Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy (1973)


Published in 1973, Cormac McCarthy's Child of God is an earthy book, full of intensely poetic prose, illuminating the land the protagonist, Lester Ballard, inhabits. Ballard, "a child of God, much like yourself perhaps" is a man cut loose from societal norms who roams the hills of Tennessee, trying just to live, and occupying himself with... unspeakable acts.

McCarthy brilliantly describes this child's descent into depravity, his bizarre yearnings, and the horrific results when his lusts are acted upon. And there is something childlike about Ballard, not innocence, but the ugly petulance of a child not getting what he wants. Not someone we sympathize with, much, but someone we watch with dreadful fascination. And there are other creatures in these hills, with strange speech patterns and worrisome familial relationships, making the movie Deliverance (released just a year before this was published) seem like a walk in the park.

But this is not just some sensationalized tale of hillbilly stereotypes and profligate degeneracy. There is much to meditate on here, not least of which is what happens to those people neglected, marginalized, on the fringes, forgotten. Nothing good really. They haven't forgotten us after all. Sounds like a drag, but it's a funny book too, with much twisted humor, albeit mostly at Ballard's expense.

Apparently this is being made into a movie directed by James Franco. Hopefully it will be as good as the other Cormac McCarthy books that have made it to film. But the movies don't have McCarthy's haunting and  hallucinatory prose, so you won't get descriptions like: "he moves along the barn wall, himself fiddlebacked with light, a petty annoyance flickering across the wall-ward eye".

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Records - Shades in Bed (1979) - Injections in the Knee

1979 US release was just titled The Records, with a great album cover.

Absolutely one of the greatest power pop records ever made. Starry Eyes was  the hit, but every song is a winner, with Teenarama, Girl,  and Affection Rejected being the equal of that gem. Clever lyrics, great hooks and killer guitar abound, it's about as perfect a pop record as I can imagine. They followed up in 1980 with Crashes, just as good.

Shades in Bed, original UK release 1979


CD release with great bonus tracks 2002

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Protector by Larry Niven (1973) classic hard science fiction with knobby aliens

Cover by Dean Ellis


I read just about all of Larry Niven's novels published in the 1970s, including the ones written with Jerry Pournelle. I  enjoyed them all immensely and this was one of my favorites. Protector (1973) is part of his Known Space series of short stories and novels.  It's an imaginative tale, complete with fascinating aliens and much hard science which were Niven's trademarks. His ideas are quite large, in a literal big picture kind of way, making time and the incomprehensible size of universe central to many of his plots. This one is no exception, dealing largely with travel through the vastness of space. Prose style and characterization were not Niven's strong suit, but there are many mind-bending ideas, and it's written well enough so it's an enjoyable read, or in my case reread. 

Fists of Fury (aka The Big Boss) - Bruce Lee kicks some ass,1971


Fantastic karate & kung-fu action film from the great Bruce Lee. Lee plays a young man who leaves his home town, promising his mother that he will no longer get into fights. We know that won't last long, and by the end of the movie he has maimed and killed many foes (all villains who had it coming of course). The sound effects are wonderfully over-the-top. The dubbed version (which I watched) adds to the insanity. Not as great as Enter the Dragon, but an excellent precursor to that masterpiece.

When the shirt comes off you know it's about to get serious.


       

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Busting (1974)


Pretty decent cop flick with Elliott Gould and Robert Blake. Director Peter Hyams first movie. It's rather dark and gritty, with some humor supplied by the two stars. Plot-wise it's pretty standard fair. There's a lot of crime and corruption in L.A. and vice cops Keneely and Farrel decide to do something about it. There's some shooting, good chase scenes, strippers and more, everything you'd expect in a 1970s cop movie. But overall it's pretty downbeat and cynical. Very nice camera work with a lot of long takes and interesting angles. Good supporting cast, especially Allen Garfield as crime boss Carl Rizzo. And Elliott Gould wears a funny hat.

Elliott Gould with mustache and hat, having a brew.


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Car racing mayhem from 1975. Often hilarious (intentionally so) campy cult science fiction classic set in (obviously) the year 2000. It's all for television ratings as five racing teams try to run down citizens for points on the "Transcontinental Road Race". David Carradine, in his first post-Kung Fu role plays "Frankenstein", a supposedly disfigured two-time winner of the  race. The lovely Simone Griffeth plays his navigator. Sylvester Stallone, in a pre-Rocky role, plays his chief rival Machine Gun Jo Viterbo. There are also several attractive ladies who don't mind taking their tops off now and then (it's the 70s after all). While there is a good bit of violent death, the special effects are such that it never gets too disturbing (the blood just doesn't look like blood). Produced by B-movie master Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel (who also takes a humorous turn as Frankenstein's doctor). Nice cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. Overall a great little movie (it's fairly short), and one of my all-time faves.

It's the future!
David Carradine and Simone Griffeth.


There were a couple of sequels (or prequels as the case may), imaginatively title Death Race and Death Race 2, made in 2008 and 2010. They were both set in (and confined to) the notorious prison Terminal Island and were pretty much the same movie. The first one with Jason Statham and Joan Allen is the better of the two. The second (which is actually the prequel to the 2008, both being confusingly the prequel to the 1975 movie which was set in 2000) shows how the Frankenstein character comes to be. Up-to-date with much more realistic gory special effects, and grittier, with rap music and such, they are fun enough but lack charm and have very little to do with the original Death Race 2000.