Dawn Breaking

But He was Mine First!

I’m so glad to have reached Friday and while that doesn’t represent a departure from my usual assessment of the value of the last work day of the week it also constitutes my last Friday without my Favorite Panamanian. We had a nice long talk last night where she formally started what I’m sure will be a yearlong campaign on the importance of buying a car down in Panama to allow her greater freedom of movement when she’s down there. I can visualize the cogent arguments that are already forming in her mind to justify it. My only argument against it would be the same she would use to defend it, greater freedom means more readily access to shopping venues. I know I’m going to lose the campaign but it’s the battle that counts.

Huge Surprise Wife was in Church on Holy Thursday
She Pointed out the Priest who Baptized Our Granddaughter was walking with the Cardinal

Cardinal Surrounded by his Priests in Some Sort of Human Wave Formation

I know Batman versus Superman, Dawn of Justice is not getting a lot of love from critics but I actually liked it. It was certainly a departure from the Marvel format of action and hijinks. It was very dark and almost morose at times but the story worked. I didn’t know how they would stage this obvious mismatch – figuring there had to be some kryptonite involved. It’s tribute to Cavill and especially Affleck in the lead roles. I know there was a lot of consternation when Affleck was announced as Batman but he’s very, very good. He plays an older Batman weighed down by the seeming ineffectiveness of his lifelong fight against crime. Gotham City is placed directly adjacent to Metropolis with their competing superheroes on a collision course engineered by Lex Luthor.

While every other actor, even those with limited roles like Holly Hunter, shines, it was surprising that Eisenberg was so bad as Lex Luthor. He was so over the top and blatant that you wonder why he wasn’t squashed early on. The villain can be deliciously evil (see Kevin Spacey’s take) but he should not be clinically annoying which Eisenberg certainly was. The movie seemed to take place almost entirely at night but that could just have been the mood the movie makers instilled. Don’t go into this expecting Marvel as this takes an entirely different tone and that’s not a bad thing. The movie works on a number of levels; don’t listen to the critics – go see this nuanced superhero movie.

I also finished my latest Joe Pickett novel, Free Fire by C.J. Box, who continued his trend of getting better in each succeeding book. Joe was fired at the end of the preceding book by a slimy state official and the start of this finds him working as a ranch foremen. He’s quickly reinstated as a game warden by the governor who wants him to work special cases. This was a nice development because you can only fit so many murders into the small town setting Joe exists in.

He is interestingly called upon to investigate a murder in Yellowstone National Park where a local lawyer took advantage of a legal loophole to murder a bunch of people. Joe’s sent in because his straightforward approach and absolute honesty usually shakes a lot of bad apples from the tree and that certainly happens here. It was a fascinating tour of Yellowstone at the same time, with Box’s evident love of Joe’s environment shining throughout. He’s ably assisted by his Reacher clone of a friend, Nate. I’m already regretting that I’m eventually going to reach an end to the Pickett series and I still have a bunch to go. It’s Scudder all over again. Here’s a few of Box’s words as Joe and Nate are involved in an interrogation of the lawyer, taking advantage of Nate’s inimitable style:

“Porteson, Ashby, and Joe exchanged looks. To Joe, it seemed as if the other two were in the first stages of panic. McCann was playing them the way he’d played his partners, played the Park Service, played a jury, played the system. “No paper, no cooperation,” McCann said again, firmly. Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Nate suddenly rear back and throw a length of wood, which hit the lawyer in the side of his head, making a hollow pock sound. Before McCann could slump off his chair, Nate was all over him, driving him into the hardwood floor. McCann gasped, and Nate reached down and twisted his ear off, yanking it back so the tendons broke like too-tight guitar strings. “No cooperation, no f---ing ear!” Nate hissed, holding it in front of McCann’s face like a bloody poker chip.”