Book Review: Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #13 by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Bones and Berserkers by Nathan Hale 

This anthology of thirteen tales runs the gamut from strict history (like the insane butler killing everyone at Taliesin in 1914) to complete fiction (Edgar Allan Poe's Hop-Frog). The framing story with American patriot Nathan Hale, his executioner, the British officer, and the African American slave, provides comedy for what turns out to be some very grim stories. The jokes take the edge off, as does the graphic novel format. Cartoon drawings of chopped off limbs or rotting corpses are a lot less graphic than photos or realistic drawings. That said, this book is really for older kids, not the very young. There's even a joke about that, explain that if you are a second-grader reading way above your level, you probably shouldn't be reading this book. I did learn a lot about a bunch of different stories and found it interesting throughout.

Recommended, but only if you can handle it!

Movie Review: The Man in the White Suit (1951)

The Man in the White Suit (1951) co-written and directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) has been fired from six or seven different jobs at textile factories. He keeps sneaking in to the experimental labs and working on some concoction. His chemical ambitions are seemingly crazy--he wants to make a fabric that won't tear or wear down and it also repels dirt. He finds one factory that will back his research, with the owner Alan Birnley (Cecil Parker) being convinced by his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood) to give Stratton a chance. Things go well until word leaks out. Now other manufacturers and Brinley's own employees object, because once people have clothes made from this miracle fabric, they won't ever need new clothes again (or even to wash their clothes). Economic chaos will ensue, they are sure. So they want to stop him, either by buying out his rights or by some other means.

The movie is an interesting satire of a bunch of different subjects. First is the labor versus capital, which morphs over the story. At first, Stratton can only get jobs as a menial worker, so the average workers, who have fought hard to unionize, are on his side. Then Stratton gets chummy with the resident capitalist, Birnley. Once everyone realizes the consequences that are coming, labor and capital work together (or at least they try) to stop Stratton's invention. Another target of satire is the scientific community. Stratton's experiments are very expensive (getting him fired because who wants to foot the bill?) and very destructive. Stratton is a bit clueless about his impact. His ambition to create is too strong to let him see where his creation will lead. The movie also makes fun of the desire to create perfection in this life. Nothing every works out like people initially imagine.

Guinness gives a great performance, mixing a mild-mannered exterior with a intractable devotion to his vision. He's wily enough to see some problems but does not have enough foresight to beat every obstacle. The rest of the cast is good too, giving their stock roles a bit more humanity than they could have had. The comedy is good if not laugh-out-loud funny. The jokes are more subtle and situational. There's some pratfalls and physical comedy but the cleverest humor here is the ideas and whimsical twists on situations.

Recommended.

Kayaking on San Domingo Creek, Saint Michaels, Maryland

While visiting the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we rented some kayaks from Shore Pedal & Paddle and explored San Domingo Creek, a waterway on the south side of Saint Michaels. We met with the guy at Waterfront Park. He had us quickly launched after a standard safety overview and recommendations for areas to see and to avoid.

We had two tandem kayaks. The kids decided they did not want to have their own kayak, so Mom went with our youngest while I went with our daughter. 

Getting used to the oars

Just off the dock is a small boat anchored in place. It has a bunch of vegetables growing on it in pots, as if it were a floating garden. 

No humans on board

We paddled out further into the creek, exploring the variety of side ways and their waterfront properties.

Choosing where to go

Fancy, older-looking house

Moving on

We only saw a bit of wild life. Most birds were streaking through the air, making them hard to photograph. We stopped for a break in the shade by one shoreline and saw a bunch of unoccupied shells.

Bird on the wing

Shell-ters for mollusks!

Another fancy house

We were surprised to see a ship out in the middle of the creek. There was no sign of life onboard. It was 10 in the morning, so either the crew was sleeping in or they had already gone off in a smaller boat.

Looks majestic

Is it really from Juneau, Alaska?

Maybe they could have parked over here

One of the things I like to do kayaking is going underneath structures. Most personal docks are very low to the water and even a kayak couldn't fit under. We did find a taller dock.

Going under, in the good way

Just past our passageway

Passing another property

Yet another house

Pilings are out in the middle of the creek for some reason. A few of them had nests built on top. This nest looks like it is still under construction.

Needs more work

Another bird that was moving too quick

I couldn't decide if this was a better shot, so I included both

The other kayak got into the "go under the dock" routine.

Almost like going under a bridge

We knew we were back to start when we saw the veg ship again.

Back at base

I spotted a bridge not too far away, so we went for one more adventure. 

St. Michaels Nature Trail Covered Bridge

While underneath

Houses on the other side of the bridge

Going back

Since we visited over Flag Day weekend, a lot of patriotic decorations were up. It was a fun area for kayaking.

Book Review: Popcorn with the Pope by D. Baird et al.

Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List by David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward

In 1995 the Vatican released a list of recommended films for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Lumiere Brothers' first public showing of motion pictures. The list isn't intended as a definitive "best of" or "Catholic Church approved" set, it's more an honoring of the medium. The intent is also for viewers to be more discerning and appreciative of movies. Rather than being passive viewers, movie watchers should engage with what they are watching in a more deliberate way. The list is divided into three categories: religion, values, and art. Each set has fifteen films. This book reviews the various films from both a Catholic and a film critical perspective. 

The book starts with an overview of the creation of the list and some commentary on the value of the list. Then each film is given an synopsis, a critical analysis, a review of its importance in cinematic history, and some discussion questions. The synopses are valuable to gage how interested a reader might be in each film, especially with films that are more obscure and less accessible, like the five and a half hour silent French feature about Napoleon (which is in the Art section because it innovated a lot of visual techniques). The historical contexts are also interesting and add some further understanding. I found the critical analysis wanting in some cases. They exhibit the typical film critic bias toward art house and foreign films, gushing with praise and insight for obscure films. More popular fare, like Stagecoach or Wizard of Oz, gets shorter shrift. The analysis is always interesting but I don't always agree with it. Also, part of the problem is the selections for the list itself. It has some films that seem like they were chosen just to have one in the genre, like the only animated film Fantasia and the only horror film Nosferatu, when other films in those genres are equals or better. The list has a lot of historical dramas and a surprising number of Italian Neorealist films. 

I found this informative but not always enjoyable. A healthy debate is a good thing, I suppose.

Mildly recommended.

Game Review: Deckscape: Dracula's Castle by dV Games

Deckscape: Dracula's Castle (2021) designed by Martino Chiacchiera and Silvano Sorrentino and published by dV Games

Deckscape is a series of games that imitate escape rooms but only use a deck of cards, not a room full of gadgets, gizmos, and gear. Each card is either a puzzle with a solution on the back or an item that can be used to solve puzzles. Unlike Unlock!, there is no app supporting game play, so only when players are sure they've solved the problem should they check the back of a puzzle card to see if they got it right. If the player is right, they just discard the puzzle card. If they are wrong, they put the card in the box to keep track of their score. At the end, fewer cards mean a better performance. 

This game has Count Vlad D. inviting the players to his castle in Transylvania to deliver a secret tome that he claims is his. The game starts with the invitation delivery and proceeds to the castle and all the surprises inside. Naturally, players don't want to give the book to the Count and must evade all his traps and fight all his minions. Escape from the castle requires a lot of creative thinking and problem solving.

Non-spoiler look at some cards

The puzzles were the typical assortment of easy, fun, difficult, creative, and inexplicable. Using only cards to run the game is okay but limited. Sometimes we were unsure of solving the puzzle but just went ahead and flipped the card anyway because we didn't want to spend more time coming up with new ideas that seemed more off-base than our current solution. So we had a lot of unsatisfying moments. One card does have hints on it but we never used it.

Compared to Exit: The Game or Unlock!, this was lacking. The app in Unlock! is often used creatively and the frustration isn't as bad with tough puzzles. Exit uses a lot of different types of puzzles, with physical manipulation of components in addition to using the cards. The Dracula theme was interesting and well-used but the execution was not our favorite.

Mildly recommended--this wasn't terrible but it didn't sell us on the Deckscape system either.

Book Review: Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman written by Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Gerry Duncan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van Meter, and art by Carmine Infantino, Steven Grant, Salvador Larroca, and Barry Kitson

Spider-Woman isn't just some Peter Parker clone. Jessica Drew was the daughter of scientist Jonathan Drew who teamed up with another scientist, Herbert Wyndham, to conduct unlimited research in an isolated area. Young Jessica was exposed to radiation. Combining Drew's expertise in spiders (who are highly resistant to radiation according to this book) and Wyndham's knowledge of evolution, they are able to preserve her life. Jonathan mysteriously drops out of the story and Wyndham goes crazy, calling himself "The High Evolutionary." He evolves lower animals into humans, though they don't get along with the human/spider hybrid that Jessica becomes. She escapes, only to fall into the clutches of Hydra. She's brainwashed into being an assassin for Hydra but leaves that behind, trying to strike out on her own. Jessica has a hard time finding a regular job (with no background or references) but she resists the temptation to turn back to evil. 

This book contains a couple of different stories. The first is her origin as a superhero in the 1970s. After all the backstory, she's in London starving. She struggles with stealing to eat and finding any work at all. She's being followed by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, naturally, falls for her. They don't get along. The next story jumps ahead to Spider-Woman in Los Angeles, where she runs into Peter Parker, who happens to be on a press junket to some scientific labs. They tussle as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Jessica is not up on her superheroes and assumes he's an imitation of her! They come to a peaceable end without revealing their identities to each other.

The book then jumps to stories from the 2010s. In a bit from the A + X saga, she teams up with X-Man Kitty Pride to thwart the Absorbing Man from stealing a bit of non-terrestrial metal that will make him overpowered. The next story is set during a big crossover battle. The Avengers (which Spider-Woman has joined) head to outer space with a coalition of of goodies and baddies to fight the Builders who have a seemingly unstoppable fleet. The Avenger split into two spacecraft, with Spider-Woman on a different ship from Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Jessica dated Clint at one point and had a bad breakup. He's now extra-friendly with Carol, who is also a former close friend of Jessica. So Spider-Woman has mixed feelings about them. The action is exciting and the side of soap-opera is much less interesting. The story has some nice personal moments, especially with Black Widow.

I enjoyed the earlier stories better. They are self-contained and look at Jessica as she seeks a new and better life, a redemption from her past. An evil character turning to good is a favorite storyline for me. The later stories are parts of larger narratives and feel incomplete taken out of their contexts. I like the art better in the later stuff but the story is more important to me.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: Malnazidos (2020)

Malnazidos (2020) directed by Alberto de Toro and Javier Ruiz Caldera

Set during the Spanish Civil War, Captain Jan (Miki Esparbe) fights for the Fascist side though he is a lawyer by trade and not a very good soldier. His uncle is a friend of Franco and gets him out of trouble (i.e., execution by firing squad) for the third time. To prove that he's a worthy and trustable soldier, Jan is given a secret letter to deliver to another unit, a unit far enough away that the mission is one he likely won't come back from. He takes the job rather than being summarily executed. He picks up a young private as a driver (Manel Llunell) and they head off through enemy territory. It's not long before they are captured by a bunch of Reds who are about to off them when they all discover that the dead are coming back to life. The dead don't care if people are fascist or communist, to them everyone is food. So an uneasy alliance is struck to get out of the titular Valley of the Dead (at least, that's the English version of the title, if not a translation). 

This is a fairly standard zombie movie. The historical setting is the only original bit of it. The rest of the film has all been made before--the rakish, authority-flaunting hero, the young, inexperienced sidekick (there's a running gag about the driver being a virgin), the hostile, competent female who winds up with the hero, the evil, scarred scientist who gets his comeuppance, etc. Even with the lack of originality, the movie is still entertaining in a "rainy Saturday afternoon" way. The gore is surprisingly mild for a zombie film, which I didn't mind. The actors do a good job with the semi-cliched roles they inhabit. I was entertained but not wowed by the film.

Mildly recommended, and not to be confused with the 1946 movie with the same English title.