Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 9/30 - Grey

Films about survival have long been a Hollywood staple. Last night I caught up to The Grey (2011), courtesy of Netflix. It stars Liam Neeson, who has excellent instincts in selecting scripts in the thriller genre. But this is more than an action flick. It is grim existentialism. Throughout the film there are brief flashbacks of the love the hero lost, and of his deceased, hard-drinking Irish father, who had a fondness for poetry and whose four-line poem haunts his son. The supporting characters have interesting things to say. The group shares laughter despite dire circumstances. And, of course, there is railing at the Almighty. I don’t know how accurate it is in its depiction of wolves, but that is irrelevant, as they are as much metaphor as real. A lot of the action occurs at night or in a tight frenzy, again metaphorically to a large degree, capturing the dark mystery of life. This is Ingmar Bergman territory. The film, his seventh as director, was a major step up for Joe Carnahan, best known for The A-Team (2006). He co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, whose short story, Ghost Walker, inspired it. Made on a very modest budget of 25 million, it failed to attract a significant audience in America but did well internationally, taking in 77 million overall. On a scale of five, I rate it four. It is rated 6.9 at IMDb.
Once more into the fray
Into the last good fight I'll ever know
Live and die on this day
Live and die on this day

Every two years teams of U.S. and European golfers compete for the the Ryder Cup. Given that there are no cash prizes involved, it is amazing how hard the pros play and how dramatic the event often is. It was no different this time. On Saturday, Europe trailed 5-10 when England's Ian Poulter, who may be the most successful Ryder Cup player of all-time, made an eight foot birdie putt on the last hole to close the gap to 6-10. Today the Europeans routed the Yanks in the greatest comeback on foreign soil in the history of the event. Germany's Martin Kaymer made a five-foot putt for par on the 18th to win his match against Steve Stricker, making the results of the last match, in which Tiger Woods was leading, irrelevant. The great Woods has been an abysmal failure throughout his career in Ryder Cup play. He had a chance at redemption cruelly snatched away from him. The Europeans dedicated the event to the great Spanish champion Seve Ballesteros, who passed away recently. Ballesteros was mentor to Jose Maria Olazabal, this year's team captain, whose eyes glazed when Kaymer's putt fell.

I set up shop today at the annual 3rd Avenue festival in Bay Ridge. A few people stopped by, but no one bought any books. I ran into Bay 37th Street alumni Suki, a great friend of my niece Tanya. She had a booth on 76th Street. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her on my way out. There were thousands of people there. The highlight of the day was watching a middle age couple in an impromptu dance to Barry White's Can't Get Enough of Your Love in front of The Pearl Room restaurant directly across from where I was standing. 

Visit Vic's sites:

Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/

Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb

Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6

Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h

Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3