© by Gerald So | 6:30 PM
Yesterday Putnam Books approved my Netgalley request for Ace Atkins' final Spenser continuation, Robert B. Parker's Bye Bye Baby, and today I posted my review. What better way to end a year?
Friday, December 31, 2021
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Ranking EON's James Bond Movies
© by Gerald So | 2:30 PM
Fellow Bond fans, debate me in the comments.
25. Die Another Day
24. A View to a Kill
23. The Man with the Golden Gun
22. Moonraker
21. You Only Live Twice
20. Diamonds are Forever
19. The World is Not Enough
18. Octopussy
17. The Living Daylights
16. Spectre
15. Quantum of Solace
14. Licence to Kill
13. Live and Let Die
12. Tomorrow Never Dies
11. Thunderball
10. GoldenEye
9. No Time to Die
8. For Your Eyes Only
7. Doctor No
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Skyfall
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
2. Casino Royale
1. Goldfinger
Fellow Bond fans, debate me in the comments.
25. Die Another Day
24. A View to a Kill
23. The Man with the Golden Gun
22. Moonraker
21. You Only Live Twice
20. Diamonds are Forever
19. The World is Not Enough
18. Octopussy
17. The Living Daylights
16. Spectre
15. Quantum of Solace
14. Licence to Kill
13. Live and Let Die
12. Tomorrow Never Dies
11. Thunderball
10. GoldenEye
9. No Time to Die
8. For Your Eyes Only
7. Doctor No
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
5. Skyfall
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. From Russia with Love
2. Casino Royale
1. Goldfinger
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Omi-Christmas
© by Gerald So | 4:00 AM
The Omicron COVID surge last-minute canceled plans for our usual big family Christmas party. On the bright side, my brother was able to make a Costco run last week, and we will have pecan pie and cinnamon rolls for our small celebration. All the best to you for the holidays and new year.
The Omicron COVID surge last-minute canceled plans for our usual big family Christmas party. On the bright side, my brother was able to make a Costco run last week, and we will have pecan pie and cinnamon rolls for our small celebration. All the best to you for the holidays and new year.
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Time for No Time to Die
© by Gerald So | 5:00 PM
I'm not much a fan of the thread connecting Daniel Craig's five Bond movies. As with any Bond actor's run, I've enjoyed some entries (Casino Royale, Skyfall) more than others, but the continuity meant No Time to Die had little chance of improving my overall opinion of Craig's run, and it didn't.
The stakes did seem more personal than ever for Bond, as his wife Madeleine becomes the key to learning more about a DNA-targeting poison gas Blofeld intended to use on Bond, but that someone else reconfigured, killing almost alll SPECTRE agents. Retired from the British SIS, Bond joins the action as a favor to his CIA friend Felix Leiter.
Bond trails Blofeld's mysterious enemy to an island set up to mass produce the poison gas. The only solution is to destroy the island with a missile strike before Blofeld's enemy or any world powers can exploit it. If all this sounds contrived to you, it plays contrived, too. As he narrowly paves the way for the missile strike, Bond falls prey to the poison.
Daniel Craig's Bond run will be remembered for its continuity and seemingly definitive end—only this won't be the last Bond movie ever, so there's less point in its definitive end.
The usual benefit of continuity is the audience is better able to connect with characters and grow that connection over multiple episodes. The Bond movies, however, weren't particularly related before Craig. Bond as traditionally presented by EON hasn't been someone the audience needed to connect with very much. He's a fantasy character who performs fantastic feats, not the kind to seek deep, human connection. There are points in the series—On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Timothy Dalton's run, and now Craig's—when the audience has been able to empathize with Bond, but that empathy doesn't last. Certainly if EON continues trying to humanize Bond with the next actor, they'll be criticized for repeating themselves.
I'm not much a fan of the thread connecting Daniel Craig's five Bond movies. As with any Bond actor's run, I've enjoyed some entries (Casino Royale, Skyfall) more than others, but the continuity meant No Time to Die had little chance of improving my overall opinion of Craig's run, and it didn't.
The stakes did seem more personal than ever for Bond, as his wife Madeleine becomes the key to learning more about a DNA-targeting poison gas Blofeld intended to use on Bond, but that someone else reconfigured, killing almost alll SPECTRE agents. Retired from the British SIS, Bond joins the action as a favor to his CIA friend Felix Leiter.
Bond trails Blofeld's mysterious enemy to an island set up to mass produce the poison gas. The only solution is to destroy the island with a missile strike before Blofeld's enemy or any world powers can exploit it. If all this sounds contrived to you, it plays contrived, too. As he narrowly paves the way for the missile strike, Bond falls prey to the poison.
Daniel Craig's Bond run will be remembered for its continuity and seemingly definitive end—only this won't be the last Bond movie ever, so there's less point in its definitive end.
The usual benefit of continuity is the audience is better able to connect with characters and grow that connection over multiple episodes. The Bond movies, however, weren't particularly related before Craig. Bond as traditionally presented by EON hasn't been someone the audience needed to connect with very much. He's a fantasy character who performs fantastic feats, not the kind to seek deep, human connection. There are points in the series—On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Timothy Dalton's run, and now Craig's—when the audience has been able to empathize with Bond, but that empathy doesn't last. Certainly if EON continues trying to humanize Bond with the next actor, they'll be criticized for repeating themselves.
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Buck Back in a New York Groove
© by Gerald So | 1:30 AM
Buck Showalter managed the New York Yankees from 1992–95, resigning short of their 1996 championship because he refused George Steinbrenner's demand to fire hitting coach Rick Down.
Buck has been a team-builder and a winner everywhere he's gone. His return to New York on a 3-year deal to manage the Mets, makes me a Mets fan. I've never been before, especially since moving from Queens to Long Island in 1983, Mets fans mocking my Yankee fandom when the Mets won the '86 championship. But Buck is such a "Play the Right Way" guy, he gives me warmer feelings for baseball as a whole. In a lockout, that says a lot.
Buck Showalter managed the New York Yankees from 1992–95, resigning short of their 1996 championship because he refused George Steinbrenner's demand to fire hitting coach Rick Down.
Buck has been a team-builder and a winner everywhere he's gone. His return to New York on a 3-year deal to manage the Mets, makes me a Mets fan. I've never been before, especially since moving from Queens to Long Island in 1983, Mets fans mocking my Yankee fandom when the Mets won the '86 championship. But Buck is such a "Play the Right Way" guy, he gives me warmer feelings for baseball as a whole. In a lockout, that says a lot.
Monday, December 13, 2021
The Road Less Traveled By
© by Gerald So | 4:30 AM
On Saturday, my Twitter friend bestselling author Alison Gaylin spread word of her deal to write a continuation of Robert B. Parker's Sunny Randall, succeeding Mike Lupica, whose new two-book deal extends his run on Jesse Stone and picks up Spenser from Ace Atkins.
My professional reaction is at So Much to Talk About. I quote Publishers Weekly's deal announcement and Ace Atkins's response tweet affirming next month's Spenser, ROBERT B. PARKER'S BYE BYE BABY, his tenth, is his last. A more personal take here: Known as a Parker fan since listservs' heyday, I got to interview Ace twice for Crimespree Magazine: two days after he was announced as Spenser continuation author and about his fourth Spenser, ROBERT B. PARKER'S KICKBACK. I asked the incisive questions I knew discerning fans would, and Ace proved himself the most discerning.
Getting to advance-review all of Ace's Spensers and most Parker continuation titles since then, I'm no longer as objective. Though inspired by Raymond Chandler's 1940s–50s Los Angeles P.I. Philip Marlowe and his courtly sense of morality, Parker also made Spenser a man of his time and place, thirty-seven years old in 1973 Boston. That many P.I. characters followed, marking their territory all over the world, shows Parker's influence. His first twelve Spensers had the best sense of an arc. His later entries' lack of arc was to show the perpetuity of Spenser's relationship with Susan Silverman (based on Parker's marriage), but also to keep Spenser a steady moneymaker.
With his first Spenser continuation, ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY, Ace aimed to write a seamless sequel to SIXKILL, Parker's 2011 final Spenser, but he also reengaged Spenser in the now. Carrying over a hallmark of his own style, he based later Spensers on recent true crime like Smallville actress Allison Mack's involvement with the NXVIM cult (ROBERT B. PARKER'S ANGEL EYES) and Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell's egregrious sex offenses (ROBERT B. PARKER'S SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME). His leaving now ensures fans will remember he never simply parroted Parker or rested on his own success.
Cheers, my friend.
 |
| Star Wars Day 2017 at The Mysterious Bookshop, NYC |
My professional reaction is at So Much to Talk About. I quote Publishers Weekly's deal announcement and Ace Atkins's response tweet affirming next month's Spenser, ROBERT B. PARKER'S BYE BYE BABY, his tenth, is his last. A more personal take here: Known as a Parker fan since listservs' heyday, I got to interview Ace twice for Crimespree Magazine: two days after he was announced as Spenser continuation author and about his fourth Spenser, ROBERT B. PARKER'S KICKBACK. I asked the incisive questions I knew discerning fans would, and Ace proved himself the most discerning.
Getting to advance-review all of Ace's Spensers and most Parker continuation titles since then, I'm no longer as objective. Though inspired by Raymond Chandler's 1940s–50s Los Angeles P.I. Philip Marlowe and his courtly sense of morality, Parker also made Spenser a man of his time and place, thirty-seven years old in 1973 Boston. That many P.I. characters followed, marking their territory all over the world, shows Parker's influence. His first twelve Spensers had the best sense of an arc. His later entries' lack of arc was to show the perpetuity of Spenser's relationship with Susan Silverman (based on Parker's marriage), but also to keep Spenser a steady moneymaker.
With his first Spenser continuation, ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY, Ace aimed to write a seamless sequel to SIXKILL, Parker's 2011 final Spenser, but he also reengaged Spenser in the now. Carrying over a hallmark of his own style, he based later Spensers on recent true crime like Smallville actress Allison Mack's involvement with the NXVIM cult (ROBERT B. PARKER'S ANGEL EYES) and Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell's egregrious sex offenses (ROBERT B. PARKER'S SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME). His leaving now ensures fans will remember he never simply parroted Parker or rested on his own success.
Cheers, my friend.
Sunday, December 05, 2021
But do you recall the most famous Reacher of all?
© by Gerald So | 8:00 AM
Amazon's adaptation of the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, premieres on Prime Video February 4, 2022.
A modest Reacher fan, I liked Tom Cruise's first Reacher movie, but I have to admit Alan Ritchson is the better physical match. In the trailer below, he displays many of Reacher's other traits as well.
As a fun comparison, here's the trailer for the first Cruise movie:
Amazon's adaptation of the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, premieres on Prime Video February 4, 2022.
A modest Reacher fan, I liked Tom Cruise's first Reacher movie, but I have to admit Alan Ritchson is the better physical match. In the trailer below, he displays many of Reacher's other traits as well.
As a fun comparison, here's the trailer for the first Cruise movie:
Thanksgiving
© by Gerald So | 7:30 AM
No big family gathering this year, but we did have two smaller ones, the first Thursday, the second Saturday, food provided by Boston Market. I hope yours was a good one. Thanks as always for popping by the blog.
No big family gathering this year, but we did have two smaller ones, the first Thursday, the second Saturday, food provided by Boston Market. I hope yours was a good one. Thanks as always for popping by the blog.
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