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bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: December 2010

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Tuesday, December 28, 2010. Nice Jacket: The Ginger Man. Dell's second Laurel printing from March 1974 of J.P. Donleavy's 1955 novel. The Ginger Man -. I like to call this one Still Life with Debauchery. The cover below, from Oympia Press, is a mid-century abstraction of the shattered nerves of the novel's namesake drunk. Berkeley went with psychedelic sex for their cover. I think the ginger man looks best in tweed. Here's an interview with J.P. Donleavy. His name was Petar...

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Uncategorized | The Philadelphia Review of Books

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The Philadelphia Review of Books. Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category. On July 1, 2015. Is a visual artist. He lives in Philadelphia with his two dogs, Teaser and the Firecat. From the Archives: The Conqueror Worm. On December 17, 2014. On June 26, 2014. They really do take up very little space when they shrink. Even if the hose busts by the end of the summer, for $20 a pop, you can just buy a new one for next summer. Lawn, 2009 by graham. Stopped on the Margit Bridge with Finnegans Wake. 195, with ...

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: February 2011

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Friday, February 25, 2011. Horror Film Director Feature #2: Mick Garris. Known for his Stephen King adaptations, and for creating the impressive Showtime Masters of Horror. 2005-2007) series, Mick Garris has been working in television and film for about thirty years, as a writer, producer, and director. His first horror feature was Critters 2. For my money, Critters 2. As good as it gets, far as horror-comedy B movies go. There's more agreement on his 1994 TV movie The Stand.

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: The Tommyknockers, dir. by John Power (1993)

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Thursday, May 19, 2011. The Tommyknockers, dir. by John Power (1993). Searching the Internet for positive reviews of one of my childhood favorites,. Turned out to be much more difficult than I'd imagined. Based on what I found, it seems I'm one of about twelve people on the planet who actually enjoyed this film. Another great adaptation with a few glaring flaws and a disappointing conclusion) had come out three years before, and. Was right around the corner, as were. And ha...

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: June 2010

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Friday, June 11, 2010. Splice - dir. by Vincenzo Natali (2009). It's somewhat hard to believe a studio executive saw the film. So, thank you to Warner Bros for distributing this crazy film, and more importantly, Joel Silver and Dark Castle Productions, for picking it up after its festival premier last year. Dark Castle has had a weird history, starting their company off with the releases of. House On Haunted Hill. 2009), with some good ones (last year's. Zero fake scares or...

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: Miscellany: The Best Post-Modernist

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Monday, March 14, 2011. Miscellany: The Best Post-Modernist. Barry Hannah's fiction blows away all the other mid-century American post-modernists. He makes John Barth's narrative trickery look like utter masturbatory nonsense. He makes Robert Coover's plays at authenticity seem like a little city boy playing a country part. (Basically, he makes them look like the hipsters they were, and still are for the most part.). Here's an excerpt from Hannah's story "Water Liars".

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: November 2010

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Misunderused Books and Movies. Thursday, November 18, 2010. Infernal Devices: A Mad Victorian Fantasy. By KW Jeter (1987). Jeter coined the term steampunk as a lighthearted response to the growing popularity of certain works outside of the more prevalent cyberpunk movement. Wednesday, November 10, 2010. Second Chance by Chet Williamson (1995). And if that sounds weird enough, it gets even weirder when you expand the plot summary. Now, in the present, he and his friends get together at this old. One of th...

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: Insidious, dir. James Wan (2010)

http://bentspine.blogspot.com/2011/04/insidious-dir-james-wan-2010.html

Misunderused Books and Movies. Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Insidious, dir. James Wan (2010). Some critics and horror fans have complained that Insidious. Recently released to theaters, isn't much more than a mash-up of various "haunting" films from the past: Poltergeist. 1982), The Amityville Horror. 1979), Paranormal Activity. Works much better than a lot of recent remakes and throwbacks. 2004], Dead Silence. That said, the second half isn't quite as good as the first. The setup is so good that it's ...

bentspine.blogspot.com

The Bent Spine: April 2011

http://bentspine.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Misunderused Books and Movies. Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Insidious, dir. James Wan (2010). Some critics and horror fans have complained that Insidious. Recently released to theaters, isn't much more than a mash-up of various "haunting" films from the past: Poltergeist. 1982), The Amityville Horror. 1979), Paranormal Activity. Works much better than a lot of recent remakes and throwbacks. 2004], Dead Silence. That said, the second half isn't quite as good as the first. The setup is so good that it's ...