Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960) directed by Cyril Frankel (aka “Never Take Sweets from a Stranger”) The Carter family, Peter (Patrick Allen), Sally (Gwen Watford), nine-year-old daughter Jean (Janina Faye) and Sally’s mother Martha (Alison Leggatt) have moved from Britain to Jamestown in Canada so that Peter can take up a job… Continue reading Movie Review: Never Take Candy from a Stranger
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Book Review: Cooked to Death
Book Review: Cooked to Death edited by Rhonda Gilliland and Michael Allan Mallory Let’s return to the world of themed anthologies, a quick way to get a sample of various authors writing on a particular topic. In this case, it’s primarily Minnesota and other Midwestern writers doing crime and mystery short stories around the topic… Continue reading Book Review: Cooked to Death
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024
Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024 edited by Trevor Quachri Let’s look at a recent issue of this long-running science fiction (and fact) magazine. The opening editorial by Howard V. Hendrix, “Machines Passing for People Passing for Machines”, which among other things discusses the Turing Test, where a simulated person tries to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Analog Science Fiction & Fact January/February 2024
Movie Review: The Bishop Murder Case
The Bishop Murder Case (1929) dir. David Burton A peaceful morning is broken when Professor Bertrand Dillard (Alec B. Francis) and his manservant Pyne (Sidney Bracey) look down into the house’s courtyard and see the corpse of family friend Robin, nicknamed “Cock Robin”, with an arrow in his chest. Professor Dillard immediately calls District Attorney Markham… Continue reading Movie Review: The Bishop Murder Case
Movie Review: The Return of Dracula (1958)
Movie Review: The Return of Dracula (1958) directed by Paul Landres It is a known fact that Count Dracula (Francis Lederer) is a real person, a vampire who drains the blood of the living and creates others of his kind. He’s been terrorizing central Europe for decades, evading attempts to permanently destroy him. At the beginning… Continue reading Movie Review: The Return of Dracula (1958)
Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog
Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) directed by Alan Crosland Millionaire Arthur Cartwright (Gordon Westcott) is being put on edge by the howling of his equally rich neighbor Clinton Foley’s (Russell Hicks) dog Prince (Lightning). According to Cartwright, the dog’s been howling for the last forty-eight hours straight, an omen of death. Mr.… Continue reading Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog
Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential
Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential published by Matt Groening The Simpsons started as a number of short cartoons shown on The Tracy Ullman show in 1987. A dysfunctional family partially named after creator Matt Groening’s own family, they were popular enough to spin off into their own prime time series in 1989. It was… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Simpsons Comics Confidential
Book Review: Give Unto Others
Book Review: Give Unto Others by Donna Leon Disclaimer: I received an uncorrected proof of this book for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or received. As an uncorrected proof, some details may be different in the final edition, such as removal of typos. Thanks to the folks at Once… Continue reading Book Review: Give Unto Others
Movie Review: The Egg and I
Movie Review: The Egg and I (1947) directed by Chester Erskine The newlywed Mrs. Betty MacDonald (Claudette Corbert) is shocked to learn on her wedding night that her husband Bob (Fred MacMurray) has bought a chicken farm and they’re moving there tomorrow! But she was brought up to believe that a wife supports her husband, no… Continue reading Movie Review: The Egg and I
Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)
Movie Review: The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford Texas, 1868: Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally returns to his childhood home, three years after the end of the American Civil War. He evades questions about where he’s been, though he was emphatically not in California. Ethan gets reacquainted with his brother Aaron’s family: wife Martha, eldest… Continue reading Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)