Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne Du Maurier by Tatiana De Rosnay (Biography, 2017). The title here is, of course, a reference to the fictional mansion in Du Maurier’s best known novel, Rebecca. As the author makes clear, real life homes fascinated and repeatedly inspired Du Maurier. In particular, ones she lived in (as well as […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Manderley Forever"The night’s 3rd DVD film was the 2nd Men in Black feature: Not quite up to the original, but still much fun. A couple folks debating favorite brands of rifles and cars. Later: some impassioned dialogue about people snooping on others on Facebook, etc. And as a final change of pace, the nights’ 4th movie […]
Read more "17 November at the Grand Midway, Part 2"The Grand Midway Hotel’s Shangri-La Coffee Lounge reopens (owner Blair Murphy took a break while he and his Lovely Significant Other–hi, Camille!–was having their Baby Daughter, Luna). Just getting back in the swing of things, Blair forgot to put out most of the creamers and the early attendees were too polite (wimpy?) to ask about […]
Read more "September 8 at the Grand Midway"Tonight’s first movie at the Grand Midway Hotel’s Shangri-La Coffee Lounge…Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride! Tonight’s coffees: Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts Regular. Two intrepid Pokemon hunters are comparing notes on the porch; Milo is romping about–he apparently went to dinosaur camp today; Sandy paid us a brief visit and may come back later–but definitely will be […]
Read more "August 4 at the Grand Midway"The original Men in Black was the night’s 3rd movie at the Grand Midway’s coffeehouse night. Multiple chess matches in progress; free Wi-Fi getting a workout (I’m not the only one!) and lots of small groups chatting about this and that (including the advantages in having a best friend on the football team when you’re a […]
Read more "July 21 at the Grand Midway, Part 2"I live in a fairly obscure and quite small town in west-central Pennsylvania, though it has produced (or at least claimed–more on that, in a bit) a number of famous people (in various fields of endeavor). First up, let’s admit that this onetime coal mining center itself has a decidedly funny name: Windber. A major […]
Read more "TARZAN, MOONDOG & ME"Exploding into view after the epic bloodletting savagery of World War II, the dark and dangerous genre known as Film Noir reached a new height with 1947’s KISS OF DEATH. In possibly his best performance of a quite capable career, Victor Mature stars as a career criminal who ends up in jail when arrested for […]
Read more "FILM REVIEW: KISS OF DEATH"