Quickies!

Life - 

Friday night after work, we drive up to Topsham, ME and sign the paperwork on a rental! Hooray! No more crappy motel room for us! (Knock on wood.)


I won’t say more until it’s official, but things are looking very good and we are quite excited. This does mean that it’s likely that we won’t have any internet access for a while, but when we do, it will be because I ordered it myself and had it installed. In theory, that should make it more reliable….

REVIEWS OF UNUSUAL SIZE - 

5 Things About -

FILM - 

SHUTTER ISLAND

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Benjamin Kingsley

1 - We went to this thinking it was a haunted house mystery. It's not, it's a psychological thriller, but we were not disappointed.

2 - Shutter Island is directed beautifully. The setting is perfect and Scorsese's style, while recognizable from his previous films, felt different here, a bit more creative and spooky.

3 - GREAT supporting cast here. Von Sydow, Levine, Lynch, Haley... all actors that make everything they're in better. Ted Levine, best known recently for his role as Stottlemeyer in the TV show Monk is especially memorable.

4 - The location makes this film. Dicaprio was good, though I still think he looks too young for most of his roles, but without the location, this movie would have been a waste.

5 - We saw this in a little theater in North Windham. Old, a little run down, old-school seats and screens. Film scratches and pops. Five dollar admission. You know I was down with this joint. There was also a surprising number of older locals there, virtually no teenagers at all and only a few young couples. My theory is that they all drive into Portland to the swanky digital screens or the IMAX. Bah to that. Give me the grindhouse any day!

5/5

BOOKS -

THE THIEF WHO COULDN’T SLEEP
By Lawrence Block
1998, 256 pages

1 – An man who cannot sleep who bides his time by learning languages and joining lost causes finds himself wrapped up in a caper involving buried treasure, spies and revolutions, all in 256 pages? What an idea!

2 – An Idea that, while brilliant, does fall a bit flat in execution with some jumps in the story that feel missing and a bit confusing.

3 – The character of Tanner is one of my favorites now. A smart, resourceful insomniac that gets into all sorts of trouble.

4 – Some of the twists get pretty far-fetched, and aren’t quite convincing in a book this short, so it’s best to turn off your brain and enjoy the ride!

5 – Bring on the next Tanner novel!


3/5


CHERRY BOMB
By J.A. Konrath
2009, 304 pages

1 – FINALLY, the resolution to Konrath’s wicked cliffhanger in his previous book, FUZZY NAVEL, and it’s a great book, though the big answer to the cliffhanger, who was killed at the end of the last book, feels a little bluntly answered.

2 – Konrath, like the Always Stupendous Marshall Karp, mixes action and humor seamlessly, both sly, sarcastic jabs and out loud laughs.

3 – Kork, a scarred, sexy, demented killer, is a great character and a perfect nemesis to the detective Jack Daniels.

4 – A great mix of mayhem, mystery and enough fashion references that for a long time, I was pretty sure J.A. was a female… (That’s a compliment, Joe... I promise!)

5 – Slappy the monkey!


4/5


THE OUTFIT
by Richard Stark
2008, 224 pages

1 – Stark’s grim and clever Parker is back, focused on dealing with the “Outfit” a mob-esque crime ring that has Parker in their sights. They’d better watch out, Parker doesn’t take prisoners.

2 – I love the Parker novels. They’re hard-boiled, fast reads, a lot of fun. This was an interesting one because it wasn’t about a job or revenge really, just Parker getting rid of someone that is keeping him from his jobs.

3 – Like you would assume, the Outfit never stood a chance.

4 – I have a hard time not tearing through all of these books. They’re sitting there on my nook, taunting me. “Don’t read a different author, just read the next one!”

5 – A Snub Nosed .32!


4/5