Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard

(hb; 1992: sequel to The Switch)


From the inside flap:

"Jackie Burke's future looks grim.  She's been a flight attendant for twenty years and she's down to working for an island-hopping airline the day she lands at Palm Beach International with fifty grand and is taken into custody.  The Feds know Jackie works for a man who sells machine guns to bad guys, but they don't know his name.  Jackie looks at her options.  She can tell what she knows about Robbie Ordell, the gun dealer, and get off - except that if Ordell suspects you're talking about him, you're dead.  Or she can keep her mouth shut and do five years.  Then she meets Max Cherry - late fifties, recently separated, and just starting to think that maybe there's more to life than being a bail bondsman - and sees she has more option than she thought. . ."


Review:

Thirteen years after the events of The Switch, Ordell, Louis and Melanie are still doing their crime thing, though this time they aren't the only game in town.  As he did in that previous novel, Leonard uses his trademark waste-no-words plotting, character-based twists, and slick dialogue and action to create a sequel that furthers its source novel's excellence.  Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film, Jackie Brown, was released stateside on December 25, 1997.  Quentin Tarantino scripted and directed it. 

Pam Grier played Jackie Brown (cinematic stand-in for Jackie Burke).  Samuel L. Jackson played Ordell Robbie.  Robert Forster played Max Cherry.  Robert DeNiro played Louis Gara.  Bridget Fonda played Melanie Ralston.  Michael Keaton played Ray Nicolette (a role he reprised in the 1998 film Out of Sight).

Tommy "Tiny" Lister (billed as Tim "Tiny" Lister) played Winston.  Chris Tucker played Beaumont Livingston.  LisaGay Hamilton played Sheronda.  Sid Haig played a "Judge".  An uncredited Denise Crosby played a "Public Defender".  An uncredited Quentin Tarantino provided an "Answering Machine Voice".

Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

(pb; 1962)


From the back cover:

"What if someone knew your secret dream, that one great wish you would give anything for?

"And what if that person suddenly made your dream come true - before you learn the price you have to pay. . .

"Something Wicked This Way Comes. . . is the story of two boys who encounter the sinister wonders of Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show.  They will soon discover the show's awful mystery - a mystery that will change the life of every person it touches."


Review:

The melancholy, affright and exuberance of youth (as embodied by tweens Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway) and being middle-aged, as embodied by Charles Halloway, Jim's father, skeleton, theme and suffuse this fantastic, yet focused novel about a late night carnival whose hidden, twisted rot can be sniffed amidst its otherwise sweet-scent promises. . . this was one of the first novels I read as a child that made my eyes go agog with wonder at the magic of the printed word - an ongoing frisson I continue to believe in, along with Something's PG-rated, sometimes whimsical, sometimes grim core: life itself.

Worth owning, and re-reading at varied annual intervals.

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This novel has been filmed twice.

The first movie version, a UK production, was released in the UK in 1972.  It starred Ben Clennell, Mark Ashman, Tony Collins, Jenny Glennell, and others actors.  Who played what role is not listed by imdb.com.  Collin Finbow directed.

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The second, more widely known film version was released stateside on April 29, 1983.

Jason Robards played Charles Halloway.  Jonathan Pryce played Mr. Dark.  Vidal Peterson played Will Halloway.  Shawn Carson played Jim Nightshade. 

Royal Dano played Tom Fury.  Pam Grier played Dust Witch.  Mary Grace Canfield played Miss Foley. Ellen Geer played Mrs. Halloway.  Diane Ladd played Mrs. Nightshade. 

Bruce M. Fischer played Mr. Cooger.  Scott De Roy played "Cooger as a Young Man".  Brendan Klinger played "Cooger as a Child".  Richard Davalos played Mr. Crosetti.  Jake Dengel played Mr. Tetley.  Jack Dodson played Dr. Douglas. 

An uncredited Phil Fondacaro played "Demon Clown".  Arthur Hill was the voice of the "Narrator".

Jack Clayton directed the film, from a screenplay by book author Ray Bradbury.

Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, by Pam Grier (with Andrea Cagan)

(hb; 2010: autobiography)

From the inside flap:

"Some may know her as hot, gutsy, gun-totin' Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Coffy and Jackie Brown. Others may know her from her role as Kit Porter on The L Word. But that only defines one part of the legend that is Pam Grier.

"Foxy is Pam's testimony of her life, past and present. In it, she reveals her relationships with Richard Pryor, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, and Freddie Prinze, Sr., among others. She unveils her experiences as backup singer and a blaxploitation star. In particularly candid and shocking chapters, she shares - for the first time - her view of those films and the persecution of the blacks, especially women, needed to endure to make a name for themselves. . . including how it felt to be labeled one of the most beautiful women alive, yet not be permitted to try on clothes in a department store because of the color of her skin. . . she [also] tells the story of her ongoing battle with cancer.

"From her disappointments to her triumphs, nothing is held back. . ."

Review:

Solid autobiography of a level-headed, upbeat woman who's seen a lot of life, good and bad. Inspirational (without getting Lifetime Movie of the Week about it), meaningful and deftly written.

Check it out.

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

(hb; 1896)

From the inside flap:

"[This] is the story of [Edward] Prendick, a common man, who is shipwrecked on a mysterious island populated by Moreau, a scientist and Montgomery, his drunken assistant, a disgraced doctor. Growing suspicious of Moreau's experiments, Prendick discovers Moreau is creating strange, human-like cratures from animals. Wolves, dogs, pumas, oxen and other animals have been transformed by Doctor Moreau's skillful hands and brilliant mind into Beast People, capable of speech and thought.

"Following a shocking sequence of events Prendick is left alone with Moreau's creations, as they revert back to their animal state. . ."



Review:

Wells's fast-paced novel is immediately gripping and timeless, perfectly balancing the action/science fiction aspects of the tale, the emotions of its lead protagonist (Prendick, whose panic suffuses the work) and its horrific men should not play God with nature theme.

True to Frankensteinean form, Doctor Moreau is a curious and barbaric man, often more cruel and perverted than the Beast People he created and brainwashed. And this reader could practically smell Montgomery's desperate, acrid alcoholic sweat, as he, caught in his own fugue-panic, further enables Moreau's escalating (and equally desperate) atrocities.

One of my all-time favorite novels, this: own it, already.

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Seven films have resulted from this novel.

The first, The Island of the Lost, was released in 1921.

This German-language film was directed by Urban Gad, from a screenplay by Hans Berhendt and Bobby E. Lüthge.

Fritz Beckmann played Jim. Hans Berhendt (who also co-scripted the movie) played Pat Quickly. Alf Blutecher played Robert Marston. Tronier Funder played Dr. Ted Fowlen. Ludmilla Hell played Evelyn Wilkinson.

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The second version, Island of Lost Souls, was released stateside in December 1932.

Charles Laughton played Dr. Moreau. Richard Arlen played Edward Parker. Leila Hyams played Ruth Thomas. Bela Lugosi played "Sayer of the Law". Kathleen Burke played "The Panther Woman - Lota". Arthur Hohl played Mr. Montgomery. Tetsu Komai played M'ling. George Irving played "The Consul".

Erle C. Kenton directed the film, from a script by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie.

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Terror Is A Man was the third cinematic version of Wells's novel, though the novel was never credited as the film's source material. Terror Is A Man was released stateside in November 1959.

Francis Lederer played Dr. Charles Girard. Greta Thyssen played Frances Girard. Richard Derr played Dr. Fitzgerald. Oscar Keesee played Walter Perrera.

Geraldo de Leon directed the film, from a script by Paul Harbor.

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Tim Burton directed, scripted and starred in the 1971 shot-on-Super-8 short The Island of Doctor Agor. It was Burton's first film, and the fourth cinematic adaptation of this Wells novel.

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The Twilight People was released stateside in January 1973. The film did not cite Wells's novel as a source, though this appears to be the case.

John Ashley played Matt Farrell. Pat Woodell played Neva Gordon. Jan Merlin played Steinman. Charles Macauley played Dr. Gordon. Pam Grier played "Ayesa, the Panther Woman". Ken Metcalfe played "Kuzma, the Antelope Man". Kim Ramos played "Primo, the Ape Man".

Eddie Romero, who also co-scripted the film with Jerome Small, directed this fifth film version of Wells's novel.

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The sixth version, The Island of Doctor Moreau, was released stateside on July 13, 1977. Don Taylor directed the film, from a screenplay by Al Ramrus and John Herman Shaner.

Burt Lancaster played Dr. Paul Moreau. Michael York played Andrew Braddock. Nigel Davenport played Montgomery. Barbara Carrera played Maria. Richard Basehart played "Sayer of the Law". Nick Cravat played M'ling.

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The seventh (and latest) cinematic adaptation, The Island of Doctor Moreau, was released stateside on August 23, 1996.

David Thewlis played Edward Douglas. Marlon Brando played Dr. Moreau. Fairuza Balk played Aissa. Val Kilmer played Montgomery. Ron Perlman played "Sayer of the Law". Marco Hoffschneider played M'ling. Temuera Morrison played Azazello. Mark Dascascos played Lo-Mai.

John Frankenheimer, who replaced an uncredited/fired Richard Stanley, directed the film, from a script by Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson.