Art's most reviewed reviews

I have been reviewing music, books, movies, museums and other sources of community expression since the 1970's. For about a decade I was paid for this, mostly by weekly publications. That I was a bass player getting paid for playing, at least most weekends when school was in session and during the summer break, probably helped my credibility when interviewing musicians. Which got me interviews and insights which allowed me to achieve some kind of following. But not sure how i started reviewing comedy (I never got up on stage just to tell jokes, or make people laugh, though sometimes that was a byproduct of some extended riffs between songs). Or movies (still photography was all I attempted)? Or books (English lit was not as interesting to me as a lot of other subjects) But I did, and they paid me for writing the reviews and interviews, most of the time.

I put this activity aside when I decided to buy a house in expensiveland (Tiburon, California, 7 nautical miles from Fishermans Wharf San Francisco) and support a wife, then other family members. But when the web opened up casual reviewing possibilities (on such sites as Amazon, Netflix, etc) I took advantage, without any expectation that these quickly written items might be read even a year later. In some cases, the quality and content of these reviews reflects their 1 AM vintage, and my frustrated reaction to the un-intelligeable, historically inaccurate and simply illiterate reviews left by previous submitters. Some of these are worth another look. But some of them , in particularly some of the more positive expressions, are still are read and recommended today.

I have updated some content of the following book reviews (I am starting with some book reviews) to avoid the miniscule possiblity that the above popular sites and others might actually want to enforce their "ownership" of my created content.

My Top Rated Book Review (I really don't know why)
Subject: Thomas Pynchon's "V"

Must break into the SERIOUS debate about this books merit by interjecting that this is, first and foremost, a very funny book. Just hilarious, on whatever level you prefer to read it at. Benny Profane indeed! I was an economics major, not a lit major, that probably helps me enjoy it, as I can readily choose to skip the "layers of meaning" that apparently must be front and forward to the literary types here. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much.

Okay, not for Stephen King fans, certainly not for Danielle Steele fans, you do need the basic triple digit IQ to get past page 30. But you do not have to search for themes and meaning to enjoy this fine read, I swear. Not as accessible as Vineland, perhaps, but a lot easier reading than Gravities Rainbow, or the spotty and difficult Mason &Dixon (UPDATE: or the absolutely brilliant and really quite accessible but very long Against the Day) . In V, the young Pynchon shows his early genius and wit.

Subject: John Irving's "Until I find you."
I first read "Setting Free the Bears" John Irving's quirky and bitter-sweet funny initial effort (published circa 1969)in the 1970's. Since then, I have read them all, and enjoyed the ride. This long book is actually a pretty easy read. It is often humerous, at times emotionally wrenching(near its conclusion), quite bluntly sexual, and almost always fast-moving and entertaining. It is not a literary masterpiece, which I think "Garp" and "Cider-House Rules" were. And it is probably not even as consistent an effort the more accessible and heartwarming "Widow for One Year." But if you are an Irving fan, or you enjoy quirky, unsettling humorous storytelling, then this is a most worthwhile read.

Critical comments about numerous minor characters that could have been cut are probably right. It could have been edited a lot, and the main character could have been presented as more initially likeable and thus sympathetic; but then it might lack that quirky flavor that makes Irving so interesting (you want romance fiction? Wrong author!). As to the reportedly "disturbing" child sexual abuse section, I understand the main character's history is at least somewhat autobiographical, and is clearly meant to be seen as through the eyes of a young boy. So if it wasn't a little disturbing, how true to life would it be? A good, involving page-turning read.

Subject: Leonard Matlin's Movie Guide (annually updated).
Leonard and his staff are movie lovers and experts, and this the most comprehensive guide of its kind. They are American movie historians at heart. They love the recognized classics and they seem to particularly appreciate film-making craft and professionalism. I think they implicitly favor Hollywood movies or better produced independent films over low-budget and many foreign films because of the often notable difference in production values, and I think they are usually correct.

I have personally used this guide for 20 years to find the gems I may have missed and weed out the forgettable and regretable films that often get the big promotional budgets and their accompanying gushing,albeit seemingly paid-for, over-appreciative reviews (Mr. Ebert???). A guide like this, which focuses on quality first and foremost, is particularly useful if you go to a Blockbuster (they have that name for a reason) or use Netflix. The Netflix associative predictive rating system is really crude at best and does not filter out some seriously flawed recommendations.

One warning: Matlin's ratings reflect mainstream film history thought. If you like the really edgy, the impressionistics, or other things "arty" in film, you may find the coverage and the ratings too traditional. But I think they recognize quality in new films, not just old ones. Highly recommended to all but the bleeding edge cinema buffs.

Background: I wrote for the same college newspaper as Leonard for a few months. He was a genuine film historian at age 20 and seemed like a very nice young guy, and at the time he was already a twice-published book author. I suspect he is now a very nice middle-aged guy, and he has certainly kept up the good work. I do wish I had the opportunity to chat with him now on various current movies. Hmm, maybe via the web.

That's it for now. My next post will be on the music reviews, or maybe the one after that. Not surpringly to anyone who knows me well, they are more impressionistic and subjective.