Back before the pandemic began I named WH Smith in my corporate dead pool. At long last it has happened.
I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved string manipulation and sorting. (Note that this ends today.)
2014 Ruritanian fantasy-romance, second of its series. Antuniet Chazillen left the country after her brother was executed for treason, but someone's after her and she's run out of places to flee. Jeanne de Cherdillac is a scandalous widow and social butterfly.
1993 drama, dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, Juliette Binoche, Benoît Régent; IMDb / allmovie. After the great composer dies in a car crash, his widow tries to pick up her life.
2018 fantasy novella, side story in the Harwood Spellbook series. Before the events of the novels, Amy Standish is a rising young pollitician who must marry a magician to gain rank in the Boudiccate. But Jonathan Harwood, resolutely non-magical, remains her temptation…
1999 found-footage horror, dir. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, Heather Donahue; IMDb / allmovie. Three filmmakers enter, no filmmakers leave.
2021 SF, first of a planned five-book series. An exploration ship vanishes. The captain's father, a naval hero from the last war, doesn't trust the authorities to do a good enough job looking, so arranges to "borrow" a starship and go hunting himself.
My eighth Airecon, and the event's tenth anniversary. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.
I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved sliding strings and partial modifications. (Note that this ends today.)
1972 disaster, dir. Ronald Neame, Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine; IMDb / allmovie. The luxury cruise is not going to end well.
2021 paranormal romance novella. Maggie grew up in Moose Point, never one of the Popular Girls, and has ended up working at the local (and only) Bar. Fiona was the chief Mean Girl and vanished away as soon as she could, but now she's back for her cousin's wedding…
1962 historical drama, dir. David Lean, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif; IMDb / allmovie. In a world… one man… epic.
2021 SF, second of what is now planned to be at least a trilogy. Wu Zetian overthrew the old corrupt order. Now things should be better, right?
2002 drama, dir. Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino Da Hora; IMDb / allmovie. You can be the biggest toughest gang leader on the streets, but you're still on the streets.
2014-2015 fiction, fanfic connected to the Swallows & Amazons books. In 1938 with war looming, there's one last adventure to be had…
I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved daisywheels and a list breakdown. (Note that this ends today.)
1941 drama, dir. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore; ImdB / allmovie. The newspaper magnate has died, and a reporter goes looking for a unique angle on the story that everybody is writing.
More gaming with nearby friends.
2022 romance, second of its trilogy. After her disastrous engagement fell apart (last book), Astrid has thrown herself into her interior design business, but it hasn't been going well. The renovation of the old hotel is her last chance, and it's going to be televised…
2007 neo-noir, dir. Joel and Ethan Coen, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem; IMDb / allmovie. When you find a bunch of dead guys and a lot of money in the desert, obviously you take the money. What could go wrong?
2014 historical adventure, second of its trilogy. Margaret Fitzroy helped to uncover a Jacobite plot at the court of the Princess of Wales, but that doesn't mean anyone actually likes her. And an unwanted engagement has resurfaced…
1976 action, dir. John Carpenter, Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston; IMDb / allmovie. The old police station's being decommissioned, and a skeleton crew just has to get through one last night,
I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved case swapping and character grouping. (Note that this ends today.)
1953 historical fiction for young people. Simon Carey the son of a successful farmer, and Amias Hannaford the son of the doctor, grow up the best of friends. But then the King raises his standard, and their friendship is split by the Civil War…
1949 drama, dir. Carol Reed, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles IMDb / allmovie. The innocent arrives in post-war Vienna to accept a job with a friend…
1950 Napoleonic naval fiction, sixth written but first by internal chronology. The young Hornblower goes to sea for the first time.
1925 epic drama, dir. Sergei Eisenstein: IMDb / allmovie. The heroic sailors of the Potemkin will not stand for this!
2024 SF, fourth and probably last of its series. Fergus settled down as a beach bum in the back end of nowhere to try to hide from the many people who don't have his wellbeing in mind, but it was only a matter of time until someone tracked him down.
2015 dramatised non-fiction, dir. Adam McKay: IMDb / allmovie. The not particularly true story of how Just One Guy predicted the 2008 financial collapse.
I’ve been doing the Weekly Challenges. The latest involved set intersections and a complex sort. (Note that this ends today.)
2011 documentary in three episodes. Adam Curtis is very keen that you should agree with him.