Lexicon is, of course, correct about "The Descent." What a fantastic horror movie; I think it's my favorite of the '00s.

I rented both Shivers and Rabid from Netflix. They were great. Never thought they'd disappear… I wonder how many folks were disappointed they couldn't rent Rabid after Marilyn Chambers died?

Burnaway, that moment killed me too. I don't remember much about Unwritten because I thought Westway had done it all better. The scenes in Let's Rock Again, when he's on the Atlantic City boardwalk hawking his show that night, and then, when being interviewed on the radio, asks an obviously embarrassed corporate DJ to…

Good Christ… I was *in* high school when Burton *actually* died. I still have the newspaper clipping.

It was a Bill Hicks joke originally—I think.

"I'm a street-walkin' cheetah with a hide full of napalm"

And Ballard wasn't even talking about *stories* as much as pure, unadulterated *imagery* in that cut-up Burroughsian/surealist way, of how we can watch several TV shows at once with a remote control, parse the commercials, the conventions and shortcuts of sitcoms, the sexualizing of cars, beer, clothing, etc. If you…

I remember when The Sopranos concluded, and everybody was flipping out about it for a week or so after, and a friend said, "What's the big deal? It's just a TV show." I kinda got haughty on him—not just b/c I love Sopranos, but b/c his comment showed that kind of cultural tone-deafness that people who dismiss TV have.…

Indeed, I thought the same thing. Reading 'The Unlimited Dream Company' brought to mind, of all things, 'Suddenly Last Summer' with Monty Clift and Liz Taylor.

Glad you liked it!

Yeah, I was waiting for it to hit theatres, then it shows up as an ad on the Netflix mailer. Tommy Lee is def more fitting as Dave, and Electric Mist is my favorite book in that series. Need to check it out.

Westlake/Stark is next on my crime to-read list. Sounds like good stuff. Only thing I read by him is his adventure/intrigue novel Kahawa which was pretty terrific.

LANSDALE his own self! Love the Hap & Leonard books—great to see them back in print from Black Lizard/Vintage—but his horror fiction is worth reading too. Extreme pulp—The Nightrunners, Cold in July (actually that's more crime) and the utterly bizarre Drive-In Double Feature. Also try to find the short story "Night…

Oh, shit, I'm halfway thru' that book right now! Read all the other Hoke books. Trying to track down Cockfighter as well.

Plus, with its terrifically pulpy illustration on the cover and weighing in at about five pounds with 1100 pages, it simply looks bad-ass on a coffee table.

I was disappointed the movie of Devil in a Blue Dress didn't do well b/c I thought that Denzel and Cheadle in the leads were well-nigh perfect. Same with Fred Ward as Hoke Moseley in Miami Blues (the Charles Willeford novel). Alec Baldwin as James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux was much too young, however.

First crime novel I ever read was Hiaasen's Strip Tease (great recurring characters as well—hello Skink!) years ago. Great intro to the genre. From there it was Cain, Ellroy, Thompson, Chandler, etc. Finished The Long Goodbye just a month or two ago. Big favorite I don't think has been mentioned is James Lee…

Second the Ripley novels (I enjoyed both Talented Mr Ripley moves, Purple Noon as well as the Law/Damon one). Strangers on a Train sits on my shelf unread, alas.

American Tabloid is his best, but I *love* the outrageous violence & perversity in LA Confidential that was left out of the (otherwise great) movie.

There's no "try and" but there *is* a "try to."