And I'm thinking of Cletus Purcell in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels.

Good call! I loved the Dreyfuss flick then read the novel and felt that went off the rails pretty quickly. But yes, I too feel like that was a missed opportunity.

And yet you never hear anyone say they'll never watch another Gloria Grahame movie. Funny, that. It's almost as if the people who say things like that are posturing moral ignoramuses.

I believe you mean "awesomely."

I have a soft spot for this particular Bogart film because while watching it I drank about half a fifth of whiskey and later that night got kicked out of my favorite bar by an old friend who worked there. Too much bourbon and Bogart, man, that's not a good combo for anybody. Not even Bogart.

I was just thinking Debbie Harry should've made this video in, oh, say, 1978?

Thanks to my girlfriend's parents' vinyl copy of WANTED! THE OUTLAWS from '76 (the first country album to go platinum & an essential listen) that I "borrowed," I've been digging into '70s country. I remember lots of the stuff from my childhood, but it's terrific listening to the actual albums. The first ones I bought…

Michael Kamen's score for this is cold, wintry, and lonely, with an aching alien quality to it. It's marvelous and adds so much to the film. One of the few times Howard Shore didn't compose a Cronenberg score.

Reading PLAYER OF GAMES in the early '90s was a revelation! One of my favorite reading experiences ever. But while I've finished other of Banks's Culture novels, I've never been totally into them the way I was with that one. Still, I was pretty sad he died last year; watch some of his interviews: he was a funny,…

Yes! Especially when both Jack and Liz feel uncomfortable saying "Puerto Rican" when Jack is dating Selma Hayek.

Think I'll just reread GEEK LOVE.

You're absolutely right! I spent several minutes after that bit wondering why someone pointing at another person was so funny. Perfectly executed.

I was under the impression that, as evinced by the Ramones, that "wanna" was always "want to" and never "want a."

Scorsese in the backseat

I love Kristofferson - TAXI DRIVER reference!

Good God, LAKE MUNGO. I think I know which image you're referencing, and I totally agree. Jesus, it's close to midnight and now I have to go turn all the lights on in my house.

"On the other hand, the cover image for Robert Kolker’s A Cinema Of Loneliness depicts
more or less what I was remembering, minus the crowd. I can’t find the
shot in the film itself, so maybe it was just a publicity still"

This is true - the novel FALLING ANGEL is a convincing mix of mystery, noir, and occult horror. The movie - which I dig for Rourke's rumpled performance and his screaming at the end, among other things - adds the whole trip to New Orleans and omits the graphic ending, but it gets the spirit of the book. Highly…

If you watch or rent Charade from Netflix and haven't seen it before, *do not read their synopsis* - it includes a total spoiler.

Barry Miles also wrote a Burroughs bio in the early '90s called EL HOMBRE INVISIBLE. Compared to Ted Morgan's wonderful LITERARY OUTLAW it was pretty skimpy. I guess he's trying to make up for that now.