The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: April 2015: "George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door" and "All You Need Is Kill"

Reading has become a luxury I don't seem to be able to afford recently.  However, in the last few weeks I have finished TWO distinctly different books.

First, I read the book All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.  This was the novel that inspired last summer's Tom Cruise sci-fi action flick "Edge of Tomorrow".  I really enjoyed the movie and was please I had seen it previous to reading this book.  While the book was enjoyable, I felt some of the concepts were actually fleshed out a bit better on the big screen.

Secondly, I grabbed George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson on a whim at the library last month.  I once joked I had four constant friends growing up and they were named John, Paul, George and Ringo.  In my teens, I read a lot of Beatle biographies plus the big ones about John and Paul.  Ringo was Ringo and I never bothered to learn much about him beyond the highlights.  There was, however, a dearth of information on George.

This book does a wonderful job of uncovering who George really was.  There is lots of first hand accounts and interviews with those closest to Harrison.  It is a fascinating read.

I place this with the best Beatle related books I have read.

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The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us HERE!

Mock Squid Soup - April 10, 2015: Strangers On A Train

I love me some Hitchcock.  When fellow Souper Birgit put this forth as her March offering, I knew I had found my April film!  After showing Nan and Logan the original trailer on Amazon, we were all convinced.

After our Easter meal and Star Trek viewing, we settled in for this.  It was my son's third Hitchcock offering (we've watched North by Northwest a few times and he has seen all of To Catch A Thief but in three separate viewings) and he and my wife are currently planning a trip that will take them on their first long distance train trip, so everyone was cracking wise as things got under way.

This was great fun!  Logan spotted Hitchcock's cameo at around the ten or eleven minute mark.  He thought the performances were incredible.  It was so much fun listening to him unraveling the story and motives.  It was all so scandalous but still tame enough for his soon-to-be-teen sensibilities.

It has been a while since I'd seen this.  So many of Hitchcock's other films with Grant and Stewart and the like always seemed to overshadow this for me.  Rebecca and Rope are two of my all time favorite movies of any type.  But this was like finding an old pair of pants that still fit....nice and comfortable and a pleasant surprise.

When this was discussed last month on Birgit's site, there was a lot of talk about Throw Momma From The Train, the 1987 black comedy inspired by this film.  Recollections of that film were decidedly mixed, but I remember it fondly.  Perhaps I'll seek it out.  Or just pull out all my Hitchcock VHS tapes!

Favorite Line

Senator Morton: One doesn't always have to say what one thinks.

Star Trek: The Survivor

We celebrated Easter this past Sunday in the MOCK household with bowls of Nan's homemade Pozole Rojo and a viewing of Star Trek: The Animated Series episode The Survivor.

This was a solid episode that embraced some of Star Trek's overall themes and exploited the animated series ability to "bust the budget."  

In this episode, the crew rescues a long missing philanthropist named Carter Winston.  In an example of cosmic coincidences, Winston's fiancee, Lieutenant Anne Nored, is a member of the Enterprise's security team.

Winston Carter in his super groovy spacewear

Anne Nored: Suffers from some early 70's stereotypes about women

Before long, we learn that Winston is really a shape-shifting alien called a Vendorian . 

Kirk and the Vendorian

Once aboard the Enterprise, he transforms himself into Captain Kirk and tries to take the ship into a Romulan trap. But after falling in love with Lieutenant Nored, the Vendorian saves the Enterprise and Kirk agrees to take his actions into account.

Favorite Exchange

Doctor McCoy: I'm glad to see him under guard, Jim. If he'd turned into a second Spock, it would have been too much to take.

Mr. Spock: Perhaps. But then two Dr. McCoys just might bring the level of medical efficiency on this ship up to acceptable levels.

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Bloggers extraordinaire, Maurice Mitchell, Spacerguy and The Armchair Squid are embarking on a new journey to watch all 22 episodes of Star Trek's animated series.  Anyone who watches an episode will be posting on Wednesdays.  All are welcome to join them for all or parts of the adventure. More information can be found HERE.