Jim Kelly’s DEATH WORE WHITE Has Dark Edges

I love a good locked-room mystery and that’s essentially what Jim Kelly’s Death Wore White (out June 9) is, except it takes place outdoors. One winter evening during a blizzard, eight drivers are trapped after taking a detour down a small road surrounded by a wide ditch on one side and marshland on the other. A felled pine tree lies across the road, making it impassable, and the last car in line somehow gets stuck sideways, preventing the drivers from backing out. And of course, they’re in a black hole with no cell signal.

When the police arrive about three hours later, they find a corpse behind the wheel of the lead vehicle. No one at the scene saw the murder and there are no incriminating footprints in the snow surrounding the truck. How can this be? Furthermore, the viciousness of the stabbing would have resulted in a lot of blood in the truck and on the killer, but there’s none on any of the other drivers and only a small amount in the cab, implying the man was killed elsewhere. What the hell?!

Detective Inspector Peter Shaw (Scotland Yard’s youngest DI) and his partner, George Valentine, catch the case on the same night they find the corpse of another man washed up on a nearby beach. Before they can get to the bottom of either mystery, more bodies pile up and the puzzle becomes more puzzling. Shaw and Valentine are also dealing with unspoken tension between them resulting from a twelve-year-old case involving a murdered boy which Valentine worked with Shaw’s father, Jack. Valentine and the senior Shaw were accused of planting evidence in that case and Jack eventually died of heartbreak from disappointment. While dealing with all the murders happening on his watch, Peter is also re-investigating the cold case to maybe clear his father’s name.

Death Wore White is interesting in that it reads like an old Agatha Christie novel but the detectives text-message each other and the story is very much a contemporary one. Jim Kelly piles on a lot of subplots and many twists but he deftly juggles them and resolves everything by the end. Except for one subplot, which sets up the next novel featuring Shaw and Valentine. I normally get annoyed when all mysteries aren’t cleared up but in this case, it makes me really eager to see what happens next in this new series.

Nerd verdict: White will suit most mystery fans

Wolverine and James Bond on Broadway

It’s raining hot men on Broadway this fall when Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig team up to do Keith Huff’s play, A Steady Rain. The New York Post reports they’ll be playing two cops whose friendship takes a hit when they get embroiled in a domestic conflict in a poor neighborhood. Dang, I’ll dial 911 right now if they want to get all up in my domestic business.

I think we’ve all heard about Jackman’s Tony-winning role as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz but this will be Craig’s Broadway debut (he’s done theater in England). Rain will be conveniently produced by Craig’s Bond producer, Barbara Broccoli.

Will you buy tickets for this?

Giveaway: Free Tickets to Bookstock 2009

Do you live in the San Francisco area and are looking for something cool to do next weekend? Check out Bookstock 2009, a music, art and music festival held next Saturday, June 6, at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The cost is $15 per person but I have 5 pairs of tickets to give away. Read on for more info.

The following is a description from the event website:

“Attendees will enjoy a night of live music provided by top Bay Area bands including Stroke 9, Eoin Harrington, the Monophonics; a live art show featuring 25 renowned artists; and an advanced screening of Logan and Noah Miller’s film Touching Home, starring 4-time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris, the movie that inspired it all! Plus, the book release and signing of the Miller brother’s exhilarating memoir Either You’re In or You’re in The Way, published by HarperCollins April 28.”

I’ve read the Miller brothers’ book and it’s fantastic. It’s a funny, inspiring story of how they made a movie about their lives with their late father (played by Harris) without any money, experience or industry contacts.

If you want to attend (or know someone who does) and would like a pair of free tickets, you just have to do two things: 1) Be a subscriber to my blog (see upper right corner of page) and 2) leave me a comment here telling me why you’d like to go. All interested parties will be entered in a random drawing this Friday and 5 winners will receive two tickets each in the mail. Good luck!

Best of Cannes 2009

scene from The White Ribbon

By now, you’ve probably heard about the winners from the 62nd Cannes film festival. Austrian director/writer Michael Haneke won the Palme d’Or for his black and white movie, The White Ribbon, which explores strange events taking place in a rural German village right before the start of World War I.

Christoph Waltz won Best Actor for his portrayal of the Nazi “Jew Hunter” in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg won Best Actress for playing a bereaved mother in Lars von Trier’s controversial Antichrist.

For more official festival winners, click here for Variety’s round-up. To see who won my Nerdes d’Or for Best Dressed, read on.

Shortly after Robin Wright Penn appeared at at the Up premiere looking fabulous in this Elie Saab gown, her divorce from Sean Penn was called off. Coincidence?

Not only is the color stunning, look at the fit of this gown on Michelle Yeoh’s body. Perfection.

Continuing the beautiful color trend is this pink column gown on Shu Qi, one of the festival’s judges. Love the necklace, too.

How fabulous does Elizabeth Banks look in this Armani Prive´gown? If I looked that good, my smile would be that big, too.

I have no love for Devon Aoki’s acting but she looks like royalty in yellow Roberto Cavalli at a Chopard party.

I’m not a fan of beige (I read somewhere this was actually rose-colored) but the way this Versace drapes over Angelina Jolie’s body is magnificent. It looks soft, comfy and sexy as hell. Love the siren-red lipstick, too.

Brad Pitt’s Inglorious Basterds co-star, Diane Kruger (in Marchesa), gave Angelina fierce competition for most radiant woman at the premiere.

I usually find metallics boring but Zhang Ziyi looks the sexiest I’ve ever seen her look in this gown. Yowza!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks like Venus rising out of her clamshell in this seafoam blue gown.

Roberto Cavalli seems to be MVP at this year’s festival, designing so many of my favorite gowns, including this one on Shu Qi. Love the rich blue hue, asymmetry and leather belt details.
Devon Aiki again, this time in lilac Alberta Ferretti, but once again with impeccable hair and Chopard jewelry. Aoki should stop venturing into acting and stay a model because she sure knows how to wear clothes.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to Tilda Swinton, who looks stunning in this burgundy ensemble. Her style is so unique that her outfits usually leave me confused but in this, she is awe-inspiring in the best way.

What do you think? Which ones are your faves?

The First Reviews of Heath Ledger’s Last Movie

Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus screened at Cannes and the reviews are out. Here’s Entertainment Weekly’s, Variety’s and the Hollywood Reporter’s. Heath Ledger died while working on this (Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to finish his role) and apparently the first time you see him in the movie is as a corpse. Yikes.

The plot sounds intriguing but also confusing. I’m not a huge fan of Gilliam’s oeuvre and the movie doesn’t have a U.S. release date yet but I’ll probably see it when it does arrive so I can pay tribute to Ledger’s work. Will you?

AMERICAN IDOL Season 8 Finale–The New Idol Is Crowned

I can’t believe Kris won! Whoo-hoo! I don’t think I’ve been this pleasantly surprised in the eight years I’ve followed this show. I’d accepted that Adam would win since everyone keeps saying he would—the judges, Entertainment Weekly, his vocal fan base, many of my friends, etc. That, and the fact I only had time to vote for Kris 10 times last night made feel like he’d have to settle for second place. But I kept my fingers crossed, just maybe…

And the impossible happened! When the confetti rained down, it was Kris who was the new American Idol. He even received a little trophy in the shape of a microphone, which is a new thing this year. Only drawback to winning was he had to sing that lame song, “No Boundaries,” but he sounded much better than last night.

This result is rather shocking because I didn’t think much of Kris at all for much of the early competition. I couldn’t even remember his name since his shy, unassuming ways made him blend into the background. But as the fat started getting trimmed from the competition, this quiet boy gained confidence and started making such daring, innovative choices (“Falling Slowly,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “Heartless”) that I had to take notice. I’m glad he won because I love an underdog story and it made for good TV!

The show was better than I thought it would be. I let the DVR get ahead an hour and 20 minutes before I tuned in ’cause I figured I’d have to fast-forward through lots of filler but ended up watching and enjoying much of it.

I liked the Kris and Keith Urban duet, “Kiss a Girl.” When they first announced Urban, I thought, “Oh no, country music,” which I do not like. But the song was upbeat, their styles blended well and the duet sounded cohesive. It was a performance that seemed rehearsed instead of thrown together at the last minute.

Other things I enjoyed: seeing Alexis Grace again, Jason Mraz, the Lionel Richie/Danny Gokey pairing, Allison and Cyndi Lauper doing “Time After Time,” Steve Martin playing the banjo while Megan Joy and Michael Sarver sang Martin’s song, “Pretty Flowers” (though Megan sounded a little wobbly), Rod Stewart doing “Maggie May” (with his 1978 hairdo intact!), and Adam and Kris dueting with Queen on “We Are the Champions.”

Moments I thought were awkward, embarrasing or downright disgusting: The Golden Idols, which wasted time on obnoxious, talentless people desperate for attention (I refuse to mention them by name); the Lil Rounds/Queen Latifah duet of “Cue the Rain,” which was a huge mess; and most of the group sing-alongs, especially “So What.” They need to brush up on their dancing and choreography skills before they start the tour.

What I Both Liked and Hated: Kara getting to show her singing prowess (she’s awesome!) and hot bod (did you see those abs?!) but having to share the stage with that skanky, porny girl.

What were the highlights for you? How do you feel about Kris winning? Whose album will you be buying? Will you be seeing the top 10 on tour?