"Human Acts" by Han Kang (2014)

"When she finally came down from the loft the next evening, her mother informed her that the corpses had been loaded into the city garbage trucks and driven off to a mass grave."

The Gwangju Uprising was a series of anti-government protests which occurred in 1980.  Back then military dictator Chun Doo-hwan, acting as President, implemented martial law across South Korea.  Many took issue with both Chun Doo-hwan's usurpation of executive authority and the harsh regime he represented, and in response many workers and students in Gwangju took to the streets to voice their opposition.  Both their uprising and the government's violent response to it form a dark chapter in South Korean history, and it is this harsh episode which is the subject of Han Kang's novel.

Human Acts tells the story of the Gwangju Uprising from several different perspectives.  We see this momentous event through the eyes of one of the students who lived through it, through the memories of a former factory girl involved in the labor movement, and even through the eyes of a corpse left to rot in an out of the way location.  The multiple perspectives on this same event cross over one another in surprising ways, and often converge around the figure of Dong-ho, a middle school student killed by the army very early on in the novel.

It's a fully realized account of an event which few outside of South Korea are familiar with.  The author was clearly consumed by the event upon which she was writing, and even though the extremely dark subject matter was hard to get through at times, I'm still glad that I came upon this book, and saw it through to the end.

Author Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature last year.  I've seen copies of The Vegetarian in local bookstores, and I might read that one once I've finished a few other books first.

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"Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney (2024)

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"The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy (2022)

"Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney (2024)

"At the kitchen table, she sits and eats alone, knowing that after she's finished eating she will have to wash up individually each utensil she has used to prepare and eat this meal, and to wipe down also each surface involved: the sink-side countertop, the fridge-side countertop, the cooking surface, and the kitchen table itself."

Sally Rooney is an Irish novelist.  At the time of writing she's penned four novels, Intermezzo being the most recent.

In the novel two brothers, Peter and Ivan, grieve over their father's death from cancer.  Peter is a barrister living in Dublin, while Ivan is a former chess prodigy living in Peter's shadow.  As the story unfolds the two brothers come to terms with their father's absence, with Ivan's quest to become the first Irish Grandmaster being an oft-revisited thread throughout the narrative.

Sally Rooney's prose will remind you a lot of James Joyce, though unlike Joyce her stream-of-consciousness approach often wears out its welcome.  I found it a bit unfortunate that she chose to quote Joyce in the novel, given that she's no James Joyce and Intermezzo is a far cry from Ulysses.  Intermezzo isn't terrible, but in reminding the reader of a far better novel this one can only suffer by comparison.

In dramatic terms I was also disappointed by this book.  The events it presents seem to be out of order, and they certainly don't add up to the big, life-changing moment that the author was aiming for.  Giving us a clearer picture of the two brothers and their relationship in the beginning of the novel would have made for smoother sailing later on, and even now, having just finished it, I'm not sure that I completely understand who Peter is or what he's about.  The (Catholic) guilt over a polyamorous affair I get, but I never got a sense of why he was so angry and troubled all the time, or why he was so dissatisfied with his life after the funeral.

There are critics who fawned over this book, and Sally Rooney has been hailed as both "one of the foremost millennial writers" and "one of the most influential people in the world."  If you ask me Intermezzo is only a passable effort, leaning as it does on the work of a much better writer.

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"Shards of Earth" by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2021)

"Solace nodded.  The Betrayed were a relatively new faction within internal Colonial politics.  They were officially decried by Hugh and yet, mysteriously, they'd never been outlawed.  The Parthenon didn't care for the legitimate Nativist movement either, which was all about returning to one unified human identity.  They celebrated old Earth and embraced the rhetoric of humanity's past glories.  The Betrayed went a step further, preaching that humanity would have been the galaxy's dominant species, if allowed to fight the Architects 'properly.'"

Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British author of science fiction.  He arrived at science fiction from interests in zoology and role-playing games.  At the time of writing he's written over 30 novels and has received many awards.

Shards of Earth is the first book in The Final Architecture series.  It's followed by Eyes of the Void and Lords of Uncreation.  Shards of Earth won the Best Novel award from the British Science Fiction Association.

In Shards of Earth a crew of space salvagers find themselves at odds with several different spacefaring civilizations, some of these human and some of them not.  While the salvagers contend with various interested parties over the contents and nature of a salvaged ship, the galaxy wrings its hands over the fate of the Architects, a destructive race of beings seemingly absent from the scene for an extended period of time.  But are the Architects truly absent from the scene?  And can our crew of space salvagers reveal the truth about these Architects before it's too late?

In terms of tone and characterization this book reminded me a lot of Star Wars, although it's a much bloodier take on that type of science fiction.  Spaceships vanish into and return from a kind of hyperspace without any thought given to relativistic time dilation, and other futuristic plot elements are also treated in very cursory terms.  

I'm not complaining about this aspect of the book because sometimes dwelling on such matters gets in the way of the story the author is trying to tell.  It's often enough to let the crab alien in the corner just be the crab alien in the corner, and to let the sentient cockroach colony think its thoughts without trying to explain why it's thinking those thoughts.  Pondering such things can be fruitful for many science fiction authors, but not for all of them.  In this respect I'm glad that Adrian Tchaikovsky knows what kind of author he is, and what kind of story he's trying to tell.

I found Shards of Earth a bit slow in parts, and the ending seemed to go on longer than it should have, but overall I enjoyed it.  The doses of gore peppered throughout the story were appreciated, as were the interactions between the more eccentric human characters and the stranger sorts of aliens.  I have the feeling that if someone tried to make a movie out of Shards of Earth they'd probably bungle it, but as the book stands it represents some very solid storytelling that left me wanting more.

I look forward to reading Eyes of the Void and Lords of Uncreation soon.  Science fiction of this caliber isn't easy to find nowadays.

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"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd (2002)

"A pause followed.  I crept closer to the edge of the porch.  'I just have a feeling about this, June.  Something tells me not to send her back to some place she doesn't want to be.  Not yet, at least.  She has some reason for leaving.  Maybe he mistreated her.  I believe we can help her."

Sue Monk Kidd is an American author who sometimes writes fiction, sometimes writes self-help books.  At the time of writing she's penned nine books, the most recent being 2020's The Book of Longings, a novel.

In The Secret Life of Bees a young white girl living in the South in the 1960s escapes to a family of strong, empowered black women.  And yes, that description sounds super "woke," and yes, I suppose it is.  Anyhow, she escapes to said house and learns about both the art of keeping bees and the discrimination with which her housemates contend on a daily basis, thereby coming to new understandings of herself, her personal history and the region in which she lives.

In other words it's your typical Lifetime movie fodder, or in this case the inspiration for a wider release motion picture that not many people saw.  The starring roles in the movie went to Queen Latifa and Dakota Fanning, two actresses who probably did what they could with a somewhat derivative, less-than-inspired script.  I haven't seen this movie, mind you, but I imagine that it's a far cry from The Help or other, more concise attempts at storytelling.

The movie was, nevertheless, an opportunity to improve upon the novel.  Instead of having the protagonist wait a staggering six months for her heart-to-heart conversation with her host, the movie could have reduced that waiting period to a more believable few weeks.  Instead of overemphasizing a kind of backyard Catholicism, the movie could have minimized that aspect, keeping the theme of female empowerment without dwelling on the cult-like aspects of the characters' belief in a "Lady of Chains."  The movie could have also minimized the crying jags at the end of this book, and instead cut to the chase, fast forwarding to the protagonist's confrontation with her father.  This father, for that matter, could have been a more fully realized character, instead of a cartoonish villain plagued by a sense of loss that's never really explored.

Now of course I haven't seen the movie, but it might have done some or all of the above.  Given its 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes I'm sure it fumbled some of the plot elements described above, but it might be interesting to compare the movie and the book.

The novel itself?  Eh, it's OK.  I've read much worse.  It's no Gone with the Wind or anything, but it's OK.

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"The Last Duel" by Eric Jager (2004)

"The standard field for judicial combat was a flat rectangular space measuring forty by eighty paces, or about one hundred by two hundred feet."

Eric Jager is a Professor of English at the University of California.  To date he's written four books on medieval topics.

The (far more interesting) 2021 film by Ridley Scott notwithstanding, The Last Duel is a straightforward work of history detailing a dispute between two nobles in late 14th century France over the supposed rape of one noble's wife.

If you're arriving at this book from the movie it will probably bore you to tears.  Where the movie crackles with dramatic tension the book is a much slower, much more chronological exploration of the same event.  And even though the nature of the rape itself is called into question by various historical sources, none of the other events described in this book are matters of conjecture, to the point where this book seems like a foregone conclusion from the outset.

I can only blame the marketing department.  Medieval history is one of my favorite subjects, but having been led to this book by the movie, I was sorely disappointed by its contents.  Even lacking any dramatic impact, I think the book could have been a more enlightening (if you'll forgive the pun) venue for a wider understanding of the time period in which it's set.  As it is it's fairly pedestrian, and it lacks the wider, more scholarly viewpoint of other works that delve into the same time period.

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Three Books by Two Bass Players

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (2008)

"The clues were all there, I simply hadn't read them correctly.  Over the winter, he had played a video racing game obsessively, which wasn't like him.  He had never gotten into racing games.  But that winter, he played the game every night before Eve went to bed.  And he raced on American circuits only."

Garth Stein is an American author, filmmaker and amateur race car driver resident in Seattle.  He's written four novels, of which The Art of Racing in the Rain is the most famous.

The story's protagonist is Denny, a married father of one daughter with dreams of racing glory.  His doings are told from his dog Enzo's point of view, with most of the novel delving into a long, drawn out custody battle between Denny and his parents-in-law.

As you've probably guessed already, they made this one into a movie, and the reviews weren't especially good.  Several movie critics complained that certain plot elements were very contrived, and I wouldn't blame the film's Hollywood production team for this fact.  The novel itself is contrived, in particular Denny's sexual assault at the hands of a young girl, and also the way in which his parents-in-law switch from good to evil at the drop of a hat.  Giving these parents-in-law more reasons to attack Denny in court would have made this book much better, but as it is they come across as cartoon villains, only present in the narrative to give Denny a reason to triumph in the face of extreme adversity.

All in all it's a very forgettable novel, though certain episodes in later chapters did bring a smile to my face.  This said, every character aside from Denny needed more agency, and the dog's constant philosophizing wears out its welcome at times.

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"The Marriage Lie" by Kimberly Belle (2017)

"And now I'm crying again, both at Corban's obvious affection for Will and the idea that he had a friend, one he liked and trusted enough to share the most private parts of himself [sic] but, for some reason I'll never know, [sic] decided to keep that friendship from me.  Why would he do such a thing?"

Kimberly Belle is an American author of thrillers.  At the time of writing she's had six books published.  She divides her time between Atlanta, where most of The Marriage Lie is set, and Amsterdam.

In The Marriage LIE (emphasis mine -- it seems appropriate given the histrionic nature of this book), Iris Griffiths learns that her husband has an unsavory past .  In search of this past she journeys to exotic south Seattle and its "projects," where she further discovers elements of his history that shake her to her very foundations.

"Projects..." "foundations," get it?  Maybe you do, and its just not funny.  Whatever, I'm a bit tired today.

Anyhoo, you might be able to guess the rest of the book.  By way of further explanation there's a gay twin brother, the husband's steroidal gym bro, and an inexplicably friendly lawyer who probably isn't so much nice as on a mission to bang a grieving widow.

It's all very formulaic and less than surprising.  The climax of the book is a standoff with the police, and the final chapter makes you wonder if the protagonist ever really knew her husband at all, given that his actions are so out of step with what she'd come to believe about him.

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Some Other Movies From 2025

I'll be adding to this as the year progresses.

1. Captain America: Brave New World

Perhaps the most thoroughly OK (if thoroughly forgettable) movie that Marvel Studios has yet produced.  The parts they tinkered with after filming wrapped are obvious, and as a whole the production lacks focus.  Oh well Marvel, you can't win 'em all?  It's been a weird few years for everyone...

The most compelling character here is probably Harrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross, even though the way in which Sam Wilson defeats him is one of the most contrived plot points ever.

Anthony Mackie has some good moments in this film, and for what it's worth Brave New World increased my appreciation for his character, but I still think the wings + shield combo is a bit much, especially since neither the wings nor the shield obey the laws of physics.  The fight scenes that don't involve either the wings or the shield are better, but even so Mackie's character seems lost within his own movie, sidelined behind WAY more interesting characters like Isaiah Bradley, President Ross and even Sidewinder.

A straight-ahead Red Hulk movie would have been more to the point.

2. Mickey 17

Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho follows up 2019's Parasite with Mickey 17, a science fiction movie with a wry sense of humor.

I'd seen some of Robert Pattinson's more indie efforts beforehand, and I'd also seen Mark Ruffalo in 2023's Poor Things, so the quirkiness of this film didn't really surprise me.  What did surprise me was the narrative sweep of this movie, which encompasses themes ranging from immortality, the nature of the human spirit and the morality of killing.

Mickey 17 isn't bad, but it's a far cry from 2009's Moon, which does a lot more with a lot less.  For me the weak point of the film was the dialogue, which relies heavily upon the word "fuck."  Parasite it most certainly isn't, but there are some interesting ideas to be found in Mickey 17.

3. The Electric State

The Russo Brothers return with a movie that'll remind you of Ready Player One, and not necessarily in a good way.  Chris Pratt offers his standard (if likeable) Chris Pratt performance, while Millie Bobbie Brown continues to channel an entire nation of Swifties.  The robots?  They range from mildly annoying to extremely so.

This Electric State traffics a fair amount of 80s/90s nostalgia, but beyond that it doesn't have much of a plot to speak of.  Robots with their own intelligence are somehow bad, while robots implanted with human intelligences are somehow good.  And none of the implicit leaps in AI seem, in this cinematic universe, to have amounted to anything else at all, a fact completely unaccounted for by the movie.

4. Popeye the Slayer Man

"It's the spinach!  You need to stop eating it!  It's destroying your mind!"

Yes, I actually paid actual money to see Popeye the Slayer Man.  No idea why.  Guess I was bored.

Thinking about seeing this movie?  All I can say is set your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.  Popeye has, for the most part, two finishing moves: the skull crush and the forearm snap.  He moves really slow, and the people he chases get lost very easily.

5. A Working Man

Jason Statham outing which will remind you a bit of John Wick and maybe also Mandy.  Surprisingly enough Sylvester Stallone co-wrote the script, and for director David Ayer it's something of a return to form.  I think it packs more punch that The Beekeeper, another recent Statham film.

6. A Minecraft Movie

It's mostly dumb, sometimes funny, extremely colorful and it might just be the respite you need from news of tariffs, gold cards and whatever else Trump is doing (or not doing) now.  The star of this movie is definitely Jason Momoa, who steals the show in much the same way he stole the show in Fast X.

Fun Fact: Director Jared Hess's first film was Napoleon Dynamite.

7. The Accountant 2

If you liked the first movie (and who didn't?) you'll like this one too.  It starts 8 years after the first one ended, and it stays true to the original characters.  I'm not sure that the lighter moments and the darker moments really balance out, but overall it's a good movie and I enjoyed it.

8. The Thunderbolts*

Comic book movie fans rejoice!  This one's MILES better than Captain America: New World Order.  It does a lot with the Sentry character, and the interplay between the various members of Marvel's anti-hero team is engaging throughout.  Florence Pugh and Julia Louis-Dreyfus do most of the heavy lifting here, but former Hellboy David Harbour also adds a lot to this movie.

...and now we just need to wait another two months for the summer's real heavy hitters, James Gunn's Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps.  Of the two movies I'm looking forward to Fantastic Four a lot more.  Hopefully it'll be able to capitalize on the momentum built up in Thunderbolts*.

9. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

It's alright.  My biggest complaints are the overabundance of exposition in the beginning and the fact that it's way too long.  The submarine part is cool up to a point, but it grows increasingly implausible once Ethan Hunt considers egress via torpedo tube.

And the airplane stunts near the end?  Impressive in their way, but a little too similar to scenes from previous movies.

10. Final Destination: Bloodlines

Running away from death?  Yeah, good luck with that.  For what it's worth I'd already seen the other four movies, though I couldn't remember much from any of them.

As horror movies go Bloodlines, is very... OK, but it's not likely to leave a lasting impression.  The opening bit in the badly designed tower is somewhat memorable, but upon the release of inevitable future installments you're likely to forget which entry in the series featured this particular tragedy.

My favorite imminent death scene remains that scene in the hardware store from Final Destination... Whatever It Was.  Bloodlines fails to top that one, but it's OK in my book.

11. Lilo & Stitch

No, of course I didn't go see it under my own steam.  I was dragged into this particular screening by the person I happen to be married to, a person who insisted that after Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning I "owed her one."

OK, whatever.  Lilo & Stitch was relatively painless.  It was almost funny in parts, and Lilo's older sister is played by a very beautiful actress who's endured online bullying over the fact that she's not 110% native Hawaiian.

As a guy old enough to have taken one of his children to a showing of the 2002 film in the then-local theater, I can confidently assert that this remake adds almost nothing to the original, and that it is in fact only a pale reflection of what we watched in 2002.  But we all knew that right?  No one was surprised?

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"Generation X" by Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Others (1994-1995)

It's the early- to mid-90s, dudes!  Time to get extreme!  I'm talking about MASSIVE shoulder pads!  I'm talking about MORE pouches!  I'm talking about BIG, ridiculous guns that would be almost impossible to shoulder!  I'm talking about ponytails, tiny, thin feet, and cool-sounding names like "Phalanx," and "Emplate" (whatever that's supposed to mean) and "Chamber!"

Yes, it's time to carefully unsheathe our double-bagged, holographic comix with their embossed 3D trading cards.  It's time to carefully open these "spare copies" (NO CRINKLING) of Generation X and get down to business!

But hold on a minute!  I'll have you know that these X-men aren't your parents' X-men!  No, no no!  These X-men are way more broody than those other X-men... these X-men have ISSUES!  And not just double-bagged, holographic with the the embossed trading card issues!  By "issues" I mean that they get dark!

It could have worked.  The problem is that the villains in this series outshine the heroes, and what might have been an interesting little horror comic fails to stay in its lane.  Every time the more colorful, more "adult" X-men show up it really kills the mood, and the costumes these new heroes are saddled with could have been done away with entirely.  

Leaving them in street clothes would have worked a lot better, and ramping up the horror elements would have improved Generation X even more.  As it is it's a decidedly lukewarm effort, a slightly darker take on the Image titles that were probably outselling Marvel titles at the time.  Youngblood it ain't, (Jim Lee's) X-men it ain't, and they failed to venture into Swamp Thing territory, which would have been a more natural fit.

Oh well.  For the record I enjoyed it.  I can't say I remember most of the character's names, I can't say I remember what most of the plots were about, but it was an enjoyable detour back into a time when the comics industry was in a state of flux, and when a signed copy of Generation X might have been something that someone actually wanted.

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Hellboy comics are awesome.  If you're tired of the superhero stuff -- and who doesn't get tired of the superhero stuff now and then? -- Hellboy is the answer.

The Wild Hunt is, by the way, one of the best comic book series I've ever read.  It really brings the hammer down in the end, and what's more it's a satisfying lead-in to Hellboy in Hell, another memorable comic book series that left me wanting more.

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"Batman: The Court of Owls Saga" by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (2011-2012)

Holy sh&t, Batman!

Gotham City's in the grip of a criminal conspiracy spanning generations, and the bad guys have you in their sights!

Time to fight crime!

But wait -- how is it you didn't know about your own family history?  How is it you didn't know about all the buildings with the secret hideouts installed on their "missing" thirteenth floors?  Aren't you supposed to be the "world's greatest detective" or something?  I dunno man... it seems like a lot of suspect things happen right under your nose...

...and then there's the first part of this story, which made me wonder what the point of Batman is anyway.  If Gotham is always getting worse, how is the presence of Batman making anything better?  Maybe that's a debate for another day, but even so this Court of Owls Saga had me wondering.  What's the point of Batman if various gangs control all the train lines?  And if the inmates can so easily escape their asylum?  And if a gang above all other gangs is running the city from behind the scenes?

I'd been hearing about the Court of Owls for a while, and the best I can say is that it's just OK.  Scott Snyder has an ear for dialogue, regardless of how verbose and/or long winded his fight scenes might be.  Greg Capullo is a good artist, and I enjoyed the fight inside the maze.  But yeah, the overall premise behind this saga seemed a bit silly to me.

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"The Passenger" by Cormac McCarthy (2022)

"In Juarez Mexico.

"Yes.

"What happened to the cabin?

"It burned down.

"Was there anyone living in it?

"No.

"How did it happen to burn down?

"I don't know.  Maybe it was struck by lightning.

"Struck by lightning.

"One might suppose.

"You left school after that.

"Yes.

"Why?"

Cormac McCarthy's books have been discussed here several times already.  My sometimes almost coherent, sometimes barely incoherent thoughts on All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men, Outer Dark, Suttree and The Crossing are linked here for the sake of a dubious posterity.

The Passenger is McCarthy's second-to-last novel.  His last novel, Stella Maris, is a companion novel to The Passenger.  In this review of The Passenger I may be missing aspects of a much larger story, but I have no idea when I'll be reading that more recent book, or even if I'll happen upon it anytime soon.  Whatever the case, I find that I have to take breaks between McCarthy novels, and I'm not in a rush to read Stella Maris, however entertaining (or turgid) it might be.

On to the novel at hand.  The Passenger is about a man by the name of Western mourning his sister's recent death.  This story opens on a salvage operation involving a missing plane, and to some extent the novel leads you to believe that this salvage operation will somehow tie into the book's conclusion, but no, it adds little to the final chapters aside from both a sense of paranoia and the protagonist's reason for being in a certain place at a certain time.  Ultimately he doesn't know what forces are acting against him or why, and in this respect he's no different from you or I, however world-wise we may think we are.

Apart from the salvage operation there are digressions into quantum physics, automotive maintenance and several other, seemingly unrelated topics.  The section on quantum physics seems especially detached from the plot, and one gets the feeling that the author was using this section to parade his knowledge of obscure subjects at the expense of the story he was trying to tell.  I'm not sure, again because I haven't read Stella Maris.

The Passenger is also a long book, and at several junctures I found my patience tested.  Given the way in which conversations are described (or not described) in this book, I had trouble keeping track of who was talking and why.  This approach to such exchanges also makes interactions between three or more characters almost impossible, given that it would be very, very hard to know what was being said and to whom.  This (dare I say it) shortcoming also makes these conversations seem somewhat artificial, and especially so given how well similar conversations worked in previous novels by the same author.

Was The Passenger entertaining?  I'd have to say that no, it wasn't, and that compared to many of McCarthy's other novels this one gave me the most trouble.  It seemed very random to me at times, and far from the concentrated effort that I enjoyed in Blood Meridian or the author's Border Trilogy.

It's possible that after reading Stella Maris I'd find that the parts which don't seem to fit in The Passenger suddenly make sense within a larger narrative.  Maybe.  Whatever the case, I'm in no hurry to read that other book.

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Still More 60s Movies 3

1. Black Sunday (a.k.a. "The Mask of Satan") (1960)

Barbara Steele was FINE.  "Bride of the Devil" or no, she was FINE.

The Premise: Two travelers wake a slumbering vampire on their way through scenic Moldavia.

Overall: Another horror classic from Mario Bava.  This movie has more atmosphere than most horror movies today, and could easily serve as a template for how to make a great scary film with a limited number of sets, costumes and other resources.  The Italians, at the height of their powers, contributed a lot to the genre.

Fun Fact: This movie was Bava's directorial debut.  It was in many ways a direct response to Hammer Films' 1958 movie Dracula, though I think Black Sunday is the better film of the two.

2. John and Mary (1969)

Ah, the late 60s.  So many battle of the sexes-type movies.

The Premise: A man and a woman come to terms after a one night stand.

Overall: The voiceovers were completely unnecessary, but Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow are great together.  A little too much like a play for my taste, but charming regardless.

Peter Yates, it should be said, not only directed 1968's Bullitt but also went on to direct several notable movies during the 70s.  The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Mother, Juggs & Speed, The Deep and Breaking Away are all worth a look.

3. The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

The Premise: Three passengers aboard a plane are confronted with the consequences of future decisions.

Overall: A very schlocky attempt at science fiction that doesn't make much sense.

4. Boom! (1968)

The Premise: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor chew their way through a Tennessee Williams play, this particular Tennessee Williams play being about a rich, reclusive woman living on an island.

Overall: I'm guessing a lot of alcohol (and a lot of whatever else was available) was consumed by both stars in the course of filming.  It's weird enough to be interesting, but to call this film a vanity project would be an understatement.

Fun Fact: John Waters is a big fan of this movie.  Makes sense to me!

5. The Fast Lady (1962)

Speaking of Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Christie was among the crop of newer, younger actresses that eclipsed Taylor as the 60s wore on.  In my opinion she never appeared in anything half as interesting as Taylor's better movies, but she was very beautiful and the public is always fickle.

The Premise: A young Scotsman tries to impress a girl by buying a Bentley he's unable to drive.

Overall: It's not a movie you're likely to remember, and its zany brand of humor hasn't aged well, but it passes by pleasantly enough.

6. Thunder Alley (1967)

"Track tramps!"  They're a problem!

And is it fair to call Fabian "Elvis Lite?"  I could be wrong, but I feel like just a few years earlier Elvis would have starred in this movie.  Same look, same breezy charm.  The script would have been a little risqué for The King, but of course The Colonel could have demanded rewrites.

The Premise: A NASCAR driver accused of recklessness finds redemption in the stock car circuit.

Overall: Annette Funicello is super cute, and Fabian is an engaging lead.  The surprising thing about this movie (if you'll excuse the pun) is how racy some of the scenes are.  That party seems to be headed toward orgy town, and some of interactions between male and female characters were definitely pushing boundaries.

7. Stolen Hours (a.k.a. "Summer Flight") (1963)

Susan Hayward was in a lot of good movies.  Was she in any bad movies?  Maybe, but I haven't seen any of them... yet.

The Premise: A doctor becomes romantically involved with a terminally ill patient.

Overall: The ending is... abrupt, but aside from that it's a good movie.  My one complaint is the score, which sometimes overwhelms what's happening onscreen.

Ironic Fact: Susan Hayward herself died under similar circumstances.  Would that be dramatic irony or literal irony?  I'll let you be the judge.

8. Press for Time (1966)

The Premise: The Prime Minister's incompetent grandson goes to work for a newspaper.

Overall: Agonizingly unfunny British comedy.  This one has aged even worse than The Fast Lady above.

9. Seven Days in May (1964)

This one hits completely differently in 2025.  Trump, the discussions of the Constitution, conspiracies... it's hard not to reflect on how far short we've fallen (in some respects at least) of the ideals expressed by various characters in this film.

The Premise: Kirk Douglas uncovers a conspiracy which threatens to unseat an unpopular President.

Overall: One of the best political thrillers I've ever seen.  Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster deliver fantastic performances, and director John Frankenheimer manages to juggle a lot of plot points within the film's two hour run time.  The military jargon used in the opening scenes may test some viewers' patience, but after that point this movie hits the ground running.

Hats off to Rod Serling's screenplay.  That in itself was a major accomplishment.

Fun Fact 1: This film is, to some extent at least, science fiction.  The videoconferencing technology seen in the film wasn't used in the White House at the time, and there are indications in the movie that it could be set as late as 1986.

Fun Fact 2: John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated halfway through the production of this film, to some extent facilitating filming of the White House.  He was a big fan of the book upon which Seven Days in May was based.

10. Two on a Guillotine (1965)

I often get Connie Stevens and Debbie Reynolds confused.  It doesn't help that one of them was Carrie Fisher's actual mother while the other was her stepmother.

The Premise: A young woman spends a week in her magician father's house in accordance with his will.

Overall: This movie doesn't know what it wants to be.  At times it feels like a love story, at other times it feels like a horror picture.  Connie Stevens and Dean Jones had mountains of chemistry, but the more interesting scenes they share are overshadowed by repetitious horror cliches punctuated by Stevens' incessant screaming.

It feels like they had the ending worked out before they really had a story to get them there.

11. The Wizard of Mars (a.k.a. "Horrors of the Red Planet") (1965)

The Premise: Four astronauts crash land on Mars.

Overall: An incredibly dull movie with one of the most head scratching endings ever.  According to Wikipedia it was based on The Wizard of Oz, but... why?

12. The 7th Dawn (1964)

The Premise: Three comrades at arms find themselves at odds over the future of colonial Malaysia.

Overall: A good movie.  The love triangle subplot reminded me a bit of Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American.

Fun Fact: There are some Bond connections here.  Maurice Binder also created the iconic title sequences for the early 007 films, director Lewis Gilbert also directed You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, and Tetsuro Tanaka played "Tiger Tanaka" in You Only Live Twice.

13. Cyborg 2087 (1966)

Shades of T2, and I'm not the first to make the comparison.  In times past I've pointed out the uncomfortable similarities between James Cameron's Avatar and the novel The Jesus Incident.  In this case, however, I think the similarities are coincidental.

The Premise: A cyborg is sent back to the year 1966 to warn a scientist about the ultimate outcome of his "radio telepathy" invention.

Overall: The budget was small and they were in a big hurry.  So bad it's actually pretty good.

Fun Fact: Actor Michael Rennie also played "Klaatu" in the original The Day the Earth Stood Still.

14. The Old Dark House (1963)

The Premise: An American car salesman living in England is entangled in his deceased friend's family drama.

Overall: Humor is a very generational thing, and I won't judge this movie too harshly in terms of whether it is or isn't funny.  The lead, Tom Postman, might be recognizable from his many, many TV appearances.

15. Danger!!  Death Ray (1967)

The Premise: A criminal organization steals a death ray.

Overall: Fans of Danger: Diabolik will be all over this one.  Italian-made, 007-style espionage cartoonishness.

16. Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Premise: A woman encounters supernatural beings following a car accident.

Overall: Well directed and well acted.  A very surprising movie, in that I was expecting run of the mill horror.  As it turns out there's an inventive side to this film that I really enjoyed.

17. Nurses for Sale (1968)*

The Premise: A German boat captain rescues a group of nurses taken hostage in South America.

Overall: By turns comedic, by turns lewd, by turns dramatic, this one's very... German I suppose?  I haven't seen many "lighter" German movies, but I'm guessing this one falls into that bracket.  It's actually not bad, though it'll have you scratching your head at times.

Fun Fact: Curt (Curd) Jurgens, the star of this movie, also played the villain in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me.

18. Paris Blues (1961)

Martin Ritt directed a lot of good movies.  He was nominated for many awards and directed many of Hollywood's biggest stars.  My favorite of his films is probably Norma Rae.

The Premise: Two jazz musicians fall in love with two tourists in Paris.

Overall: It's an undeniably good film, but it could have done without the drug addiction subplot.  I get that they thought it would make Paul Newman's character more sympathetic, but the movie really didn't need that.

Besides this minor flaw it's a lot of fun to see Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in a film together.  They're both great in their respective roles, with Newman exerting an arrogant charm and Poitier playing a man at odds with his country.

Fun Fact: In the original draft of the screenplay Newman ended up with Diahann Carroll's character, while Poitier ended up with Joanne Woodward.  The studio feared this interracial aspect of the story would cause controversy, and demanded script changes at the last minute.

19. The Thirteen Chairs (1969)

Sharon Tate's last movie before her murder at the hands of the Manson Family the same year.

The Premise: An Italian immigrant and an American woman living in the UK search for a chair in which a vast fortune is hidden.

Overall: A truly bad movie, and not enjoyably so.  The whole thing feels very random, as if they made up certain scenes on the spot and didn't bother to think about a larger continuity.

20. Ski Troop Attack (1960)

The Premise: It's 1944.  Ski troop(s), attack!

Overall: This one's a Roger Corman picture, so you probably know what time it is: low budget, filmed in a very short time frame, etc., etc., etc.  And no, none of the people in the cast or crew went on to become famous.

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*The release dates for this one vary.  Some say 1966, others say 1968, others say 1971.  A lot of it is composed of archival footage, so the release date is debatable.