Where Did the Weekend Go?

I spent Saturday morning working on a secret audio project, then the rest of the weekend has flown by. I did some writing, some reading. Got caught up on the new comics and the latest issue of Video Watchdog.

I'm still reading Deeper by James A. Moore -- a great novel so far -- but today I got this:


I have to put Jim's book on hold for a few hours while I read the Parker. When a new Parker book comes out, everything else has to stop.

That's how my universe works.

So I go to my favorite reading chair to settle in, and what do I find?


I'm going to bed and read. Good night.

Video Watchdog #133

I just finished the latest issue of one of my favorite magazines.

I love movies, but I consider myself a casual fan rather than an perfectionist. I can't imagine watching several different versions of a film to note the difference in running times and subtitles.

Fortunately, I have have Video Watchdog to do that for me. In addition to the obsessive cataloging of film details, I'm constantly impressed by the subject matter the magazine covers. Science Fiction, Horror, Asian cinema, film noir, obscure independent and foreign films.

It's like Tim Lucas sat down and said, "How can we make a magazine that will make Mark Justice happy?"

This issue offers lengthy reviews of new box sets of Charlie Chan, Michael Shayne, The Untouchables and Mission Impossible, along with essays on newer flicks like Children of Men and Hollywoodland. In each issue of VW, I usually learn about a film or two that I have to seek out. This time around it's Death Rides a Horse, a 1967 spaghetti western starring John Phillip Law and Lee Van Cleef, and These Are the Damned, a 1961 hammer SF film that has been around in a butchered form for a long time. Editor/publisher Lucas presents an exhaustive examination of the differences in the directors cut of Damned and previous releases.

It's another solid issue and highly recommended for hardcore fans of genre films.