A nice review of When the Night Comes Down from Mario Guslandi at Horror World. I’ll answer to Ben, if you like.
I wrote to the Canadian Archives in Ottawa sometime last year to get copies of one of my uncle’s war records. They responded that due to the backlog it would be some months before they could fulfill my request. I received the documents on Friday. This particular uncle, who is the source for my middle name, was killed in Hong Kong just before Christmas in 1941 and his body was never found. That was the inspiration for my short story Unknown Soldier in All Hallows #36. I’ve been fascinated with the story of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong ever since I visited the former colony in the early 1990s. Some interesting details in these papers, including the medals he had received, and when he was deployed and took leave.
Two TV shows from late last week featured brief handwritten notes. The first was The Mentalist, which was a decent whodunit with excellent use of misdirection. The super-obvious suspect was the rogue cop who carelessly missed a filing deadline in an earlier case that invalidated a search and allowed the prime suspect to go free. Then, another equally valid, though more subtle, suspect was the mayor, who acted suspiciously. I didn’t guess who the real killer was until he was exposed. I didn’t quite buy into Patrick’s slo-mo escape from the cop who wanted to ticket him, but that was the only glitch in the episode. Patrick was in fine sarcastic form, getting off zingers left and right. Especially biting was his response to Lisbon, who suggested he get the hostage taker to release the wounded hostage. “Good idea. I didn’t think of that.” I laughed at his reaction to the hostage taker’s relief that he had been cleared of his wife’s killing. Prison wasn’t going to be bad now that he could breathe easy. “We’ll see how you feel about that in two years,” Patrick said. The message Patrick left for the killer was funny, especially when he made the killer read it out loud: “Arrest me.”
The other show with a note was Fringe, a disturbing message for Olivia and one that has serious implications for the future of her world. “He still has feelings for her.” After last week’s revelation that Peter is being changed by the machine, the storytellers backed away for the most part and handled a standalone case involving a gas that dissolves bones. The chuckle from the doll and the burst of purple gas made me think of the Riddler from the Batman TV series. Peter said, “Bonus points for the creepy factor.” Ironic, too, that the victim had just consulted his magic 8 ball and read the message “Outlook not so good.” Indeed.
I had to laugh at William Bell’s museum, which contained a book by Dr. (not Mr.) Spock. Olivia cleaned up really good for her undercover job at the fundraiser. I have no idea where she hid that great big gun she produced once the first bad guy was detected. Lots of good, quotable lines this week. “Good thing lunatics still use the postal service,” Peter says after they use surveillance video to identify who sent the poison. I especially liked this exchange. Astrid: “You used to work for President Nixon?” Walter: “It was uncomfortable. His wife kept coming onto me.” And Peter’s reaction after his father said, “Why would anyone want to kill a scientist? What did we ever do?” Peter says, simply: “Really?” My only quibble with the episode was the obligatory suspect who runs away and gets hit by a car. I think we can safely shelve that one for a while.
When Walter was on the roadside after running out of gas, his demeanor reminded me momentarily of Noble’s portrayal of Denethor in Lord of the Rings. “Do you think I enjoy eating greasy fried food?” he asked Astrid. Of course he does, but so, too, did Denethor as I recall.
We watched two movies this weekend. First up was The Social Network. A fascinating look at a character who reminded us of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory with just a tad more social aptitude. Not exactly Academy Award material, though, in my opinion. A fairly by-the-numbers recounting of events. It was interesting to see how the software developed, and how cut-throat things became along the way. I hadn’t known before about the guy from Napster being involved. Shown to be a sleazy guy but without his connections the site wouldn’t have taken off the way it did, I think.
Last night we watched Conviction with Hillary Swank (Betty Ann) and Sam Rockwell (Kenny). Based on the true story of a woman who essentially gave up her life to go to college, then law school to try to get her brother’s murder conviction overturned. The two were closerthanthis as kids growing up in a bad home, but were separated in foster care and shipped around. Kenny is a reprobate, and Rockwell, fantastic as always, allows viewers to believe that he might be guilty as charged, especially after the way he flips out on a guy in a bar who makes an offensive comment. Some great performances. Juliette Lewis is creepy-scary as one of Kenny’s former girlfriends who testifies against him. She looks old and haggard, like she’s been doing crack. Her scene in later years when Betty Ann and her law school buddy (played by Minnie Driver), accompanied by Barry Sheck (yes, the guy from the OJ Simpson trial, played by Peter Gallagher) re-interview her is gripping and mesmerizing. Melissa Leo (Homicide: Life on the Streets) plays the small town cop who “cracks the case.” Betty Ann (and Kenny, of course) had one stroke of good fortune that saved the day; otherwise she would have been out of luck. Apparently the real Betty Ann continues to work for Project Innocence.
