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.
 

  

 

Call of the Wild (6/10)

by Tony Medley

93 minutes.

PG

This movie went wrong right from the get-go. Busses throughout the city advertise the film “starring Harrison Ford,” and that’s the problem.

The beauty of Jack London’s classic novel “Call of the Wild” was that it told the story from the dog’s POV as he transitions from being kidnapped from a happy family and then sold to become a sled dog in Alaska. This film, directed by Chris Sanders from a screenplay by Michael Green, however, completely fails to duplicate London’s feat (ergo the “based on” credit to London).

While the CGI performance-capture acting creating all the dogs and animals is wonderful (like the tiger in 2012’s Life of Pi, it’s really hard to believe that they aren’t real), and while the story does follow the dog’s life, it’s really not told from his POV. Rather, it’s eventually more from the POV of John Thornton (Ford).

Last year there were at least three dog movies, all of which told the story from the dog’s POV with the dog’s thoughts voiced. Of the three, A Dog’s Journey was the best. This remake of London’s classic novella isn’t really about the dog; it’s as much, if not more, about Ford. The dog is just an excuse.

Still, disappointing as it is, this film is still probably worth a look because of the amazing CGI work and beautiful location filming. But my suggestion? Read the book.

 

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