Godzilla vs. Kong brings two gigantic cinematic icons together finally. It is the latest addition to Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse. This film is directed by Adam Wingard. The screenplay is written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein. Just when you think I am done with this part, they story was apparently conceived by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields. Starring alongside the giant lizard and the big ape, there are a number of human to mention. Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez, Kyle Chandler, and a young hearing impaired girl named Kaylee Hottle. There are several other people in this cast, but quite frankly, it is time to move on.

King Kong is found to be under surveillance in a dome on Skull Island. Godzilla suddenly appears in Florida and attacks a factory for some unknown reason. In this series, the giant creatures are known as Titans and apparently come from realm within the Earth known as Hollow Earth. A group of scientists are furnished with vehicles capable of reaching this place and have Kong act as their guide. However, it seems that Kong has some ancient beef with Godzilla going which comes to light. The two of them go at it ferociously on water and on land. Then, MechoGodzilla makes an appearance, and then it goes even crazier.

Unsurprisingly, the special effects are fantastic. It’s pretty fun to watch Godzilla and Kong go at it in the couple of fight scenes they have. It was rather a neat to have two groups of humans tackling the mysteries of the corporations behind the aggravation of the monsters. One group was with Kong trying to get him to lead the way to Hollow Earth while the other was trying to find out the reasons for Godzilla’s seemingly inexplicable attacks. Although the movie is pretty entertaining overall, it is not without some flaws. The plot could seem a little more convoluted than necessary at times and some of the dialogue caused an occasional wince.

The actors were well chosen. I think Millie Bobby Brown has a real distinctive presence for a teen-ager to go along with her great name. Kaylee Hottle is also quite a find as the deaf Iwi native who develops a friendship with Kong. I am not sure how old she is since she has yet to get a Wikipedia page, but she may be around 10 years old. This apparently is her film debut and is already a bit of a scene stealer. Brian Tyree Henry is quite good as the half-crazy conspiracy theorist who is actually more clever and courageous than he appears. I only know Rebecca Hall from a couple of other films, but I thought she did very well here as well. Really, no one let the side down when it comes to performances.

Basically, it’s an enjoyable popcorn flick that works better when not following the plot too closely. This is one series of films I would not object too strenuously if it were to continue a while longer.

Charlie Chan’s Secret is a mystery film released in 1936 and was directed by Gordon Wiles. The screenplay was written by Robert Ellis. The character of Honolulu detective Charlie Chan was first created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers. Warner Oland stars on the lead role. The cast includes of Rosina Lawrence, Henrietta Crosman, Jonathan Hale, and Charles Quigley.

The film starts off with Charlie Chan looking into the sinking of a boat which supposedly had the heir of a large fortune aboard. Chan is not sure that Allen Colby, the heir in question, in fact did perish below the sea waves. His investigation to the mainland where he finds a troubled family, a vast estate with secret passages, and murder. In fact, Colby does appear again but his death subsequently becomes more certain.

Warner Oland was one of several Caucasian actors during that time who was heavily made up to appear Asian. He puts in a solid yet stereotypical performance as a Chinese immigrant. The plot ends up getting rather absurd with quite a bit of overacting from much of the cast. Oland had played Chan in several films and does fairly well, although it goes without saying that an actual Chinese actor would have been a much better choice. But Hollywood studios did not operate that way back in the early days. This film is almost ninety years old, which is rather remarkable to realize.

Anyway, the film is a bit dull and does not really hold together when it comes to the plot. It’s not terrible but it feels typical of the movies being made at the time. In spite of the numerous flaws and reasons for exasperation at Oland’s performance of a Chinese protagonist, it was kind of fun to revisit Charlie Chan. I had not seen a film in this series since I was very young.

Hopefully, there are better Charlie Chan films. He is still a somewhat intriguing concept in detective fiction. On the whole, the movie isn’t great, but it is still worth a look since Charlie Chan was a rather iconic piece of cinematic history.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is an autobiography written by the late Anthony Bourdain. It was first published in 2000 and has probably had an update or two over years. Bourdain had died by suicide in 2018, which is very unfortunate. I am no student of the culinary arts, and I really followed Gordon Ramsay because I find his explosive temper rather entertaining. I have missed out on most of the Bourdain experience and only read this book since I am in a book club that chose this one for the month of March 2021. It turns out that I actually found quite a bit to appreciate about this selection in spite of my lack of kitchen expertise.

Bourdain uses his words to paint very vivid imagery of the restaurant culture, particularly of the 1970’s and 1980’s. He throws out very creative analogies as easily as one would expect him to whip up a uniquely delicious omelet or something. There is also the unflinching account of his struggles with drug addiction during his early years in the biz. He did manage to avoid a lot of detail about that and how is was he finally lay that demon to rest, at least back then. Bourdain obviously had plenty of demons which led to his tragic decision to end his own extraordinary life, and the book sort of opens one’s eyes a little to some of those struggles. Assuming of course there is not a ghostwriter, I am going to consider Bourdain as talented a writer as he was a chef. I will take the word of others when it comes to judgment on his gifts as a presenter. His colorful and complicated personality was easy to detect in this book and I am sure those who are more familiar with his television presence will recognize his voice easily enough throughout the many tales. I know that he has other literary examples out there, so I may try out some of those as well in my own efforts to add a bit more diversity in my reading indulgences.

Even for those of us with no culinary talent or ambition, I will say Kitchen Confidential does contain plenty of wisdom and entertainment within its pages. It also deepens my sense of sorrow that such a talented man who had such an impact on a culture and apparently helped and influenced individuals with their own troubles to a more constructive path could not find any reason to stay in this world a little longer.

Even though I do strive for newer and more unfamiliar pastures in my literary choices, I am not abandoning my old favorites. I think I have earned a visit back to familiar furnishings of 221 B Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes has another cursed diamond or trinket to find in The Crusader’s Curse by Start Douglas.

Time Lord Victorious: Genetics of the Daleks is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions. Tom Baker stars in this episode which was written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Jamie Anderson. Joining the formidable Mr. Baker is Pippa Haywood, Clive Mantle, Nina Toussaint-White, Andrew James Spooner, Joseph Kloska, and of course, Nicholas Briggs. Briggs of course provides the voice of the metallic and dreaded Daleks. This episode is part of this rather ambitious saga known as Time Lord Victorious and serves as a prequel of some sort to an escape room somewhere.

The Doctor arrives aboard a starship known The Future in which many humans were in suspended animation on the way to colonize somewhere. At some point, the few crew that were awake at one time take in a lone and apparently empty Dalek found in space. Yeah, notice I said “apparently empty”. Anyway, the lone Daleks is enough to cause some lethal mischief, and the Doctor typically will be the only one able to help out. However there are traitors and criminals aboard to further complicate matters.

It’s Tom Baker in this one, so it would be hard to be critical here. However, this episode turns out to be quite good, so I don’t have to be all that harsh. Actually, Baker is still quite good, but Morris provides a bit of intriguing foreshadowing here since the Dalek reveals he has already met a future incarnation of the Doctor, which kicks this adventure into higher gear. I think there are elements or stories from the Time Lord Victorious series I have yet to get to. There are novels and comics tied to this particular saga as well.

The performances are pretty good, but I really enjoyed the challenges and revelations between the Doctor and the Dalek. This Doctor is still as irreverent and imposing as ever. The guest characters are compelling. There are some pretty good twists. There is a pretty chilling moment when one of the characters gets mutated and transformed in to a Dalek. It’s a good thing I was not driving in the dark when I was playing this one.

Just about every element here works quite nicely. Tom Baker still does a very capable and compelling performance. It is still easy to tell how much he enjoys being in the role without all of the physical demands.

This a solid, claustrophobic sort of romp at which Doctor Who excels at so thoroughly.

Wicked Sisters is a Doctor Who audio boxset with three stories written by Simon Guerrier for Big Finish Productions. Lisa Bowerman serves as director with Peter Davison starring as the Fifth Doctor. He is joined by Louise Jameson as Leela. Ciara Jansen and Laura Doddington play the Graceless sisters known as Abby and Zara. The guest cast is comprised of Tom Mahy, Pandora Clifford, Dan Starkey, Anjli Mohindra, Nicky Goldie, Paul Courtney Hyu, and the director herself playing the Smoke Creatures.

Leela has recruited the Doctor to find a pair of sisters with whom he had met during previous audio series which had him reassemble the Key to Time once again. Anny and Zara were initially created to track down the six segments to the Key to Time. They were at odds at one time but now work together to use their vast god-like powers to help others. Their efforts have lead to actually threaten all of space and time because it would not be a proper Doctor Who story otherwise. Leela wants the Doctor to help convince the sisters to end their own lives, but the Time Lord is not so sure something so drastic is needed. Anyway, there are three interconnected tales to see how this quest progresses.

The Garden of Storms brings the Doctor and Leela to a planet that looks like a paradise. They find a society that sacrifices those who have reached forty years of age. They find Abby and Zara quickly enough, but they also find a mysterious people made of smoke. This first story is rather interesting and sets up the saga well. The Smoke Creatures make for an interesting villain. I also like that the sisters are dangerous not necessarily evil. It’s one of these shades of gray situations. Jansen and Doddington do have an engaging chemistry, which is important considering the whole thing centers on them. Davison and Jameson have done a previous story together, which is interesting since Louise Jameson is more associated with Tom Baker’s Doctor. It was also pretty cool to see Leela reacting to a different version of the Doctor. They also seemed to work well together. So far, the set has a solid start with this first installation.

The Moonrakers pits the Doctor, Leela, and the sisters against the Sontarans. Dan Starkey returns to the role and continues to provide a compelling performance as the militaristic clones. Although the Sontarans in this story are not quite as hungry for war as usual. It’s not a bad story but not one I would consider a favorite. What was kind of cool is that the four main cast got separated with the Doctor and Zara trapped together while Abby and Leela have to find them. I should mention that Leela’s time on Gallifrey has afforded the opportunity to learn to pilot the TARDIS. I am not sure this particular development is something I find to be a good idea considering, but I guess it serves its purpose. Anyway, it’s good to have Dan Starkey back, and I rather like the Sontarans, but I would not call this particular story anything special.

The whole thing comes to an explosive confrontation with the Smoke Creatures in The People Made of Smoke, appropriately enough. The Doctor may have to sacrifice himself to save the universe and the two powerful sisters. This actually had a rather strong and somewhat moving conclusion, although since there are many Doctors to come after this version, we can still be assured that the Fifth survives his travails.

The whole series was actually quite good though. Some different dynamics were tried and succeeded mostly in being entertaining and compelling. The cast was well selected, which is expected of Big Finish. Abby and Zara have their own spin-off series with Big Finish called Graceless. This little adventure returns them to the company of the Time Lord. I have yet to experience the Graceless series, but that did not really dampen my enjoyment overall of this set. I also prefer that this is a trilogy all written by one guy. Guerrier is a prolific contributor to Doctor Who and Big Finish, and he may not have hit a home run here, but he got a solid hit out of this one.

The Museum of Desire is a suspense novel written by Jonathan Kellerman. It is one of the recent installments to feature Dr. Alex Delaware once again helping out Lt. Milo Sturgis of the LAPD. The title does seem like something one would view on late night Cinemax, however it is not that perverse. The story will not make for good bedtime reading for the little ones though, as is the case for most Kellerman works.

The good doctor is asked to give some thoughts at a rather unusual crime scene in which four homicide victims are posed inside a limousine, and none of them seemed to have been connected to each other in life. Once the victims are identified, the other clues start to come to light. Anyway, there is an art gallery in the center of this whole gruesome business.

The basic premise is pretty intriguing, but there are times that the journey to the truth drags a bit. I guess that is the way it goes in real homicide investigations, but it can get a bit irritating in a crime novel. It is actually Alex’s girlfriend that provides a ,major clue, which was kind of cool. I have read a lot of this series, and I was a little less impressed with this latest addition to Delaware’s case file. Kellerman is a reliable writer, but this series could use a little shot in the arm. I am not sure what that should look like. Anyway, The Museum of Desire was not as desirous as I hoped.

I am no cook and likely to become one, but I am going to get some culinary insight from the late Anthony Bourdain with his autobiography, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

The Da Vinci Code was first a novel published in 2003 by Dan Brown. In 2006, rabidly popular movie directed by Ron Howard was released. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman. Tom Hanks plays the lead role of Professor Robert Langdon. Langdon teaches iconology and religious history of some sort at Harvard. Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellan, Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany, and Jean Reno are also included in the main cast. So there is plenty of more than reliable talent on the screen.

Professor Langdon happens to be lecturing in Paris when he is asked by the local constabulary to examine a group of symbols etched into the body of a Louvre curator. This kicks off an examination of the works of Leonardo da Vinci in which all sorts of implications challenges that is known or taught in the Christian faith. There is a murderous monk on the trail of Langdon and the granddaughter of the victim who has become an ally. So there are few chases and scenes of grotesque violence in the midst of overdramatic revelations.

So I am generally a conservative Christian who believes in the teachings of Scripture, but I am going to do my best to put aside my views on what would be considered just blatant blasphemy in which this story spews. I had heard the hype about this film and was prepared to have strong disagreement with the theories presented here. Fortunately, there was no real sense that I needed to question the teachings of my church because of this film. Saying that, I will still a bit disappointed in this film. It had a lot of moments that seemed to drag. It comes in about two and a half hours, and I felt every moment of that and then some. The visual effects and the settings were very compelling though. The performances were fine, which is not surprising considering the cast sheet. I think the problems had more to do with with the screenplay than much else. Visually, it looks great most of the time, but I still had trouble being all that interested in the dialogue, A lot of these alternate revelations and explanations as to the real nature of Jesus Christ. Basically I was just a bit bored with the movie, but surely that would be better than being outraged.

Artemis is a science fiction novel written by Andy Weir and is a follow up to his hit debut The Martian. This one takes place on the moon in a colony known as Artemis. The story is told from the perspective of one Jasmine Bashara, who works as a porter and a part-time smuggler. She lives in a cupboard not much bigger than a coffin. Artemis relies on tourism from Earth. Jazz lets herself be talked into a little heist that will help her out financially. Of course, it all goes wrong and a killer is on her trail. Jazz isn’t a hero, but she has some a little nobility in her and a whole lot of wit.

This is only Weir’s second novel, but it seems evident that he likes to imbue his protagonists with a heavy sardonic view on life. Fortunately, Weir is actually pretty funny so I don’t mind. Jazz is an interesting heroine. She is quite aware of her strengths and faults. Weir has indicated in a printed interview that he really planned out how this city would function if it were real. He apparently made blueprints and created the economy. Although he was kind enough to not bore the reader with all of the details he conceived, he was still able to convey how much work he put into the setting and concepts. He did pretty well with having a woman as his lead character. There were some profound and moving moments as well, however the humor peppered throughout the narrative is what really makes this worth the time. I would certainly recommend some time in Artemis as presented by Andy Weir.

Now that I spent a little time on the moon in the future, I will next return to present day Los Angeles to see how old friends, Dr. Alex Delaware and LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis unravel the secrets of Jonathan Kellerman’s The Museum of Desire.

Mutually Assured Destruction is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions and is another episode in the range known as Time Lord Victorious. Lizzie Hopley is the author of this script with Scott Handcock serving as director. Paul McGann plays the Doctor once again with Nicholas Briggs voicing the Daleks. Samantha Beart and Wilf Scolding also help out as part of the guest cast. They play a couple of last survivors of a world destroyed by the Daleks who have just woken up from cryogenic sleep and have to make their escape alongside the Doctor as the Dalek time ship is disintegrating within the vortex. The Daleks also have the Doctor’s TARDIS, so the Time Lord may have to make a deal he would live to regret.

This is actually a pretty exciting episode. The Daleks are written with somewhat different personalities and motivations from each other, which is a little unusual. McGann seems to be pretty well into it. The two other guest characters were pretty engaging as well. I enjoyed the interactions between the Doctor and Beart’s Tiska. when they finally meet. Anyway, it’s a fun chaotic, claustrophobic sort of situation. It’s not quite the first time that the Doctor has been in this situation, but Hopkins still writes a pretty effectively suspenseful adventure that was reminiscent of a lot of American action movies such as Die Hard. That film was actually referenced in the cast and crew interviews so I can’t full credit for coming up with the comparison on my own. It’s a solid addition to the ever growing Doctor Who universe.

The Grey Man of the Mountain is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions. LIzbeth Myles wrote the script in which Samuel Clements serves as director. The character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is resurrected once again by Jon Culshaw. Culshaw does a pretty impressive vocal impersonation of the late Nicholas Courtney, who played the role for a couple of a decades in the television series and in a couple of Big Finish episodes. Sylvester McCoy is once again behind the mic as the Seventh Doctor with Sophie Aldred returning as Ace.

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Ace to a Scottish mountain of Ben MacDul in which they are reunited with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The Brigadier is investigating the disappearance of hikers which seems to be tied to a legendary presence on the mountain known as the Grey Man. Ace and a young woman known as Kristy are separated from the others and face their own challenges as the Doctor and the Brigadier join an expedition that could bring them into the presence of the Grey Man of the Mountain.

The guest cast is also made up of Lucy Goldie, Youssef Kerkour, Vivien Reid, and Guy Adams. They were all well selected as expected by Big Finish casting.

Myles actually uses a well known Scottish legend as an inspiration for her story. Well, the legend is apparently familiar in Scotland anyway. It’s a bad idea and common in the series to utilize such inspirations. Myles does a pretty good job with it.

McCoy and Aldred continue to display their impressive chemistry. It was fun to hear the Brigadier even if he was not performed by the original actor. Culshaw is known in the United Kingdom as a very talented comedian and impressionist, and Big Finish is right to utilize that.

This episode is a solid story with a some very nice treats for the long-time fans and followers of Scottish folklore.