“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Sunday, September 9, 2007

The Popcorn Interlude # 246: 3:10 To Yuma

Based on the 1957 Glenn Ford / Van Heflin original as much as it is on the Elmore Leonard short story, 3:10 to Yuma sees Russell Crowe and Christian Bale go head-to-head, struggling rancher Bale trying to get charming bad egg Crowe onto the train that’ll take him to Yuma and a scaffold. A dirty, sweaty, hairy western, this offers a fine psychological battle leavened by good old-fashioned shoot-em-’ups, with Ben Foster and Peter Fonda among the supporting cast, the former Crowe’s psychotic gay lieutenant, the latter a grizzled Pinkerton agent with a somewhat less than spotlessly clean conscience. The tension is built up nicely by director James Mangold as the various clocks tick towards 3:10, a la High Noon, but the overall impact is a little spoiled by the last ten minutes, when Crowe’s previously impeccable ruthless streak gets a miraculous overhaul for no apparent reason. Still, if you’re into the whole horse opera revival, this one is up there on a par with Open Range. **** Michael McGowan

1 comment:

Gilbert said...

I enjoyed the movie 3'10 to Yuma, I wish that it had finish where the son went home and stood his ground without a gun, making his father proud. I like the way you put the change of heart at the end. Evil never wins it just seems that way. Thanks for the movie remake.