Play like a pro with expert knowledge from a champion of the game

If you don't know the ins and outs of play, bridge can seem like an intimidating game--but it doesn't have to be! Armed with the techniques and strategies in the pages of this book, you'll be bidding and winning hands like a boss! A good book for beginners, it has lots of advanced techniques useful to experienced players, too. This is as  close to an all-in-one bridge book you can get.

 

 

About the Author

H. Anthony Medley holds the rank of Silver life Master, is an American Contract Bridge League Club Director, and has won regional and sectional titles. An attorney, he received his B.S. from UCLA, where he was sports editor of UCLA's Daily Bruin, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is the author of UCLA Basketball: The Real Story and Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed and The Complete Idiots Guide to Bridge. He was a columnist for the Southern California Bridge News. He is an MPAA-certified film critic and his work has appeared nationally in Good Housekeeping, The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and other publications. Click the book to order.
 

  

 

Knives Out (9/10)

by Tony Medley

130 minutes

PG-13

It was hard to believe that this Agatha Christie-type whodunnit was ten minutes over two hours because it keeps moving throughout without one slow minute. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, it is highlighted by a captivating performance by Daniel Craig (not one of my favorite actors) imagining Hercule Poirot as a Southerner.

Craig is aided by a fine cast of supporting actors and actresses, including Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, and Don Johnson. And Craig isn’t the only one who gives an electric performance; the others are up there with him, especially Johnson.

Harlan Thronbey (Plummer) is an octogenarian multi-millionaire author and the film starts with a party of his family at his mansion including his trusted caretaker, Marta (Ana de Armas, giving a good performance in a difficult role) who is in almost every scene. Early on Harlan is found dead with his throat cut and the police come, accompanied by private eye Benoit Blanc (Craig) to try to determine, well, whodunnit.

From there the twists come one after another along with a bewitching lightness carried by Blanc and his soft southern accent.

There has been a myriad of films about Poirot. I hope that this is just the first of a series of new films starring Craig as Benoit Blanc. It would be a shame if this were the only one. I truly hated to see this one end.

 

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