We have a wounded cop hostage in the back of the ambulance and the fleeing robbers with the help of an emotionally disconnected paramedic struggle manfully for most of the film it seems to keep this particular cop alive, while apparently indifferent to inflicting pain, injury and death on all the pursuing cops that are chasing after them. How does that make any sense?

Our paramedic separates herself emotionally from her patients, which I understand, but maybe an hour and forty minutes later ie the duration of the film has managed to rediscover some sense of self and feels the urge to visit and comfort the first casualty - a child and car accident victim - we encountered at the start of the film. Cue poignant and emotional hand squeeze through tear-filled eyes and painful grimace. It's been an incredible healing journey. Yeah right.

I liked the two main leads/robbers - Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The paramedic - Eiza González - is pretty good as well.

From Google...

Needing money to cover his wife's medical bills, a decorated veteran teams up with his adoptive brother to steal $32 million from a Los Angeles bank. However, when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate thieves hijack an ambulance that's carrying a severely wounded cop and an EMT worker. Caught in a high-speed chase, the two siblings must figure out a way to outrun the law while keeping their hostages alive.

Rankings

1. X

2. The Duke

3, The Phantom of the Open

4. Ambulance

5. The Batman

MARCH 2022 - FILMS + TV (HOME-VIEWING)

 All TV shows last month not a film in sight....

one series finished, one started and finished, two ongoing and one we had a look at but I'm not especially bothered if I get back to it or not.

Taggart (1983-2010) - ITV Crime Drama - 27 series

A bit of a challenge, but one me and my better half are up to. I think we have progressed to the sixth series so far and I'm really enjoying them. There's been one major change in the policing team and we've recently been introduced to a uniformed PC who I'm pretty sure has a more senior role in the series a lot later on. 

I'm wincing a bit at some of the 80s fashions and hairstyles. It's a good job the fashion police wasn't an actual thing otherwise whole swathes of the population, myuself included would have been locked up.

From Wikipedia...

Taggart is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 September 1983, before a full series was commissioned that ran from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010. The series revolved around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines were set in other parts of Greater Glasgow and in other areas of Scotland. The team operated out of the fictional John Street police station. Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994. However, the series continued under the same name.

The Last Detective (2003-2007) - ITV Comedy-Drama Series

I do like the dynamics between Peter Davison and the late Sean Hughes. Ditto Davison and his on-screen wife, though I do wish he wasn't quite so needy. Maybe he should have been referred to as Desperate Davies as opposed to Dangerous.

It's interesting seeing the other recognisable actors that have popped up in the series. Lots to like here and I don't think I've too many more to go, so should complete in April. Still undecided as to whether or not to take a punt on the books by Leslie Thomas. They're cheap on Kindle, so probably a yay.

From Google...

`Dangerous' Davies is one offbeat flatfoot who takes the stuff at the bottom of the pile - the cases nobody wants. In his usual comical way, Davies and good friend Mod help unfold events that usually end up in disaster, but somehow they still manage to nab their man. Maybe if Davies wasn't such a nice guy, his coworkers would take him a tad more seriously. The comedy-drama is adapted from the novel by Leslie Thomas.

The Sinner Season 4 (2021) - Netflix TV Drama Series

Another US series that I was a bit meh about. Loved the first series with Jessica Alba and Bill Pullman. Didn't enjoy the second and third quite as much, but got my arm twisted to give this one a go and I'm glad I did.

Tense, exciting and Pullman's character seems more in control of himself here. You fear for him at times. I liked the isolation of the island setting which added a sense of claustrophobia to the proceedings. Last series apparently which will do me. Four is enough thanks.

From Wikipedia.....

The Sinner is an American police procedural anthology television series developed by Derek Simonds for USA Network. It is named after Petra Hammesfahr's 1999 novel, which served as the basis for the first season. Bill Pullman starred as a police detective who investigates crimes committed by unlikely culprits and attempts to uncover their motivations. Only Pullman appeared in every season, the rest of the cast changing for each season's story, with the exception of Jessica Hecht who played a main role in both the third and fourth seasons.

Originally intended as an eight-part miniseries, The Sinner aired from August 2, 2017, to December 1 2021. The show's success led to USA Network turning it into an anthology series.

The first season of The Sinner received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for Jessica Biel. Biel was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. During the course of the series 32 episodes of The Sinner aired over four seasons.

The Responder (2022) - BBC Drama series

Previously started and now finished and I was happy with how it all resolved itself. Tense doesn't cut it. Half the time I was wincing and watching from behind the sofa. I really liked Martin Freeman. Not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination. The domestic abuse scenes are harrowing.

It does give you pause for thought when thinking of the personal trauma and stresses that the emergency service first responders have to cope with. 

From Google...

Urgent response officer Chris Carson has been tasked with working a series of night shifts on his beat in Liverpool. It's a high pressure, relentless night-time world where his survival now depends on the rookie partner he's been forced to take on. Chris has more than the job to worry about, as his personal life has been hit by crisis, and he is morally compromised in his work. As he struggles to keep a grip on his mental health, a path to redemption appears in the form of a young heroin addict.

Worst Roommate Ever (2022) - Netflix TV Mini Series

Two episodes of the five in the series were watched and I'm undecided as to whether to continue or not. Both cases were sad. Both featured victims who did nothing to deserve their fate. Both left people behind that mourned their passing and both were killed by calculating predators - one for profit and one for an unrequited infatuation. Both went to extreme lengths to cover up their misddeds and both got caught.

From Wikipedia...

Worst Roommate Ever is a 2022 Netflix docuseries which features four stories about Roommates with malevolent and sometimes violent intentions who turn the lives of their unsuspecting victims into real-life nightmares.

BEN BOULDEN - MERRICK (2017)

 

Synopsis/blurb...

Merrick is hard, tough, and when he needs to be, mean as hell.

When Merrick is called in as a late-replacement for a payroll heist his first inclination is greed. His second is hesitation, since anyone who says a job will be easy is a liar, but this job has been planned by an old partner, Clarence Tilley, who has masterminded more than a few successful heists.

It’s a four man job with a payout worth $15,000 and Merrick’s share would keep him in whiskey and satin for a year. But it may also get him killed.

Ben Boulden is the author of BLAZE! RED ROCK RAMPAGE and the forthcoming BLAZE! SPANISH GOLD. Bill Crider, author of the Dan Rhodes novels, wrote that Blaze! Red Rock Rampage has “sharp action and well-observed descriptions” and Western Fiction Review wrote, “Ben Boulden’s descriptive writing puts you right there in the thick of the action.”

Another short novella or long short story whichever way you want to dissect it and another opportunity to try a new-to-me author, Ben Boulden without much of a commitment on my behalf.

Western setting, a stagecoach robbery and the inevitable brown stuff hitting the fan scenario when the job is executed. Double cross or was it triple being the order of the day!

I liked the main character, Merrick even though he lives his life on the wrong side of the law. He does have a certain code of values. Play straight with him and he'll do you likewise. Cross him and there are consequences.

Overall I liked the writing, the setting, the main character and the twists in the tale. My only disappointment is that I can't actually see that the author has written anything else with the same main character. 

I think the story also provided another first in that I don't think I've encountered a criminal gang of Mormons before in my reading. Or in real life for that matter. 

4 from 5

Read - March, 2022

Published - 2017

Page count - 25

Source - Kindle Unlimited

Format - Kindle

MARK SAFRANKO - I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU (2021)

 

Synopsis/blurb...

13 poems written between 1990-2021 by author, songwriter and playwright Mark SaFranko. A5 size. Printed on recycled paper. Limited to 30 copies.

Each one comes with a numbered, mini broadside, printed on high quality linen "kraft cappuccino" card. 

Another short read I slipped into the month to keep the scoreboard ticking over in my yearly reading challenge - and a bit of a diversion for me - a wee collection of poetry.

I usually struggle with this medium as I lack the confidence to trust my instincts when trying to decipher meaning. I suppose at the end of the day, it means what I think it means and if that differs from the author's intention or someone else's comprehension, well big deal. 

I'm a fan of Mark SaFranko's books, though I've not read as many as I should have. And I've enjoyed his short stories when I've come across them on the www. I've not listened to his music, or seen his acting in film, or until now read his poetry. 

A baker's dozen here. All quite brief and concise.

We have... 

THE SIMPLEST THOUGHT

THE COST

TRAPPED

THE NOOSE

NEPTUNE RETROGRADE

THE BLACK VOID

AMERICAN DREAMS

MILLENIUM GENIUS

TIME TRAVEL

THE REASON I QUIT DRINKING

A NEW YORK DOG

TELEPHONE POLE

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU

Mortality, economics, Capitalism, the nature of creativity, aging, unfulfilled ambitions and disappointment and a reconciliation, 21c fakery and pretension, memories, alcoholism and temperance, sunshine days and shiny women, lost youth and new found invisibility, Trumpism with rage vs indifference or more likely jaded resignation. All pretty much set in New York.

Food for thought.

4.5 from 5

The Favor, The Suicide and No Strings have been enjoyed before. 

Read - March, 2022

Published - 2021

Page count - 18

Source - purchased copy

Format - chapbook 

BRYONY PEARCE - LITTLE RUMOURS - BLOG TOUR

Author Bryony Pearce was kind enough to share some thoughts on part of the writing process for her latest book, Little Rumours

Creating a place – the location of the crime

By Bryony Pearce

My new thriller, Little Rumours, is about the search for an eleven-year-old girl who vanishes from the local park one evening after school. The last people to see her are her friends. But the children have secrets and so do their mothers and soon rumours and lies will tear this community apart. 

When I was coming up with setting for Little Rumours, I wanted a place where everyone knows, and gossips about, everyone else. I wanted that sense of claustrophobia, of knowing that whatever you do, and wherever you go, someone is watching, someone knows and if one person knows, soon everyone will.

I wanted a sense that the setting is not just a setting, but a centre of gravity around which the story will take place and from which the characters cannot depart, no matter what they do. 

I wanted there to be a sense of community, but the kind of community that excludes outsiders. That is close-knit, but only towards those who are born into it.  

It had to be a rural English village.  

I started by thinking about what was needed in the village in order for my story to take place: a primary school, a children’s park, a church, streets and houses. 

I thought about what my characters would need in order to live in this village: the local newsagents, a butcher, a Co-op, a pub, a café.  

Then I thought about what kinds of things would give this village a sense of history and community:  the graveyard, war memorial, the community centre.

Then I thought about atmosphere. I wanted to make this village feel inescapable. The graveyard shows that people will live here, die here and never leave; in the story Naomi is as trapped by her devotion to the dead as she is by her closeness with the living. I surrounded it with woodland, an impenetrable barrier, especially in the dark, that has to be searched, I put in a steep hill, covered in brambles that cannot be climbed. I added a fast-moving river and a babbling stream, physical boundaries that are also constantly chattering in the background, a reminder of the gossip that is so much a part of everyday life. 

I made the village chocolate box pretty, but with a dark underbelly.

I gave each of the three characters very different homes, which reflect who they are. Naomi, the local mother who is a central part of the community, gets to live in the Old Vicarage, a beautiful, but huge and empty property which reminds us of her history in the village, but the emptiness of her life. Aleema an incomer, married to a local, gets to live in a modern terraced house, which reflects her modern outlook but also her desire to become a part of the community. The real incomer, the outsider, Kelly, rents an increasingly dilapidated cottage on the outskirts of the town, with an old well in the neglected garden, which reflects the depth of the secrets which are tearing her apart. 

Then I drew a map. It was important to me that when the characters are moving around their village it felt real, which meant that I needed to know the village: every road, every path, every tree. The farm, the bus stop, the bridge. When the police and the community come together to seek Mia, I needed to know where everyone was and where they were looking. I needed to know where everything was in relation to everything else. I needed it to be three-dimensional for the reader. 

The book does not contain the map, it exists here, scribbled on a piece of cardboard, in a picture on my computer and in my mind. It is however, very real, to me and hopefully, once you’ve read the novel it will be real to you, too. 

Here is Exton Cross. I hope you enjoy your visit … 

Little Rumours (2022)

‘WARNING: do not start reading this if you have things to do. It’s a page-turner you won’t be able to stop thinking about.’ NetGalley Reviewer

It started with a rumour. But rumours can be deadly…

In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.

Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone.

Aleema hates it here. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. And she’s sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back.

Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son – and a dark secret.

By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why…

Secrets and lies will come to light with devastating consequences in this dark and twisty psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and Adele Parks.

Little Rumours dropped just the other day.

Many thanks to Bryony Pearce for popping by.

CRAIG A. HART - ASSIGNMENT: ATHENS (2017)

Synopsis/blurb...

When a SpyCo agent is killed on a deserted road during the wee hours, things begin falling apart for SpyCo chief J. Carlton Moore. A briefcase containing classified information disappears, leaving the future of the United States' war on terror in doubt. With the terrorist group Scorpion suspected of possessing the missing briefcase and vital information somehow leaking from the most secure SpyCo meetings, Moore calls on covert operative James Burke. Thrown together into an unlikely team composed of a former flame and a Grecian body-builder, and seeing shadowy pursuers at every turn, Burke must decide whom he can trust and recover the briefcase before it’s too late.

Book One in the new SpyCo Novella Series, Assignment: Athens is a fun romp in the Mediterranean. Infused with wry humor, Assignment: Athens is an enjoyable beginning to the SpyCo novella series.

My fourth time with author Craig A. Hart and the first with his SpyCo series and to be honest it was a bit meh...

It's short which was a plus. The dual settings of the US (can't remember where exactly - either New York or New Jersey maybe) and Athens was ok. The plot/story and the characters were a bit thin.

James Burke is the lead agent, entrusted with recovering a top secret briefcase, along with a fellow agent and previous romantic attachment, as well as a support operative in Greece. Things happen in the US, at the airport and en route to location in Athens that indicate the mission is compromised. Where the leak has stemmed from - nobody knows. Who can be trusted - nobody knows. 

We have some subterfuge, some undercover work, attempts on the leads lives, a burglary and a bit of investigating, some action with a night time cliff ascent, a bit of sniper work, and some other encounters with violence and resulting in death and at the end of that some negotiation.

It failed - and this sometimes happens with shorter works - insofar as I didn't really care at any point. There was no real character building or depth. Tension was totally absent and from the blurb if a lighter touch was the aim, there was no real humour evident, apart from the odd witty exchange between the main characters.

Overall a bit disappointing as I quite like his Shelby Alexander series. I have more in the series in the Audible library and I'll give them another go in the future. It wasn't the worst book ever.

Serenity, Serenity Stalked and Serenity Avenged have been enjoyed before.

2.5 from 5

Read - (listened to) April, 2022

Published - 2017

Page count - 96 (2 hrs 17 mins)

Source- Audible purchase

Format - Audible

2 BY MAX HERTZBERG

 A blind punt taken on a couple from unknown (to me at least) author Max Hertzberg...

Crime in East Berlin, the Stasi.... what more could you want? 

I have a fascination for all things Cold War, espionage-ish and fiction set behind the Iron Curtain. I just don't read enough of it. These remind me a bit of David Young's Stasi series, which is another one I need to return to. 

It'll be interesting to read from a viewpoint of a character from within an organisation, as opposed to someone depicted as a baddie or the enemy. 

Hertzberg has written five novels to date in his Reim series...

1. Stasi Vice (2018)

2. Operation Oskar (2019)

3. Berlin Centre (2019)

4. Baltic Approach (2020)

5. Rostock Connection (2021)

Prior to this there are three books in his East Berlin series. These also look interesting but prudence dictates I give the Reim books a shot first

Hertzberg's website is here  

His biography states....

Previous lives

Before becoming a full-time author of fiction in 2015, I variously worked as:

• a Stasi and SED (East German Communist Party) files archivist – mostly evaluating and processing records of the opposition movements in the GDR as well as security issues on the Berlin Wall;
• a co-operative development worker;
• and a book seller.

Stasi Vice (2018)

Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi is keen to avoid trouble.

Reim enjoys his life in East Berlin and sees no need for his days behind a desk and nights in front of the bottle to change.

But when a senior officer has a messy affair, it falls to Reim to do the clearing up.

It should be a straightforward job. Lean on a few people to get them to shut up. Intimidate neighbours, bribe officials and appeal to the socialist conscience of Party members. But when Reim starts his interrogations, he realises his boss is hiding more than just a lover.

Lieutenant Reim begins to investigate his superior—and what he uncovers puts his own life at risk. 

If Raymond Chandler had lived in East Berlin, this is the book he would have written

Operation Oskar (2019)

Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi is down in the dumps. Literally. 

Sent to Schoneiche landfill site on a punishment assignment, Reim soon discovers Soviet soldiers searching the tip for porn, Westerners smuggling cigarettes and a truck driver with something to hide.

Determined to find out more, Reim is soon caught up in a case that takes him over the Berlin Wall to the capitalist West. But when the KGB and the British occupation forces in Berlin take an interest, Reim begins to question whether Operation Oskar is worth risking his life for.

Reim #2, the sequel to Stasi Vice - perfect for fans of David Young, Philip Kerr and Alex Gerlis