Movies Watched June 2009

59. Hansel and Gretel – Yim Pil-Sung – 2007 – South Korea

60. Days Of Glory – Rachid Bouchareb – 2006 – France

61. Ghost Game – Sarawut Wichiensarn – 2006 – Thailand

62. The Signal – David Bruckner, Dan Bush & Jacob Gentry – 2007 – USA

63. Away With Words – Christopher Doyle – 1999 – Hong Kong

64. The Eagle Shooting Heroes – Jeff Lau – 1993 – Hong Kong

65. X-Cross – Kenta Fukasaku – 2007 – Japan

66. The Brides Of Fu Manchu – Don Sharp – 1966 – UK

67. The Good, The Bad, The Weird – Kim Ji-Woon – 2008 – South Korea

68. H6: Diary Of A Serial Killer – Martin Garrido Barón – 2005 – Spain

69. Flame And Citron – Ole Christian Madsen – 2008 – Denmark

Books Read June 2009

21. Before They Are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie – 2007 – Gollancz

22. Starship Fall – Eric Brown – 2009 – NewCon Press

23. Postscripts 18 – ed. Peter Crowther & Nick Gevers – 2009 – PS Publishing

24. Shadow Of The Scorpion – Neal Asher – 2008 – Night Shade Books

Book Comment: The Catacombs Of Fear

Author: John Llewellyn Probert
Year: 2009
Publisher: Gray Friar Press
Page Count: 177

With The Catacombs Of Fear, John Llewellyn Probert produces another volume of interlocking horror tales in the style of his previous outing from Gray Friar Press, The Faculty Of Terror. I read that one back at the end of 2007 and enjoyed it immensely so was delighted to hear about this new title. And once again Mr Probert doesn’t disappoint.

Comprising of five stories linked by a common thread, much like the portmanteau horror films from Amicus, the tales themselves work well separately, with the linking interludes adding an extra depth and serving as introductions to each one, leading up to the unveiling of the secret behind Chilminster Cathedral and why the Reverend Clements has been called to serve there. Very atmospheric and cinematic in the telling, Mr Probert has a wonderfully visual writing style, letting the events unfold almost as though they were playing on a screen. As an added bonus there’s a “guided tour” at the end, providing some background to the creation of the stories. Overall, wonderful stuff, I had great fun reading this collection, and I get the impression the author had just as much fun writing it.

Movies Watched May 2009

47. An Empress And The Warriors – Shing Siu-Tung – 2008 – Hong Kong

48. Beowulf – Robert Zemeckis – 2007 – USA

49. The Warlords – Peter Chan – 2007 – China

50. My Name Is Bruce – Bruce Campbell – 2008 – USA

51. The Star – Nikolai Lebedev – 2002 – Russia

52. The Midnight Meat Train – Ryuhei Kitamura – 2008 – USA

53. Mutant Chronicles – Simon Hunter – 2008 – USA

54. The Strangers – Bryan Bertino – 2008 – USA

55. The Black Book – Paul Verhoeven – 2007 – Holland

56. Cold Prey – Roar Uthaug – 2006 – Norway

57. The President’s Last Bang – Im Sang-Soo – 2005 – South Korea

58. Fear(s) Of The Dark - 6 Directors - 2007 – France

Books Read May 2009

Only 3 books read this time, due to the monster 800+ page epic of Olympus taking me most of the month. Just as well all the books I read are not that length, I’d be lucky to get through a dozen or so all year.

18. Olympos – Dan Simmons – 2005 – Gollancz

19. The Catacombs Of Fear – John Llewellyn Probert – 2009 – Gray Friar Press

20. Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries – Stephen Turnbull – 2005 – Osprey

Book Comment: Revolvo

Author: Steven Erikson
Year: 2008
Publisher: PS Publishing
Page count: 92

Better known for the epic fantasy tomes of his Malazan Books Of The Fallen series, with this novella, originally published in 1997 under the name Steve Lundin and not connected with the world of the Malazan, Steven Erikson proves that he can write equally well within a much more restricted word-count. 

Revolvo is a modern fantasy, a satirical and somewhat cynical look at the generally unfathomable world of “modern art”, and just as relevant today as it was back in the late ‘90s. Populated by quite a number of bizarre characters, the story places them in increasingly bizarre situations, until the multiple plot threads finally crash together; Erikson packs a lot in despite the low page count. Broken up into plenty of short, snappy chapters, it’s a fast paced and completely over-the-top yarn, laced with a healthy dose of black humour. An amusing and entertaining read.

Books Read April 2009

Five books finished in a month may look good, by my rate anyway, but I have to point out that the Night Shade anthology was read over several months, I only finished it in April. I tend to read most anthologies this way, interpersing  their short stories with longer novels. Next month’s list will quite possibly be much shorter; I just started into Olympos, the even more lengthy sequel to Dan Simmons’ Ilium.

13. The Appetite – Nicholas Royle – 2008 – Gray Friar Press

14. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 2 – ed. Jonathan Strahan – 2008 – Night Shade Books

15. Blue War – Jeffrey Thomas – 2008 – Solaris

16. Solar Lottery – Philip K Dick – 1955  – Gollancz

17. Revolvo – Steven Erikson – 1997 – PS Publishing (2008)

Movies Watched April 2009

36. Days Of Being Wild – Wong Kar-Wai – 1990 – Hong Kong

37. Police – Maurice Pialat – 1985 – France

38. A Bloody Aria – Won Shin-Yuon – 2006 – South Korea

39. Iron Man – Jon Favreau – 2008 – USA

40. Gohatto – Nagisa Oshima – 1999 – Japan

41. Tunnel Rats – Uwe Boll – 2008 – USA

42. L: Change The World – Hideo Nakata – 2008 – Japan

43. Beaufort – Jospeh Cedar – 2007 – Israel

44. The Tripper – David Arquette – 2006 – USA

45. The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan – 2008 – USA

46. The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin – Liu Chia-Liang – 1978 – Hong Kong

Books Read March 2009

I’m surprised I got through 4 books this month as I expected Ilium to take me longer to read than it did, helped by having a few days off work at the start of the month. Just to make sure I decided to read the three novellas I bought recently from Gray Friar Press, since Gary was having a sale. Two down, starting into the Nicholas Royle one tomorrow.

9. Ilium – Dan Simmons – 2003 – Gollancz

10. Thicker Than Water – Mike Carey – 2009 – Orbit

11. Rain – Conrad Williams – 2007 – Gray Friar Press

12. Hard Roads – Steve Vernon – 2007 – Gray Friar Press

Movies Watched March 2009

Another 12 movies watched this month. Yay.

24. The Abandoned – Nacho Cerda – 2006 – Spain/UK

25. Shrooms – Paddy Breathnach – 2007 – Ireland

26. Friend – Kwak Kyung-Taek – 2001 – South Korea

27. Hancock – Peter Berg – 2008 – USA

28. Kokoda: 39th Battalion – Alister Grierson – 2006 – Australia

29. The Idiot – Akira Kurosawa – 1951 – Japan

30. Wild Zero – Tetsuro Takeuchi – 2000 – Japan

31. A Battle Of Wits – Cheung Chi-Leung – 2006 – China

32. Ashes Of Time (Redux) – Wong Kar-Wai – 1994 – Hong Kong

33. Chemical Wedding – Julian Doyle – 2008 – UK

34. The Legend Of Gingko – Park Je-Hyeon – 2000 – South Korea

35. King Boxer (5 Fingers Of Death) – Jeong Chang-Hwa – 1972 – Hong Kong