I'LL BE DAMNED: HOW MY YOUNG AND RESTLESS LIFE LED ME TO AMERICA'S # 1 DAYTIME DRAMA

I'LL BE DAMNED: HOW MY YOUNG AND RESTLESS LIFE LED ME TO AMERICA'S # 1 DAYTIME DRAMA. Eric Braeden with Lindsay Harrison. New York: William Morrow; 2017. 

Years ago when I saw a movie called Colossus: The Forbin Project I thought to myself that the star, Eric Braeden, didn't really have that all-important big-screen presence. So it's perfectly understandable that Braeden -- born Hans Gudegast in Germany -- would have his greatest success on the small screen, playing the rather fascinating character of Victor Newman (and playing it quite well) on the CBS soap The Young and the Restless for decades. Braeden discusses his childhood at length, not shying away from his German background. He grew up to deplore anti-Semitism and prejudice of any kind (he is silent about LGBT issues, however). I'll Be Damned covers Braeden's recurring role on The Rat Pack, his frequent guest-starring roles, his long-term marriage to the love of his life, his love of sports, and his son -- and of course his experiences, good and bad, on Y&R. (It's hard to believe that he ever would have been seriously considered for the role of 007, however.) Reading the book, one suspects that Braden can be just as autocratic off-screen as he is onscreen as Victor Newman. Braeden is now 82-years-old and still going strong! Good for him!

Verdict: A good read about a very interesting fellow. ***. 

SLUGFEST

SLUGFEST: Inside the Epic 50-Year Battle Between Marvel and DC. Reed Tucker. Da Capo Press; 2017.

DC Comics, which came out with such iconic characters as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, found itself with real competition from upstart publisher Marvel, whose comics were considered crude in comparison. (In the early days of comics there were many other publishers but most of them eventually fell by the wayside.) But Stan Lee, who was the face of Marvel for decades, took "perfect" super-heroes and made them more flawed and human, igniting the interest of older readers in super-hero comic books and leading to such books as Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, and Uncanny X-Men. Marvel eventually overtook DC in sales, and this interesting, well-written tome looks at the two major comics publishers over the decades and the various ways the companies and their staff battled it out for ascendency, both on the printed page and now in the movie theater. Although many writers and artists have worked for both companies and even jump back and forth between them -- and DC eventually adopted the Marvel style of storytelling --  there are some comics fans who insist on only reading the work from one company, which I've always thought was ridiculous. While Tucker does on occasion overstate things, the book does a good job of showing all the changes in these two companies and indeed in the industry itself. Although the quote doesn't appear in this book, Stan Lee once claimed, accurately, that the main difference between both firms was the age of its readers, although that would change. 

Verdict: A surprisingly good read that actually builds up some suspense. ***. 

THE LOST JUNGLE

THE LOST JUNGLE: Cliffhanger Action and Hollywood Serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Guy Barefoot. University of Exeter Press; 2017. 

If you're expecting a fun and colorful book examining the cliffhanger serials of old, be forewarned that The Lost Jungle is from an academic publisher and has different fish to fry. Author Barefoot looks into the minutia of serials, sometimes comically spelling out the obvious in great detail, but his enthusiasm for his subject triumphs over the approach and the book is much more absorbing and entertaining than you would expect. For one thing, Barefoot's prose is accessible and generally not pretentious. Barefoot looks into the notion that serials were just for kids, and gives convincing evidence that adults could and did enjoy these action-packed cliffhangers as much as any child. With a grant from the British academy (some authors have all the luck!), Barefoot flew to the U.S. to do extensive research in various libraries. While it may seem a bit odd that money would be paid so that a writer could explore these old serials, of all things, at least Barefoot has come up with a wealth of information and successfully argues that the cliffhangers were more popular than realized and are worthy of study.  

Verdict: Somehow the fun of the serials comes through despite the scholarly approach. ***. 

CULT OF CHUCKY

CUL

CULT OF CHUCKY (2017). Writer/Director: Don Mancini. 

In this inferior sequel to Curse of Chucky, the killer doll is on the loose in a mental institution where, naturally, no one believes the "loonies" that the deaths of inmates and staff are caused by a walking, talking doll. Nica (Fiona Dourif), the heroine of the last film, is now housed in the psych ward after being convicted of murdering her family members, the deaths actually caused by nasty little Chucky. While this is a great setting for a Chucky movie, the ultra-goriness only takes away from the effectiveness of the film, a cheap way of exciting some audience members who have no interest in plot or craftmanship (aside from the logistics of, say, a beheading). I must say that the puppetry is very well-done and Brad Dourif is still on top of things as the voice of Chucky. Don Mancini's camp sensibility does nothing for the picture, and neither does the freak queen Jennifer Tilly. Followed by the TV series Chucky. 

Verdict: Hopefully the last Chucky movie. **1/4. 

INCONCEIVABLE

Gina Gershon and Nicolas Cage

INCONCEIVABLE (2017). Director: Jonathan Baker. 

Brian (Nicolas Cage) and his wife Angela (Gina Gershon) encounter a troubled young woman named Katie (Nicky Whelan) who also has a young daughter. The two woman decide they can help each other out by letting Katie and her child move in, where she can act as nanny to Angela's little girl. Angela is okay with Katie having a girlfriend, who is eventually murdered. Later it is decided that Katie will be a surrogate for the couple's next child, but problems quickly begin to develop and things begin spiraling out of control. Katie not only lays claim to the child she's carrying, but to Angela and Brian's daughter as well, and the couple are shocked to find out why. Eventually things escalate into violence ... 

Faye Dunaway

Why anyone conceived that Inconceivable was a good idea is beyond me. It's all been done before -- and done better -- in movies such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Is the picture trying to be hip -- or regressive -- in employing a psychotic lesbian/bisexual as a character?  By now it should be apparent that Nicolas Cage will attach himself  to virtually any crappy project and can no longer be taken seriously as an "A" list actor. It's a question of who looks worse, Cage, or Faye Dunaway, with her collagen lips. In any case, the performances in this are good with Dunaway and a sympathetic Gershon coming off best. 

Verdict: A mediocre Lifetime  movie with bigger names. **. 

HAPPY DEATH DAY

Israel Broussard and Jessica Rothe

HAPPY DEATH DAY (2017). Director: Christopher Landon. Screenplay by Scott Lobdell.

After the death of her mother, college student Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) has turned into a self-absorbed and rather unlikable person. She meets a young man named Carter Davis (Israel Broussard) and finds herself tangled in a Groundhog's Day-type time loop where she relives her birthday over and over. Each time a mysterious figure wearing a goofy clown mask (which somehow makes him more sinister) attacks and kills her. Tree finally figures that only by unmasking and killing her killer can she get back to her normal life. 

Charles Aitken and Jessica Rothe

Happy Death Day has perhaps too many moments of black comedy to sustain tension, but it does hold the attention, and there are a couple of good twists at the end. Rothe is okay as the heroine, who develops a nicer personality throughout her ordeal, and Broussard is appealing as Carter. Ruby Modine makes her mark as Lori, Tree's long-suffering roommate, and Charles Aitken is fine as a teacher with whom she has an affair. Despite the lack of gore, Happy Death Day was a big enough hit to engender a recent sequel Happy Death Day 2U. 

Verdict: Some good surprises help put his over. **1/2. 

HANGMAN (2017)

Karl Urban and Al Pacino

HANGMAN (2017). Director: Johnny Martin.

Detective Will Ruiney (Karl Urban), whose wife was murdered, is a former FBI profiler now working with the NYPD. Ray Archer (Al Pacino), a retired cop, agrees to help Will investigate a series of baffling murders wherein various people are killed and hanged, murders tied into the old "Hangman" game played by children. Traveling with them as they interview people, visit crime scenes, and nearly trip over corpses, is reporter Christi Davis (Brittany Snow). A person is murdered every 24 hours, and the detectives race against time to prevent each new slaughter. 

Brittany Snow

Hangman has an interesting premise, but it just doesn't stand out as a classic serial killer film, especially when compared to tauter moves like Se7en and Copycat. Pacino, who is the only actor billed above the title, employs the same dubious Southern jive/drawl that he used in his last thriller, Misconduct, and it adds nothing to his comparatively disinterested performance. Urban is a bit better, and Snow has at least one good scene when she tells of how she was assaulted and the cop who came after her assailant was shot and killed. Otherwise, her character doesn't add much to the movie.

There is at least one exciting scene, when Will tries to save a man who has been placed, hanging, over a track as a train approaches, and Ray, realizing there's not enough time to do so, opts to save Will instead. Hangman has a workable premise, and is not badly directed or photographed, but despite some back story, the characters are thinly etched, the victims are mostly ciphers, and the killer, with his dubious motives, never emerges as a villain of classic proportions. 

Verdict: Another mediocre Al Pacino "paycheck" movie. **1/2.