I don’t have the head for movies or books about money. And I don’t have the instinct for movies or books about spies. Despite those deficits, the movies I have enjoyed most lately seem to concern one or the other. I have learned to sit quietly and wait for enlightenment to come. If it doesn’t come, I look for other things to watch and this film had plenty of bonuses for the unenlightened.

PLOT: I am wading into a quagmire here in trying to sum it up, but basically there’s a mole on the loose at MI-6 and one with access to the highest places. A mission to Budapest for information regarding the identity of this mole turns sour, alerting the Soviets that the mole’s presence if not his identity has been detected. Control (John Hurt) and Smiley (Oldman), as top-ranking officials, are dismissed after the Hungarian debacle. Of course, eventually Smiley is brought back in to sniff out the truth.

It might seem strange to say this, but it’s not really about the plot. Or if it is, the plot is basically a whodunit. What it was about is the perfect evocation of a certain milieu in the sixties, the seedy look of MI6 headquarters, the even seedier look of party the film keeps flashing back on, the loneliness of the lives, the paranoia of every character, the rarefied world they mistake for reality, the importance of music in grounding a plot. Rather than black and white, TINKER, TAILOR seems filmed in gray and brown. Color is drained from every scene and every face.

And these were the spies in the West! In swinging London, for Pete’s sake.

Alfredson, who also directed LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, has a great feel for how to evoke dread, in how to frame a shot, in how to depict unmet longing. He gets great performances from his actors, especially Gary Oldman who seems born to play Smiley even with the memory of Alec Guiness’ amazing performance in the 1979 mini series still in my head. Highly recommended.

Patti
Patti Abbott writes crime fiction short stories. She hosts a look at Forgotten Books every Friday with readers, writers and reviewers at http://www.pattinase.blogspot.com/ She hopes you’ll join in.

Mosley also talked about Fearless Jones. At this point, Jones is being developed for television. TNT has ordered a pilot screenplay based on the Fearless books. Felicia D. Henderson is in the process of adapting Mosley’s novels. Henderson has worked on a number of shows, including SOUL FOOD and FRINGE, writing, directing and producing. She will be both a writer and producer (along with Mosley and John Wells) for the proposed Jones series.

Mosley said that if TNT orders a season, he will write another Jones novel. Fearless Jones is featured in three books: FEARLESS JONES, FEAR ITSELF and FEAR OF THE DARK.

If Jones lands on TNT, he will be the third Mosley character to make the jump to Hollywood. In addition to Washington playing Rawlins, Laurence Fishburne played Socrates Fortlow in HBO’s telefilm ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, ALWAYS OUTGUNNED.

At this time, a television series of Easy Rawlins is in development at NBC, and HBO is eyeing one with P.I. Leonid McGill.

“The Liberty Files” is an Elseworld’s title. An alternate reality for a writer to do any damn thing they want. Set in WWII we get a very different take on the JSA. Starring Hourman, Dr. Mid-nite, Mr. Terrific and a 1930’s version of Batman they are set to find the secret weapon of Hitler’s. What they don’t expect is the secret weapon is much different and much more powerful than they ever imagined. It’s a man. A flying man. A super man. How can four extraordinary human men deal with something like that? And that is only the first half of the book. The second half is bigger and more intense. The action is amped, the story is larger and the stakes are Earth shattering, the Society grows to a massive climax. I couldn’t imagine waiting for this month to month it’s too incredible with cliffhangers that make turning a page take too long to wait.

Writer Dan Jolley isn’t the best known writer but he deserves wide recognition, and “Liberty Files” stands as a shining beacon as to why. When a writer cares about source material is shows and he truly is a fan. The easter eggs for fans are fantastic. So many second and third tier characters make appearances just to make you smile as you read. But even someone that has never read the JSA can get so much from it. Renowned artist Tony Harris provides the gorgeous noir, shadow-realistic art that adds an extra dimension to it. He and Jolley take the WWII backdrop, add some of the most underrated super heroes ever, and a pinch of Indiana Jones’ style and we get the Liberty Files. It’s difficult to find, but more than worth it when you do.

If you know me and have any respect for me, prepare yourself. Your image of me as a sane, moderately well adjusted man of reasonable intelligence is about to be shattered forever. The next time you see me, you’ll either burst out laughing or turn around and run.

My friends…I like Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

It’s the one directed by William Shatner.

It’s the one where Capt. Kirk supposedly meets God.

It’s the one where Capt. Kirk throws a triple-breasted catwoman onto a bumper pool table full of water.

It’s the one where Capt. Kirk gets lit on bourbon and makes fart jokes.

It’s the one where Capt. Kirk tries to hug Mr. Spock, only for his Vulcan friend to tell him, “Not in front of the Klingons.”

It’s the one where Mr. Spock eats marshmallows and sings “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

It’s the one where Scotty knocks himself out because he forgot where the Enterprise’s sewage pipes are.

It’s the one where Uhura seduces a band of nomadic nogoodniks by doing a nude fan dance.

It’s the one where Sulu and Chekov sexually harass a she-Klingon with Buns of Steel.

It’s the one where the special effects look like test footage so bad even Babylon 5 wouldn’t use it.

In short: It’s the one that’s indefensible. So I won’t try to defend it. All I can do is explain myself.

I am a Star Trek fan. Obviously. Of the 542 people on the planet who have watched and enjoyed Star Trek V, 541 of them are Trekkies/Trekkers/Trekunauts/whatever. The 542^nd was Kim Jong-il, and we all know that guy was a couple diliuthm crystals short of a fully operational matter/anti-matter intermix.

Though I hopped off the Trek fan bus 10 minutes into Voyager and didn’t get back on until the J.J. Abrams revamp, it’s still very, very easy to push my nostalgia button. So a Trek movie would have to be pretty damned crappy to give me no pleasure whatsoever. And while Star Trek V does its best to live down to that, it does have genuine virtues.

It’s a mess, but at least it’s an energetic mess.

It has a beautiful, majestic Jerry Goldsmith score.

It has an interesting villain (a cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs Vulcan played with wild-eyed gusto by Laurence Luckinbill) who thinks he’s doing the right thing and never twirls his mustache. (You just have to ignore the stuff about him being Spock’s half brother.)

It invokes Star Trek’s original mission statement in that it’s actually about a bold quest for knowledge and not just FX aliens blowing stuff up.

It doesn’t really have Capt. Kirk meeting God. He meets a powerful alien something-or-other that’s manipulating people’s notions of God. Why do critics always get that wrong? It’s spelled out pretty clearly in the film. Not God. Fake God. Real-strength-is-in-ourselves humanist message. It’s all right there on the screen, people. Geez.

And last but not least, it’s got Capt. Kirk getting lit on bourbon and making fart jokes. Come on — like that could really be a bad thing! Kind of makes you want to see the movie, doesn’t it?
Don’t.

Steve Hockensmith is the author of several guilty pleasure novels, including the New York Times bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls and the Edgar Award finalist Holmes on the Range. He blogs (when he feels like it) at www.stevehockensmith.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.

In Perception, McCormack (Will And Grace) plays Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind give him an extraordinary ability to read people, but his eccentric view of the world and less-than-stellar social skills can often interfere with his work. So this means that in addition to crime solving, we will get some humor. This clip mentions his condition so it appears he has some sort of illness (likely mental) that causes, at least partially, his odd behavior.

Rachel (She’s All That) co-stars as FBI agent Kate Moretti, Pierce’s former student and the person responsible for recruiting him to work for the government. Arjay Smith plays Max Lewicki, the teaching assistant whose primary job is to keep Pierce in line and on task. Kelly Rowan is Natalie Vincent, Pierce’s best friend and every bit his intellectual equal. In addition, award-winning actor LeVar Burton (Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation) will play a recurring role as Paul Haley, a dean at the university.

Award-winning author, and all-around fine lady, SJ Rozan has put together a calendar, featuring her own photograph, of the New York City of her protagonist Lydia Chin.

SJ has, over the years, developed a love of photography. Over the years, fans have asked about a possible coffee table book. After seeing a friend’s calendar, SJ decided to do one of her own.

I asked SJ how much time went into pairing photos to months:

Way too much; that was the fun part. I have many, many photos in all sorts of categories. The fact that this was NYC through Lydia’s eyes narrowed it a lot — no Gobi desert, no noir-ish taverns — but I still had a large number to pick through. Some, like the paper dragon for January and the lights for December, seemed obvious. Others took trial and error. The rejects might find themselves on the pages of 2013…

The calendar goes for $15 and is available through Lulu.com.

Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead- end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case-a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago, and Jack spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man’s family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up any moment to step into them.

Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past doesn’t recede. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all. And as each confronts the dark side of the American Dream- the boredom of a nice suburban life, the excitement of temptation, the desperation and hunger that can lurk behind even the prettiest facades- they will discover the hard truth that the line between one kind of life and another can be as whisper-thin as a heartbeat.

Kasdan’s resume is long and distinguished. He first came to fame as the man that was able to turn George Lucas’ visions into coherent screenplays for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARC and RETURN OF THE JEDI. He also wrote/directed THE BIG CHILL, BODY HEAT and THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. His last film was the 2003 adaptation of Stephen King’s DREAMCATCHER.

The article states that the plan is to complete the screenplay by March 20th, when the novel is released. The pair plan to shop the completed screenplay with the intention of having Kasdan direct.

Offering Agatha Christie and mystery fans the chance of a lifetime, Acorn Media announces the launch of the “Queen of Crime Sweepstakes” beginning January 15, 2012. This celebration of all things Agatha Christie marks the largest contest ever from Acorn Media, the leading distributor of British TV in the U.S. The Grand Prize package features a trip for two to London, England (5 days/4 nights) and Paris (1 day/1 night); a visit to the set of a Poirot or Marple production; a tour of Greenway, Christie’s holiday home; tickets to see The Mousetrap, the world’s longest-running play; one-day rail trip to Paris on the Orient Express; and a DVD library of Agatha Christie programs.

The “Queen of Crime Sweepstakes” is open to legal residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry. Winner drawn at random. Please visit www.AcornOnline.com/Christie for official rules and prize information.

Season one saw U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens finish off the Crowder family’s hold on Harlan county but that doesn’t mean ol’ Raylan is going to have it easy. A new crime boss in the form of Mags Bennett is looking to take control of the county with her two not so bright boys. Seeing a gap in things she decides to look into expanding what was just a marijuana business into a real criminal empire. And her sons are happy to help her do it. While this is going on Boyd Crowder is trying to find his place in the world and find peace, though this is no easy task and will take him on a very twisted path. Walter Goggins is amazing in the role and I really think he should get an Emmy for it.

As good as Season 1 is I liked Season 2 even more and I think we see some real depth to all the characters being added. It also becomes clear that Raylan is never going to be a company man within the Marshalls, and his boss Chief Deputy Mullin kind of resigns himself to the fact that he can only sit back and watch Raylan do what he does. Part of “what he does” in season 2 is get back with his ex wife, which provides a bunch of fun sub plots.

I love this show and season 2 really proves that it has legs. If only regular network TV could do programming like this maybe they wouldn’t be wasting our time with all the reality programs they run.

Jon Jordan

Directed by David Fincher
Written b Steven Zallian, based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Wright, Joelly Richardson

Third time turns out to be the charm for me. Didn’t much like the book-the first 75 pages turned me away twice. The first film version was better for me than the book since it did away with some of that early, boring stuff and offered a sensational performance by Noomi Rapace. But all in all, the second version of the film gets my vote.

PLOT: Does anyone need to read this? Probaby not. But briefly, elderly billionaire Henrik Vanger (Plummer) has suffered for years over the death of his beloved teenage niece in the sixties. As his death nears, he decides the crime must be solved. When it becomes inconvenient for journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to stay at his desk in Stockholm, Vanger hires him to find out what happened forty years earlier.

Vanger and his Nazi-loving family live on their own island, each trying to hold on to their piece of the pie and barely civil to each other. Vanger has had Blomkvist investigated for this job by computer hacker extraordinaire, Lisbeth Sanger (Rooney Mara) who has problems of her own. She eventually joins Blomkvist to solve the crime. The film takes a lot of time bringing these two together as she wards off her guardian, evil incarnate. Those scenes are extraneous to the story but important to the trilogy and to the original title of the book MEN WHO HATE WOMEN.

Every scene in the film seemed perfectly framed for me, getting the most out of its characters. I found it satisfying not to have to read subtitles. I usually don’t mind sub-titles but find them at their worst in thrillers when you really want to be concentrating on what’s above them. I really admired Mara’s performance. She seemed to be a more fully realized character in this version-or at least some humor showed through, some softness. I thought Mara and Craig had more chemistry than in the earlier version too. The character of Blomkvist is a bit of a bore in all three versions, but at least they eliminated a very odd romance in this one. Anyway, it’s Lizbeth Salander that keeps us watching. She wears our hearts on her sleeve.

Highly recommended, if you can do it one more time.

Patti
Patti Abbott writes crime fiction short stories. She hosts a look at Forgotten Books every Friday with readers, writers and reviewers at http://www.pattinase.blogspot.com/ She hopes you’ll join in.