Monthly Archives: January 2010
IFMCA 2009 Nominees For Best Score Announced
The International Film Music Critics Awards, simply because it is the best award “show” only for film music. Here are this year’s nominees (Source: IFMCA) FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR • AVATAR, music by James Horner • DRAG ME TO … Continue reading
Have some Morricone
this is # 16 in the ongoing Saturday Soundtrack series The Mission (1986) Original soundtrack from the motion picture, composed by Ennio Morricone, play time of 48:31, and 19 tracks (cues) Ennio Morricone is certainly a recognizable name to those … Continue reading
The Joy of Discovery
Note: This post constitutes the 20th in a series of Friday Forgotten Books, this time in the form of a brief memoir about discovering books. For more Friday Forgotten Books, see Patti Abbott’s blog. There are few things more pleasing to readers … Continue reading
More Christopher Anvil
War Games Christopher Anvil, © 2008 stories originally published 1957-1972 Baen Books 2008 hardcover science fiction short story collection Baen books has been reprinting Anvil’s work in a set of collections edited by Eric Flint. This is the seventh such … Continue reading
weather report
Just a quick note to say the rainstorms that caused some flooding and mudslides in areas of central and southern California seem to have passed through and moved east, and today it’s sunny and clear, though still cold for this … Continue reading
Avatar part 3: the music
This is # 15 in the ongoing Saturday Soundtrack series Music from the Motion Picture, Fox/Atlantic Records 521681-2, 120 minutes James Horner is a film composer whose work I enjoy and admire. When I see “music by James Horner” I’ll … Continue reading
Can You Feel the Jungle?
This is the 20th in a series of Friday Forgotten Books stuff The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny 2 CD collection of the greatest music from Martin Denny Capitol Compact Disc CDP 7243 8 38374 2 7 120 minutes … Continue reading
Avatar – part 2: sources
you can find Avatar – part 1: seeing the film right here. There has been a LOT of discussion and opinion about the possible sources and influences on Cameron resulting in the plot and look of Avatar. I’ve yet to see Cameron … Continue reading
Yep, a new theme
If you think things here look a little different, you’re right. I changed the template (“theme” in WordPress parlance), so the pages look a little different. The biggest difference here is that thks one os a fixed-width theme, the other … Continue reading
Avatar – part 1: seeing the film
Yes, Part 1, because I have several things I want to say about this film and breaking it up seems like a good way to do it. This one will be about my reactions and opinion of the film, which … Continue reading
reading short story collections
I find that I’m getting buried in short story collections: big thick ones such as The Big Books of Pulps and some of the collections from NESFA, regular sized ones including many from Crippen & Landru, even a few older … Continue reading
King Kong
Saturday Soundtrack # 13 Complete Original 1933 Score by Max Steiner, performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by William Stromberg. Marco Polo compact disc 8.223763 – Music reconstructed and restored by John Morgan – premiere digital recording This was the … Continue reading
The Minerva Club
This is the 19th in a series of Friday Forgotten Books Victor Canning, collection © 2009, stories selected and edited by John Higgins, Crippen & Landru, 2009 hardcover This mystery short story collection includes three sets of stories: of The Minerva Club, of … Continue reading
Hey, read some science fiction!
Over at Stainless Steel Droppings, Carl V. is urging us to participate in his SF Experience 2010 – from January 1st, 2010 through February 28th, 2010, we should “fully embrace science fiction, in reading, film/tv watching, and game playing.” Sounds good to … Continue reading
Saving the Good Stuff
A post on George Kelley’s blog the other day about John Mortimer’s final Rumpole of the Bailey novel, Rumpole Misbehaves, garnered several responses, including mine, about reading a favorite series but stopping before the last book to “save” that one … Continue reading
Snake Agent
by Liz Williams, © 2005, Night Shade Books 2008, mass market paperback, 284 Pages $7.99 ISBN 978-1-59780-107-2 Cover by Jon Foster First in the Detective Inspector Chen series The cross-genre novel has been gaining momentum with readers for several years and I’ve been … Continue reading
Amelia
Saturday Soundtrack # 12 original motion picture soundtrack composed by Gabriel Yared. CD: Varèse Saraband 302 066 994 2, released 2009. time: 51 minutes, cues: 13 I haven’t seen this film, and probably won’t until it becomes available on DVD, which for … Continue reading
Murder in Miniature
The 18th entry in a series of Friday Forgotten Books Leo Bruce (stories date from 1950 to 1956), compiled and with an introduction by Barry Pike, Academy Chicago Publishers, hardcover © 1992, mass market edition 1997 Rupert Croft-Cooke didn’t acknowledge his pseudonym of … Continue reading
The Broken Bullhorn 