Category: Reviews

Movie Review: A Face in the Crowd, starring Andy Griffith

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews4 Comments

Face in the CrowdI previous wrote a rather sentimental tribute to Mayberry and The Andy Griffith Show–and praised the themes of Barry Manilow’s CD, Fifteen Minutes, on the corrupting influence of fame–and strangely enough, I’ve now found a movie that combines the two!  A few years before landing in Mayberry, Andy Griffith starred in A Face in the Crowd…and was not playing the Sheriff Andy Taylor we know and love.

The movies opens with Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), who arrives at a small-town jail looking for material for her local radio program.  There she finds Larry Rhodes (Andy Griffith), locked up with his guitar, under a week’s sentence for drunk and disorderly conduct.  Dubbing him “Lonesome Rhodes,” she convinces him to come host at the radio station.  His mix of humor, stories and singing takes off, catapulting Lonesome into national fame.  But Marcia finds herself in the role of Dr. Frankenstein as fame goes to Lonesome’s head and he spirals out of control.

IMDB tells me this was Griffith’s film debut, and that it has been described as “stunning.”  It really is.  It was filmed before The Andy Griffith Show, but the context now is unavoidable, and I think it strengthens the movie.  While I can’t imagine Andy Taylor ever in jail for being “drunk and disorderly” (actually, that could make a good plot, if it was a mix-up…), Lonesome still seems rather like a rough-edged Andy Taylor when we first meet him.  He’s got the accent, the guitar and the big grin–and you can almost ignore the feeling that there’s something just a bit off about his open-mouthed laugh. Continue reading “Movie Review: A Face in the Crowd, starring Andy Griffith” →

Book Review: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

On By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Reviews11 Comments

I know I read The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells some ten or fifteen years ago–and I must have completely forgotten it.  Frankly, if I had remembered it more clearly, I don’t think I would have reread it!  But since I did (well, listened to it on audio), I’m counting it as a read for R.I.P., as classic horror and certainly full of mists and mystery.

The story begins with a reclusive, bandaged man taking lodgings at an inn, there to work on a mysterious experiment.  It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the bandaged man eventually removes his bandages–and is completely invisible.  Unfortunately, he’s also a complete psychopath.  He wreaks a fair degree of havoc until he eventually runs into an old acquaintance, and sits down for an extended narration about how he became invisible, and his future plans to (more or less) conquer the world.

For the record, I like old books.  I really do.  I can handle a fair degree of slow writing, a fair amount of focus on random side characters, and even a plot that takes a little while to get going.  I just finished Shirley, a Charlotte Bronte novel that had all of those problems, and still enjoyed it immensely.  But The Invisible Man?  Sad to say, I found it pretty irredeemable. Continue reading “Book Review: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells” →

Book Review: Because of Winn-Dixie

On By cherylmahoneyIn Juvenile, Reviews2 Comments

I recently did a reread (by audiobook) of Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo–and realized I’d forgotten pretty much all of the book–and remembered anew why I get so annoyed by the notion that kids books can’t deal with complex themes and ideas.

Because of Winn-Dixie is about India Opal, ten years old and newly moved to Naomi, Florida.  When she meets a stray dog in the produce section of a Winn-Dixie supermarket, she promptly dubs him Winn-Dixie and brings him home.  Winn-Dixie proves to the most charming and friendly of dogs, who helps Opal find new, somewhat unconventional friends.

This was a lovely book that is both a sweet and funny story about a childhood summer, and a deep and complex story about friendship, loss and the secrets everyone carries. Continue reading “Book Review: Because of Winn-Dixie” →

Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews20 Comments

I recently found myself with a long drive coming up and–no audiobook to hand!  So naturally I snatched up And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser–a narrator I’ve encountered with Christie before, and already on the shelf at my local library.

Even though I wasn’t thinking about the R.I.P. Challenge, I think my subconscious must have been at work–and since this fits the challenge and I listened to it at the right time, I’m counting it!

The story opens with ten people, unconnected to each other, all summoned by various means and reasons to visit a deserted island.  The eight guests and two servants are at the house on the island, but their host is unaccountably absent–and at dinner, a gramophone record plays with a chilling message.  Each individual is accused of being responsible for someone’s murder.  And then one by one, by different means and methods, people on the island begin to die.  The murderer must be among those who remain–but who?

Apart from Murder on the Orient Express, I think this is Christie’s most famous novel.  For that reason I’m glad I “read” it, although it was not my favorite Christie–which is a personal preference that others may not agree with! Continue reading “Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie” →

Movie Review: The Giver

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews6 Comments

The_Giver_posterI was twelve when I first read The Giver by Lois Lowry, and then reread it again recently when the fourth book in the quartet came out. It’s one of my favorite dystopias, so I was intrigued—and alarmed!—by the movie version. I went to see it mostly out of curiosity, and while it wasn’t perfect, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it was done.

The book and the movie both tell the story of Jonas, who lives in a community where all of life is carefully ordered and arranged by a ruling council of elders. When Jonas comes of age, he is assigned the role of Receiver, to receive the memories of a time before the community. Jonas’ time with the old Receiver, now dubbed the Giver, and the memories he receives, open his eyes (almost literally) to the world around him. Continue reading “Movie Review: The Giver” →