Gene

Aging Hipster's Guide to the Hollywood Code

Revisado: 05-09-20

Virtue signals pretty much every item on the list of the Hollywood Code while trying a little too hard to seem hip and irreverent. It's like Robert Dinero shouting obscenities from atop a milk crate and finding he needs another milk crate. Elmore Leonard could generally pull off this tap dance of giving the agitprop machine the message it wanted while still managing to be entertaining. Hiaasen ain't no Elmore Leonard.

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Captive to the Hollywood Code

Revisado: 11-06-14

Would you try another book from James Lee Burke and/or Will Patton?

yes

What was most disappointing about James Lee Burke’s story?

political correctness

What does Will Patton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Will Patton is the best there is at the linguistics of southern and rural tough guys.

What character would you cut from Light of the World?

The motion picture industry.

Any additional comments?

I used to enjoy Robicheaux novels. Sure they're simple Punch and Judy morality tails, with the upright but imperfect detective against a slew of the misshapen underbelly of the criminal class with a few corrupt elite cherries on top. But there's a angst-ridden teasing out of the tangled morality as Dave punches his way through his adventures. And always the language is rich and lyrical without being even slightly obscure. And then there's what the series has become with this. Burke panders so obsequiously to the political messaging of the entertainment industry that it's hard to stomach. No derriere left unkissed among the greenlight crowd. I wish he was writing for the readers who buy his books instead of movie executives who may never give him another dime.

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Spaghetti Western Meets The Road

Revisado: 03-13-13

What would have made American Apocalypse Wastelands better?

Staying clear of the graphic novel sensibility and the screenplay aspirations.

What was most disappointing about Nova’s story?

A narrative that rises above banality only in spare moments when it predicts and describes sociological and economic decay--then relapses back into a lame adolescent male adventure fantasy.

Which character – as performed by Erik Sandvold – was your favorite?

The protagonist is a shallow and simple fool with a gratingly hypocritical moral code--everyone else is two-dimensional.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It credibly envisions some of the details of socio-economic collapse and the government response.

Any additional comments?

The Apocalypse genre is a little weak artistically across the board. This one, affecting a flippant tone, shuns the usual Evangelical paradigm (no doubt in hopes of appealing to Hollywood).

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