I haven't.  I wasn't as impressed by the non Rebus books.

It wasn't quite as memorable as some of Lumet's other urban law and police melodramas, but the performances and direction were solid.  It deserved more recognition than it got.

I really like Robinson, and George and James are pretty good to.  I'll check out the others.

The debut, KNOTS AND CROSSES, is probably the jokey one you are referring to.  It wasn't developed as part of a series apparently. I like it better than its immediate sequals but it seems a bit self consciously arty in laying out the subtext (and it has a weird flashback/recovered memory moment that feels forced).…

That was my experience too   It really exposed me to the different forms that a novel could take.

I'm currently reading STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE by Ian Rankin, the latest John Rebus book.  I'm enjoying this even more than usual, which is saying a lot for an usually excellent crime series..  The pacing is better than some of the entries in the series, and Cafferty is back from his deathbed.  Much of it takes…

My father in law wrote a good number of Archie stories.  Whenever he'd sign his work at a booth at the L.A. Times book fair got an unbelievably long line for signatures.  Turnout was better for him than for better known writers and celebrities which, considering that much of his work wasn't credited, attests to the…

I like it too.  My sense is that Pynchon wrote it to recover from writer's block provoked by the complexity of MASON AND DIXON .  It's a bemused take on the duality of California identity, and it doesn't have all of the erudition that intimidates a lot of potential readers, and maybe that's why it isn't as highly…

I also thought it hit its mark.  I've seen so many posters use this movie as a symbol for generic hackery over the years, but I could never get the hate.

While a number of his early films are sentimental favorites, Most of John Landis' output is objectively pretty mediocre.  INTO THE NIGHT, though, is really unique in how it sustains a droll, comic tone with a visual style that effortlessly conveys Jeff Goldblum's sleep deprived, discombobulated state.

FREEBIE AND THE BEAN and MEAN STREETS too.

VERTIGO as well, although I don't think it was originally released with 65mm prints.  Good point on VistaVision

This has played at TIFF and Palm Springs already, So it hardly seems like a World premier,  That said, the use of primary sources by and about Monroe, plus selective passages from her numerous biographies, really gets to the heart of her personality.  If you have to see one Monroe documentary, you won't go wrong with…

I concur with the overall excellence of CARLOS.  If it seems a bit less popular with Assayas' fans it's probably because the film's impressionistic style seems more subordinate to the narrative.  With the exception of COLD WATER, Assayas' early films prior to IRMA VEP are extremely dour.  If you want to check out more…

Several films I've seen from Eastern Europe recently have been quite un-hagiographic in portraying the foibles of the anti-Soviet left, while still being sympathetic to the anti-authoritarian cause.

My wife and I actually have a store bought VHS copy of this, so it isn't as obscure as the article suggests.

Dead as Dillinger—The producers have optioned another Kennedy assassination story; something of an ensemble piece about the trauma surrounding the fall of Camelot's Prince or some such bullshit. Hopefully someone else will pick up the option on the Ellroy books.

As far as stories dealing with the decadence of California's family oligarchies go, any Macdonald novel easily beats THE BIG SLEEP, Chandler's major entry into the subject.  Frankly, he gives Steinbeck a run for his money as well.

The best compliment that I can give critics is that they turned me onto things that I never would have considered otherwise.  Thanks for the book recommendations, Tasha.  Good luck on your new endeavors.

I take it that we never found out if he ever got laid in Nebraska?