Pulp Fiction – Retrenders

SoHo Sins by Richard Vine

August 2, 2016 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Messed-up marriages, adultery, temptation, jealously and power all come to play in this pulp novel SoHo Sins. With a long career in the modern art scene, author Richard Vine pens his first novel using New York City art world as the backdrop.

In SoHo Sins the art scene golden couple is Philip and Amanda Oliver. Philip a techy millionaire is in a broken marriage with his current wife Amanda Wingate, the art collector heiress. The art world is rocked when Amanda is found murdered in her home. Art dealer and friend of the couple Jackson Wyeth and his P.I. buddy Hogan are on the job to investigate Amanda’s grisly death.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Books, Featured, Reviews, Series Tagged With: art basel, art dealer, art world, detective, murder, mystery, New York City, noir, NYC, P.I., Pulp Fiction, Richard Vine, Soho

The Original QUARRY Novel by Max Allan Collins

October 26, 2015 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

With a Cinemax television series this season, Max Allan Collins iconic hitman Quarry returns to the pop-culture forefront. Journey back to the origins and first pulp adventure as Titan Books re-publishes the first Quarry novel from 1975.

The Art & Making of Penny Dreadful

April 24, 2015 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

I have to admit I only started watching this hit Showtime series only for Eva Green (Casino Royale, 300: Rise of an Empire), but I stayed for for the story and characters driving the “Penny Dreadful” program. We are already knee-deep into the second season and Titan Books has just released “The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful”, the official companion book to the program.

Movie Poster Art by Ale Giorgini

March 12, 2015 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Fargo TV Tribute

Illustrator/graphic designer Ale Giorgini has created a fan following with his series of turning pop culture films and TV shows into cartoon-like posters. Here’s a selection of his poster art.

Dr Strangelove Tribute

Brainquake by Samuel Fuller

August 26, 2014 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

A-List directors like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Quentin Tarantino have been inspired by the works of Samuel Fuller (The Big Red One). The World War II veteran, was both a director and author. He wrote “Brainquake” in 1993 while living in France, and now fans can re-discover Fuller’s last novel published and translated into English by Titan Books and Hard Case Crime.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: author, director, exile, France, noir, Paris, pulp, Pulp Fiction, Samuel Fulller, The Big Red One, Titan Books

A Mike Hammer Novel – King of the Weeds

June 4, 2014 by Stephen Jang 1 Comment

I enjoy reading Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins crime/pulp fiction books. Just like Dirty Harry, shoot first and ask questions later, that’s the Mike Hammer way.

In “King of the Weeds,” Mike Hammer and long-time partner Velda Sterling look to ride off into the sunset with marriage and retirement, but an decades old murder case looks stir things up with his old buddies Captain Pat Chambers and Army pal Marcus Dooley.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: Cold War, crime, detective, hardcore crime, Mafia, Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane, Mike Hammer, mob, PI, Pulp Fiction, Velda

The Wrong Quarry

January 13, 2014 by Stephen Jang 4 Comments

Over the weekend, I was excited to get my hands the new Quarry book “The Wrong Quarry” by author Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition). His long-running series is about a former US Marine sniper Quarry (no need to know his real name) turned professional hitman. Quarry offers clients that are marked-for-death a unique service, dependent on the fee paid, he gets rid of the hit team after the clients and investigates who hired the hit.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: crime, Hard Crime, hitman, killer, Max Allan Collins, noir, pulp, Pulp Fiction, Quarry, Titan Books

Movie Hipster Kit Prints by Alizée Lafon

June 12, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

If you are into minimalist art form, then take a look at these movie prints by Alizée Lafon. It’s her minimalist illustration tribute to Seventh Art. Depending on the size of the prints, the prices run anywhere from $29.00USD to $360.00USD.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Art, Design Tagged With: Alizee Lafon, digital prints, films, France, illustration, minimalist, movies, Paris, Pulp Fiction, Seventh Art

LEGO Duplo “Pulp Fiction” toys

April 15, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

Aren’t LEGO’s Duplo toys for little kids? Not anymore – it’s Duplo’s Pulp Fiction series. Your kids can play build and play with these foul mouth hitmen – Vincent Vega & Jules Winnfield.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Collectibles, Toys Tagged With: Bob Uyttendaele, DUPLO, films, Jules Winnfield, Lego, Miramix, pulp, Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega

Web of the City by Harlan Ellison

April 5, 2013 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

With over 1,700 published works, the 10-time Hugo Award Winner Harlan Ellison brings a slice of the bygone New York 1950s and takes us inside a Brooklyn street gang. Harlan Ellison’s first novel “Web of the City” was published 30 years ago and will hit the bookstores and online stores again thanks to Titan Books re-publishing it.

The story of Rusty Santoro takes place in 1950s Brooklyn neighborhood. The 17-year old high schooler with a long rap sheet has been running with The Cougars, and now he wants out! He wants something more in life than the violence, drugs and broken relationships. At every corner and turn, something draws Rusty back into the gang world. Will he ever escape this endless cycle of nothingness? Will he make the right decisions? This is Rusty’s story, the ex-leader of The Cougars.

Future Flicks: Pedro Almodóvar’s “I’m So Excited”

December 19, 2012 by Johnny Moreno Leave a Comment

Is this a follow up to “Women on a Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?”

Probably not, but Pedro Almodóvar is finishing up a new comedy with a twist! Whether it be dark, far-fetched, somewhat trivial, a situation that references Spanish culture, politics or everyday life, he just manages to bring out something fresh and creative in his films and in his actors. You don’t even have to understand the language, you just have to understand character: their layers of issues, their actions, and the circumstances that would inherently push them to react in a certain way in a given time, place and situation.

The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter

August 5, 2012 by Stephen Jang Leave a Comment

If you like sexy women, French accents, booze, cigarettes, and murders to solve, you will want to read Ariel S. Winters debut crime novel – “The Twenty-Year Death.” The crime tale begins with a dead body on the streets of a small French town. What unravels are three complete stories that are interconnected – making one epic narrative. The first story – “Malvineau Prison” takes place in France in 1931; Book 2 – “The Falling Star” takes place in 1941 and involves a private detective keeping an eye on a studio’s leading lady in Hollywood; and the final Book – “Police at the Funeral” happens in 1951 and tells the tale of one man’s last chance at redemption.

This is a great debut novel by the author and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the different writing styles in each book. If you are not in the mood for summer blockbuster flicks at the theater or sitting at home playing with your iPad, may I suggest some page turning thrills with “The Twenty-Year Death.”

[Read more…]