Meanwhile, on the Suburban Pagans Website
New old reviews from Teleport City: Mulholland Drive, Kungfu Zombie, A Dandy in Aspic, Golgo 13, and more
In case you were feeling light in the reading department, more reviews have been moved out of the crumbling tomb that is Teleport City and brought back to life on the Suburban Pagans website. Here’s what’s shown up lately…
Mulholland Drive
David Lynch’s dark meditation on fame, dreams, and self-delusion is like a Raymond Chandler novel without Philip Marlowe there to save the damned.
Kungfu Zombie
A staple of my early 20s, this loony martial arts horror-comedy pits an obnoxious young kungfu expert and his obnoxious dad against obnoxious criminals, a less-obnoxious Taoist wizard, and a nigh-indestructible undead supervillain.
Revolver
Oliver Reed and Fabio Testi star in one of the bleakest, best Eurocrime thrillers on the 1970s, as a cop and a lovable rascal who get in way over their head but do end up with some fabulous coats.
A Dandy in Aspic
A not entirely successful, low-key Eurospy film in which an emotionally reserved Soviet double agent in England is assigned by British Intelligence to track down himself. From time to time, Mia Farrow pops up to look amazing in amazing outfits.
From 007 to Gogol 13
The story of how officially licensed manga adaptations of James Bond stories morphed into manga, anime, and live-action films about Japan’s number one, stone-coldest assassin, Golgo 13.
Scorpions and Miniskirts
A ridiculous Eurospy film that only barely manages to maintain interest in its own plot as it sends two Lothario secret agents on a ridiculous assignment that involves an awful lot of exotic dancers.
You can find all of those and everything else I’ve moved over so far as part of the Teleport City Dossier.
In Case You Need Still More Reading Material…
No reviews of them written, but I’ve been making some reasonable progress on some pretty good books lately, including:
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
The Stories of John Cheever, John Cheever
Doubleshot, Raymond Benson
Hello America, J.G. Ballard
I vouch for them, although maybe my enthusiasm around Doubleshot is…muted.