Catch-22

I have read a lot of great books, but there are only two that changed my life. The first was Red Planet, by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the reason I am a science fiction writer.

The other was Catch-22, and it is quite possible that this book is the reason I’m alive today, and not a name on The Wall in Washington, D.C. When I read ... Read more »

Catch-22

Not only did they miss it, they butt-fucked it, they spit on it, they bastardized it, they turned out a cinematic abortion. They fucking re-wrote it!

If you haven’t read the book, much of this will not make much sense to you. And if you haven’t read the book … get it and read it, damn it!

Damn it, they got off to a ... Read more »

Catch a Fire

Based on the true story of Patrick Chamusso. He was from Mozambique and came to South Africa and got a job in a coal liquefaction plant. Some years later he was arrested, interrogated, and tortured as a suspect in a bombing at the plant. He maintains he didn’t do it, but ironically, he was so enraged by his treatment that he went back home and joined the ANC. He trained as a soldier, and ... Read more »

Catch Me If You Can

Highly overrated. Not really much going for it at all, even with the great Tom Hanks. Spielberg really ought to stick to the epic form, he’s not very good with these smaller, more personal stories.

Cats

So here it is, the most reviled movie of the year, possibly the decade. Some say the century. Many walked out, many others said it was the worst movie they had ever seen. Won six Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Supporting Actor (James Corden), Worst Supporting Actress (Rebel Wilson), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Combo: “Any two half-feline half-human hairballs.” The ... Read more »

Catwoman

I am not recommending it, precisely. The plot is pretty ridiculous (but hey, Spiderman’s plot isn’t?), and there is zero chemistry between Benjamin Bratt and Halle Berry. Yet it’s a pretty good drive-in movie. Halle Berry’s moves are incredibly catlike; she is sexy as hell. There are some laughs, like her chowing down on canned tuna or peeling the raw fish from ... Read more »

Cavalcade

This was based on a play by Noel Coward that, according to Robert Osborne at TMC, was a huge spectacle with carriages, horses, a London double-decker bus, and hundreds and hundreds of spear-carriers. It was a huge success, and so was the movie adaptation, which is also vast and populated with thousands. It follows a family from 1899 to 1933, through war and upheaval, death and birth. It’s ... Read more »

Cavedweller

About 12 years ago a woman fled her abusive husband in Georgia, abandoning her two daughters. She had another girl by a rock musician, they tour, have a good life, and then she leaves him and he dies in a car wreck. Their daughter blames the mom for his death. Mom decides to go back to Georgia and re-unite her family. This is an obviously hair-brained scheme, none of the children want it, ... Read more »

The Caveman’s Valentine

A classically trained pianist has suffered a mental breakdown and lives in a cave in New York City. You can’t help thinking of David Helfgott in Shine. But Romulus Ledbetter is not as appealing as Helfgott, he is an in-your-face paranoid schizo who probably smells bad, and his family is aware of where he is. A friend of his is murdered, and he sets out to ... Read more »

Cedar Rapids

An unexpectedly good comedy. It stars Ed Helms, one of the dudes who was responsible for The Hangover, and is along those lines, though not as gross. Ed is an insurance salesman who has basically never been out of Frozen Grizzly Scat, Minnesota, and gets a chance to go to the big city—Cedar Rapids!—for a convention. He’s never been on ... Read more »