"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Unsolicited opinions on books, movies, TV shows, consumer products
Donna’s never been able to sit through a violent movie. She’s fine with the occasional fistfight or car crash in an action thriller … I’m not saying she’s strictly G-rated … but movies that glorify violence, or that are based on violence and not much else, are not her thing. Maybe I’m just going through […]
“I checked the list of people I trust and your name ain’t on it.” — Matthew McConaughey as Mick Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer The Piano Teacher (2001, France) A tense, dark, disturbing movie about a repressed woman with sexual needs she doesn’t know how to satisfy. Hoo boy, this is an uncomfortable movie to […]
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. In the news: US prisoner forbidden to read Pulitzer-winning history book Our Bodies, Ourselves turns 40 In Cold Blood gets okay from Glendale, California school board Another annoyed librarian slams Banned Books Week On Facebook: You Can’t Read That! banned […]
I’m sitting here with my Deskbuddy™ 1.0, enjoying the quiet afternoon that comes after a busy Friday night and Saturday morning. Polly went on a date earlier in the week, and last night the young man (her age, twice divorced, with children … but hey, young to us) dropped by to visit Polly and her […]
“If you take a punch at me now: (1) You will break your hand. That’s the beauty of spending just a half hour a day on your muscular-skeletal structure — it turns into kryptonite; (2) I will fall on you. I’m still working on my core and balance issues, so after you slug me I […]
“You’re not gonna blame me because the phone went dead. I’m not the phone company. Nobody’s the phone company anymore!” — Kelli Maroney as Samantha in Night of the Comet Farewell (2009, France) Really good cold war spy story in the Frederick Forsythe/John Le Carré tradition, made even better by being based on real events. […]
How’s that Nook e-reader I got for my birthday last year working out? Glad you asked. Over the past year my reading has been about 25% Nook, 75% book (I keep a record of the books I’ve read, and I actually counted). That strikes me as about right: e-books cost money and library books are […]
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. Today is the first day of Banned Books Week, which runs from September 24 to October 1. In honor of BBW, rather than link to the standard lists of books under fire from parents, religious fundamentalists, and political activists, I’ll […]