The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine

Valentine re-imagines the fairy tale about twelve dancing princesses by setting it during the roaring twenties.  It’s a tightly written novel with strong characters and a fine sense of suspense.  While I almost would have enjoyed even more details about each of the sisters, I think Valetine’s instincts are right not to overwrite and potentially ruin a book that does essentially have one main character and that’s the eldest sister, Jo.  One might question if such a father could exist, a man that would coldly shut up his daughters and keep them from the world, but it is a frightening idea and Valentine does a great job making it work.   This is my first experience with Valentine and I will have to pick up another book of hers if I see one.  Grade: B+

The Harder They Come by T.C. Boyle

Take three complex characters add in Boyle’s brilliant writing gifts and what you have is a dramatic and engaging novel that I highly recommend.  You have a vet named Sten dealing with a son going through a mental break, said son, Adam, diving deeper into behavior that’s anti-social and dangerous.   And the older woman named Sarah that becomes romantically entangled with Adam, a rebellious horse trainer who is anti-government and in trouble with the law.  The switch in point of view is insightful and proof there’s many sides to a story.   From my research on Wikipedia, this book was inspired by the real case of Aaron Bassler of Northern California.   Don’t look into this unless you want a major spoiler. Boyle proves again that he’s a master of taking a real story and making it his own.   Grade: A

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

So much done right.  So much done wrong.   As a fan of the DC Universe it’s hard not to be excited seeing the Holy Trinity of Superheroes up on screen at last.   At the same time it’s very disappointing because the end result is ultimately a mixed bag.  I was certainly entertained and thought Zack Synder did a fantastic job giving us a war between Batman and Superman that looked incredible.   I loved seeing Superman’s continued story unfold after the events of Man of Steel.   Wonder Woman’s introduction was beyond good.  [I must eat crow.  I was one of those that thought Gal Gadot was an awful choice to play the Amazonian warrior.  Boy, was I wrong.  She nailed it.  I thought she’d be too tiny and looked more like a Victoria Secret model than an action hero.  Gadot proves to have the presence to play the part.  We’ll see if she has the acting chops to hold together an entire stand-alone film now.]   I thought the film worked well as a jumping point of more Justice League stories.   At the same time, there was some cringe-worthy moments that even had me (a biased fan) shaking his head.   In the end if you're a fan of DC superheroes, you’ll probably enjoy this film.   But if you’re more of a DC hater (a Marvel lover) you’ll mock it and cheer.   Warner Brothers has some work to do to get this shared universe in check but I have hope they’ll find away.  Grade: B+

Spoilers:

More on what went wrong.  1) Lex Luthor (played by Jesse Eisenberg) did a fine job and I can’t blame him for missing the mark.  For that I have to blame the writers.   Lex starts off great as a scheming and brilliant puppet maker.  Then in the last act his entire sanity and motivation is tossed way and it’s here where the film really unravels.  And they were on the right track: Lex’s reason to create Doomsday should have been to have a Superman replacement, one that he could control.  When Batman doesn’t kills Superman, he sets into motion plan B, commanding Doomsday to kill him.  More on Doomsday below.  2) Ben Affleck, I think, is a great choice to play Batman.  But his character needed more work.    I don’t need Batman joking around or anything, he should be serious, but his transition from angry avenger to inspired hero was not very believable.  Also it’s a bit hard for me to swallow someone as smart as Bruce Wayne so easily being tricked by Lex Luthor.  3) Then there’s Doomsday.   Please DC if you learn anything from this film, hire a new creature designer (of course they didn’t learn from Green Lantern but maybe three’s a charm).   Doomsday is a mess.  Not only is he nothing like the character from the comics (which would be fine) he’s boring.   Instead of giving us an intelligent and menacing villain that wants to kill Superman at all costs, Snyder and company gives us a brainless Frankenstein-hulk.   They could have done better.  They should have done better.  

American Crime Story: OJ Simpson VS the People (2016)

I thought I knew the story.  I thought I remembered all the pieces to this overly-televised tragedy of the justice system but I was wrong.  Ryan Murphy brings together a stellar cast to dramatize an event that seemed destined to be dramatized.  Truth really is stranger than fiction.  I can’t believe that most of this happened.   After every episode I’d research online to find out what really happened.  To my surprise, it all happened pretty much like it is shown in this mini-series.  No wonder OJ was found not-guilty; even though it was obvious he did it.  Race is a major problem in our society and never has a moment in our recent history placed a spot light on it so brightly.  Marica Clark (played brilliantly by Sarah Paulson) never would have succeeded to bring OJ to justice.  It wasn’t in the cards.  Johnnie Cochran (amazingly portrayed by Courtney B. Vance) and his team created the perfect storm of doubt that would have gotten anyone off, especially a famous African American Hero.   That’s how good this show is.  The writing is so good it doesn’t matter if you know how it ends.  The story is so fascinating you can cast well-known actors like John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. and not care; their celebrity actually becomes swallowed up and forgotten.   The impact of his crime and this trial is far-reaching and I’m very impressed how intelligently the producers and writers demonstrate this in such a clear way.  Yes, it might make you a little angry knowing a murderer of two people got away, but it’s important to see why?   Grade: A