Pearce Hansen - Street Raised (2006)

Country: USA

Genre: Crime

Pages: 216/542 kb

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"You wanted to see me," Speedy said, sawed-off pointing at the floor. He'd always felt it was rude to point a piece at a man in his own house unless you were getting ready to use it.

 Crime fiction doesn't always have to be dark. It can be gritty and blood-soaked without getting into the throes of depression and darkness within. STREET RAISED, by Pearce Hansen reads like a love letter more than the usual action-packed obituary that is noir. I understand why it is so. Where you come from and who you grew up with is a part of you. You can find poetry in the meanest, most dangerous streets if they are YOUR streets. STREET RAISED packs a lot of action and drama, but it's a lively portrait of the Oakland area. It's far from being a perfect novel, but when your characters have this unspeakable charm and your story feels strong and visceral enough, you can get away with almost anything. This bad boy will require a patient reader, but in the greater  scheme of things, it's a rewarding read. Pearce Hansen takes a lot of detours, but he always finds the highway.

The story of STREET RAISED has more to do with an epic poem than a modern crime novel. John "Speedy" Hancock is released from prison and hitchhikes his way to Oakland, to piece up his life together. He's looking for his little brother Willy, who has turned his life over to the demon of addiction and his friend Fat Bob who's now bouncing bars. The get-together plans are soon derailed when Mexican gangsters send two of their friends to their horrible death. Speedy and Bob then put the breaks to their cute feelings and start planning revenge. But you know, life doesn't let them wreck havoc without getting in the way. Speedy meets Carmel, a beautiful phone psychic and Officier Louis (my favorite character), the same man who put Speedy behind bars comes back in the rear view with an agenda of his own. That's just a few speed bumps Speedy and Bob run into, on their way to getting even.

Let's get it out of the way first, there is only one major issue that bothered me with STREET RAISED. There's really not much left to the reader to forge his own opinion of the characters. It's true especially regarding to Speedy. There's a lot (too much) of qualifiers written to make sure that we know how Speedy feels towards the situation and that those feelings are pure of heart. Pearce Hansen gets in the way of his character. It's not uncommon, great writers also suffered from this. John Updike for example. I didn't like it, I thought that Speedy's actions spoke loud enough for him most of the time. It's obvious that he's a good dude in a rough place. As much as this gets in the way, it doesn't deter too much from the overall beauty of STREET RAISED. The main attraction of the novel to me, was Pearce Hansen's magnificent portraits of a sprawling and chaotic Oakland. 

In Willy's mental movie, the people try to fight that modern miracle the Freeway, just as Berkeley had done so successfully. But the West Oaklanders aren't white professionals and academics safely ensconced behind their money up in the Hills - they're blue collar blacks living in the Flats, without the necessary ressources to practice Berkeley's brand of NIMBY-ism.

Certain places shape a certain type of people. Eskimos* are often fat because they grew up in a blistering cold for generations and their body adapted with a natural isolating cold. Warmer climates often have happier and more social people due to the kinder weather and the lack of urban development, leading to a proliferation of smaller communities.** STREET RAISED functions with the same logic. It's a hard place that shapes and breeds hard people, who can deal with anything life can throw at them. The Oakland of Pearce Hansen is a fascinating hive-mind mother that preys on its children to keep its cycle going. She's worth the read alone. I might have my issues with STREET RAISED, it's also a little derivative. There are chapters the novel could've existed without and it would have been tighter. But the good outweights the bad here. Nobody writes crime the way Pearce Hansen does. His unique, picaresque view of the American streets has strangely left me wanting more. 

There's a new novel out...

THREE STARS

* or Innus, to be politically correct

** I know this is generalizing and absolutely not scientific, but please don't flood me with comments and emails about this. You get the idea.

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

I survived moving apartments. I'm posting live from in between two piles of boxes just to say hi, because I still have a mountain of things to do, including *ugh*...configuring the wireless network. In the meantime, I'll leave you with some audio sex from Led Zeppelin. BLACK DOG is one of those songs I would naughty-dance to every goddamn day of the week. I wouldn't be surprised that it would figure in some top ten of most used pole dancing songs of all time. Rock doesn't always mean hard, sometimes it can also mean sexy. In rare cases (like Led Zeppelin), it can mean both. Enjoy!

Led Zeppelin - BLACK DOG

Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.
Oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing, gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting.
Hey, hey, baby, when you walk that way, watch your honey drip, can't keep away.


Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah. Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah, ah, ah.
I gotta roll, can't stand still, got a flaming heart, can't get my fill
Eyes that shine burning red, dreams of you all through my head.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.

Hey, baby, oh, baby, pretty baby, tell me that you'll do me now
Hey, baby, oh, baby, pretty baby, do me like you do me now
Didn't take too long 'fore I found out, what people mean my down and out.
Spent my money, took my car, started telling her friends she wants to be a star.
I don't know but I been told, a big-legged woman ain't got no soul.

All I ask for when I pray, steady rollin' woman gonna come my way.
Need a woman gonna hold my hand, won't tell me no lies, make me a happy man.
Ah ah Ah ah ah ah Ah ah ah ah Ah ah ah

Jutta Profijt - Morgue Drawer Four (2009)

Country: Germany

Genre: Crime/Police Procedural

Pages: 231

"Sacha" Martin whispered.Of course he could have no way of knowing that I changed the first letter of my name from S to P ever since that schlocky TV show with that guy named Sascha on it, and so now I go by Pascha. Nothing to do with Turkish brothels. I was nice enough to explain this to him.

Until very recently, I didn't know who Jutta Profijt was. I didn't even know Germany had a crime fiction scene. Thanks to a nice publicity woman who is very on-the-ball about what she does, now I know and you will soon all know about this lady of crime fiction that deserves your attention for at least a few minutes. MORGUE DRAWER FOUR was short listed for the Friedrich Glauser Award for best crime novel in 2010 and reading it, one can understand why it would've struck a nerve with any jury. It's a funny and completely unconventional novel about themes that have been beaten to death, thanks to the invasion-of-Poland marketing plan that the CSI franchise have been pulling on us for the last eight years. But yeah, you heard me. MORGUE DRAWER FOUR is a fresh spin on things that makes me almost long for more police procedural fiction. The key word here being "almost".

It's a crime novel, but the beauty of it is that it's also a ghost story. Because the narrator Pascha is dead. He's been murdered or at least he think he has been. He fell from a high point while shitfaced drunk and remember being pushed. It's as unreliable as it gets for a testimony, but nonetheless he will convince the coroner Martin Gänsewein to take a look into the case. Most people would require a lot less than a ghost to do so. To give Pascha some credit, the investigation has been closed very quick and the circumstances of his death are questionable. Pascha was a car thief and during his last job, he found out that there was a body in the trunk of the car he was driving. After getting over the initial shock of being haunted by the ghost of one of his clients, Martin decides to give this case a shot, based on Pascha's allegation. Not the most rational move, I know but would you have done better in his place?

The weird thing about MORGUE DRAWER FOUR is that its main strengths also becomes its weaknesses at a some point. It's humor, for example. It's often rooted in Pascha's peculiar way of seeing life, which transpires a lot in his speech. While it's hilarious at first, the form of MORGUE DRAWER FOUR often gets in the way of Pascha and makes his best aspects more and more difficult to bear. The chapters are long and winding and Pascha is narrating many scenes. It gets excruciating to read, about a hundred pages in. I would've loved this sharp, fast paced speech in very short chapters. Forty-something pages narrated through his frantic vision get from funny to tiring quicker and quicker. It's too bad because Jutta Profijt really nailed the speech of a street youth. She has an ear for vernacular. Pascha speaks like a young thug would and it's an impressive feat considering that most crime protagonist talk like severely depressed philosophers.

What planet had I landed on? You drink tea when you're sick. I mean, really sick. Really suffering. Puking and the runs and all that. And the first thing you try is actually Coke, everyone knows that. But when the cholera or whatever causes such messy business has been sticking around for a while, then you switch to tea. In the face of death, and definitively not together with a chick on your couch before you get down to business.

Please, take my frustrations with a grain of salt here. MORGUE DRAWER FOUR was a fun read. It changes the pace from the ever-so-serious world of crime fiction. It's nice to read someone who has been doing some thinking outside the box. While it's been interesting, I know Jutta Profijt is releasing a sequel soon and I'm not sure MORGUE DRAWER FOUR convinced me to give it a shot. I don't know where Pascha and Martin could go from there without falling into the ridiculous. I know their relationship is ridiculous to begin with, but it has this over-the-top, not-so-subtle charm that the Hammer Production movies had. Solving Pascha's murder is something, but being a supernatural crime fighting team, I'm not so sure about that. But hey, by all means. Take a look at MORGUE DRAWER FOUR if you're aching for a change of pace in your reading. It's in a category of its own. It's enjoyable (and short), but I just don't think this is going to turn into a winning recipe.

THREE STARS

Lie To Me, The Postmortem

I like to think I have grown past my "watching-television-series-on-DVD-is-the-greatest-thing" stage. Because most of the time, it's true. I was swept away by THE WIRE, ran out of steam on DEXTER and MAD MEN, never really was into THE SOPRANOS and  am still on board with BREAKING BAD, but really, what else is there? Watching series is insanely time-consuming and one should stay away from it if he doesn't want to see life pass him by. But then, the move came up and Josie and I were left scrambling to find a way to mute the inner anguish that's often associated with such a bold life move. Then* LIE TO ME came and stole both of our souls.

Six weeks later, we emerged from 48-episodes coma with a smile and a lot to think about. LIE TO ME was anything but perfect, but I'll be damned if it didn't feature one of the most complex, dynamic and lovable characters of all-time. The series has been cancelled by FOX last Spring after running for three seasons. I can't say I'm surprised that it was, because it's a series that has been run into the fucking ground by an  absurdly long season two, but it was its potential, shining through its flaws, that made it such an enthralling experience. Let's take a closer look at what LIE TO ME did right and to what it did wrong.

Right - Dr. Cal Lightman. A violent nature, yet an intellectual. Oozing with libido and yet a responsible father. A successful business owner and yet a thug at heart. Confrontational and yet such a loving man. You get my point. Cal Lightman is one of the most beautifully flawed, conflicted and layered characters I was given the joy to watch/read in recent years. Writer Samuel Baum understand that conflict is about clashing details in one's personality and not necessarily about confrontation. Lightman is the star of the show and carries its interest on his shoulders. It also helps that he's brilliantly portrayed by Tim Roth.

Wrong - Eli Loker. Here's a character that never took off, so he was stored in the background as a borderline utilitarian role. The most painful parts is whenever he has the start of a storyline, only to see it die a stillborn in the following episode. He has a romance with Torres, which ends after one night. He's looking for another job, because he hates Lightman** but he never leaves. He never shuts up (presumably due to contractual issues. On TV, you're paid more if you have a talking part), so he's constantly handling the small potatoes and more technical aspects of the show. Too bad, because Brendan Hines is a capable actor.

Right - Episodic Structure. The show is based around the science of face reading. As much as Lightman is a great character, it wouldn't have been so unique without this quirk. A week-to-week episodic structure keeps things fresh and entertaining, as a continuous storyline would have steered the series towards the characters, which I don't think would have been such a good idea...

Wrong - Plot Holes. Many, many plot holes. Whatever didn't turn around Lightman, usually end up into a gaping one. In the first season, Torres' boyfriend is in coma at the last episode...only to disappear from the show without a trace. Mekhi Phifer has the character with the most interesting dynamic with Lightman and suddenly vanishes from the show after being shot. There's a one liner about him in the third season saying that he's got a desk job now because of Lightman and that he's very angry, but c'mon! Also, Lightman's wife disappear from the face of the Earth at some point.

Right - Untold romance. Tim Roth and Kelli Williams are nurturing this untold and unlived romance in between Lightman and his associate Gillian Foster. It's one of the best non-verbal display of love and attraction I have seen on screen in memory. They are two cute love birds, coming from very different worlds.

Wrong - Ignored romance. Ria Torres, played by the beautiful and talented Monica Raymund, had great potential as a character but got shelved alongside Loker. Perhaps the most frustrating evidence of that is that the writers passed beside the obvious potential romance with Mekhi Phifer's character Reynolds. They were made for each other, it was as clear as day, but nothing happened. Ugh.

If anything, LIE TO ME is a testament that a story can work with one strong enough character. The plot holes don't matter as much when you care about the people. I'm sad to see it go, but the best things are those that end at some point. Wait, did LIE TO ME have an ending? No. It ended on a stupid romantic cliffhanger and a prospective new character for a potential new season. It's as terrible as it gets. Maybe Fox took the right decision and pulled the plug before it would've got ridiculous. In any case, if you're aching for a new series to check out, give LIE TO ME a chance. It's the kind of series you can pick up at any time, so it won't wreck your life too much.

* Thank you, Netflix

** Honestly, it would've been a great way out for this character.

Escape from L.A. (1996)

Country:

USA

Recognizable Faces:

Kurt Russell
Steve Buscemi
Peter Fonda
Pam Grier
Bruce Campbell
Stacy Keach

Directed By:

John Carpenter

There is an archaic beauty to Snake Plissken franchise. There is no way such a movie would be sold to a major Hollywood studio nowadays, even less to an audience*. No, Snake is a relic of a long gone era where the entertainment industry still had the balls to propose movies that were different and most important, that didn't take themselves seriously at all. ESCAPE FROM L.A. is pulp fiction so over-the-top, it's worthy of the pages of Man's Life Magazine (a publication Occidental society misses dearly). There's a good chance that you've never seen anything like Snake Plissken's adventures. That's a good thing because unlike most post-apocalyptic science-fiction movies nowadays, it knows exactly what it's trying to offer. A world so over-the-top dystopian that it will make you smile and put Mad Max in therapy. I re-watched ESCAPE FROM L.A last week for the third time in fifteen years and you know what? It's ridiculously far fetched, the CGI is laughable, the setting is so implausible it makes my head hurt, but goddamit, it's a great pulp/sci-fi if I've ever seen/read one.

ESCAPE FROM L.A is eerily similar to 1981's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but don't be fooled, it IS a sequel. Snake Plissken (Russell) just had a shit luck for getting caught in patterns. This time, he's getting caught by the army** and threatened with deportation to Los Angeles, where the criminals to the new "moral" America are getting deported. After the great earthquake of 2000, L.A. has physically detached from the U.S and now serves as a penitentiary colony. In order to regain his freedom, Snake has to actually GO to Los Angeles and retrieve a package that was stolen from his president by his own daughter, Utopia (A.J Langer). The package is in the hands of a dangerous Che Guevara wannabee named Cuervo Jones (Georges Corraface), who plans to use it to invade the U.S. with other "third world countries", whatever third world means in this universe. Oh and Snake has to kill Utopia too. Because the president (Cliff Robertson) is a control freak who can't accept rebellion from anybody, not even his own kin. I know, it doesn't make much sense when said like that, but it's fucking awesome.

I've reviewed COLOMBIANA earlier this month and it one major similarity with ESCAPE FROM L.A. Both movies will fuck with your suspension of disbelief very hard. What makes ESCAPE FROM L.A very enjoyable where COLOMBIANA is not, is that it's not a movie that wants you to believe anything. It doesn't care if your disbelief is suspended or not in order to enjoy the story. The details that don't make any sense actually add to the wacky atmosphere and make the movie even more enjoyable. For example, the Los Angeles residents are banned for moral crimes, like "being Muslim in North Dakota" or being from a different ethnicity. Petty crimes, right? Yet, they turned L.A in an absolute war zone full of demented warlords in a little more than a decade. Or even more precise, when Snake is chasing Cuervo Jones' car on a stolen motorcycle, he tries to distance himself from the bodyguards by doing a wheelie. It doesn't make any sense, but who cares? It's badass.

In 1996, ESCAPE FROM L.A was probably at the cutting edge of the technology, but it beat father time as the CGI equivalent of the zipper-in-the-back monster movies of the fifties. It's made out of pure passion and it has the organic charm of a comic book. Kurt Russell is overplaying the badass archetype so bad, he's actually fun to watch. With a cast of characters with names such as Map-To-The-Stars Eddie, Carjack Malone and Cuervo Jones, it helps giving it even more of a charm. Don't expect it to revolutionize your view of dystopian science-fiction, because ESCAPE FROM L.A doesn't even pretend to do that. Watch it expecting some laughter and over-the-top action, like in a B movie from the eighties***. It's a story that has a fun and coherent madness to offer you. It's not great cinema, but it's a great work of art. Nostalgia has been kind to this one. It has a rightful place in your DVD/Blu-Ray collection alongside the likes of COBRA and COMMANDO.

SCORE: 85%

* I know there's been another Snake movie in 2010, but it wasn't the same thing. It was a straight-to-dvd knockoff. You can't have Snake Plissken without Kurt Russell, unless it's an animated feature with Russell voicing his trademark character.

** Again

*** In all fairness, it started as a B movie in the eighties. L.A just lives up to the spirit of its franchise very well.