Run (not walk) 100 (named) trails (full length) (Bucket List #6)

Ran the length of Reservoir Trail (#6)

Finished Trail #5: Ravine Trail (299m)

Finished trail #4: Cathedral Trail (282m)

Finished trail #3: Mallard Trail (253m)

Finished the 2 shortest trails I could find in Stanley Park: Tisdall Trail (108m) and Squirrel Trail (140m). Just 98 more trails to go.

Looks like this could be a tough one. I wonder what the shortest named trail is?
UPDATE: looks like Tisdall Trail and Squirrel Trail are the shortest trails in Stanley Park. Looks like I could do them right away.

1982 Shamus Awards (1st Bucket List)

Finished the 7th of 10 books nominated for the 1982 Shamus Award. Nothing wrong with the plot of "Early Autumn" However, the main character, our hero, Spenser, is kinda annoying.

Finished #6 of the 1982 Shamus nominees. Arthur Lyons has been a favourite of mine for a long time. This one kinda fizzles at the end........ but that was the point!

Finished the 5th of the 1982 Shamus nominees. This one is a stinker. The detective only became a detective because he is a fan of detective fiction. All the characters are detective fiction related - so they are eliminated from ever being thought of as real people. And he ends it with a whodunit flourish. Crap.

Finished the 4th of the 1982 Shamus Award nominees. This is more like it! "California Thriller" won for best original paperback but "Old Dick" is way better. I guess they gave it to California Thriller because it was a serious private eye novel. Old Dick is just a lot of fun. Turns out I bought another book by this guy about 25 years ago called "Video Trash & Treasures" (a book of reviews of trashy movies).

Finished the 3rd of the 1982 Shamus Award nominees. Could not get into "California Thriller" at all.

Finished the 2nd of the 1982 Shamus nominees: "A Stab In The Dark" by Lawrence Block. This one is not nearly as intense as "Brown's Requiem" but Mr Block does have a fine way with words. He keeps you turning those pages and it's mostly because you care about his main character, the alcoholic Matthew Scudder.

Finished the first of 10 1982 Shamus Award nominees: "Brown's Requiem" by James Ellroy. This did not win best original paperback? That Max Byrd book must be a corker!
Here, our hero PI Fritz Brown deals with all kinds of L.A. weirdos. The kicker: Brown is probably even more of a weirdo than the bad guys.

1982 was the first year of the Shamus Awards. There were 5 nominees for best hardcover novel and 5 nominees for best paperback novel. I plan to read all 10.
It looks like I'll need to read all 10. I've reread 7 of the Arthur Lyons but "Hard Trade" isn't one of them. I read almost all the early James Ellroy's but I can't swear that "Brown's Requiem" was one of them.
Some of the others I've read a few by and some I've never even heard of. My work is cut out for me.

1982 SHAMUS AWARDS
THE EYE (Lifetime Achievment Award)

• Ross Macdonald
  Accepted in his absence by his friend and colleague Dennis Lynds

BEST P.I. HARDCOVER

• Hoodwink by Bill Pronzini (Nameless Detective)
• A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder)
• 30 for a Harry by Richard Hoyt (John Denson)
• Hard Trade by Arthur Lyons (Jake Asch)
• Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)

BEST ORIGINAL P.I. PAPERBACK

• California Thriller by Max Byrd (Mike Haller)
• Carpenter, Detective by Hamilton T. Caine (Ace Carpenter)
• Brown's Requiem by James Ellroy (Fritz Brown)
• The Old Dick by L.A. Morse (Jake Spanner)
• Murder in the Wind by George Ogan (Johnny Bordelon)

Watch 16 movies filmed at the Riverview Hospital (Bucket List #5)

Finished the 4th movie shot at Riverview Hospital. This one was a real stinker. But it's the first time I've made it all the way through an Indian movie. Thanks must go to all the Vancouver locations used.  I killed a lot of the time trying to figure out the locations. And there was a lot of time to kill: this epic of juvenile stupidity lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes!

 
Finished a 3rd movie shot at Riverview Hospital. It turns out that the Wikipedia list is not complete. In fact, the IMDB list is quite different from the Wikipedia list. So, since there is no complete list, I'll just watch 16 of them.
This one was "Hector And The Search For Happiness". Christopher Plummer's scenes were shot at Riverview Hospital and at UBC.

 
Finished the 2nd movie filmed at Riverview Hospital: Grave Encounters. This is a piece of crap patterned after the utterly useless Blair Witch Project. This is going to be a tough bucket list to complete. Why? The list contains a Grave Encounters 2!

Finished watching "Case 39". Embarrasing. The plot is idiotic and I know I'm being manipulated but I fall for it anyway. Don't know what scenes were from Riverview Hospital. The opening "drive home" scene though is along Hastings by Kootenay Loop.

I've often walked through the Riverview Hospital grounds. Now, it's time to see the movies made there. I've already seen Happy Gilmore.

• The Last Mimzy
• Case 39
• Dark Angel
• Frankie & Alice
• Halloween: Resurrection
• Happy Gilmore
• Jennifer's Body
• Life Unexpected
• Reefer Madness: The Musical
• Romeo Must Die
• Shutter Island
• Stargate: Atlantis
• Falling Skies
• Grave Encounters
• Grave Encounters 2
• Jennifer 8

Watch all movies based on Charles Williams stories (Bucket List #4)

#4 is now in the books. I watched Claude Sautet's "L'Arme A Gauche" (Dictator's Guns). Charles Williams was famous for his seafaring stories and this one is very DeadCalmish. Hollywood character actor Leo Gordon takes a major role in this European production.
4 down 11 to go

I've seen 2 of these already (Dead Calm & Confidentially Yours) and now I've finished watching #3 (The Hot Spot). The odd thing is that Charles Williams gets credit for the screenplay despite the fact that it was made in 1990 but he died in 1975. This one must have been kicking around Hollywood for quite some time. In fact, the 3 big budget productions that were made from his stories were all made after his death. This one had Dennis Hopper behind the camera and Don Johnson (who was big at the time) as our anti-hero. Don's just passing through this hick town in order to rob the bank. Turns out not all of these hicks just fell off the back of the turnip truck
3 down 12 to go.
 
 1990 The Hot Spot (book "Hell Hath No Fury") / (screenplay)

 1990 La fille des collines (novel "Hill Girl")

 1989 Mieux vaut courir (TV Movie) (novel "Man on the Run")

 1989 Dead Calm (novel)

 1983 Confidentially Yours (novel "The Long Saturday Night")

 1975 The Man Who Would Not Die (novel "The Sailcloth Shroud")

 1971 Fantasia Among the Squares (novel "The Diamond Bikini")

 1970 The Deep (novel "Dead Calm")

 1968 The Pink Jungle (writer)

 1968 Don't Just Stand There (novel "The Wrong Venus") / (screenplay)

 1965 The Dictator's Guns (adaptation and dialogue) / (novel "Aground")

 1964 Joy House (dialogue) / (screenplay)

 1964 Le gros coup (novel "The Big Bite")

 1963 Banana Peel (novel) / (screenplay)

 1960 The 3rd Voice (novel "All the Way")

Top 10 movies based on a Cornell Woolrich story as ranked by IMDB voting (Bucket List #2)

That leaves only "The Guilty" to track down. Never released on DVD or VHS (not available on Amazon). However, UCLA restored the 35mm print so it may make an appearance some day.

Another easy one (sort of). I found this one (Truffaut's "La Mariee Etait En Noir") on the internet but Windows 8.1 crashed 7 times during the playback making this one feel more like a serial.
Interestingly, while Truffaut was making this one, the director of "The Mark Of The Whistler" was working on his greatest movie/biggest disappointment. He was going to make "Rosemary's Baby" as director/producer until the studio replaced him as director with that new Polish hotshot Roman Polanski. He still got credit as producer but his big chance to move up to "A" pictures as a director was gone for good.
9 down 1 to go

Well, that didn't take long. "The Mark Of The Whistler" was right there on YouTube. Once again, Cornell Woolrich's way with a plot keeps your interest all the way. A hobo finds that there is a dormant bank account in his name. The only hitch is that it belongs to another guy with the same name. Can he fool the bank into letting him have the money? And once he has the money..... what could go wrong then?
Eight down, two to go.

Watch the top 10 movies based on a story by Cornell Woolrich.
I know I've seen 7 of these.
Not sure about "The Bride Wore Black".
Sure I haven't seen "The Mark Of The Whistler" or "The Guilty".

1.

Rear Window (1954)

    8.5/10  

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. (112 mins.)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter

Add to Watchlist

2.

Phantom Lady (1944)

    7.3/10  

A beautiful secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife. (87 mins.)

Director: Robert Siodmak

Stars: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda

Add to Watchlist

3.

The Window (1949)

    7.4/10  

To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9 year old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, no one will believe him. (73 mins.)

Director: Ted Tetzlaff

Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart

Add to Watchlist

4.

The Bride Wore Black (1968)

    7.3/10  

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose? (107 mins.)

Director: François Truffaut

Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet, Charles Denner

Add to Watchlist

5.

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

    7.1/10  

When phony stage mentalist Triton mysteriously acquires supernatural powers of precognition, he becomes frightened and abandons his act to live of anonymity. (81 mins.)

Director: John Farrow

Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell, John Lund, Virginia Bruce

Add to Watchlist

6.

Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

    7.2/10  

A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past. (123 mins.)

Director: François Truffaut

Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nelly Borgeaud, Martine Ferrière

Add to Watchlist

7.

The Mark of the Whistler (1944)

    7.0/10  

A drifter claims the money in an old bank account. Soon he finds himself the target of two men who turn out to be the sons of the man's old partner... (60 mins.)

Director: William Castle

Stars: Richard Dix, Janis Carter, Porter Hall, Paul Guilfoyle

Add to Watchlist

8.

Black Angel (1946)

    7.0/10  

When Kirk Bennett is convicted of a singer's murder, his wife tries to prove him innocent...aided by the victim's ex-husband. (81 mins.)

Director: Roy William Neill

Stars: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford

Add to Watchlist

9.

The Guilty (1947)

    6.5/10  

Two guys, sharing an apartment, meet twin girls. One is Shirley Temple grown-up, and the other is a major piece of bad news. The nice one is murdered and her boyfriend is accused of the crime. The wrong man-wrong victim plot strikes again. (71 mins.)

Director: John Reinhardt

Stars: Bonita Granville, Don Castle, Regis Toomey, John Litel

Add to Watchlist

10.

Nightmare (1956)

    6.5/10  

A New Orleans musician has a nightmare about killing a man in a strange house but he suspects that it really happened. (89 mins.)

Director: Maxwell Shane

Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell, Virginia Christine

Add to Watchlist