Booked
From an article at foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: Nancy Bass Wyden inherited Manhattan’s famed Strand Bookstore from her father in 2018. It was founded by her grandfather in 1927. Revenue has plummeted 70% since the pandemic began. Loans and cash revenue have been depleted. Employees have been laid off. She is asking customers to return. Critics point out that Wyden, a millionaire, bought between $60,000 and $200,000 in Amazon stock last June. Amazon has been blamed for helping put local bookstores out of business. True, but Jeff Bezo’s behemoth carries my books, Strand doesn’t. My bank statement showed a royalty deposit for the sale of three books.
As my Netflix list approached zero, I needed to add titles to keep the subscription active. I don’t recall why I chose Galveston (2018), but I’m glad I did. It is an uncompromising, hardboiled crime film that refreshingly doesn’t go the way most do. The plot is simple. Ben Foster is outstanding as a career criminal who survives a set-up devised to eliminate him. In the process, he rescues a 19-year-old hooker, wonderfully played by Elle Fanning. Their brief relationship is stormy, especially when she rescues her toddler sister from their step-father. Things get uglier when the crime boss’s henchmen, played by the ever-reliable Beau Bridges, catch up to them. The young woman’s history would likely be obvious to almost any viewer. Blanks will be needed to fill in that of the 40-year-old protagonist. Perhaps the director and screenwriter felt it would have been a cliche to cite broken home, alcoholic parents or such, but dammit I wanted to know. Perhaps it is included in Nic Pizzolatto’s novel, which he adapted. Male chauvinist that I am, I was completely surprised to learn the film was directed by a woman, Paris-born Melanie Laurent, who also has many acting credits. It was her fourth full length feature. I wonder if she studied Ida Lupino’s work. Anyway, the movie is for those who prefer more serious, grim fare. Although there is violence, much of it occurring in dark settings, it does not fall into the action genre. Still, anyone squeamish about it should pass. I don’t recall if there’s an abundance of profanity, which means either that it is not overdone or that it fit smoothly. There is also more smoking in a film than I’ve seen since Atomic Blonde (2017). I loved the final twist in the plot, which I will not even hint at, as it is so different and so much more real life than what I’d expected. 11,000 users at IMDb have rated Galveston, forging to a consensus of 6.2 on a scale of ten, too low in my opinion. I wouldn’t be surprised if time raised its profile. Here are the leads in character:
My thanks to the gentleman who bought the Robert DeNiro bio, and to the woman who did a swap and buy of books in Russian; and to Bill, who purchased a collection of Allen Ginsberg lectures even though he’s not gay — “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Not much business, but at least it didn’t rain. There was even a snippet of sunshine late in the session. Gazing from my window, the gloom that has been in place since Tuesday has since returned.
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