Friday Flashback: Rec. #284: Angel Face

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Angel Face is a 1952 noir classic from director Otto Preminger, starring Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum. The femme fatale is Diane Tremayne. If she sounds posh and spoiled, it's because she is. Frank Jessup is not above some scheming himself, but he's no match for Diane.

Comparable to: It's tempting to draw comparisons to Preminger's Laura, the director's best-known noir, but Angel Face has more in common with a different Gene Tierney-starring film --- Leave Her to Heaven.

You might not like it if: You expect another Laura. This is less sharply biting and more coldly calculating.

How to get it: Buy it or borrow it.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Hear from Frank Jessup in Quote from a Fictional Character #52.

Although I think Angel Face is delicious, my favorite noir film is Laura (that dialogue!). It was Rec. #193.

[Originally posted 4/10/13.]

Rec. #392: The Courts of Love

What: In this collection of short stories, author Ellen Gilchrist gives us magic realism in a solar-powered house, small domestic disasters, and people revisiting past affairs.

Representative quote: "From Aurora Harris to anyone who received my parents' incredibly stupid Christmas letter and believe anything it says about me. In the first place I do not look anything like that picture and did not know they were sending it out."
[from "Update"]

Connections to previous Wreckage: Also from Gilchrist are The Cabal and Other Stories (Rec. #216), Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle (Rec. #159), Nora Jane: A Life in Stories (Rec. #25), and Victory Over Japan (Rec. #324).

A Bit of a Hiatus

See you in about a week!

I leave you with:

The Daily Wreck Collection

Easy to browse

The Daily Wreck of the Web

I made a Tumblr

[You can check out more gorgeous Hitchcock screenshots like the one above at "1,000 Frames of Hitchcock"]

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #22: Across the Universe

Stream what: Julie Taymor's movie about Vietnam War-era kids in New York City is set to the Beatles.

Stream why: It's gorgeous, both visually and aurally.

Stream where: Netflix.



Read more: Rec. #334

Friday Flashback: Rec. #222 (abbrev.): The Headhunters

I decided to start doing Friday Flashbacks in case you missed some early posts the first time around. You're busy; I understand.

What: Murder mystery by Peter Lovesey, hypothetical "I could kill my boss" game gone wrong, double date, dead body on a beach, the Slug and Lettuce, missing colleague, fossils, Hen Mallin, gardening center, flood, CID, bowling, printing company, Mill Pond, woolly mammoth

Opening lines: "'I could cheerfully murder my boss,' said Gemma."

Representative quote: "On another website Jo was startled to see her own name. Little else was accurate. Described as a resident of Selsey (wrong), she was supposed to have stumbled over the body (she didn't stumble over anything) whilst exercising her dogs (what dogs?) on Medmerry Beach (East Beach). A salutary reminder not to believe everything on the internet."

Connection to previous Wreckage: The Headhunters is very good fun, but The Reaper (Rec. #21) --- also by Peter Lovesey --- is a triumph.

[Originally posted 3/1/12.]

List #57: Ten Pleasant Surprises of 2015, Part 2

A lot of things happened in 2015 that were unexpected, but terrible. Not these, though! These things are great.

Happy New Year!

[See Part 1 here.]

6. Galavant

What it is: A musical comedy fairy tale satire. On ABC and Hulu.

Why it's a pleasant surprise: It could have been really, really, really annoying. Like, really. But it stayed charming and clever throughout!

7. High Maintenance (Rec. #374)

What it is: A web series about a pot dealer. On Vimeo.

Why it's a pleasant surprise: I only rarely wanted the punch the smug out of any characters.

8. Master of None

What it is: Aziz Ansari's take on life-of-a-single-dude-in-NY. On Netflix.

Why it's a pleasant surprise: It's wonderfully progressive and makes room for sincere contemplation. Also, Denise! And small roles for both Susan Blackwell and The Strand.

9. Parks and Recreation series finale

What it is: The end of the joy that is Parks and Rec. On NBC, Hulu, and Netflix.

Why it's a pleasant surprise: The series ended on its own terms and on a high note.

10. Scrotal Recall

What it is: A young man has to notify his former partners that he has an STD. Cue a walk down the memory lane of past relationships. On Netflix.

Why it's a pleasant surprise: That name! Is. So. Awful. The show itself is much sweeter and cleverer than one might reasonably expect.