'THE WIND AND THE LION'......THE BEST FROM THE MOST BOMBASTIC AND BLUSTERING OF THE 70'S MOVIE BRATS......

 The Wind and the Lion (1975)

      We felt like kicking ourselves  when we realized we'd missed out on doing a 'Happy 50th Anniversary' post for this film last year........especially since it's always been a favorite re-watch just as the summer season kicks off.

     Well, here we are a year later for its 51st Anniversary, and since we still love the movie, we'll still happily sing its praises.

       Of all of the exciting new crop of 'movie brat' filmmakers who came into their own throughout the 1970's (Spielberg, DePalma, Coppola, Scorsese) screenwriter-director John Milius stood out and apart from the pack. 

         A big-bear-of-a-man Hemingway-esque figure, Milius proudly stood behind his right wing conservative outlook, his love of all things military and manly and the grandly epic, larger-than-life mythic storytelling he favored in both his directing and writing ("Conan the Barbarian", "Red Dawn", "Apocalypse Now", "Clear and Present Danger", "Magnum Force", "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean")

           'The Wind and the Lion', served as his most quintessential, personal and all-out attempt to duplicate the old school spectacle and sweep of films by David Lean, William Wyler and John Ford......

           We think he more than succeeded, stamping the film with his own unique celebrations of macho pride, individualism and fabulist exaggeration. 

           Using a true incident in 1904 Morocco as a starting point, Milius has the marauding piratical  Berber Mulai Rahmed er Raisuli (Sean Connery) kidnap beautiful Eden Pedecaris (Candice Bergen) and her two young children. In ransoming Eden and the kids,  Raisuli's hoping to end the cozying up to European powers favored by his brother the Bashaw of  Tangier. (Vladek Sheybal, Connery's chessmaster nemesis in "From Russian With Love")

        Meanwhile half a world away, rugged, rambunctious U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (a wonderfully hammy Brian Keith), fumes in outrage at Raisuli holding him up like a common mugger and sends out a company of Marines to Morocco, planning to deliver some 'big stick' whupass to that uppity Arabian renegade. 

         Milius, aided immeasurably by one of  Jerry Goldsmith's most thunderous, propulsive and yet romantic scores, makes this high adventure a glorious joy to watch unfold. While hemispheres apart, Connery and Keith more than match each other in charismatic bravado and sardonic humor. 

        Bellows Roosevelt at a campaign stop, "Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead!", a phrase taken from the true incident the film's derived from....though in fact, the real Pedecaris was a middle aged man with no children....

        Bergen, still years away from her second career as an expert comedic character actress, proves a delight as the fearless, fiery independent Eden. She confounds Connery's Raisuli, whose spouting of ancient culture attitudes and wisdom clash with her blunt candor and unfailing confidence in American exceptionalism.  This leads to delicious verbal clashes between them and eventually, a subtly loving, bittersweet but star crossed admiration destined never to be consummated.

       But there's plenty of rip roaring fun along the way as Milius fills the screen with battles, swordfights, diplomatic skirmishes and no end of eye candy landscapes and vistas.....most of which  come from the Spanish locations familiar to everyone who has watched the iconic extravaganzas by David Lean and Sergio Leone. 

         Yes, we'll not deny that at it's heart, the film's essentially a beautifully mounted Hollywood fairy tale....as fanciful as anything found in Arabian nights or the voyages of Sinbad. But isn't that why millions of us fell in love with movies to begin with?

         We may be year late in our Anniversary wishes but here at BQ, it's never too late to lavish some praise on the cinematic gems we treasure the most.....

         5 stars (*****).

         

          

           

'STORM WARNING'......ONCE AGAIN, GLOBAL THUGS AND PSYCHOS GET SOME SERIOUS DEZ-IMATING.....

  Storm Warning by James Byrne (2026)

     Welcome back Dez Limerick, you incredible combination of James Bond, Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne and the Lucky Charms Leprechaun . We always need ye to take on mass quantities of international 'Black Ops' killers, save the Free World and cook up a few tasty meals and play guitar as well.

     Once again, Dez, built like Popeye after guzzling a gallon of spinach, is called upon for his particular skills as a 'Gatekeeper'.......someone who can find a way to break into any and all assorted doors, steel fortresses or similar barriers that supervillains may throw his way. The State Department and FBI are worried that in the snowy wilds of Canada, a multinational scientific facility (and community) has gone incommunicado and on lockdown. To put simply, the fertilizer's hit the ventilator and possibly really bad people need serious Dez-imating.

     In true Dez Limerick fashion, Dez and his hearty little band of allies soon find themselves trapped in the facility, outnumbered and out-gunned by multiple malignant forces. Outside there's a vicious, highly trained team of mercenaries employed by married oligarchs, both equally psychotic. Inside the facility, they're up against a band of heavily armed Russians, suspicious, frightened scientists and and angry townspeople who've fled into the lower levels of the building.

     If that isn't enough danger and tension in the air, there's more than one traitor among them and also along for the ride......a petite, beautiful but powerfully lethal assassin whose otherworldly combat skills leave even Dez in stunned awe. Furious action, sudden death and surprises await around every corner.......(and in this series, we wouldn't have it any other way)

     Author James Byrne knows well how keep the action popping all the way to the last page As always, there's no end of fun to be had as one by one, Dez's many formidable adversaries discover that behind that chatty, cheeky demeanor,, there's a core of steel they've underestimated.....big time.

     Those new to the series could still get into this one as a stand-alone, but I guarantee you'll then want to race to get your hands on the first three. right afterwards Already cannot wait for the next one, which holds the promise that Dez may have picked up either some future new friends or troubling new opponents....depending on how the plot goes. A surefire 5 star don't miss for high-adventure, action-suspense readers.

     5 stars (*****).

'IN CASE I GO MISSING'.....A GIRL DETECTIVE'S BEST FRIENDS COURT DANGER AS THEY SOLVE HER DISAPPEARANCE....

  In Case I Go Missing by R.N. Swann (2026)

     I stand fully impressed by this one. I never expected to end up so enthralled and engrossed by this Nancy Drew-ish YA mystery. I found it intricately plotted, jam packed with twists and turns and filled with well drawn characters (both teen and adult). And to my further surprise, some keen understanding of the enduring power, (sometimes good and sometimes hurtful) in friendships forged for life.

     And in a startling upending of expectations, the very person you thought would be front and center, ace girl detective Sarah Vincenty, has gone missing. To find out what's become of her, it's up to her two loyal, BFFs and Scooby Gang since childhood, 17 year olds Fenny and Sam. Now, instead of doing mere legwork for Sarah as she dug into and solved the town's various crimes, her dearest friends are tasked with actually cracking the case of her disappearance.

     If Sarah met with foul play, which seems more and more likely, there's no shortage of suspects in town among both teens and adults. Sarah's sleuthing sometimes uncovered adulterous affairs, which split lives asunder and she was also instrumental in getting Sam's abusive, bullying older brother Brian to flee town altogether.

     But Brian's back anyway, with a fiance in tow.. And Fenny and Sam discover Sarah's investigation delved into mysteries surrounding the town that go back through generations of its history.......some of it strange and violent. Not quite ancient history, though, since someone in the here and now is leaving anonymous threats and making very real attempts on Fenny and Sam's lives..

     There's no end of clues to untangle, including Sarah's surprising alliances with the most unlikely people. Fenny's troubling relationship with her mom and Sam's living his life under the thumb of his wealthy, entitled family and loathsome brother also deepen the story. And when the ongoing villainy is finally revealed, it makes for a properly thrilling finale.

     All in all, a terrific YA mystery that everyone should have fun with.

      4 stars (****).

'BENEATH A BROKEN SKY'.....A RAVAGED TOWN, SOME DAMAGED SOULS AND A SAVAGE CRIME.....

  Beneath A Broken Sky by Joshua Moehling (2026)

     While I was totally riveted by the first book in this series, this one was a mixed bag for me. I'm still fascinated and invested in police officer Ben Packard, a gay man investigating crimes in the small backwoods town of Sandy Lake, Minnesota......not an easy place to be or an easy job to hold in such a tight knit provincial community. And author Joshua Moehling fully brings him to life as a character to care about.

     I admired how this latest series entry has turned Sandy Lake into an especially terrible environment for Ben to exist in. A brutally hot summer, polluted with wildfire smoke, has settled on an already tornado ravaged Sandy Lake. Trees are down and houses, including Ben's, are either partially or totally torn apart. And in the midst of all this misery, a woman's been found stabbed to death, her body discovered by her horrified husband and two young sons.

     Ben's on the case sure enough, but the storyline becomes overburdened with subplots and a truckload of generally sketched out, uninteresting characters who start to make you wonder why the book's spending so much time with them. These include a ragtag, itinerant crew of storm chasers, picking up quick cash by repairing damaged roofs, barns and clearing away fallen trees. You can sense, of course, that somewhere down the line, their stories must at some point intersect with Ben's murder case, but the book can try a reader's patience as it takes its own sweet time getting there. Yet another subplot eating up the pages is Ben's attempts to befriend and aid the irascible but deeply hurting sister of the man Ben loved and tragically lost.

     There's more than enough drama going on here to fill up two books, but that weighs down and too often sidetracks the police procedural element. I really would have liked to see more of Ben's prickly, adversarial relationship with his boss who replaced him as the chief of police,. These finely tense moments, sorry to say, only get dished out in spoonfuls, which I thought of as a lost opportunity.

     Ben Packard's a lead character to admire, feel for and root for but no one should expect this latest case to become a swift, compelling page turning mystery. Thoughtful, but not one to keep you glued to it through the night.

     3 stars (***).

'THE TUXEDO SOCIETY'.....THEY'RE SUAVE, ARMED, FABULOUS AND GAILY SAVING THE WORLD.......

 The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick (2026)

     Paul Rudnick, a wickedly sharp gay humorist, can reel off so many rapid fire one-liners, pop culture gags and witticisms that he can hardly get out of his own way. He could barely contain himself in this secret agent spoof. It consists of pages and pages of lengthy paragraphs crammed with run on sentences, each one loaded up with multiple jokes, and absurd metaphors.

     And at long last, the LGTBIQ+ community gets not only one dressed-to-kill secret agent but an entire team of them.....globe trotting Bonds, fabulously outfitted in spiffy tuxes. Of course they have their very own 'Q' gadget master, equipping the boys (and a few sapphic girls) with loony lethal weapons that look left over from those ridiculous imitation 007 knock-offs that flourished in the 1960's.

     The book not only lovingly celebrates and mocks all those secret agent tropes and conventions, it also fully delves into Indiana Jones territory. The boys are tasked with securing and uniting three long lost precious, legendary gems, each one supposedly imbued with supernatural powers. And they're up against a host of international oligarchs and homegrown fanatics who covet the jewels for themselves.

     Yes, it's as crazy and laugh out funny as it sounds and we can all sleep safely at night knowing the Tuxedo Society will stand in strong defense of America, the Free World, the Tony Awards and Meryl Streep. I only wish it was a little easier to navigate through author Rudnick's dense forest of priceless zingers. At times, the book reads like its editor was busy elsewhere reading Tolstoy or taking phone calls.

     But I wouldn't let that put anyone off, though. In this day and age, you can never have enough books that keep you smiling, giggling, and slyly snickering all the way through, I'd certainly be the first in line to dive right into the boys' next mission to save civilization and Ralph Lauren fashions as we know it.

     4 stars (****).

WEEKEND MADNESS WRAP-UP.......SPECIAL 'BEAT A COP AND GET FREE CASH!' EDITION......

 

To BQ visitors:  Enjoy a safe Memorial Day weekend.

To Trumpanzees: Continue to enjoy your gas pump fill-ups and supermarket checkout receipts.....other than that, enjoy nothing. You've more than earned your miseries....

See everyone next week!

'AGATHA'......MRS. CHRISTIE FAMOUSLY DISAPPEARS, BUT A DAPPER DUSTIN IS ON THE CASE.......

 Agatha (1979)

     A charming fanciful concoction, this one.....nicely decorated with British jazz-age atmosphere and mannerisms. 

       And fueled by the offbeat pairing of two gifted unique actors whom you'd think would be voted as "least likely to end up in a romantic film together".......Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave, both at the peak of their A-List star careers.

        The fascinating storyline takes a 'what-if' fictitious view of what became of mystery novelist Agatha Christie during her notoriously baffling 11 day disappearance in December of 1926.  Christie, then 36, never explained where she was (or why)  so the 'Agatha' script by Kathleen Tynan and Arthur Hopcraft crafts a sadly bittersweet and clever explanation.

        As brought to life by Redgrave, Christie's imminent divorce by her imperious upperclass twit husband Archie (a suitably cruel, insufferable Timothy Dalton) has left her a needy, emotionally wounded basket case. She's well aware that he plans to marry his secretary Nancy Neele.

        In the midst of this marital mess,  relentless American columnist Wally Stanton (Hoffman) was after an exclusive interview with Agatha. The quietly intense Stanton, whose clipped, staccato speech mimics that of an English gentleman himself,  knows he's stumbled on to a way bigger story than a mere Christie divorce.

        As police mount a country wide search for Agatha, much to Archie's indifference and disdain, Stanton tracks her down to a swank hotel and spa where, as it so happens, Nancy Neele has come for weight loss treatments. 

       Entranced by Christie, who's been wandering about in a distracted, otherworldly haze, Stanton gently woos her with a calculated mixture of  uppercrust manners and delicacy. Yet at the same time, it appears to him she's come to the spa with a bizarre plan to murder Nancy Neele,  a ghastly death right out of her books...or so it seems. 

       Director Michael Apted carefully maintains the reserved, stylish mood of this slightly warped fairy tale and Hoffman and Redgrave, with their seemingly opposite approaches to their characters, are an odd but diverting couple to watch together...his world famous intensity matched with her ethereal but powerfully silent expressions.

      (and it's a credit to both them that they're unafraid to risk our snickering as they dance together, with the statuesque Redgrave towering over Hoffman....)

       We liked that 'Agatha' was content to provide nothing more than a mild diversion......a bit of mystery, a bit of star-crossed romance, a bit of early 20th century British atmosphere.  And for those hoping for an Agatha Christie surprise twist to this light tale.....the film won't disappoint you there either.

       3 stars (***).