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The first and second editions of Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge by H. Anthony Medley comprised the fastest selling beginning bridge book, going through more than 10 printings. This updated Third Edition includes a detailed Guide to Bids and Responses, along with the most detailed, 12-page Glossary ever published, as well as examples to make learning the game even easier. Click book to order. Available in all bookstores and on Kindle. | |
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Annihilation (5/10) by Tony Medley Runtime 115 minutes. R The first of a proposed trilogy, this is an inscrutable sci-fi excursion that is filled with tension and outstanding special effects and production design without making a bit of sense. From director Alex Garland, who created the outstanding Ex Machina (2015), some of the scenes intended to terrify are so grotesque they could pass as homages to “Alien,” and come close to crossing the line to satire. Based on a novel “Southern Reach Trilogy” by Jeff VanderMeer, the idea is that there is an area (“Area X”), called The Shimmer that has been somehow contaminated by an alien crash. It’s been blocked off, but several expeditions have ventured forth to try to discover the “strange and destructive forces emanating from it.” All of the expeditions have been conducted by men, so the new one is conducted by women. One of them, Natalie Portman, has a husband, Oscar Isaac (who co-starred with Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina), who is the only survivor of any of the expeditions, and he’s in really bad shape. So Natalie wants to go in to discover what the heck is going on in there and she’s joined by a bunch of women, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny. Although Isaac is mentioned as a co-star, he’s just a token, seen at the beginning and the end, and that’s it. He couldn’t have been on the set for much more than a few days. The problems of this film for me are many, not the least of which is that the ending raises more questions than it answers (none). My question coming out of the film was, “What was that all about?” Why make a film that raises a mystery of what’s going on and then give an unfathomable ending that leaves the viewer nowhere but asking, “Huh?”? In the final analysis, this ending renders the movie as little more than pretentious nonsense. Despite the amazing effects, it’s shot so darkly that what could have been stunningly beautiful, isn’t. Then there are the characters. Maybe someone could find Portman sympathetic, but the rest of them don’t establish any feeling of empathy whatsoever. This is like going to a whodunit and when the movie ends not having a clue whodunit. If this is the future of sci-fi, include me out.
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