Thursday, August 23, 2007

Even more on "The Company"

Did anyone out there watch the final episode of "The Company"? All things considered, I thought it was pretty good (in B+ range). Having read the book, the hunt for the mole didn't have a ton of suspense for me, but it was still nicely done. I won't spoil any surprises for those of you who may not have watched the TV version and are considering reading the book (Note to Raphy: Do it! You'll thank me later.). I thought Rory Cochrane--last seen, at least by me, as one of the stoners in Dazed and Confused--was really good as Yevgeny/Eugene. He was also the only one of the younger actors who looked convincingly old at the end--as opposed to, say, O'Donnell, who looked like himself with a ton of makeup on. If you can imagine, Starik is a bit more creapy/disturbing in the book than he came off in the movie. And, though I said something similar the other day, I'll repeat that Michael Keaton was great as Angleton. I'll also repeat that it would have been nice to have seen the first episode, but the TNT programming people seem to be a bunch of nitwits.

Since we're on our favorite topic, I should note that I finished re-reading Charles McCarry's "Tears of Autumn" about a week ago. It's the first of McCarry's novels that I read and, after raving about it to various people over the last several years, I wanted to make sure that it was as good as I remembered. It was.

For spy-novel buffs, there's also a new Daniel Silva book out about badass Mossad agent Gabriel Allon. I'm only a few pages in, but it starts off very nicely.

In other literary news, apparently Paris Hilton is working on a new book. According to Gawker, "It's actually a strongly-argued polemic that defends cultural relativism against the anti-egalitarian attacks of conservative critics such as the late Allan Bloom." Wha? Oh, wait. It seems that they're kidding. Bummer, because I'd actually like to read that book.

Posted by jwb at 7:21 AM   

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Ok, I went and found a nice $1 copy in hardback. But it's got to wait until I finish "Brokenclaw," reuted to be one of the better of Gardener's Bond novels. In honor of his recent passing, and all.
at 1:27 PM     

Anonymous Anonymous said:

rePuted, I meant to type.
at 1:28 PM     

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Ways in which "Brokenclaw" is derivative Bond at its most imitaitve:

1. The title is a reference to the Bad Guy, a la Goldfinger.
2. The finale is a duel between Bond and Brokenclaw, a la Man with the Golden Gun.
3. The set-up relies upon a coincidence/chance recognition: Bond being at the same place as the Bad Guy, a la Thunderball.
4. Bond falls hard for his Asian sidekick, a la You Only Live Twice.
5. That Asian sidekick is a rookie, a la Man with the Golden Gun.
6. Henchmen come in pairs, a la Diamonds are Forever.
7. The term Brokenclaw is itself a reference to the Bad Guy's hand, a la Goldfinger, and...
8. Also relates to a physical deformity of the hands, a la Dr. No.

Maybe I'm just getting too old for this stuff.
at 6:51 AM     

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