“An impossible crime sends the common policeman into a tailspin. Here we have a man found murdered in a locked room, the key placed inside the door, the time set by two aural witnesses, no method of escape for the killer. It is a paradox, a puzzle, a damned fine headache for the uninitiated.” He… Continue reading Update March 8
If you've read this blog at other times of publishing, you know the story. I get a date in my head. I say it. When the date comes, I find out I need a few more months. Well, in case you don't know, I've been writing a book of short stories. I said that March… Continue reading Update 01/30/2025
Johnny Guitar (1954) Truffaut said of Johnny Guitar that the cowboys die like ballerinas. There's also a lot of animalistic action in the cinema of Ray--check out that v-flock behind Mercedes McCambridge. Sterling Hayden plays the title character, but Joan Crawford is the star. She never had this much sympathy in a performance again. To… Continue reading My favorite Films of the 50s
Naked Lunch (1991) Burroughs explained the title Naked Lunch as, "A frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork." The naked lunch served up in Naked Lunch is the moment a man realizes he is homosexual, but married to a woman he half-despises and both of them are hooked to… Continue reading My favorite films of the 90s
Jim Thompson is the antidote to all the fetid tastes of modernism. The Getaway is two-thirds detailed fallout from a caper and one-third descent into metaphorical hell. It shows a mastery of cause-and-effect tension for a long while, but then throws it all away for modes of expression that are directly antithetical to plot-based crime.… Continue reading The Getaway
James Scott Byrnside 