Monday Book Pick: Space Pirates of Andromeda
Space Pirates of Andromeda by John C. Wright
This is the first book in the Starquest series, and if you are fan of Space Opera, you will probably like this book a lot. Seriously, E.E. “Doc” Smith would have read this with a smile. It’s got Empires, Republics, suppressed Holy Warriors with exotic weapons, sentient robots, a Princess from a destroyed planet, and as the title suggests, Space Pirates and the brave members of the Space Patrol that hunt them. As one reviewer put this, this is what the Star Wars prequels could have been if they didn’t suck.
Friday B-Movie Pick: The Wrecking Crew
The last of four late 1960s Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin. These are light comedy spy movies with plenty of female eye candy. Spoofs of the more serious James Bond movies and a nice view into the era they were made. Lots of smoking, drinking, large cars, and beautiful women who fall to the charms of counter-intelligence agent Matt Helm. They dialed the beautiful women up to 11 in this one with Tina Louise, Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan, and Sharon Tate. Bruce Lee was listed as the “Karate Advisor”, and he got some of his LA area martial arts buddies bit parts in the film. Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, Ed Parker, and Mike Stone doing stunt work for Dean Martin. They are all really young in this movie, and aren’t on screen long, so you have to pay attention. All four films have been released on Blu-ray and DVD, so fire up some popcorn and enjoy.