So this recently cropped up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubGpIwUQV-M

There's plenty to criticize in every President's administration. But in how deep of denial are Nixon's defenders who claim he was no worse than anyone else?

[Sunset Blvd.]

Sunset Blvd. - 9/10 - 3rd viewing I think.

I noticed that the director/writer was the guy who penned the first two Lethal Weapon movies. That explains a lot.

*And* my local library has it! Nice find Jenkins.

[Iron Man 3]

Iron Man 3 - 6/10 - The first Iron Man was a pleasant surprise. The second was a solid follow-up. The third is a disposable retread. Most of its virtues come through Robert Downey Jr., who's still fully engaged with his character; no cashing a paycheck and running for this guy. Too bad about the rest of the cast, which (besides the hilarious Ben Kingsley) is completely flat and forgettable, especially the kid who seems like a refugee from a lesser Spielberg flick. It's still enjoyable until the last third, when it becomes a blur of repetitive action that could be C&P'd from any other summer blockbuster of the last 10-15 years. So it goes.

I've seen this at a few of my local bookstores. Not sure if it's been posted here yet:

http://www.amazon.com/Searchers-Making-American-Legend/dp/1608191052/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368851497&sr=1-1&keywords=the+searchers+the+making+of+an+american+legend

Pesci has one role that EVERYONE knows about

Which? Lethal Weapon? Home Alone? JFK?

[Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom]

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom - Stephen Platt - Brilliant account of the Taiping Rebellion, China's catastrophic civil war that fatally crippled the Qing Dynasty, established Western dominance in the Orient and killed over 20,000,000 people. Platt keeps western figures like Lord Elgin and Frederick Bruce on the sidelines. Frederick Townsend Ward and Charles Gordon, often lionized as gallant adventurers, come off as unprincipled freebooters. Platt's mainly interested in the Chinese protagonists: Zeng Guofan, the scholar-turned-general who restructured the Imperial Army from scratch; Dowager Empress Cixi, a concubine accumulating power in the fractious Manchu court; and Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping messiah who considered himself Jesus's brother. Platt blends these personalities with a commendable account of the war's complicated political, religious and military strands. The Taiping's religion crusade morphed into a populist rising against Manchu tyranny, while their leadership devolved into savage in-fighting. Taiping Christianity attracted myriad supporters in the West, even as pragmatism drove the British and French governments into Manchu arms. He also argues the desultory Anglo-French interventions forestalled European involvement in America's Civil War. Thought-provoking and lucid account of an epochal conflict, little-known in the west.

[The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Bighorn]

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Bighorn - Nathaniel Philbrick - Readable but highly suspect account of Custer's Last Stand. Donovan shows a flare for narrative, but his account of Custer is unreservedly negative, often repeating disproven or dubious factoids (eg., Custer was bisexual or had an illegitimate half-breed child). James Donovan's A Terrible Glory is much, much better. Mr. Philbrick is giving a lecture here in Pittsburgh tomorrow; maybe I'll take the opportunity to yank his chain a bit.

Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire - John Bierman - Bierman provides a shallow, salacious account of the clownish French Emperor. Bierman wastes too much time accounting Napoleon's innumerable affairs in lascivious detail: this works as stage setting/character building early on, but gets cringeworthy when repeated ad nauseum. That makes the rest of this 400 page volume rather flimsy. Bierman posits Napoleon as a precursor of both Fascist dictators and media-savvy democratic politicians in his style over substance populism; this analysis would be more interesting if he didn't confine it to a brief, late chapter. Similarly, he treats Napoleon's domestic policies, architectural projects and even France's military adventures as secondary to the Emperor's next mistress, squabbles with his wife or feud with his half-brother. Not what I'd call a serious historical work.

That sounds exactly like the project David Ayer was kicking around in 2005/2006. Hopefully this means it will never actually get made.

But Will Smith? Damn. What the hell is that smell, indeed.

Oh hell naw!

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/will-smith-lined-up-for-remake-of-the-wild-bunch

Cheers RR, that gave me a chuckle.

[The Fate of Admiral Kolchak]

The Fate of Admiral Kolchak - Peter Fleming - Short account of the Russian Civil War and Allied intervention, focusing on Aleksandr Kolchak's doomed All-Russian Government. Fleming does an able job mixing political analysis with narrative history: all the players, from Allied statesmen to Russian revolutionaries and reactionaries, come through clearly, as do their roles and motivations in this complicated drama. Fleming critiques Kolchak's misrule but expresses sympathy for the man himself, a brave sailor out of his depth running a country (even a ramshackle republic). Inevitably aspects of his account are ill-phrased; were the Czech Legions really craven traitors for wanting to get back to their home country instead of remaining pawns of foreign powers? But you allow certain prejudices and outdated analysis with a book written 50 years ago.

[Atonement]

Atonement - 8/10 - 2nd viewing. I liked this a lot more the second time around. Granted, the war sections still seem perfunctory and rushed, with Joe Wright trying his damndest to turn a character study into a David Lean flick. But the novel's story translates pretty well to film, Wright's irritating style quirks aside. The acting, save Keira Knightley (coming on like Celia Johnson with lockjaw), is excellent.

[Straw Dogs (2011)]

Straw Dogs (2011) - 4/10 - Inoffensive, bland, forgettable. Three words that can't possibly be applied to Peckinpah's original, whatever your feelings about it.