Summer Storms: Year of Bests – 2016
A few years back, I did not publish a year-end piece on those articles I most enjoyed reading for the period. Routinely, my online browsing turns up a number authors and write-ups that exceed whatever threshold I have in my head. I promised not to get caught flat-footed again. So, I rectified the issue by gathering them up and presenting each quarterly. This the second of such for 2016.
Things are getting warm once more, so, let’s continue, shall we?
April 1st usually brings many time-worn shenanigans, online and elsewhere. Luckily for us, Nostra writing for fine blog, My Filmviews, singled out a wondrously funny short from 2014. Launching this highlight reel and tickling this “oater” fan a plenty:
The Gunfighter (2014) – Short film review
“It’s Friday, so a great moment to start your weekend laughing and The Gunfighter is perfect to do so as it is one which doesn’t take itself serious and which will probably bring a smile to your face with its concept.”
And if we’re anywhere close to the region of the western, might as well look at one of the genre’s best proponents, Sam Peckinpah. Justine Smith, writing for Balder & Dash , had the proper angle for looking at this auteur’s work in a splendid examination of his films. As she put it, “The intimacy of violence has always been the most striking part of Peckinpah’s work.”
VIOLENCE IS A VERY SAD POETRY: THE FILMS OF SAM PECKINPAH
“In a prickly interview for the BBC in 1976, Sam Peckinpah unpacked his relationship with bloodshed. His films, which so often showed brutal massacres, were meant to reflect what he saw in the world. “Let’s look at the facts,” he said. “Most violent crimes are committed by the family or close friends, most violent deaths are involved with people involved with each other.” At the heart of Sam Peckinpah’s violence is the anxiety of being strapped to a lit fuse: the person you love most is the most likely person to strike you down.”
It’s always good to showcase Mr. Peel’s writing. Peter Avellino really captures the essence of a film within his cinematic pieces hosted on his quirkily named Mr. Peel’s Sardine Liqueur blog. Case in point, his focus on one of the true apocalyptic gems to come out of the ’80s. Seized the moment of the time, and this neighborhood just down the street from me as I write this, in his review:
“If ever a movie seemed designed to be watched totally cold, with no awareness of what’s coming this would be the one, not that most people would get the chance to do this. I think of the plot of MIRACLE MILE, what happens to trombonist Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards) after he meets and possibly blows it with the girl of his dreams Julie Peters (Mare Winningham) during a visit to Los Angeles, and I think about what could have happened if it never takes the jarring shift it needs to take from the off-kilter romance of the first section to the dangerously panicked thriller it quickly becomes.”
Confession: I’m still a tech-head at heart. I guess I could blame learning to project movies in the most turbulent period of the life for that. And it’s carried over to what I’ve done for years now in my current job, but that’s too easy. Anyway, sit back and enjoy Mark Wilson‘s piece for Gizmodo on…:
How Regular Movies Become “IMAX” Films
“Before we move on, let’s explain IMAX film. Technically, it’s a 70mm standard that—unlike the 70mm that was popular back in the day with big movies like Lawrence of Arabia —has been turned sideways on the celluloid. So while typical 70mm motion picture film runs vertically and takes up 5 perforations on the film strip, IMAX runs horizontally and takes up 15 perforations. Yes, that means that the IMAX 70mm standard is three times bigger than normal 70mm and nine times bigger than 35mm.”
Even if the good folk over at The Vinyl Factory are based in the UK, what they have to say about the resurgent LP and 45 formats still apply on this side of the pond:
IT’S 2016 – OF COURSE STREAMING IS DRIVING VINYL SALES
“It’s a suggestion you might have heard at the Parlophone offices shortly before the Beatles were first played US radio over fifty years. For the best part of the last century people have been listening to music for free before going out to buy it. Given this is easier than ever now with Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, you’d be brave (or stubbornly speculative) to drop £20 on an album you’ve not heard before. Listening to the radio, if you remember, didn’t even require a subscription.”
The passing of the purple music legend opened up a fountain of mournful admiration before April came to a close. The loss registered on the Richter Scale. So much so, Wesley Morris‘ piece for the New York Times seemed to peak right along with it and delved into what made Prince Rogers Nelson so impactful on those who listened to his music.
Prince Knew What He Wanted: Sex, Soul and You
“Officially, Prince wasn’t gay. But was he straight? Did he blow out his hair, love heels and platforms, and own every look, from flouncy Romantic consumptive to bathhouse matador to Easter Sunday deacon? He did. On “Controversy,” he rhetorically poses the question: “Am I straight or gay?” And yet it never seemed to matter. Even after he changed his name to the symbol of the male gender sign overlaid atop its female counterpart, he was always only ever Prince.”
While we’re on the subject of his purpleness, Daniel Ralston, writing for Medium, eloquently shared why the man’s brilliance was not relegated to just lyric or sexual presence:
“Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies are usually terrible. That’s why the performance from 2004 has always stuck in my mind. Prince’s appearance alongside Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison — to celebrate the induction of George Harrison into the Rock Hall — achieves the kind of alchemy producers dream of when assembling a one-off supergroup. It is electric.”
Time to break up the stream (remember, important safety tip, “Don’t cross the streams.“) with some pleasingly sublime artwork. Nevermind the murderous penile organism, “Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility”, it regales:
There’s a Bunch of Gorgeous Alien Art Being Released For Alien Day
“Tuesday, April 26, aka 4-26 (as in LV-426), has been dubbed “Alien Day.” To celebrate, several different companies and brands have teamed up to do events related to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece. There will be screenings, Q&As, art shows, special merchandise, and more.”
And since I mentioned the film in last month’s Duo Post review, might as well highlight what made the film so damn mesmerizing. Roderick Heath for Ferdy on Films does the honors:
“The genre is film noir, the settings the chitinous environs of 1967 California, where the cyclopean vaults of highways and sweltering reaches of concrete and tar wear occasional flourishes of counterculture colour but more often lurk under the garish hieroglyphs of advertising, and homes have become blank, entrapping boxes of glass and brick. Boorman’s vision of this New World shore, like Richard Lester’s in Petulia (1968) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s on Zabriskie Point (1970), is both dazzled and estranged, surveying vast stretches of prefab housing and modernist infrastructure like cities on the moon. But the overall tone of the film is oneiric, taking as both its key setting and stylistic gambit the environs of Alcatraz Prison, where blocks of rude geometry and twisting, gothic aesthetics are strangely mated, a dank dream heart for Boorman’s American nightmare to well from.”
‘Tis the rare thing for me to buy a book for a loved one based upon a book review. However, Lauren Winters for her fine blog malcolm avenue review, accomplished that feat. By the half way point, I was already envisioning this for my eldest, then her final paragraph sealed the deal.
THE USEFUL BOOK :: David and Sharon Bowers
“Overall, I thought this was a fun book with lots of good, sensible information. It would be a great gift for kids just heading off to college or someone moving into their own apartment/house.”
Want to know why science-fiction continues to fascinate and connect? It is because that’s part of its mission statement without coming out and saying it. Revelation its by-product. Happens all the time across the length and breath of human existence. Case in point, The Mary Sue‘s assistant editor Jessica Lachenal‘s extraordinary piece:
On Doctor Who and My Struggle With My Trans Identity
“It wasn’t just this moment that spoke to me as a trans person, either. The Weeping Angels remind me of those people and those things that do their damnedest to send you hurtling back into the past, back into an identity that never really was yours. Cybermen remind me of a time in my life where I believed not having emotions at all would just be easier, that way I wouldn’t have to deal with the depression that came with not transitioning at the time. The list goes on, but always, I find myself going back to the example of regeneration and how the Doctor approached the concept.”
In less than a couple of weeks, I’ll be participating in another discussion care of Cindy Bruchman and her blog of the same name. Her L13FC series, Lucky 13 Film Club, takes on all comers and subjects. The month of May’s centered on a certain work by Alfred Hitchcock that’s climbed in stature as the decades have rolled past. See why it’s worth making monthly excursions over to Cindy’s place:
L13FC: Vertigo
“Everyone in the film suffers from distorted vision. That’s Vertigo. Perversion is a prominent theme shown by Midge Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes), my favorite character in the film. Once engaged, Midge broke it off. Was she uncomfortable with sex? She is devoted to their platonic relationship, but her control slips away, and she descends to perversion when Midge becomes Scottie’s mother. Over time, she transformed into the all-knowing, cool friend. The only way she could share her life with him is as care-taker. She is tolerant of his illness and obsessions, she is his adviser and protector. She is his moral compass, a nun without the habit. When he has a nervous breakdown, she croons, “There, there. Mother’s here.””
Miss Vickie (aka Victoria Loomes) has graced these posts before…for various reasons. The latest of them, via her Girls Do Film blog, being this:
SNOW WHITE & THE EVIL QUEEN: WHO IS THE WICKEDEST OF THEM ALL?
“For a generation of impressionable children, the Evil Queen in Disney’s feature-length animated version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves might well have been their first encounter with villainy. The jealous, merciless queen, desperate to be the fairest of them all, transforms herself into a hunchback hag and tricks Snow White with a shiny, poisoned apple, only to fall to her death trying to roll a boulder over the seven dwarves, the owners of the house in which the exiled Snow White resides. It’s a simple story, a riff on a Grimm Brothers tale, and one that has been reimagined and reinterpreted many times, both by Disney and other writers, filmmakers and playwrights.”
If you’re going to make a case about upending the “…self-evident: Superman is our greatest hero”, then Dan Greenfield had to have evidence. I think he did for the 13th Dimension article back in May:
How CAPTAIN AMERICA Surpassed SUPERMAN as Our Greatest Hero
“Rob Kelly wrote here the other day about Captain America: Civil War: “Now that there have been a half dozen films featuring him in the role, I can confidently say that Chris Evans as Captain America ranks up there in the annals of great casting, as perfect a fit of actor and role as Christopher Reeve and Superman was in 1978. And just as important: Like Reeve, you never catch Evans winking at the audience or seemingly apologizing for Cap being so ‘square.’ He’s a hero, pure and simple. And while he’s capable of mistakes (he makes a few here), he ultimately wants to do Good.”
Sheeeeee’s back… Miss Aurora (aka Citizen Screen) and the movie blogger brought back childhood memories galore with her highlight of a classic cartoon villain. Er…’cuse me, super-genius:, hosted over at Once upon a screen…
GENIUS VILLAIN AKA APETITIUS GIGANTICUS AKA WILE E. COYOTE
“Put aside wondering how Wile E. Coyote does it all. Evil is as evil does and life in cartoons finds a way. Accept only the fact that he is a villain that keeps on giving. While Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner may not have been the first to be featured in chase scenes in cartoons – just ask Bugs who claimed he and Elmer Fudd were the first – this pair perfected the idea. No character falls off a cliff with such style as does Wile E. and we know that with knife and fork at the ready he will chase the Road Runner for all of eternity and will fail miserably at every attempt.”
Normally, this series puts a light on movie, music, and book review sites or blogs. That’s why a source like War is Boring, a “How and why we fight — above, on and below an angry world” site stands out. It’s not either of those. Yet, when it centers on one of those genres, like contributing editor Matthew Gault‘s stark look at a Sam Peckinpah masterpiece, then it qualifies:
‘Cross of Iron’ Depicts the Brutal Collapse of the Wehrmacht
““I believe God is a sadist,” Steiner tells his platoon. “But he probably doesn’t know it.” He may as well be talking about Peckinpah, the sad god of Cross of Iron. He wants to punish the audience, but he’s probably not aware of it.”
As a long-time fan of Star Trek (who saw the original TV series first-run), it makes me smile when a younger fan, writer David Reddish, comes up with some wonderfully vintage but exceptional episodes to prep new prospective viewers. For the Screenrant, don’t miss the piece or David’s selections:
Star Trek: 15 Episodes (and Movies) To Watch Before Beyond
“Deep Space Nine alienated and divided a good portion of Star Trek fandom by focusing on a single galactic location—the titular space station—rather than on exploring the universe. The premise does, however, afford Trek the opportunity to explore ethical dilemmas in a new way.
The crux of the series is the Dominion War, a conflict which saw new levels of violence introduced to the franchise, and disrupted the socialist utopia of the Federation. “In the Pale Moonlight” raises the possibility of the Federation losing the war to their brutal rivals, and explores the question of the end justifying the means. The plot is best experienced with little introduction, so we’ll leave it for you to watch. Prepare to shiver at some of the twists!”
When one of my all-time favorite samurai films is given a wonderfully keen review (and reason to see it again), well I have to include it here. Arun Kumar on his blog Passion for Movies gave Masaki Kobayashi’s masterwork just that:
Harakiri aka Seppuku [1962] – A Human Tragedy Cuts through the Mindless Code of Honors
“By now, cinephiles might be aware of how‘chanbara’ or ‘samurai’ movies gained prominence in the post-World War II Japan (later influenced many Western films & film-makers) and how the great film-makers Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi’s approach to this genre differed. Apart from exploring the darker, nether side of Bushido, Kobayashi’s exemplary works beautifully plays with the generic expectations of ‘samurai’ movie. “Harakiri” has astounding sword-fighting set-pieces, like any other great films belonging to the genre. But, what makes it a timeless classic lays in the way Mr. Kobayashi sets his priorities right. Right from the opening shot of the ‘sacred symbol of ancestors’, the film-maker adds narrative weight onto his character and finds enough room to mount the powerful social criticisms.”
The uniquely qualified Scott Freiman (composer, producer, musician, teacher, tech entrepreneur, and Beatleologist) used his considerable chops in a Culture Sonar article as to why the Dan’s masterpiece album, Aja, still stands the test of time:
Steely Dan’s “Aja”: Eight Minutes of Genius
“By the time of Aja, Fagen and Becker were the only permanent band members (although original guitarist Denny Dias often appeared as a guest). They supplemented their instruments with the best session players in New York and Los Angeles. Their jazz rock sound, with hardly a traditional major or minor chord in sight, was recorded with the utmost care thanks to the work of producer Gary Katz and engineer Roger Nichols.”
The wife and I were greeted with some truly bumming news this year regarding a series that somehow found its end way too soon. It was left up to Kate Aurthur to explain for BuzzFeed and the rest of us why that was and how the writers “…handled their show secretly being canceled by CBS”:
“Person Of Interest” And The Mysteries Of Cancellation
“It’s rare for a TV show to be canceled with grace. Some networks and cable channels are straightforward about the fact that television is a brutal marketplace, and of course most shows will not find enough of an audience to stay on the air; others won’t confirm that a show that’s yanked after five episodes is a goner. From an audience perspective, there are satisfying ways for a show to come to an end (NBC’s Parenthood is a recent example) and terrible, enraging ones: After their abrupt cancellations this month, ABC’s Castle and Nashville both left fans howling.”
Long-time fans of John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing were in for a supreme treat recently. Thank the internet, and Cinephilia & Beyond for this comprehensive best:
JOHN CARPENTER’S ‘THE THING’: THE STORY OF AN SF HORROR GAME-CHANGER
“It’s always nice to see your films appreciated even decades after they were made, William Friedkin told us recently, but films are usually made for contemporary audiences. John Carpenter, the great filmmaker whom the world will remember for all those marvelous classics such as Halloween, The Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog and the subject of our today’s post, The Thing, as well as for countless brilliant yet still underappreciated movies like In the Mouth of Madness or Vampires, probably couldn’t agree more. The Thing, Carpenter’s unique take on John W. Campbell’s novella ‘Who Goes There?,’ the same story that inspired the Howard Hawks-produced, Christian Nyby-directed 1951 horror classic The Thing From Another World, was met with critical disdain and an utter lack of enthusiasm at the box office, partly due to the misfortune of coming out at about the same time as Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Scott’s Blade Runner. This was Carpenter’s first film made with the support of a major film studio, and the commercial defeat of it was a blow that the filmmaker took right to the heart. “I take every failure hard. The one I took the hardest was The Thing. My career would have been different if that had been a big hit,” Carpenter reasoned.”
Good friend and film blogger extraordinaire, J.D. provided baseball fans and movie lovers with a prime reason to be happy for the upcoming All-Star Game with a Radiator Heaven review of one of the best romantic comedies for adults:
“Costner and Sarandon have really wonderful chemistry and this is readily evident from their first scene together. It really kicks in when Annie invites Crash to batting cage practice under the pretense of improving his swing but they cut right to the chase and find out that they have the same goal: to get Ebby ready for the big leagues. They also flirt like crazy with each other with Crash laying it out for her: “The fact is you’re afraid of meeting a guy like me ‘cause it might be real. You sabotage it with some, what is it, some bullshit about commitment to a young boy you can boss around.” It’s a really good scene because we are not only getting witty banter between Annie and Crash but they also get down to the heart of the matter – why she dates guys like Ebby and not someone like Crash.”
Always good to highlight the work of friend, and one of the first movie bloggers (Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule) I followed, Dennis Cozzalio. His piece on an efficient work of crime and moviemaking being that reason:
SNUB-NOSED STYLE: THE OUTFIT (1974)
“John Flynn’s The Outfit (1974), a brutally efficient bit of business based glancingly on Richard Stark’s procedurally inquisitive and poetic crime novel of the same name, is a movie that feels like it’s never heard of a rounded corner; it’s blunt like a 1970 Dodge Monaco pinning a couple of killers against a Dumpster and a brick wall. I say “glancingly” because the movie, as Glenn Kenny observed upon The Outfit’s 2011 DVD release from the Warner Archives, is based less on the chronologically unconcerned novel than an idea taken from it. On the page Stark’s protagonist, the unflappable Parker, his face altered by plastic surgery to the degree that past associates often take a fatal beat too long to realize to whom it is they are speaking, assumes the detached perspective of a bruised deity, undertaking the orchestration of a series of robberies administered to Mob-run businesses too arrogant to believe they could ever be so victimized. The bulk of the book is given over to microscopically precise accounts of these robberies, which occur with Parker’s approval and input but largely outside his presence. Parker is in many ways a ghostly figure floating through the criminal scenarios of his own devising.”
Photographer/writer John Greco pointed his trusty lens toward another classic Bogart/Bacall pairing that never gets old over at his blog Twenty Four Frames a short while back, and it’s worth reading:
“Brooks and Huston would spend a few weeks at an off season hotel in Key Largo, just like the setting of the play, soaking up the atmosphere and writing the script. Brooks, a workaholic, would be up early pounding away at the storyline. Huston would sleep late or go out fishing. Later in the day, he would read what Brooks wrote and make suggestions, add or provide his own thoughts and ideas. Brooks would go back to his typewriter and incorporate the changes discussed. The next day the process would be repeated.”
Fellow TCM Classic Film Fest-goer, genuinely wonderful film blogger, and keen observer, Richard Kirkham kicked up some fine memories for a movie misfire last month. His 30 Years On: 1984 A Great Year For Movies blog brought a Francis Ford Coppola into perspective:
“Notorious for being expensive, unsuccessful, and killing the relationship between producer Robert Evans and Director Francis Ford Coppola, “The Cotton Club” was also a feature player in a real life murder case where one of the financiers was murdered by contract killer and a former drug associate. With all the bad publicity surrounding the film, it is surprising how good it actually is. There are many faults with the film but the subject matter and the ambitious goals of the film makers were not among them.”
Without question, the most split among the comic superheroes enthusiasts centers on one movie this year. William Bradley writing for the LARB threw the other term fanning politics today into the pot to describe why that is:
The Dawn of “Just Me”: Zack Snyder’s Neoliberal Superheroes
“Part of the problem is that while Snyder has a keen eye when it comes to creating arresting visuals, his understanding of human beings is pretty weak. Consider Sucker Punch (2011), a movie that I’m pretty sure is supposed to be a feminist action movie but that, as Jason Mantzoukas pointed out in the How Did This Get Made? podcast, is about young women who are “raped into empowerment.” Or the scene toward the beginning of Watchmen (2009), during the weekly “beer session” shared between Dan and Hollis. Note how Dan announces that he needs to get going, despite the fact that he still has about two-thirds of his beer left. Imagine you had a guest over, and that guest opened a beer while you were talking, and then promptly set the beer down and announced, “I must leave now.” You would assume that you had said something offensive to prompt such an abrupt exit. That, or your guest is an android who does not yet properly understand human protocol surrounding conversations over drinks.”
Lauren Winters returns to the forefront, along with her fine blog malcolm avenue review, highlighting another book that made it into my reading stack care of her intriguing review:
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS :: Iain Reid
“Ahem. This debut novel is hands down one of my favorite reads this year. As soon as I finished I wanted to go right back to the beginning and start over again, fleshing out all the little details I’d missed or not realized the significance of the first time through. I also realize this one is likely not for everyone. While I’m not a fan of labels, I’d say if you’re into psychological suspense/mindfuckery, run to your nearest bookseller and grab a copy. It’s only 224 pages, but it packs a wallop like a 600-page tome.”
Author Terrence Rafferty in his The Atlantic piece offered a simply splendid essay on why…:
Women Are Writing the Best Crime Novels
“Once upon a time, in the smoky, violent neverland of crime fiction, there were seductive creatures we called femmes fatales, hard women who lured sad men to their doom. Now there are girls. It started, of course, with Gillian Flynn, whose 2012 suburban thriller, Gone Girl, told a cruel tale of marriage and murder and sold a zillion copies. The most striking thing about Flynn’s cool, clever mystery is the childishness of its main characters, Nick and Amy Dunne, the sheer pettiness of the deadly games they play with each other. And the prize for winning is something like a gold star from the teacher: Gone Girl takes place in a world in which grown-up girls—and boys—will kill for no better reason than self-validation.”
Can’t have a quarterly entry without some connection (distant or not) to The Lads. A frequent contributor to this series, Roderick Heath writing for Ferdy on Film examines the weirdly watchable, heavenly listenable animation film only 1968 could have possibly birthed:
“Amidst the relics of the high psychedelic era, Yellow Submarine is one of the most instantly recognisable, a jokey and absurdist adventure tale built around one of pop culture’s singular creative wellsprings, the music and artistic personae of The Beatles. The film has become an iconic work encapsulating the Beatles’ oeuvre and mystique and indeed the era of its making. Any still from the film could be used as an emblem and summation of the psychedelic creed. Ironically, Yellow Submarine was a byproduct of the band’s uninterest in appearing in another film: their contractual obligation to United Artists forced them to develop a new movie project, and they decided producing an animated film through their newly formed recording and production company, Apple, seemed a good way to discharge the obligation. (Later, UA eventually declared they hadn’t met that obligation, requiring them to make the 1970 documentary Let It Be.)”
Well, friend-down-under Bruce Jenkins keeps wonderful company amongst his music collection and makes reading his thoughts and experiences on his Vinyl Connection blog something I look forward to. His view about a shared favorite of ours, Bonnie Raitt, shouldn’t be missed:
“If you survive initial rock and roll success, what follows is very much like growing up in public. To be sure, survive is a potent word in this context. So many musicians have gone to join the choir invisible it’s a wonder that there are enough left to form a band. Yet numerous artists who began careers almost half a century ago are not only still alive, but still working: recording, releasing albums, touring energetically, recuperating in detox, getting hip replacements. Plenty of artists born post-war are still booming out rock and roll for our superannuated enjoyment. And—dramatic pause—not all of them are male.”
Time to close down this highlight reel for the second quarter of the year, and another regular to this series, Darren Mooney of ye ol’ the m0vie blog, gets that honour (hence the spelling) with his “non-review” of Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest:
Non-Review Review: The Neon Demon
“Then again, this is very much in keeping with the style of the film. Neon Demon is a gaudy and unapologetic horror film. The deep reds are a part of that, as is the wonderfully atmospheric score from Cliff Martinez. The film is disconnected from this (or any other) reality, to the point that the characters seem to be speaking a strange a slightly alien version of English. “I don’t want to become them,” reflects Jesse at a moment of philosophical enlightenment. “They want to become me.” Don’t worry about what it actually means, it sounds right for the film around it.”
The entire series can be found here.
It Rains... You Get Wet 
15 Responses to “Summer Storms: Year of Bests – 2016”
That’s a comprehensive overview. Thanks for mentioning me, it’s things like that which keep me going since my blog has dropped quite a lot in number of views. Nice to know it is appreciated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dropped in views?!? We’ll need to fix that, Nostra. I always enjoy your work, even if I don’t get to comment much. Thanks, as always. 🙂
LikeLike
Yeah and it’s not a little…it is like 10% of what it once was, which isn’t very motivating. I try to keep it up but have shifted efforts more towards the Dutch version of my blog which is the reason I currently don’t update regularly. I do appreciate your kind words!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Where do you find the time to find all the wonderful things to read? The bigger question now is where am I going to find the time to read all of them as well? Every time you post one of these I get sucked in for days. Thanks for including my work with all these great writers. It provides a little mental reward for the effort and there are times that I need that incentive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I blame my mother for my reading habits. 😉
Always a pleasure to include your fine work, Richard. Many thanks, my friend. 🙂
LikeLike
What an incredible post. I gotta admit, I’m amazed at all of the goodies you managed to include. Fabulous!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very kindly, Keith. 😀
LikeLike
Excellent summary of the films, music, and books you enjoyed. You really put your heart and soul into these quarterly reports. I appreciate your inclusion of Vertigo and the L13FC. I can’t wait to read your blurb! It should be a good one this month. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try. Looking forward to this month’s L13FC, too. Many thanks, Cindy. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always an honor to be mentioned and I love that you introduce me to bloggers I’m unfamiliar with without fail.
Aurora
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, Aurora. Always happy to pass along your wonderful work. Thanks. 🙂
LikeLike
Great roundup of fine links! I’m gonna read that Captain America post, the three films certainly have made me love Cap more than Man of Steel! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’ll enjoy it, Ruth. We’ve that in common, too. Thank you very much. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks again for posting that article. Agree wholeheartedly about his assessment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike