Back to the Future

Call me romantic. Call me nostalgic. Call me the Duke of Ted.

For some reason, I've always enjoyed time travel movies. Maybe it's from growing up reading the "Alley Oop" comic strip every day in the paper. The strip featured a time machine that whisked Alley Oop back into history: e.g., ancient Egypt, the Old West, and Homeric Greece. So, from an early age, I was intrigued with the notion of time travel. Especially backward. Maybe that's why I became a historian.

I also was a faithful reader of "Dick Tracy," but all his futuristic devises—especially the iconic Two-Way Wrist Radio—didn't spark in me a similar interest in the future.

It is generally accepted that H.G. Wells, whose The Time Machine was published in 1895, coined the term "time machine," and if he didn't invent the concept of time travel, he at least popularized it. Wells' protagonist used his invention to visit the distant future, not the past. But, there was nothing to prevent Wells' time machine from moving backward as well as forward in time.

I can't recall the first time-travel movie I saw, but I can enumerate my favorites.

My all-time favorite isn't a single movie but the "Back to the Future" trilogy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the franchise follows young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) as he travels back and forth among past, present, and future in a tricked out DeLorean. The DeLorean time machine is the creation of local eccentric Dr. Emmett (Doc) Brown.

Of the three movies, my favorite is the first which takes Marty back to 1955 where he tries to ensure that his parents meet. Otherwise, there'll be no Marty. Funny how that works. I grew up in the 1950s and can identify with much in the film—including the clothes, music, cars, and values.

The second "Back to the Future" film takes Doc Brown, Marty, and Marty's girlfriend to the future and then to an alternate—and very dark—1985.

The final movie finds Doc Brown and Marty back in the Old West of 1885 where Doc works as a blacksmith and local tinkerer. Here, Zemeckis pays tribute to H.G. Wells and gets in some friendly ribbing of the Western genre, including one of its most popular stars: Clint Eastwood.

When I stumble across "Peggy Sue Got Married" while channel surfing, I never fail to stop and watch. Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) married her high school sweetheart, Charlie (Nicolas Cage), but twenty-five years later, they're separated and contemplating divorce.

When Peggy Sue attends her 25th reunion, she faints and . . . wakes up in 1960 when she was a high school senior. So, she gets a second chance at senior year. That, I believe, is the primary attraction of this movie. Who hasn't wondered if things might have turned out differently if only?

This is fun. This is nostalgic. This is improbable. Whatever the physics, time travel is likely unrealistic given the extent of our knowledge. But, most writers and film makers who use the concept try to make it at least remotely plausible. But Francis Ford Coppola, the Oscar-winning director of the "Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now," makes no effort to explain Peggy Sue's time travel. There's no DeLorean. No wormhole. No nothing. I faint; therefore, I travel.

No matter. It's still a favorite. And, it's moral is always timely: Some things were just meant to be. Or, as Doc Brown warns Marty, the space/time continuum is nothing to play with.

Doc Brown's warning about messing with the space/time continuum is also on the minds of the officers onboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in "The Final Countdown." After sailing into a freak electrical storm, they are transported back to the eve of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Can they—or even should they--try to prevent the attack? It's an intriguing proposition; the movie features some good performances (Martin Sheen, Charles Durning, Kirk Douglas, Katherine Ross, James Farentino); and there's a surprise waiting at the end.

I usually prefer my travelers to go back in time, but forward travel can be intriguing too. In "Time after Time," the past intrudes on the future when serial killer Jack the Ripper uses writer H.G. Wells' time machine to escape to 1979 San Francisco. Soon enough, Wells shows up to track down the killer. This cross-genre piece is part sci-fi, part romance, part thriller, and all fun. With Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen. You might recall Steenburgen as Doc Brown's love interest in "Back to the Future Part III."

"The Terminator" and its sequels and prequels belong on any list of time travel favorites. The original, of course, features Arnold Schwarzenegger as the indestructible cyborg who travels back in time.

I'm also a sucker for father/son movies so it's no surprise that "Frequency" makes this list. It's a sci-fi thriller starring Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel as a father and son who communicate across time (thirty years) via a ham radio: a time paradox that's made possible by a couple of fortuitous solar storms.

Add baseball to the father/son and sci-fi elements and throw in an Iowa setting and you've got one of my sentimental favorites: "Field of Dreams." The problem is that the operative concept here seems to be travel between two dimensions of space—heaven and Iowa—and not across time. Doc Graham (Burt Lancaster), however, might be the exception that keeps this Kevin Costner fable on the list.

Bill Murray stars as a weatherman who's forced to relive Groundhog Day again and again in sci-fi comedy "Groundhog Day." The cause of the time warp Murray's character falls into is never explained, but that doesn't deflect from the fun.

Bruce Willis delivers a convincing performance in "12 Monkeys," another time travel thriller. Willis plays a convict who's sent back from 2035 to 1996 to retrieve a sample of a deadly virus that has laid waste to the planet.

For juvenile fun, there's "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as Valley boys trolling the past via a phone booth for a show-and-tell history project. I doubt that this one would be on Einstein's list.

That's ten. Check 'em out. Or, not. As Doc Brown said, "Your future is whatever you make it."

Semper Fi

I just finished a new book detailing the Marines' fight for security in the Hindu Kush (Afghanistan) back in 2005. It's an often-harrowing tale of endurance and courage against long odds. In other words, it's exactly what we've come to expect from Marines.

Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers—The Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, by Ed Darack. Berkley Caliber, $25.95 (316p) ISBN 978-0-425-22619-3

In the summer of 2005, the Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment (2/3 Marines) conducted two operations—Red Wings and Whalers, named after National Hockey League teams—in Afghanistan's isolated and forbidding Hindu Kush region. The first was a disaster; the second, "a masterpiece of light infantry operations." Writer/photographer Darack was there—a Marine embed—and reports in this paean to Marine courage and sacrifice.

When the 2/3 Marines arrived in Kunar Province in the rugged border region of northeast Afghanistan in 2005, it was the "most austere" and "least tamed" pocket of the country. Its valleys housed "some of the most dedicated, well-trained, and fervent Islamic fighters" in the world. The 2/3 Marines' primary mission was to establish security in the run-up to national elections in the fall.

The chief threat to security in the area was Ahmad Shah, a rising Taliban leader. Operations Red Wings and Whalers were designed to isolate and destroy Shah's small, but growing army.

Red Wings was a joint op with SOF (Special Operations Forces) and was compromised when a SEAL (Navy Special Operations) reconnaissance team was spotted and attacked. Racing to reinforce the SEALs, a Chinook flown by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) was shot down by Shah's fighters. All sixteen on board were killed: "the greatest disaster for the 160th, Navy Special Operations Forces, and all of USSOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] since the command's founding in 1987." Of the SEAL recon team, only one member—badly wounded—managed to escape.

The Marines extracted their revenge in Whalers. Despite having to overcome the opposition of risk-averse and micro-managing senior commanders and operating in intolerable conditions—at high altitude and under searing temperatures—the Marines flushed Shah's army out its sanctuaries, blocked its escape route, and decimated it.

It's an important and largely overlooked—until now—story of incredible endurance and courage. It deserves to be told.

I respect and admire Marines, but I have a couple of problems with the author's account. First, the narrative is weighed down by rambling sentences and melodramatic prose. The reader would be better served if the author used more periods and less colons, semicolons, commas, and dashes.

Second, the Marines would be better served if the author was less worshipful. I have no doubt that the Marines of 2/3 fought valiantly against long odds in the Hindu Kush and deserve recognition and honor. But, balance equals credibility. Darack is entirely uncritical in the case of 2/3's Marines. That strains credulity.

That said, Darack's detailed account of the two operations puts the reader in the middle of the action and reveals today's Marines to be worthy successors to those who fought at Belleau Wood, Edson's Ridge, Chosin Reservoir, and Hue City.

Weekend Adviser

It's shaping up to be a nice spring weekend across the country. The northern Plains look a bit on the cool and wet side, but that's not unusual. Much of the rest of the country should enjoy above average temps with an early taste of summer in some spots.

That means lots of outdoor time, but we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't note what you'll be missing if you spend all your time outdoors.

Actually, you won't be missing that much at the Cineplex. Of the movies premiering widely this weekend, only "The Soloist" looks interesting. It stars Jamie Foxx as a brilliant but troubled homeless musician and Robert Downey, Jr., as the reporter who befriends him. Check out the movie's official site here: http://www.soloistmovie.com/ and an early, enthusiastic review here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052480101050043.html

The other movies opening widely this weekend include "Obsessed," a "Fatal Attraction" clone starring Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter, and "Fighting," which looks like a "Fight Club" derivative. "Fighting" stars Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, and Luis Guzman.

Better to stay home and check out the excellent crop of new DVDs. First, there's "Frost/Nixon," director Ron Howard's fascinating dramatization of celebrity journalist David Frost's interviews with disgraced former President Richard Nixon in 1977. The film garnered five Oscar nominations including one for Best Picture.

"The Wrestler," a redemption drama starring Mickey Rourke as an aging professional wrestler looking to make a comeback, was another Oscar contender. Rourke was nominated for Best Actor and Marisa Tomei nabbed a Best Supporting Actress nomination playing his stripper girlfriend.

Finally, there's "Caprica," a feature-length prequel to the Sci Fi Channel's hit drama "Battlestar Galactica." Set fifty years before the events portrayed in "Battlestar," the movie will serve as a feature-length pilot episode for a new series set to debut on Sci Fi in 2010. "Battlestar" ended its four-season run this spring, but "Caprica" promises to continue the franchise's provocative story-telling. See my take on "Battlestar" and an earlier feature-length movie spawned by the series, "Battlestar Galactica: Razor," here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-stocking-stuffers

Except for diehard NFL fans, the TV listings look rather slim this weekend. Showtime has the Vietnam War drama "Rescue Dawn" on Sunday evening, and over on rival HBO, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" continues its delightful run. See my 2007 review of "Rescue Dawn" and a companion documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-an-american-hero

For those who can tolerate The Donald, NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" slouches on Sunday evening with Red Carpet mavens Joan and Melissa Rivers, Playmate Brande Roderick, and country-music star Clint Black still in the mix. Which raises the question: Where have all the jocks gone? Four--golfer Natalie Gulbis, androgynous bad boy Dennis Rodman, running back Hershel Walker, and skater Scott Hamilton—started the competition. None remain.

For those aforementioned pro football fanatics, ESPN will be televising the most over-analyzed event in human history: the NFL draft. Try to contain yourself. It'll be all draft, all the time. I don't understand this particular fascination, but millions seem mesmerized by it. Heck, an entire cottage industry has sprouted up around it. Check it out here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft

How anyone can find any residual drama in the actual draft is surprising. Various analysts—real and imagined—have been handicapping the draft for weeks. Just Google "mock NFL draft" and you'll see what I mean. ESPN has enough on its draft webpage—from mock drafts to player profiles, podcasts, and blogs—to keep fans busy for weeks.

And, just think, some of these guys will actually make it.

Go Green

Go Green

Seems that everybody's green today. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to a sensible environmental agenda. Few Americans have a smaller carbon footprint that I do. But, I have more faith in Mother Nature than Al Gore and Henry Waxman.

Here's an idea for Earth Day: Turn off the big-screen TV. Read a book. You and the environment will benefit.

If you like spy thrillers, here's one I've just finished:

The Venetian Judgment, by David Stone. Putnam, $25.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-399-15573-4

Stone, the pen name for a former military intelligence officer, continues his best-selling Micah Dalton series (following 2007's The Echelon Vendetta and 2008's The Orpheus Deception) with a sprawling spy thriller that spans three continents.

For the uninitiated, Dalton is a CIA cleaner—an agent who cleans up the messes left behind by fellow agents. His last assignment, however, ended with his lover, Cora Vasari, seriously wounded and Dalton deeply depressed and having long conversations with the ghost of his friend and colleague Porter Nauman. Nauman shows up at odd times, offers his old pal some sage counsel—it's from the other side, how can it not be sage?—and disappears. Dalton seems happy enough to see him.

Cora won't—or can't, Dalton's not sure—return his calls and neither will Deacon Cather, his boss at the Agency. So, he's stranded out in the cold. Left to his own devises, Dalton methodically hunts down and kills the Serbian Mafiosi who tried to assassinate Cora. That helps some but our hero's still in the dumps.

But with his boss under investigation as a Russian mole, Dalton snaps out of his funk and partners with the lovely and eager Mandy Pownall, an Agency colleague, to uncover the truth and exonerate Cather.

There is indeed a long-time mole within the Agency, and the Russians are desperate to protect his identity. It seems that they fear that a National Security Agency (NSA) project to decrypt Cold War intercepts from the 1970's will expose their man. So, they've set out to sidetrack the project. Since the Russians don't do subtle, this includes the torture killing of an adviser to the NSA project and the kidnapping and brutal murder of the son of the project's Senior Coordinator.

With all this going on and the Russians planning more mayhem, Dalton and Pownall blaze a bloody trail from London to Santorini, Istanbul, and Ukraine to expose the real traitor before the Russians destroy the evidence.

Dalton is actually a more complicated character than you'd expect from a cold-blooded killer, and Stone is adept at laying out intriguing scenarios. Add in enough action to keep an adrenaline junkie sated and you've got another winning spy thriller.

Quotable

"[E]veryone who goes to Bryn Mawr is expected to do something very clever afterward."

"Dreadfully earnest, the young. Utter bores."

"[W]ith men the journey is always better than the arrival."

"I work for the Central Intelligence Agency, and I am here to totally f--- up your world."

[B]eating up suspects in Turkey was considered a man's job."

Richard Price

What attracted me to writer Richard Price is his uncommon ability to charm the critics and still remain highly marketable. Two of his best-selling crime dramas—1992's "Clockers" and 1998's "Freedomland" (1998) have been adapted for the big screen. Spike Lee directed the former and the latter was a vehicle for Samuel L. Jackson. Price wrote both screen plays.

I had seen the movies but had not read the books. When Price's most recent novel was named a N.Y Times Notable Book and Best Book of the Year by both the Boston Globe and Washington Post, I knew I couldn't pass it up. So, when the paperback edition appeared last month, I grabbed a copy. Here's my take:

Lush Life, by Richard Price. Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $15 (455p) ISBN 978-0-312-42822-8

"Lush" is an appropriate adjective (metaphor?) for Price's depiction of Manhattan's Lower East Side as a predatory urban jungle: a place where moral ambiguity thrives and justice is a moving target. And perhaps most tellingly, Price (Clockers, Freedomland) allows none of his many characters—none, zero, zilch—to be happy. In fact, most are victims of one sort or another. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eric Cash is a 35-year-old aspiring writer working as a restaurant manager on the Lower East Side. Cash, like legions of actors, writers, and assorted artists pouring drinks and waiting tables in the city, struggles mightily with an "unsatisfied yearning for validation."

So, too, do wannabe gang bangers Tristan Acevedo and Little Dip Williams who live in public housing amidst poverty, drugs, and violence.

For Cash, validation is a finished screenplay. For Acevedo and Williams, it's a random mugging. One man's validation is another's nightmare, I always say.

One late night as Cash and two friends—aspiring actor Steven Boulware and writer/bartender Ike Marcus—are staggering home after an evening of bar-hopping, a host of aspirations intersect. In the urban jungle, mugging has a distinct advantage: a .22 pistol.

Boulware faints. Cash hands over his wallet. But Marcus refuses to comply and steps toward Acevedo and Williams. A startled Acevedo shoots him in the chest—the mugging now a homicide.

The case falls to detective Matty Clark, who has his own personal struggles. He's divorced and his two estranged sons—one of them a cop—are dealing drugs.

Clark and his partner zero in on Cash as the shooter and relentlessly grill him for hours before arresting him. By the time Boulware has sobered up enough to confirm Cash's account, the cops have lost twenty-four hours and are behind the curve.

The police brass don't expect an arrest and want to let the case quietly disappear. But Clark refuses and doggedly pursues it—perhaps for his own validation.

To be fair, this is a powerful, addictive tale of the seamy side of urban life. My problem with it is that it's so utterly dark. Surely, there are content, if not happy, souls to be found on the Lower East Side. A few would have added some balance to this otherwise impressive novel.

Quotable

"People say they're one thing or another. Then at some point, they just are what they are."

"This kid ever had an original thought, it would die of loneliness."

Weekend Adviser

Weekend Adviser

Driving across Nebraska last weekend, I noticed that the migratory waterfowl that stop off along the Platte River on their northward journey were mostly gone. Just another sign that the gradual arrival of spring here in the upper Midwest and on the northern plains is now likely irreversible.

That means, of course, that my to-do list just got longer. Besides the weekly chores, there's the annual rite of spring cleaning. Not to mention the yard which needs lots of work. And, with the arrival of Daylight Savings Time, there are more hours to get it done. Of course, that means less time for relaxing which means less time for entertainment.

Less time doesn't mean no time though. Plus, who knows, it might rain.

With that in mind, I'm making a list of possible weekend diversions. Take a look in case you find yourself with some unexpected free time.

The best bet at the Cineplex this weekend looks like political thriller "State of Play." It stars Ben Affleck as a bright young political star tripped up by the murder of his research assistant cum mistress and Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams as reporters searching for the truth. In another thriller—of sorts—assassin Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) returns to wreak vengeance on his enemies in "Crank: High Voltage." Amy Smart reprises her role as Chev's girlfriend Eve. The original played like a videogame. With directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor returning for the sequel, I'd expect a similar result. For a change of pace, there's "17 Again," wherein a middle-aged Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) becomes . . . yes, seventeen again (now played by Zac Efron) and tries to change his (past) future.

"State of Play" sounds interesting but not $9 interesting. More like $2.59 interesting. In other words, I'll wait for the DVD.

I'll also wait for the DVDs of two other films opening elsewhere this weekend: "Every Little Step," a documentary on the rehearsals for a revival of the smash Broadway hit "A Chorus Line," and "Tyson," a documentary on the boxer and bete noir. Documentaries almost never play here in my corner of Hog Heaven where Showcase Cinemas has a virtual monopoly.

Speaking of DVDs: I've stocked up on a few recent releases and a couple of old favorites for weekend viewing. The former includes "The Reader," a Holocaust-themed drama starring Kate Winslet (who won an Oscar for her performance); "Rachel Getting Married," another dysfunctional-family drama starring Anne Hathaway (who snagged a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role); and a 50th Anniversary Edition of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day classic romantic comedy, "Pillow Talk." I'm particularly looking forward to the new bonus material on the "Pillow Talk" disc, including a "Making of" feature and commentary with three prominent film historians.

Instead of "17 Again," I've got a couple of my personal favorite high-school redux/time travel movies on hand: "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Back to the Future." "Peggy Sue" is a rare comedy from director Francis Ford Coppola and stars Kathleen Turner as an unhappy wife who goes back—via a nasty bump on her head—to high school and meets her husband (Nic Cage) again. The "Back to the Future" trilogy is directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly who travels back—via a nuclear-fueled DeLorean—to 1955 where he meets his high-school age parents. That's just the beginning. Before the trilogy is over, Marty has visited the future, an alternative 1985, and the Old West. I've seen it several times, and it never gets old.

(Sometime soon, I'm going to do a "Top 10 Time Travel Movies." The older I get, the more I enjoy the genre. Must be nostalgia. Stay tuned.)

As usual, there's a lot on TV. And, some of it is worthwhile! Saturday evening brings the premiere of the original HBO film "Grey Gardens," starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy. For more on the film see here: http://www.hbo.com/films/greygardens/

Botswana's first and only female detective continues her winning ways on Sunday evening on HBO. If you haven't made the acquaintance of Mwa Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," check out episode 4 this Sunday. You won't be sorry. For more on this captivating series, see here: http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/

Also on Sunday evening and over on CBS, a new Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler," tells the remarkable story of a Polish social worker who helped rescue some 2500 children in Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto from the clutches of the Nazis. Oscar- and Golden Globe-winner Anna Paquin (for "The Piano" and HBO's "True Blood," respectively) stars as the heroine. For more, see here: http://www.cbs.com/specials/courageous_heart/

Holocaust heroes like Irena Sendler are a particular inspiration. I don't believe that an individual can save the world, but he/she can save a life or 2500. That's no small thing. Moreover, when others rationalized that they were just following orders, some—too few surely—chose to follow something else: their conscience. Their stories should be heard.

Secret Agent Man

Secret Agent Man

Spy thrillers are one of my favorite genres, and I read as many as I can work into a busy schedule.

Because I also like lists, I've been thinking about what a Top 10 Fictional Spies list would look like. But after jotting down ten names in ten minutes, I've decided that this isn't going to be easy. You'll find my initial ten in the following paragraphs.

But, it's only a start. And, a modest one at that. So, I could use some help. Check out my admittedly tentative suggestions and then weigh in with your own ideas. Perhaps together we can come up with a definitive list.

My son, an Army captain, likes Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy's intelligent hero), John Wells (Alex Berenson's skeptical hero), and Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn's indestructible hero). I love my son, so I'll have to try to find them a place. I have no problem with Jack Ryan: the early Clancy novels were thoroughly engrossing. Wells is intriguing; the novels are fun; but the action is too improbable. Rapp is the spy on steroids.

My son and I also agree on Jason Bourne: Robert Ludlum's amnesic assassin and actor Matt Damon's signature role.

We'll have to wedge James Bond in there somewhere, but the Hollywood version—suave sophisticate, babe magnet, AND cold-blooded killer who cracks jokes in the face of almost-certain death—is thin gruel. The latest incarnation—courtesy of director Martin Campbell and actor Daniel Craig—is a big step in the right direction.

George Smiley (John le Carre's Cold Warrior) will need a spot. So, too, the delectable "La Femme Nikita" (Peta Wilson). And, Joseph Conrad's Mr. Verloc from the classic The Secret Agent.

I also like little-known spies like the reluctant secret agent Alicia Huberman (played by Ingrid Bergman) in Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious."

I imagine that Alden Pyle will be found somewhere near the top of my list. Pyle is the naïve American spy in Graham Greene's The Quiet American. Pyle represents what's good—the optimism and idealism—of American foreign policy and what's not—the naïve arrogance, especially.

Greene's novel should be on everyone's must-read list. Hollywood has adapted the novel for the big screen twice: an unfortunate 1958 rendering directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Audie Murphy and Michael Redgrave. (I plan to blog on Audie Murphy one day: An unlikely World War II hero—including the Medal of Honor—and a troubled movie star.)

Hollywood tried again in 2002 with Phillip Noyce directing and Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser starring. This one is a noticeable improvement, but it still fails to capture the brilliance of the novel. Not everyone, of course, agrees with my lukewarm opinion of the movie. See critic David Sterritt's enthusiastic review in The Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1122/p14s02-almo.html

Count 'em. I'm already at ten and I've hardly warmed up. I warned you that this isn't going to be easy. Anyway, post your suggestions and I'll see what I can do about that Top 10 list.

No Cannes Do

No Cannes Do

It's exactly one month until the 62nd Festival de Cannes—a.k.a. the Cannes Film Festival—opens along the beautiful French Riviera. Before making your plans, check out their website at: http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html

When I wrote for Military.com, I needled my editor annually about sending me to cover the Festival. See my 2007 lament at: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-news/another-cannes-of-worms

The answer was always the same: No. No. And, NO.

I couldn't quite figure it out. There was always plenty of cash for backdated stock options for the big boys. But, let one of the little people ask for a perk, and you'd think the outfit was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Anyway, now that I'm working for myself, I figured that the boss would say yes faster than a politician contemplating a bribe.

Was I in for a surprise. Cannes was out. Too expensive. Okay, maybe some other, less pricey, destination would pass muster. So, I looked around.

And, I found that there are lots of film festivals—hundreds in fact. There are sixty-four in France alone. The French obviously take their movies seriously. Which begs the question: Why are there so few good French films? But, if Cannes is out, so is the rest of France.

After some more digging, I identified plenty of intriguing festivals. Bulgaria (Bulgaria?) hosts something called the Love is Folly Film Festival. Sounds like the story of my life. I like that Bulgaria is bargain-priced. Anyway, who needs the Mediterranean when they've got the Black Sea?

Speaking of love, I was especially intrigued by London's Tongues on Fire Film Festival. It sounds salacious. Like a lyric from a Rolling Stones' song. But, London's expensive.

I guess that if I want salacious, I should try something closer to home. Maybe Philadelphia's Big Bang Film Festival.

There are lots of Jewish Film Festivals. I can understand the one in Jerusalem, but Hong Kong?

Perusing a list of film festivals, you begin to understand the reach of movies in today's world. Even in the grip of starvation and a cholera epidemic, Harare hosts the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. Mugabe must be a fanboy.

There's also the Sarajevo Film Festival in war-torn Bosnia; the Reggae Film Festival in Jamaica; and the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival in Nepal. If Nepal is too out-of-the-way, there's also the Himalaya Film Festival in Amsterdam. Yes, Amsterdam.

Me? I've decided to go for something less exotic. The Johnny Mack Brown Film Festival in folksy Dothan, Alabama. You can check it out here: http://www.johnnymackbrownfilmfestival.com/

Mr. Brown, a Dothan native and University of Alabama football hero in the 1920s, starred in dozens of B-movie Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to screening Mr. Brown's films, the Festival includes activities like wagon rides, exhibitions of trick roping, and Native American dancers. You won't see that at Cannes!

So, that's it. Pack up the boots and plaid shirts. I'm going to Dothan. But, I've got a secret. I was born in Dothan and grew up nearby. Most of my family still lives there. I can kill two birds with one road trip: a visit home and a blog from the Johnny Mack Brown Film Festival.

How can the boss say no?

Weekend Adviser

I'm in Colorado Springs this week visiting my Army officer son who's stationed at Ft. Carson. As much as I love books and movies, I also love the Great Outdoors. So, much of my time this weekend will be spent hiking in the mountains looming on the city's west side.

That still leaves lots of hours for entertainment.

There's not much new for adults at cineplex this weekend. Your tweens might insist on seeing "Hannah Montana: The Movie," wherein the teen queen, returns to her Tennessee hometown for some downhome perspective. Don't fight it: Miley Rules. For the boys [of all ages], there's the sophomoric comedy, "Observe and Report," with slacker Seth Rogen.

While the kids are away, the adults get the big-screen TV for a while. This is a good time to catch the newly-released DVD of "Doubt," the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the eponymous Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play. It's a provocative drama about a rigid nun (played by Meryl Streep) who accuses a popular priest (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) of pedophilia. The problem is that she has no proof.

Also new this week is a 2-Disc Collector's Edition in Blu-ray of "No Country for Old Men," the 2007 Best Picture Oscar-winner from the Coen brothers. It's a sprawling thriller that defies genre: chase movie, modern Western, noir. The film starts with a drug deal gone bad and an unfortunate loser who chances upon the scene and helps himself to $2 million. That choice sets in motion a relentless and bloody chase to recover the purloined cash. Set in West Texas desert country, the sweeping vistas are even more spectacular in Blu-ray. This edition also includes over five hours of new bonus features. For my review of the original release of the "No Country for Old Men" DVD, see here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-march-madness-pt-2

March Madness is over, but baseball is back. Check your local listing for games in your area.

I'd also encourage you to set aside an hour on Sunday evening for the latest episode in HBO's dramedy "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." See my review of the pilot episode here: http://flyover-culture.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-1-ladies-detective-agency.html

And, finally . . . The season finale of the best show on television, "Friday Night Lights," airs tonight on NBC. If you haven't discovered this gem yet--and too many viewers haven't--take a look. I'll have more on "Friday Night Lights" next week.

Stay tuned.

Robert B. Parker

One could argue that best-selling mystery novelist Robert B. Parker has exquisite timing. Just as another season is getting underway, he's bringing out another in his popular series featuring former baseball prodigy and current small-town police chief Jesse Stone.

Growing up, I loved baseball as much as reading. As it worked out, I was a better reader than hitter. But, I still follow the game, and readers of this blog can expect occasional baseball-related posts. Right now, I have a request in for a copy of Odd Man Out, a new memoir of one young pitcher's short minor-league career (recently excerpted in Sports Illustrated.) Stay tuned for a future review.

But for today, here's my review of Parker's latest mystery:

NIGHT AND DAY, by Robert B. Parker. Putnam's, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-399-15541-3

This is the eighth Jesse Stone novel—and more than half-a-hundred overall—for the prolific Robert B. Parker.

Stone, a former minor league baseball prospect and Los Angeles Robbery Homicide detective, is police chief of a 12-man department in small-town Paradise, Mass. Chief Stone's personal life is a mess: he drinks too much; talks to a poster of baseball great Ozzie Smith; and sees a shrink about his obsession with his ex-wife, a television personality whose "M.O. is to sleep with men who can advance her career."

Things are getting a little bizarre at work too. First, Betsy Ingersoll, the principal of the local junior high, creates a firestorm of protest when she conducts "the great thong search" before a school dance. The parents are outraged and demand action. It doesn't help Jesse's investigation that the principal's husband is a prominent Boston attorney.

Meanwhile, a Peeping Tom who calls himself the "Night Hawk" is at large in usually-bucolic Paradise. Soon enough—and against the odds—the incidents escalate from peeping to home invasion. At gunpoint, the voyeur forces women to undress and takes nude pictures of them.

If that's not enough, Jesse discovers the existence of a local swingers club that might be linked to the crimes. All in a day's work for our laconic hero who races to uncover the perpetrator before someone gets hurt.

After a long career, Parker remains a dependable author. NIGHT AND DAY is just the latest in a long line of first-rate mysteries.

QUOTABLE

"Baseball was the most important thing that didn't matter that he'd ever known."

"God is undoubtedly an ironist."

"Lots of women like to be looked at. If they'd just admit it."

"Police work is boring to describe."

"You sure you don't want another one of these doughnuts? It's cop food. You're a cop."

Graham Greene Lite

Graham Greene Lite

The late British writer Graham Greene is a personal favorite. In fact, his The Quiet American, set in the final days of the French war in Vietnam—also the early days of U.S. involvement—is the only novel that I've read more than twice. (The only book that I've read more often is William Strunk and E.B. White's The Elements of Style. I alone am responsible for the continuing deficiencies in my writing style.)

So, when a publisher touts a novel as reminiscent of Greene, I usually take a look. I'm usually disappointed, of course.

That's what led me to read The Secret Keeper, a new novel by Paul Harris, the U.S. correspondent for Britain's Observer newspaper. And, there are similarities to Greene's work: a remote, dangerous setting; morally ambiguous characters; questions of right and wrong.

But, alas, author Paul Harris is not Graham Greene. That doesn't mean that his novel isn't worthwhile though.

The Secret Keeper, by Paul Harris. Dutton, $25.95 (321p) ISBN 978-0-525-95094-3

Foreign correspondent Harris draws on his four years in Africa for this uneven debut novel set in Sierra Leone, the site of a destructive decade-long civil war in the 1990s.

Harris' hero, British journalist Danny Kellerman, cut his teeth covering the fighting in Sierra Leone. Back in London four years later, Kellerman receives a cryptic letter from former lover Maria Tirado, an American aid worker who stayed behind after the killing stopped. Tirado, who works for an agency that rehabilitates child soldiers, writes that "I'm in trouble," and appeals to Kellerman, "I need you."

Kellerman soon learns that Tirado is already dead: killed in an apparent kidnapping attempt. Suspecting that there's more to the story, he heads to Freetown to uncover the truth.

Two parallel stories unfold here: the first set in the closing year of the war reveals Kellerman and Tirado's brief but intense affair and the second follows Kellerman's desperate—and increasingly dangerous—search for the truth behind Tirado's death.

Tirado was exotic, beautiful, and enigmatic. Even Kellerman didn't suspect the true nature of her secrets.

Harris' descriptions of Sierra Leone and the casual brutality that marked the war there are vivid and powerful. His characters, with one important exception, are sharply-drawn and credible, and he moves the action along briskly. The book's weak link is the author's hero—and apparent alter ego. Kellerman, naïve, weak, and self-centered, makes for a decidedly unsympathetic character. It's hard to believe that he would have lasted long in a place like Sierra Leone.

That's the key. Even Greene's protagonists weren't always sympathetic. But, they were always credible.

Weekend Adviser

Forget the groundhog and other faux harbingers of Spring. I now have incontrovertible proof of its long-delayed and much-anticipated arrival here in Hog Heaven: a truck load of mulch piled high in the driveway. Its (the season and the mulch) presence means that my wife has BIG plans for me this weekend. Plans that don't include reading the latest thriller or watching basketball. At least not while the sun shines.

But, the sun can't shine all the time. That leaves at least some hours when I won't be blowing leaves out of the flower beds and spreading a fresh layer of mulch.

Even so, I likely won't be catching any of this weekend's movie premieres. (DVDs mean never having to say you're sorry.) That includes "Adventureland," another coming-of-age piece. This one is set at an amusement park (surprise!) and costars the delectable Kristin Stewart. The word is that her elegant neck is safe. For now anyway. For those who can't get enough testosterone, there's the latest in the "Fast & Furious" franchise. This one brings back the original stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Paul Walker. I also won't be seeing "Sugar," a baseball drama that was partially filmed just down the road in Davenport, Iowa. The movie follows the hopeful odyssey of Latino baseball players from impoverished homeland to the American minor leagues and has won kudos from audiences at film festivals. It's on my must-see-soon list.

I also probably won't watch as March (April?) Madness reaches a climax with the Final Four on Saturday and the Championship on Monday. Why? No underdog. Except for the fans of the four remaining teams, who really cares if North Carolina, Michigan State, Villanova, or Connecticut win another NCAA title? Since I'm only mildly interested in college basketball anyway, it takes a cinderella to keep me watching.

If you're staying in on Saturday night--like moi--and eschewing televised roundball, there are a couple of new DVD releases that might appeal to you. The first is the acclaimed--Academy Award for Best Picture--Bollywood drama "Slumdog Millionaire." Directed by Danny Boyle, it's the life-affirming story of an orphaned Mumbai street kid's unlikely success on an Indian "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

The other, for those interested in a TV series marathon, is the first season of the USA Network hit "In Plain Sight." The series stars Mary McCormack as U.S. Marshall Mary Shannon who works for the Federal Witness Protection Program. Besides the assorted criminals she works with, there's an eccentric cast of characters in her personal life. It makes for a funny and suspenseful hour. For much more on the series, including info on the Season Two premiere coming up on April 19, see here: http://www.usanetwork.com/series/inplainsight/

Some of you will undoubtedly be watching vampire romance "Twilight" which has sold 5.2 million copies since the DVD was released, making it the year's top-selling release. There's no recession for vampires.

There's one thing for sure: I've reserved an hour on Sunday evening for the second installment of HBO's delightful adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's Botswana dramedy, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." For more on last Sunday's pilot, see here: http://flyover-culture.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-1-ladies-detective-agency.html

Long Lost

Long Lost, by Harlan Coben. Dutton, $27.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-525-95105-6

Prolific best-seller Coben returns with his ninth Myron Bolitar thriller (after 2006's Promise Me). This time out the former basketball star and current entertainment agent is caught in a fiendish terrorist plot that has him piling up the frequent-flier miles.

It all starts out innocently enough. The forty-something Bolitar, who's involved in a relationship with a "Nine/Eleven widow," gets a call from old flame Terese Collins. The two once shared a passionate three weeks in the Caribbean, but Terese, a former CNN anchor, disappeared shortly thereafter and hadn't been seen in eight years.

"Come to Paris," she asks. Bolitar is reluctant, but his best friend and business partner Win Lockwood, reminds him of Terese's "world-class derriere" and before long our hero is headed for Paris.

As it turns out, Terese has more than sex on her mind although there's that too. It seems that her ex-husband, investigative journalist Rick Collins, has disappeared and she wants Bolitar's help in finding him.

Things get complicated thereafter. Collins turns up dead. DNA tests of the blood at the scene show that Collins' daughter also was present. The only problem—and it's a big one—is that Collins doesn't have a daughter. He and Terese had a daughter once—seven-year-old Miriam—but she died in a tragic traffic accident. That's why Terese disappeared. To darkest Africa, it turns out.

Then, things get really complicated. It further turns out that Collins—and now Terese and Bolitar—have stumbled onto an international terrorist plot of diabolical proportions. Before it's over—and is it ever over?—Bolitar will encounter all manner of challenges: Mossad, anti-abortion activists, CIA black sites, Interpol, rendition, waterboarding, stem cell researchers, and enough facile jokes to embarrass a lesser man.

Bolitar's best buddy, the forty-something Win, has a twenty-something Oriental girlfriend. Her name is Mee, pronounced "me." Win, it seems, loves Mee jokes. Maybe he knows that they're lame, but he can't help himself. Here's an example: "Win slapped my back. 'Feel good about yourself, Myron. After all, I feel good about Mee.'" It gets tiresome. To his credit, Coben doesn't resort to the ultimate Mee joke: "The devil make Mee do it."

People are dying right and left, and these two middle-age professionals manage to keep up the frat boy humor throughout. It does have a way of diminishing the suspense.

Nevertheless, Coben knows how to keep the action moving along briskly and the reader turning the pages. The plot twists like a mountain road but Coben ties everything together in a tense climax. It's not Robert B. Parker. It's not even Randy Wayne White. But, Coben's fans likely will be happy to see Bolitar back again.