Carrie, by Stephen King

(pb; 1974)


From the back cover:

"Carrie may be picked on by her classmates, but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem. Then, an act of kindness, as spontaneous as the vicious taunts of her classmates, offers Carrie a chance to be normal. . . until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of horror and destruction that no one will ever forget."


Review:

Carrie, King's first published novel, is raw (in comparison to his later novels) and ambitious for a first effort.

More than a well-written - if jump cut-laden - story of a telekinetic teen lashing out at her tormentors (her classmates, and her religious nutjob mother), Carrie is also a cut n' paste tale of a town (Chamberlain) undone by a shocking horrific event.

Parts of this novel are pre-mid Eighties Stephen King amazing (with proper editing, the man is an excellent writer), showing the cinematic verve that King would later display in his more accomplished, but no less worthy, works.

Worth checking out, this.

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Carrie has inspired three film versions, and one cinematic sequel.

The first version was released stateside on November 3, 1976.

Sissy Spacek played Carrie White. Piper Laurie played Margaret White. Amy Irving played Sue Snell. William Katt played Tommy Ross. Nancy Allen played Chris Hargensen. John Travolta played Billy Nolan.

Betty Buckley played Miss Collins. P.J. Soles played Norma. Edie McClurg played Helen. Priscilla Pointer, Amy Irving's real-life mother, played Mrs. Snell.

Brian DePalma directed the film, from Lawrence D. Cohen's screenplay.

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The Rage: Carrie 2 was released stateside on March 12, 1999.

Emily Bergl played Rachel Lang. Jason London played Jesse Ryan. Dylan Bruno played Mark. J. Smith-Cameron played Barbara Lang.

Amy Irving, who co-starred in the original film, reprised her role of Sue Snell.

Mena Suvari played Lisa. Eddie Kaye Thomas played Arnie. Zachery Ty Bryan played Eric. Gordon Clapp played "Eric's Father". John Doe played Boyd.

Katt Shea, who also directed the film, played "Deputy D.A." Rafael Moreu wrote the screenplay.

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The second version of Carrie, a telepic, aired on American television on November 4, 2002.

Angela Bettis played Carrietta "Carrie" White. Patricia Clarkson played Margaret White. Emilie de Ravin played Chris Hargensen. Rena Sofer played Miss Desjarden. Kandyse McClure played Sue Snell.

Tobias Mehler played Tommy Ross. Jesse Cadotte played Billy Nolan. Meghan Black played Norma Watson. Chelan Simmons played Helen Shyres.

David Keith played John Mulchaey. Laurie Murdoch played Principal Morton. Michael Kopsa played John Hargensen. Jodelle Ferland, billed as Jodelle Micah Ferland, played "Little Carrie" [Carrie as a young child].

David Carson directed the film, from a teleplay by Bryan Fuller.

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The third version, now in post-production, is scheduled for stateside release on March 15, 2013.

Chloë Grace Moretz played Carrie White. Julianne Moore played Margaret White. Judy Greer played Miss Desjardin. Portia Doubleday played Chris Hargensen. Gabrielle Wilde played Sue Snell. Ansel Elgort played Tommy Ross. Alex Russell played Billy Nolan.

Skyler Wexler played "Young Carrie". Cynthia Preston played Eleanor Snell.

Kimberly Peirce directed the film, from a screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard

(hb; 1996)

From the inside flap:

"Deputy U.S. marshal Karen Sisco is just stopping off to serve a summons and complaint on Florida's Glade Prison. She's all decked out in her black Chanel suit and heels but ready with her pump-action shotgun when the breakout begins, minutes after she pulls into the prison parking lot. But she's not ready for Jack Foley, the celebrity con who disarms her, invites her to climb into the trunk of her own car, and then joins her as his pal Buddy guns the blue Caprice onto the highway, heading for freedom. Squeezed into a trunk littered with handcuffs and tactical gear, the escapee bank robber is a perfect gentleman who shares her passion for movies and wonders if it would be different if they'd met in a bar.

"Only this time she's part of the federal task force hunting the escapees. This time she's sitting in the bar of the Detroit Westin, nursing a sour mash and watching a blizzard outside. This time Foley finds her. First come cocktails and conversation, Then Time Out. In Karen's suite, 'You like taking risks,' she says 'So do I.'

"Next morning Foley's gone and Karen's out to get him. She cruises Detroit's mean streets and boxing hangouts looking for Foley, Buddy and a hard case named Maurice, one step behind them as they plot the biggest heist of their careers - and a double cross that will leave only one man holding the goods. . ."


Review:

Out of Sight features Leonard's trademark character-based quirkiness and wit, waste-no-words plotting, and slick dialogue and action, this time flavored with a curiously cinematic, warm and romantic tone.

Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film was released stateside on June 26, 1998. Steven Soderbergh directed it. Scott Frank wrote the screenplay.

George Clooney played Jack Foley. Jennifer Lopez played Karen Sisco. Ving Rhames played Buddy Bragg. Don Cheadle played Maurice Miller. Steve Zahn played Glenn Michaels.

Dennis Farina played Marshall Sisco. Catherine Keener played Adele. Albert Brooks played Richard Ripley. Luis Guzmán played Chino. Isaiah Washington played Kenneth. Paul Calderon played Raymond Cruz. Nancy Allen played Midge.

An uncredited Samuel L. Jackson played Heijira Henry. An uncredited Michael Keaton played Ray Nicolette: this was the second time he played this character; the first time he played this character was in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown (which is based on Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch).

Cruising, by Gerald Walker

(pb; 1970)

From the inside flap:

"When homosexual 'cruise,' they are looking for kicks, love, relief, whatever. When cops cruise, they are looking for crime and criminals, but also for their own kicks, relief, whatever. . .

"The scene is New York City. The time is mainly night, when Stuart Richards, a graduate student at Columbia by day, prowls the parks and streets killing homosexuals. John Lynch is one of ten rookie cops ordered out on decoy duty to impersonate homosexuals in the hope of enticing the killer. Captain Edelson is the detective who orchestrates the chase. . ."

Review:

Grim, gutter-minded story and characters make this feel like an early Seventies Martin Scorsese film, except some of the characters are homosexual. Cruising chronicles three men's simultaneous, miasmic seasons in personal hells: Stuart Richards, the resentful, immature, responsibility-dodging serial killer who cannot stand to be laughed at; John Lynch, a "straight," decent, racially-aware New York rookie cop who's gone undercover -- as a gay man; and Captain Edelson, the "Jew captain" (as Lynch privately calls him), who's jaded and politically savvy, but honest and fair.

The secondary characters, many of them gay (and who express the homosexual outlook eloquently), are well-written, and come off as real people. Because we can't hear their thoughts (as we, the readers, do with Lynch and Richards), or read their private journals (as we do with Edelson) these secondary characters often come off as better, if socially embattled, people.

Good, unsettling read from a first-class author.

Check this out, if you don't mind letting your mind tramp around in moral murkiness for a bit. To quote the cover of the novel: "This is a tough book. If you cant' take it, don't read it."

A controversial film version of this novel was released stateside on February 8, 1980. Directed and scripted by William Friedkin, it starred Al Pacino as Steve Burns, a cinematic stand-in for John Lynch. Paul Sorvino played Captain Edelson. Richard Cox played Stuart Richards. Karen Allen played Nancy. Joe Spinell played Patrolman DiSimone. Ed O'Neill played Detective Schreiber (he was billed as "Edward O'Neil"). James Remar played Gregory. Powers Boothe played a helpful shop clerk (who tells Al Pacino's character what colored back-pocket hankies mean in the gay/BDSM subculture).

The Last Detail by Darryl Ponicsan

(hb; 1970)

Review

In Norfolk, Virginia, two “lifer” Naval Petty Officers─Billy James Buddusky (a.k.a. “Billy Bad-Ass”), a book- and street-smart Polack with a temper, and Richard Mulhall (a.k.a. Mule), a black mostly level-headed man─pull “chaser” duty (escorting a fellow Navy man to the brig), a job considered to be choice work. Their prisoner, Lawrence Meadows, an eighteen-year-old, kind-hearted kleptomaniac, has stolen forty dollars from a charity box in commissary store. Because that charity box is favored a high-ranking officer’s wife, Meadows has been sentenced to a eight-year sentence in a Portsmouth, New Hampshire brig.

A fatalistic aura hangs heavy over this sometimes-hilarious, often heartbreaking story about three men who, for all their differences, become friends. It’s not just another detail for any of them─for Meadows, who’s inexperienced in worldly matters (“booze and broads”), it’s his first and (for a while) his last chance to enjoy relative freedom. For Buddusky and Mulhall it’s a disruption of their comfortable routine.

Unpredictable, full of wild behavior and sharp/raw dialogue, this is an exhilarating blast of a read. The ending is not Hollywood happy but it does not need to be because the heart of this novel is its memorable characters and their life-changing interactions. Great stuff, this. Followed by a sequel penned by Ponicsan, Last Flag Flying.

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The Last Detail was released stateside on December 12, 1973. Hal Ashby directed it, from Robert Towne’s screenplay.

Jack Nicholson played “SM1 Billy ‘Bad Ass’ Buddusky.” Otis Young played “GM1 ‘Mule’ Mulhall.” Randy Quaid played Seaman Larry Meadows.

Clifton James played “M.A.A.” Carol Kane played a “Young Whore.” Michael Moriarty played a “Marine O.D.” Nancy Allen played Nancy. Gilda Radner played "Nichiren Shoshu Member." Director Hal Ashby played "Bearded Man at Bar in Darts Scene" (an uncredited role).