Books and Nachos

Mark Millar's comic Kick-Ass was adapted to film by director Matthew Vaughn. Now the two have teamed up again with Kingsman: The Secret Service, an idea the two men spawned while filming Kick-Ass. The story tells of Gary, a juvenile delinquent who's given one last chance at a legitimate life--as a British secret agent! A clever twist on the old James Bond formula, is this comic worth reading? Join the hosts to find out, then join them LIVE, Tuesday Feb 17th at 9:30 pm EST at NowPlayingPodcast.com for the review of the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In this final segment of this review Arnie gives is final review on the book, discusses which of the three print editions is best, and also reviews Marvel Comic's 31-issue comic series based on King's novel.

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In the fifth part of this review Arnie looks at The Stand's climax, which reaches biblical proportions, and compares the ending in the original and the 1990 unabridged versions.

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In the fourth part of the review Arnie looks at Book II of The Stand, including the survivors' struggles in Boulder and King's own struggles with the narrative.

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In the third part of this review Arnie analyzes the evil characters in the novel, including Randall Flagg, Lloyd Henreid, and The Trashcan Man. Also a look at the book's supporting characters Harold, Nadine, Glen, and Rita, and the thought that they may all be psychic!

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In the second part of this podcast series Arnie explores the heroic characters featured in The Stand, including Stuart Redmond, Fran Goldsmith, Larry Underwood, and Nick Andros. He also analyzes the deadly superflu Captain Trips, and the start of the novel's biblical allegories.

With his fifth published novel Stephen King went big--a tale about God and demons with the backdrop of a dystopian future. Involving fears both realistic and fantastic, many King fans cite this as the author's best work to date. Now Arnie continues his reviews of all King's works with this multi-part podcast series reviewing The Stand. In the first part of this podcast series Arnie reveals the history of the stand and how it was inspired by Patty Hearst and some dead sheep. He also provides an analysis of the original, iconic cover art, and how George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien factor into this 1978 novel!

Of all the monsters in Stephen King's fiction none have captured reader imaginations quite like The Stand's Randall Flagg--The Walkin' Dude, The Dark Man. But nine years before The Stand was published King wrote of this Dark Man who walked, rode trains, and hitchhiked across America leaving bodies in his wake. This is detailed in King's college poem "The Dark Man." In 2013 Cemetery Dance Publications printed this in an illustrated book, and Arnie has read and reviewed it in this episode of Books & Nachos. Join him to learn about The Dark Man's early appearance as he prepares for next week's review of The Stand.

One stage magician learns how to split himself into two so that he can challenge a pair of rival illusionists who pretend to be one in The Prestige, Christopher Priest's sneaky story of splintering identities. Even if you think you've spoiled the trick by seeing the popular Christian Bale-Hugh Jackman movie, there are more secrets to be found in the book's sprawling five-part structure that spans the 20th Century. Join Stuart In LA as he studies the source material and weighs in on which Christopher - Nolan or Priest - is the better conjurer.

In Stephen King's short story "The Man Who Loved Flowers" a man stops to buy roses on the way to see the woman he loves. His warm energy infects all those around him, but there is something they don't know. Now join Arnie as he completes his reviews of the short stories contained in King's Night Shift anthology. In this podcast he reviews "The Man Who Loved Flowers" and looks back at all the short stories from Night Shift!

The short stories collected in Stephen King's Night Shift were written over more than a decade--some originally published in 1968, others printed for the first time in this book. As such, the stories, while having certain similarities, are also wildly varied from the gothic horror of "Jerusalem's Lot" to the more ghastly comedy found in "Gray Matter" to the realistic, personal drama of "The Woman in the Room." "The Last Rung on the Ladder", a Night Shift original, is a dramatic short story in which a man recounts one day when he was ten years old, and he and his little sister played a dangerous game that almost had fatal consequences. Now join Arnie for this review review of "The Last Rung on the Ladder"!

Author JRR Tolkien spent three books, and over a thousand pages, creating a dense Middle Earth mythology. Now he brings that age of folklore to a thunderous close with Return of the King. Here all of the saga's major characters are granted an opportunity to fulfill their destiny. Among the questions answered: Can vagabond king Aragorn gather the army he needs to return to Gondor and reclaim his royal birthright from invading hordes? Will shieldmaiden Eowyn earn the respect of King Theoden and the other warriors by disguising herself as a man on the battlefield?And most centrally, will ringbearer Frodo have the inner strength to escape Orc captivity and finally reach Mount Doom? And will there be a Shire for the Hobbit to return to should he succeed in destroying the One Ring? Join Jakob (who grew up on Tolkien) and Stuart (who previously only knew the story from Peter Jackson's work) as they dig deep into the original text in preparation for the Now Playing Silver and Platinum donation reviews of all Hobbit and Lord of the Rings film adaptations.

A new front in the fight for Middle Earth opens as Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue their eastern journey to Mordor with only monstrous Gollum as a guide, leaving behind their friends to defend the remaining human kingdoms from evil wizard Saruman. With Two Towers, author JRR Tolkien abandons the lighthearted Hobbiton simplicity that made his books appealing to children, and presents a sprawling tapestry of global warfare that teems with dozens of new characters and subplots. Will all of this added complexity have the podcasters begging to return to The Shire with Merry and Pippin, or is Middle Earth an even better playground for adults? Join Jakob (who grew up on Tolkien) and Stuart (who previously only knew the story from Peter Jackson's work) as they dig deep into the original text in preparation for the Now Playing Silver and Platinum donation reviews of all Hobbit and Lord of the Rings film adaptations.

It took almost twenty years for the author of The Hobbit to pen a sequel - time enough for the children who grew up on the story to mature into readers capable of tackling a darker, denser saga spanning three separate novels. Fellowship of the Ring begins the adventure with aged journeyman Bilbo Baggins giving nephew Frodo a magic ring he won from monstrous Gollum. Wizard Gandalf can see the treasure is a conduit for dark magic, and sends the new ringbearer and his three Hobbit friends Sam, Merry, and Pippin on a journey to Rivendell. There a council of elves, dwarfs, and humans must decide the best course of action to take against growing enemy Sauron.Join Jakob (who grew up on Tolkien) and Stuart (who previously only knew the story from Peter Jackson's work) as they dig deep into the original text in preparation for the Now Playing Silver and Platinum donation reviews of all Hobbit and Lord of the Rings film adaptations.

It's hard to believe there was a time when the world didn't know of Hobbits, those hairy-toed homebodies who prefer a good pipe and cozy hole in the ground to the promise of fame and fortune. But their secret subterranean lifestyle was exposed in 1937 when author J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit. Intended for children, but serving as the basis for his more sophisticated later Lord of the Rings trilogy, this introductory Middle Earth novel offers a delightful account of how paternalistic wizard Gandalf prodded sheltered Bilbo Baggins to step outside his comfort zone and help a band of dwarfs reclaim their kingdom. The Hobbit is celebrated and castigated in equal measure for re-popularizing folklore in 20th Century literature - presenting a detailed alternate universe teaming with warmongering elves, hungry trolls, giant spiders, and a fire breathing dragon. Is it all just fodder for role-playing games and kiddie cartoons 77 years later, or are there timeless life lessons and enduring appeal to what's on the page? Join hosts Jakob (who grew up with Tolkien) and Stuart (a fantasy-challenged reader) as they revisit this milestone in preparation for a larger Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movie retrospective being created for Silver and Platinum donors to sister podcast Now Playing.