Day #22,718

Walk km 15,961-15,966: running errands

Book #487: Joyland (2013, Stephen King)

Double negative for this one. This one is under the "Hard Case Crime" imprint up really has nothing to do with the "roman noir" style that this publisher specializes in.
Secondly, what happened to Stephen King? Didn't he used to write page turners? This one just drags along. It's not without it's merits but one of them is not an addictive plot line. 

Movie #23448: Mondo Hollywood (1967, Robert Carl Cohen)

Bobby Beausoliel - still in prison - a life sentence for murder

Starts off great with each weirdo (bunch of straight people too) getting just a minute or two to explain themselves. However, in the 2nd half the same people return so it's not nearly as interesting, A nice touch was a 2005 update with a "where are they now" caption. The interestintg thing was that one person was a victim of the Manson family and one was a member of the Manson family.

Movie #2349: Vietnam: Picking Up The Pieces (1978, Jon Alpert)

First Americans to re-enter Vietnam after the war produce a documentary that apperars to be an advert for the Vietnamese Communist Party. Were they forced to film only the improvements in the country or were there really only improvements to film? 

Day #22,717

Walk km 15,949-15,961: Kingswood

Buddhist temple
approx km 15,959 #5 Road (Richmond)

Movie #2447: Either Way (2011, Hafsteinn Sigurdsson)

Two road workers in Iceland have their problems. Nothing to write home about. The English remake is now on Netflix.

Day #22,714-715

Walk km 15,926-15,935: Langara Sation to Olympic Village Station
Walk km 15,935-15,946: Kerrisville to Killarney
Walk km 15,946-15,949: library & T&T

Vancouver after dark
approx km 15,944 Victoria Street

Movie #2446: Teenage Zombies (1961, Jerry Warren)

Pathetic. But fun. There is a plot ("from the east" - they don't say if it's Nikita The K or Chairman Mao) to turn Americans into zombies so they can be used as cheap labour. A mad scientist is rushing to complete the formula for the secret zombie gas. However, a bunch of teens stumble upon the secret labratory and all heck breaks loose.
Really really bad but as is often the case........... so bad it's good.

Day #22,713

Walk km 15,919-15,923: to Army & Navy
Walk km 15,923-15,926: to Safeway

Movie #2445: My Gun Is Quick (1957, Phil Victor & George White)

As seen on YouTube recorded from TCM. Pretty shoddy picture quality. Pretty shoddy direction and acting too. But, I think that kinda helps. It's like a minimalist Mike Hammer. "Stark" is what you'd call it.
Oh ya, I liked the music too, especially the music during the cars on the freeway scene.
Update: Someone on IMDB claims that this was the first score of John "Star Wars" Williams.

Day #22,712

Movie rewatch: To Catch A Thief (1955, Alfred Hitchcock)

This must have wowed them in Peoria. No substance at all but just overflowing with style. The scenery. The witty dialogue. The Hollwood stars: Cary Grant & Grace Kelly. The costumes. The sports cars. The Riviera. All those colours. The opulence. But, behind it all: nothing. 

Movie #2444: Dear God No! (2011, James Bickert)

A movie based on old genres. Biker gang is rampaging across the countryside rapin' and killin' until they come across the crazy Nazi doctor. They kill him but can they escape from Bigfoot?
Not really much sense in wallowing around in these old genres. They try and update by making everything grosser than before but that just ain't good enough.

Day #22,710-711

Walk km 15,909-15,911: to T&T
Walk km 15,911-15,919: Heritage Mtn/Ioco

snow
approx km 15,912 Heritage Mountain (Port Moody)

TV episode #98: Supercar - Rescue (1961)

The puppetry series that I haven't seen in about 50 years. Everyone raves about Thunderbirds but all we got on the CBC was Supercar. This is episode #1 so contains mostly a rundown of the characters plus the attributes of Supercar. Weird seeing this after 50 years.

Movie #2443: The Depraved (1957, Paul Dickson)

Not a bad little noir from England. The only problem is that all the characters are evil so there's no one to root for. An early screenplay of writer Brian Clemens (The Avengers).

Day #22,708-709

Walk km 15,898-15,909: North Vancouver Meetup walk
Walk km 15,909-15,911 (6798 to go): to/from Skytrain Stations

Liz from observation platform
approx km 15,906Harbourview Park

Movie #2442: City Of The Dead (1960, John Llewellyn Moxey)

Some skill is shown here but the story is so ridiculous that it really makes no difference. Extremely silly religious plotline. Excessive use of fog machine.

Day #22,706-707

Walk km 15,884-15,886: to T&T
Walk km 15,886-15,898: Meetup walk at Burnaby Lake

a couple of Meetup walkers
approx km 15,895 Burnaby Lake

Book #486: Borkmann's Point (1994, Hakan Nesser)

Yet another Swedish crime writer. Nesser fits somewhere in the middle ground - he's no Henning Mankell or Sjoberg/Wahloo but he is better than a bunch of others whose names I can no longer recall.
It's interesting that he reverts to the "old school" trick of the surprise ending. That one isn't used much any more. He also uses the "damsel in distress" routine. As with all Swedish crime writers he does delve into the private lives of the investigating officers but not too deeply - after all, this was written back in 1994.
Entertaining but not top notch. 

Day #22,705

Walk km 15,874-15,884: down from Heritage Mountain to Rocky Point Park

trail through the bush
approx km 15,875 Heritage Mountain

TV Episode #97: Highway Patrol - Oil Lease (1956, Lambert Hillyer)

The bad guys have a bazooka but Broderick Crawford has a bulldozer. Heavy Metal! 

Day #22,703-704

Walk km 15,860-15,871: Queen Elizabeth Park walk with Meetup Group
Walk km 15,871-15,874: to Denman

Movie #2441: The Letter (1940, William Wyler)

Not one of my faves as the only good person here is the Herbert Marshall character but he doesn't do anything except play the part of the victim.I'd say it was rascist except the occidentals are just about as bad as the orientals. Well done but just too negative all around.

Day #22,702

Walk km 15,856-15,857 running errands
Walk km 15,857-15,860 to T&T

Movie #2440: Shag (1989, Zelda Barron)

I think I saw this one before. It was called "Where The Boys Are" and took place in Florida instead of North Carolina. Then it was contemporary but now it's a nostalgia fest. Pretty crappy but the music is good and all those vintage cars are fun to see. Damn nostalgia, it just won't leave a person alone.

Day #22,701

Movie #2438: A Virgin In Hollywood (1952, Klaytan W Kirby)

Small town reporter sent to Hollywood to get the inside scoop. The result is a grab-bag of various scenes (some from unknown sources and some filmed with the "star" Dorothy Abbott) all glued together to make the 60 minute requirement for a feature film. Pretty much a total waste of time except that Dorothy does kinda have an interesting June Allyson type vibe going.

Movie #2439: Hamlet Goes Business (1987, Aki Kaurismaki)

If only I'd read Hamlet beforehand I could have gotten a lot more out of this movie I'm sure. In the end, Hamlet is murdered by his chauffeur. Did they really have chauffeurs in the 17th century? Has Aki been meddling with this plot?  

DAy #22,700

Walk km 15,845-15,848: running errands
Walk km 15,848-15,856 (6844 to go): going to get visa + walk to Devonian Harbour Park

Movie #2437: A Reflection Of Fear (1973, William A Fraker)

I wonder if I've seen this one before. In 1973, I went to almost every movie that hit town.
This one has Sonda Locke as a total nutcase being sheltered from the outside world by her mother and grandmother. Then her father drops in for a visit and all hell breaks loose.
Light on plot but heavy on atmosphere. Not my cup of tea but it really is well done.

Day #22,692-698

Walk km 15,793-15,830: various walks
Walk km 15,830-15,845: Hazelmere walk

Hazelmere Station
approx km 15,835 8th Avenue

Book #485: Anarchy And Old Dogs (2007, Colin Cotterill)

I'm afraid I didn't really believe in this plot at all. Some nice characters but they were trapped inside the pages of a book.

Day #22,690-691

Walk km 15,769-15,783: Maple Ridge to Carvolth
Walk km 15,783-15,793: White Rock

7-up on the wall
approx km 15,773 Pitt Meadows

Movie #2436: Gambit (1966, Ronald Neame)

It's a caper movie. I like caper movies. Well executed with plenty of cat-and-mouse and switch and double-switch. 

Day #22,688-689

Walk km 15,755-15,757: to T&T
Walk km 15,757-15,769: Hamilton

 

the border

approx km 15,768 Richmond/New Westminster