Hitler, Bigfoot, GI Art
Last week I was disappointed when my weekly movie fix was sabotaged after 16 minutes by a flaw in the Netflix disc. With the characteristic efficiency for which the company is known, I was immediately mailed another copy after reporting the incident at the website. The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot (2018) is as odd as the title suggests. That’s okay. Quirky is good. Is it successful? Partly. Sam Elliott stars as the titular hero, now old, living a solitary life circa 1987. Flashbacks reveal his history. I will not provide spoilers that explain the title. Aidan Turner, the star of the PBS Poldark reboot, plays the assassin as a young man. Caitlin FitzGerald, the female half in the TV series based on the work of sex researchers Masters and Johnson, plays his love, who dies young. The protagonist is haunted by his killings, often to the point of tears. Despite his age, he is called upon to track the beast, which is carrying a virus that threatens mankind. Those scenes are terrific. Overall, the story is choppy, leaping backward and forward in time, requiring strict attention. There were two elements I did not understand. One involved a medallion, the other a box whose contents are a mystery. I was relieved to discover that two web sources claim it is not explained. This was director/screenwriter Robert D. Krzykowski’s first big screen effort. I’m interested to see what follows, that is, if he gets a chance. The flick bombed at the box office, although I’m sure the title and the star’s presence arouses curiosity that leads to significant DVD rentals and streaming. Larry Miller does a great turn as the brother who knows so little about his sibling. He was the doorman in that memorable episode of Seinfeld, and also a successful stand-up comic. 6000+ users at IMDb have rated The Man Who…, forging to a consensus of 5.6 on a scale of ten, which seems a little low. It runs only 98 minutes, a plus. It’s appeal is probably restricted to those who enjoy the odd in cinema. Here is Elliott in character, followed by a still of Miller and Seinfeld:
Workers renovating a room at a British nursing home discovered racy paintings dating back to WWII beneath the wallpaper. They are believed to be the work of American soldiers. Here’s one:
I’m not sure I’ve entirely given up on gaining ownership of Exchanges, but I’m not pursuing it until I complete work on the novel I hope to self-publish in January. Since the publisher passed away, new print copies of the book are no longer available at Amazon. Here’s how absurd the situation is, the prices of used copies:
Paperback from $1,006.90
1 Used from $1,006.90
It is offered by Twin City Rarities, which I assume is in Minnesota.
Mass Market Paperback
from $860.48
2 Used $860.48 & $907.71, offered by GoldieLoxBooks & Mega-Movie-Deals respectively. I’m not sure either has a physical storefront. I find it hilarious that all three go the cents route. At those prices, why not a round number? I will not receive a royalty if anyone should be crazy enough to buy. I still have about ten copies, should anyone be interested, ten bucks on the street, 15 by mail. I haven’t checked if the Kindle is still available. It’s $2.
It was a glorious day for sidewalk book sales. My thanks to the Latina who bought three little books for her little boy, and to the lady and gentleman who each bought a book in Russian; and to young Bek, who selected The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg; and to the woman who chose two Robert B. Parker thrillers; and to the two women who donated four books between them; and to the big guy who took home a massive Russian-American dictionary.
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