Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is neither a western nor a crime film but a historical epic that tells the story of the murders in the Osage community. It’s a singular film about white supremacy, greed, and American blood-letting. The performances are great, especially Lily Gladstone. Make time to see it in a nice theatre.
I’m still thinking about it. For a more in-depth review of Killers, check out Manohla Dargis’s in the Times.
I reviewed Chris Hadfield’s techno-thriller The Defector for The Walrus. My first proper book review. I wish it was more positive, but the book really fell short.
Defector bears a few similarities to Craig Thomas’s Firefox, another Cold War thriller about a cutting-edge plane. Firefox was made into probably no one’s favorite Clint Eastwood film. Does the cover steer into that comparison a little?
Finally, I wrote about two psychological thrillers for Montecristo: Robert Altman’s early film That Cold Day in the Park, and the Donald Westlake-co-scripted The Stepfather. Both shot in Vancouver, one in the sixties and one in the eighties, and both emphasizing the city’s more bucolic and conservative aspects despite being made during periods of social upheaval.
Terry O’Quinn’s performance in The Stepfather is chilling.
“Two Cult Thrillers That Reveal What Vancouver Fears About Itself”
Nolan Chase’s A Lonesome Place for Dying comes out early next year from Crooked Lane. You can pre-order this Pacific Northwest-set small-town mystery ahead of time, helping out its author (and me).