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David Cranmer

Review: Mine by J. L. Butler

By David Cranmer

June 26, 2018

Mine by J. L. Butler is a riveting tale of psychological suspense where a divorce lawyer risks her career, her sanity, and her life when she falls into an illicit, all-consuming affair with her client—who becomes the primary suspect in his estranged wife’s sudden disappearance. Francine Day is a 37-year-old London lawyer dealing in cases…

Westworld Season Finale, 2.10: “The Passenger” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

June 25, 2018

Do any of us really have the free will to make our own choices? That’s the underlying theme for the finale of Season 2, and a line from Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) sums it up like this: in being free, one should be able to question fundamental drives and to override them. From the point…

Westworld 2.09: “Vanishing Point” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

June 19, 2018

Many individuals—robots and humans alike—are losing their minds this week. Some are on the brink of taking their own lives, while others struggle to find some hope of regaining lost connections and self-control. “Vanishing Point” features indications of even deeper secrets, which wily, old Ford (Anthony Hopkins) is well aware of yet no one else…

Westworld 2.08: “Kiksuya” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

June 12, 2018

I have been a fan of Zahn McClarnon from the time I started watching the Longmire series, where the actor played Officer Mathias, chief law enforcement on the reservation and intermittent thwarter of lead character Sherriff Longmire’s investigations. McClarnon was never given enough screentime to develop character depth or display the actor’s range, and I…

Westworld 2.07: “Les Écorchés” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

June 5, 2018

Bouncing back and forth between timelines and storylines, it’s easy to lose track of what is possibly present day. But the impression is that we begin this episode in the present, with Charlotte (Tessa Thompson), Karl Strand (Gustaf Skarsgard), Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), and Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) in the outpost where Theresa Cullen was…

Review: The Gray Ghost by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell

By David Cranmer

May 29, 2018

The Gray Ghost by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell is the 10th book in the bestselling Sam and Remi Fargo Adventure series, where the search for a legendary automobile threatens the careers and lives of the husband-and-wife team. There was a time when Clive Cussler held considerable sway in my reading. Look no farther than…

Westworld 2.06: “Phase Space” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

May 29, 2018

The action ramped up while following more storylines in this episode, but the lack of surprises was, well, surprising for a show that normally serves up a few each time. Probably the most interesting twist occurred in the opening flashback when Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) was interviewing Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and deliberating whether he should…

Westworld 2.05: “Akane No Mai” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

May 22, 2018

Where have you gone, Toshiro Mifune, when this bland East-meets-West episode turns its eyes to you as Maeve’s (Thandie Newton) story arc crosses over into Shogun World. Hell, your stone-faced Red Sun costar Charles Bronson would be a welcome addition to what felt like “everything but the kitchen sink” of Japanese culture, and for all…

Clint Eastwood Goes to War

By David Cranmer

May 18, 2018

Clint Eastwood’s movie persona has long projected strength, brute force, and outsider roles in what would otherwise be traditional authority figures: police officers, cowboys, and what we are looking at here, soldiers in war films. Intriguingly, his first foray into boots and bayonets began high in the sky with the campy Tarantula (1954), where he…

Westworld 2.04: “The Riddle of the Sphinx” Episode Review

By David Cranmer

May 15, 2018

This episode could easily have been named “The Riddle of Time” since it can be a head-scratcher trying to pinpoint where we are in the narrative—past, present, or past-past—as it jumps back and forth through a series of plotlines. Satisfaction is served up, though, as several major threads begin to tie into one another. Clementine…

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