Become A Heist Films Expert In Ten Easy Movies
Master a genre in just a handful of films Playing out like a guns-blazing origin story for every jailhouse drama and prison-break thriller out there, the heist movie is a thread you can pick all the way back to Hollywood’s golden age. Filled with tough guys, grasping palookas, dime-a-dance dames, double-crossing fences and shady masterminds, […]
THE WALKING DEAD
After missing the Halloween premiere, I finally watched THE WALKING DEAD last night. Although I didn’t necessarily find it to be groundbreaking zombie drama, it proved to be good entertainment. I must say Atlanta never looked better. And it reminds us all that zombies may be slow and stupid but don’t let them near your […]
Moguls & Movie Stars
For regular readers, you’re pretty much used to my obsession with old Hollywood. I find the history and the characters absolutely fascinating. One of the best experiences of my career as a novelist was working on DEVIL’S GARDEN. The research into Roscoe Arbuckle and the early days of Paramount was not only an insight into […]
Real Country
About every time I get brave and try my local country radio station, I’m disappointed. Today’s country music is just God awful. What else can you say? If I hear another song about how much a man loves his truck, farm, dog, woman, country, I’m going to throw up. What happened to heartache? Being drunk? […]
Nolan Announces Next Batman Film
I was happy to see yesterday’s story in the L.A. Times about Christopher Nolan talking about the next Batman film and even giving away the title. The Dark Knight has been one of my favorite films in recent years, honoring the gangster films of the 1930s and the great noir films that influence my […]
BOSTON NOIR
I finally got a chance to see Ben Affleck’s latest THE TOWN based on a novel by Chuck Hogan. I had read a couple reviews but didn’t expect much. I enjoyed GONE BABY GONE but thought the tone and pacing was way too slow and self conscious. There was none of that sluggishness found in […]
My pal, David
Regular readers of my blog and books probably have heard me talk often about my pal, David Thompson. I got to know David more than a dozen years ago through Murder By the Book, a terrific indie bookstore in Houston. David was the one who found me. Not long after Crossroad Blues was published, David […]
More news on THE RANGER
We’re still a ways from the release of THE RANGER. But here’s a sneak peak of the action from the official G.P. Putnam’s Sons catalog out this fall: THE RANGER From the acclaimed, award-winning author comes the beginning of an extraordinary new series about a real hero, and the real Deep South. Northeast […]
Queen of the Bs
SOUTHERN FRIED ACTION PT. 2(a continuing series on great Southern action films of the 1970s)I screened a bootleg copy of Dynamite Women the other night — aka The Great Texas Dynamite Chase — with some local actors and filmmakers here in Oxford, Mississippi. Some were skeptical of the choice of the 1976 cult classic but […]
Southern-Fried Action
Even bloggers need a vacation. And after two months on the road to promote Infamous, I definitely needed a break. But now I’m back with a few updates and a new post. In the news, Infamous was just picked as a Summer Must-Read by the Chicago Tribune — a huge honor. And G.P. Putnam’s Sons […]