Halle Berry and The Call

Halle Berry plays Jordan, a 911 operator in Brad Anderson's Thriller Movie, The Call. She is simply sensational.
I remember her first as the Bond Girl Jinx in Die Another Day where she certainly was beautiful as her Miss World Runner Up status would suggest. I loved her in Swordfish but Swordfish was such a over the top movie that it made all the characters larger than life and John Travolta the most memorable of all.
As Storm in the X-Men series she was truly an action figure character. But it really wasn't until Cloud Atlas that I realized what a deep and talented actress she truly was.
The Call that really shows her extraordinary talent for depth and breadth of acting. With this movie she has certainly stepped into the same room as the likes of Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep and Greta Garbot. She is truly a big screen actor. Of course she already has the Academy Award for Best Actress in Monster Ball but that was the Monster Ball. The Call is a whole other genre. The Call is a first order thriller and Halle Berry's is human to the core.
The Call is a movie that Alfred Hitchcock could have written. The direction by Brad Anderson is perfectly timed and paced. Abigail Breslin plays an exceptionally believable Casey Welson the frightened good girl kidnapped by the twisted and terrifying Michael Foster. Michael Eklund's own superb acting is reminiscent of the genius of Hannibal Lecter.
Halle Berry's multifaceted developing character with it's amazing crescendo lifts all the characters to dazzling heights. Richard D'Ovidio's is the story and screenplay writer. It's Hemmingway in simplicity with the finesse of James Patterson. A must see, if only for Halle Berry's acting.


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Hunger Games - Movie

Director Gary Ross has done a fine job of this fast moving futuristic thriller, having as well co written the screenplay with Suzanne Collins. .  Jennifer Lawrence's acting is impressive and endearing.  She and robust  Peeta Mellark act as  future players in a fight to the finish competition of many young people designed to leave little  hope for the once rebellious states that threatened the decadent central government.  Donald Sutherland is amazing as the cynical president. I loved Stanley Tucci.  His  baroque hair is as winning as his game show host smile.  A terrific flick I'd certainly recommend.

William Lashner

I've just finished "Falls the Shadow" by William Lashner. It's a brilliant mix of the finest of the classics of the detective genre brought into modern day parlance. A kind of Hitchcock remake by Steven Spielberg.  A horrid French chef in prison for murdering his wife has an old lover now wealthy from marital gold digging hire Derringer and Carl legal team to get him a retrial.  Derringer is a beautiful big hearted woman lawyer paired with the gumshoe skeptic Carl.  Through twists and turns of who dunnit and amazing characterization we follow the story of  the tragedy all the while the parallel pro bono case of child rescue entertwines with the main characters in the murder mystery thriller.  William Lashner (www.williamlashner.com) was himself a trial attorney in the criminal division of the United States Justice Department.  We never do learn where he got his very mixed feelings about dentists but it must indeed be a truly piercing story.  A gripping read.  I can only look forward to reading more by this Philadelphian New York Times best seller.

Miracle Cure - the book

Harlan Coben has done it again. This intriguing  thriller is an extraordinary story of gay killings aimed to stop research into a new cure for AIDs.  Sara the beautiful television news reporter and her celebrity model sister Cassandra team up with Mike a basketabll hero in helping Harv their researcher doctor friend find out whose behind the rash of gory deaths.  The motive at first seems plain to Max Bernstein the pencil chewing New York detective  but as doctors and nurses die and healthy people go missing there's much more at stake.  Especially when the sleazy televangelist is raising money saying Aids is todays plague of Egypt.  Chemistry and sociology mix with Coben's endearing characterizations.  I couldn't put it down. But then I've read all of Coben's books.  He's a heavy hitter against anti semitism and any kind of discrimination that makes a person miss seeing the truly entertaining human in all of us.

Live Wire Book

I have been a fan of Harlan Coban since an internist recommended him to me when  we were working together at the Commonwealth Health Centre in Saipan.  Live Wire is Coban's  latest book.  I believe I 've read all his books but I love his Myron Bolitar thrillers the best. Laura pointed this hard cover 2011 Dutton one out to me at the bookstore in Ferndale. The bookstore was pet friendly. Gilbert was sniffing the floor when Laura made the remarkable discovery. She's loved Harlan Coban since I introduced him to her.  The first Myron Bolitar thriller came out in 1995.  I love the character Win.  Laura loves Big Cindy, Pocahontas' huge wrestling partner. Pocahantas is petite and beautiful. She's now Myron's lawyer partner.  Big Cindi is the receptionist.  Win is the killer banker.  It was too long since Coban's fans had a Myron Bolitar fix so some of us called Win and asked him to speak to Harlan Coban.  Win is hard to ignore.  He doesn't like it when people try to shut up Myron.  Now I'm skimming through the pages.  I'm lucky I made it out of Ferndale.  Laura wouldn't let me open the book till I'd finished driving.