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 (***). 

        

        

'LORD LOVE A DUCK'.....THE 60'S TAKE A SATIRICAL BEATING....SOMETIMES THE PUNCHES LAND.......

 Lord Love A Duck (1966)

     With modern society and culture undergoing massive upheavals in the 60's, social satire began to seep into the zeitgeist. It took awhile for Hollywood and the studios to take notice of the emerging self mockery that had plenty of targets to pick from....the collapse of sexual taboos, the youth revolution, the onslaught of new technologies and the long overdue exposure of all the "powers that be" as lying jerks without a clue. 

      Writer-director George Axelrod's tongue-in-cheek credentials were already well established - screenplays for "The Manchurian Candidate", "How To Murder Your Wife", "Paris When It Sizzles", "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?", "Breakfast At Tiffany's", and "The Seven Year Itch".

        This time around, Axelrod was out skewer no less than the entire American social fabric and 'Lord Love A Duck" plays out like a 105 minute 'Saturday Night Live' episode where most of the skits either go on too long or don't land from the start. 

        It's a gasping, grasping mess of a movie, but there's one shining star that dazzles in this sea of failed spoofery.......the luminous, ultimate Manic Pixie Dream Girl herself, Tuesday Weld.

         Weld's bubbly, volcanically sexy high schooler jailbait became her signature role and persona throughout the 60's and to quote the James Bond song, nobody did it better. 

         As tight sweater obsessed Barbara Ann, she's found her very own mentor-devil in fellow student outcast Alan 'Mollymuck' Musgrave (played by Roddy McDowall, about 18 years too old to be playing a high school student but giving it a hell of try....)

        Like a perverse Genie to Barbara Ann's Aladdin, Mollymuck arranges, one way or another, to grant the budding Lolita-on-steroids all her wishes for popularity and fame. Along the way, the film takes potshots at beach movies, Hollywood moguls, imbecilic parents, snotty preppies, fake pious preachers, obsessive consumerism, assorted authority figures,  and in one incredible scene, pedophile educators.....(we won't even describe the moment where the drooling overwrought school Principal (Harvey Korman) almost brings himself to orgasm as Barbara Ann speaks of her glorious sweater collection).

        We'd love nothing more than to report all this stuff comes off as funny as it sounds.....some of it does, to be sure....some of it doesn't.  With the cast wildly overplaying, the film takes on the appearance of a rogue Jerry Lewis movie, where every joke and performance is delivered with a sledgehammer, just to make sure we're all 'getting it'.  We get it, George, we get it. 

         (In true American International fashion, Axelrod pads out the running time with repeated footage of bikini girls and beach boys gyratin' their hips while the pop vocals keep repeating ,' Hey, hey, hey!' Only a few seconds of it qualifies as amusing.....

         We can't say the film's a total loss (like Roger Corman's shapeless scattershot satire 'Gas-s-s-s' which we reviewed 4/29/26. Tuesday Weld, always a wonder to watch in Manic Pixie action, defies you to take your eyes off her. And every so often, George Axelrod even manages to hit one of the many 60's foibles he took aim at.  (and at some point, you can spot Ruth Gordon trying out her raspy-voiced old lady gargoyle character that served her so well in 'Rosemary's Baby')

       Somewhere in the chaos, Roddy McDowell's Mollymauk muses on Weld's Barbra Ann...."whose deepest, most heartfelt yearnings express with a kind of touching lyricism the total vulgarity of our time..."

          If only the movie had been as good expressing that vulgarity as well as Barbara Ann.....

          2 & 1/2 stars (**1/2). Nice effort, anyway....and Lord knows the 60's had it comin'.....

       

'SHAPES OF LOVE'.....A BELOVED POP STAR'S FANS DON'T REALIZE SHE ONLY DESIRES PLATONIC LOVE.....

  Shapes of Love by L.V. Penalba (2026)

      This book's quite the amazing, ambitiously entertaining achievement. It combines its full-of-heart story of a beloved music artist struggling with her public persona with the additional challenges she faces as an aroace individual........though asexual and aromantic herself, she can still need and desire all the warmth and wonders of platonic love and friendship.

     Gifted young singer-songwriter Sasha has enthralled her massive fan base as 'Sassy', the girl whom they think bases her songs, aching with hurt, on her real, star-crossed romance. They've no idea that asexual Sasha, uncomfortable with her 'Sassy' alter-ego, took her inspirations not from life, but from her favorite books, mangas, and characters.

     After crossing paths with long estranged boyfriend Kai, Sasha's high-pressured by her manager to embark on a contractual fake-dating arrangement with him. On the eve of the upcoming Grammy awards, the plan is to satisfy Sassy's fans by creating a manufactured romance with the boy who supposedly inspired her most cherished song.

     But then life gets in the way in the form of glib, devil-may-care, major TV star Asher who like Sasha, hides an entirely different personality behind his dashing bravado. The surprisingly warmhearted Sasha-Kai-Asher combination takes each of them on their own self-revelation journey........and their adoring public may be in for some shocks.

     I stand in awe of the way author L.V. Penalba brought this three people to life and at the same time, provided a expansive, perceptive insight into the world of those who identify themselves as aroace. Because when you get right down to it, Sasha's personal quest to discover what form of love and companionship best fits her feels universal to all of us.

     For a book that one might categorize as not-quite-a-romance, there's no lack of honest, genuine emotions (and yes, love) to keep you reading to see what happens next.

     4 stars (****),

'RANI DESHPANDE TAKES THE WHEEL'......AND TAKES A SLOW BUT STEADY RIGHT TURN INTO ROMANCE......

  Rani Deshpande Takes the Wheel by Arushi Avachat (2026)

     Charming and fun every step of the way......or should I say every stop sign along the way.....

     19 year old Rani felt like a lonely outcast during her college freshman year away from home. So as summer unfolds, she's transferred to a University close to home, bringing her back into the loving, but constantly overbearing embrace of her large, extended Desi family,....(aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, in-laws,, her tween twin brothers.......and Kush Khanna, that annoying, cooler-than-cool long-ago childhood crush)

     Rani's loaded up a full plate this summer before her sophomore year - an internship with a famously demanding professor, re-connecting with her best friend, helping to raise those rambunctious twins (a thankless task expected by her mother) and finally getting around to driving lessons. and at long last a license. But guess whom the family has entrusted Rani's driver's education to?

     Naturally, some sparks fly and some fenders crumple as the taciturn Kush and the say-the-first-thing-on-her-mind Rani clash during those literally bumpy driving lessons......but sooner or later , you know those sparks will start to change from angry to not-too-angry to way-less-than-angry and then to.......do I really need to explain further?

     As Rani and Kush slowly but surely move from antagonists to....uh , something else, there's plenty of family meddling and gatherings that guarantee humor, strife, heart..... and always luscious food. It turns into a summer of revelations for Rani and she travels into adulthood not expecting to find love along for the ride.

     And just in time in time for the warmer days,, author Arushi Avachat serves up this perfect beach read, or for any other time as well.

     4 stars (****).

WEEKEND MADNESS WRAP-UP.....SPECIAL "I DON'T THINK ABOUT YOU SUCKERS AT THE GAS PUMPS" EDITION......

 Breaking News.....the President announces a new perk for all Americans.....send your gas receipts to the White House and you'll receive a collectible post card with an artist's depiction of the the new Trump Ballroom and Trump Arch.....and you will only be charged $49.95 on your Visa, Mastercard or American Express.....

To BQ visitors:  Happiest of weekends....see you next week!
To Trumpanzees: Received your invitation to the first dance at the Ballroom yet? No? Keep checking the mail......or better still, take a deep breath and hold it until your invite arrives......

'GRAVE WAVES'.......TWO ODDBALL TWEENS TAKE ON A NEST OF EURO-THUGS.....IN SUNNY FLORIDA AT CHRISTMAS.....

 Grave Waves by Dorian Box (Publishes Friday 5/15/26) 

   

     BQ highly recommends you do NOT leave your favorite bookstore this weekend without treating yourself to this book....of which an advanced copy was graciously provided me by NetGalley and Friction books. Allow me to explain........

     I can't remember if I've ever used the word 'Delightful' to describe a book in all my reviews.....any book.

     But author Dorian Box knows the incredible recipe to conjure up a mystery/comedy/heart-tugging concoction that can only be described as a pure delight.......the reading equivalent of a triple scoop of your favorite ice cream.

     In this third entry in the 'Danny Teakwell' series, we're back in that almost always humid beach town of Hollywood Florida, home to a host of host of unforgettable quirky characters surrounding our guy Danny. He's well known as a surfer, expert surfboard maker and appointed guardian to the most impossibly odd and adorable tween orphan imaginable. Jessica Jewell...... a girl gifted, witty and knowledgeable in the mortuary arts, having been raised in a funeral home.

     And the feisty, old-soul, wise-beyond-her-years Jessica has at last found a best friend and kindred spirit. That could only be lanky goth-girl Gigi, who can spout Shakespearian verse and encyclopedic horror movie knowledge in between her never ending craving for snacks. Together, these girls can either make you laugh out loud, fear anxiously for their safety or make you want to reach out and hug them both......... sometimes all of those things all at once.

     It's almost Christmas as Jessica and Gigi come across a, lethal little collection of European malefactors scamming and murdering some of the town's most beloved elderly widows. These vile thugs aren't kidding around. To further their master plan, they've even turned Danny's comically stupid lawyer Fink into their very own patsy and Useful Idiot And when the tweens' Nancy Drew-ish investigations drag in Danny and his new budding love interest, everybody's in serious danger.......which still doesn't slow down Jessica and Gigi's priceless, hilarious observations, quips, horror movie references and quests for food and snacks.

     As you can already figure out from this review, I loved this book, and these characters to pieces and I could go on raving about it for another hour or more.......probably because it's a joy to read a book that serves up such heaping portions of dark humor, suspense, mystery and most of all, genuine heart. I for one will count the days until Danny, Jessica and Gigi stumble into their next precarious and uproarious adventure. . 

     5 stars (*****). You couldn't ask for a more fun refreshing addition to your 'Must Reads' of the year.