Saturday, July 18, 2026

Recommended reading - City Primeval & Fire in the Hole, by Elmore Leonard:

City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit
Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories

Both books filmed as the TV series Justified: City Primeval (2023).


City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit

By Elmore Leonard.
Published by Mariner Books.
First published 1980
ISBN-10: 0062191357
ISBN-13: 978-0062191359

Description:

“As gritty and hard-driving a thriller as you’ll find…. The action never stops, the language sings and stings.”
Washington Post.

Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The cool killer is already back on the Detroit scene – thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer – and he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked judge on a whim. Lieutenant Raymond Cruz thinks the “Oklahoma Wildman” crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the hayseed psycho meets an end he deserves, with a gun pointed at him. But that means a good cop, having to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules . . . in order to maneuver Mansell into a wild Midwest showdown that he can't walk away from.


Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.
Published 2012.
ISBN-10: 0062120344
ISBN-13: 9780062120342

Description:

“[Leonard’s] most satisfying book since Out of Sight…. Top-notch work from one of our most gifted and consistently entertaining writers.” – New York Times Book Review.

“Vintage Leonard…. Nine stories with booze and shotguns and lowlifes…and lots of scenes that ought to be in movies.”
Detroit Free Press.

“If Leonard were a new kid instead of a past master, this fiction collection would make his name.” – People.

“Rummaging through Leonard’s attic via these nine stories revives some fond memories and turns up a couple of forgotten treasures.” – Kirkus Reviews.

“Elmore Leonard’s 39th book ...finds one of America’s most accomplished novelists presenting his most accomplished female characters in years.” – USA Today.

In this superb short fiction collection, Elmore Leonard, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), once again illustrates how the line between the law and the lawbreakers is not as firm as we might think. In the title story, the basis for the hit FX series Justified, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens meets up with an old friend, but they’re now on different sides of the law. Federal marshal Karen Sisco, from Out of Sight, returns in “Karen Makes Out,” once again inadvertently mixing pleasure with business. In “When the Women Come Out to Dance,” Mrs. Mahmood gets more than she bargains for when she conspires with her maid to end her unhappy marriage. These nine stories are the great Elmore Leonard at his vivid, hilarious, and unfailingly human best.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, on writing:


You have the itch for writing born in you.
It's quite incurable.
What are you going to do with it?

- Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Friday, July 17, 2026

On this day in movie history - The Age of Stupid (2009):


The Age of Stupid

a drama / documentary directed and written by Franny Armstrong,
was released in the United States on July 17, 2009.
Narrated by Pete Postlethwaite.
Music by Chris Brierley.


Cast:

Pete Postlethwaite, Jehangir Wadia, Layefa Malin, Al Duvernay, Fernand Pareau, Jamila Bayyoud, Adnan Bayyoud, Piers Guy, Mark Lynas, Mohamed Nasheed, David King, George Monbiot, Richard Heinberg, Ed Miliband, Lisa Guy, Babou Ceesay, Toyah Frantzen.

On this day in movie history - Pulp Cinema (2001):


Pulp Cinema

compilation of classic noir trailers,
produced by David Kalat,
edited by Brian Edwards,
was released in the United States on July 17, 2001.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Gloria Grahame, Barbara Stanwyck, Ray Milland, Jack Palance, Glenn Ford, Orson Welles.

On this day in movie history - A Stranger Among Us (1992):


A Stranger Among Us

directed by Sidney Lumet,
written by Robert J. Avrech,
was released in the United States on July 17, 1992.
Music by Jerry Bock.


Cast:

Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal, John Pankow, Tracy Pollan, Lee Richardson, Mia Sara, Jamey Sheridan, Jake Weber, Ro'ee Levi, David Rosenbaum, Ruth Vool, David Margulies, Edward Rogers III, Maurice Schell, James Gandolfini, Christopher Collins, Burtt Harris, Ira Rubin, Françoise Granville, Rena Sofer, Shifra Lerer, Eleanor Reissa, Jim Lovelett, Jack Gill, Steve Hamilton, Paul Zim, Drew Eliot, Sasha Pasmur, John Louis Fischer, Jack Beers.

On this day in movie history - Marnie (1964):


Marnie

directed by Alfred Hitchcock,
written by Jay Presson Allen,
based on the novel by Winston Graham,
was released in the United States on July 17, 1964.
Music by Bernard Herrmann.


Cast:

Tippi Hedren, Martin Gabel, Sean Connery, Louise Latham, Diane Baker, Alan Napier, Bob Sweeney, Milton Selzer, Henry Beckman, Edith Evanson, Mariette Hartley, Bruce Dern, S. John Launer, Meg Wyllie, Alfred Hitchcock.

On this day in movie history - The Thrill of It All (1963):


The Thrill of It All

directed by Norman Jewison,
written by Carl Reiner,
based on a story by Larry Gelbart,
was released in the United States on July 17, 1963.
Music by Frank De Vol.


Cast:

Doris Day, James Garner, Arlene Francis, Edward Andrews, Reginald Owen, ZaSu Pitts, Elliott Reid, Alice Pearce, Kym Karath, Brian Nash, Lucy Landau, Paul Hartman, Burt Mustin, Carl Reiner.