Media COOL

Media COOL

Creemedia

This Month’s Media Cool was written by Keith Gordon, Richard C. Walls, Ann Marie Fazio and Heather Joslyn

THE COMPLETE SPY by Robert McGarvey and Elsie Caitlin (Pedigee Books)

If you’re one of those people who cried when they took The Man From U.N.C.L.E. off TV, if you own every book Ian Fleming wrote, and if you have wet dreams over James Bond’s sci-fi super-sleuth equipment, then The Complete Spy, a Sears wishbook for would-be secret agents, deserves a place on your coffee table. A catalog of weapons, gadgets and gimcrackery for the 007 in all of us, this book provides information, sources and approximate pricing on everything the well-dressed spy needs. Goodies to be found here include such esoterica as parabolic microphones, telephone voice scramblers and wristwatch cameras; weapons like Samurai swords, the Taser and, ol' J. Edgar Hoover’s favorite, the Thompson Submachine Gun. For the rich and paranoid, there’s even a source for K-9 command dogs, an alarm equipped with video-scanners, a bomb detection system, remote controlled ignition, multiple alarms, recorders and—for the truly paranoid—special ducts that will spray tear gas at those outside the car. All this for only $250,000! Where’d I put my checkbook?K.G.

HOLY TERROR Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman (Delta)

Subtitled The Fundamentalist War On America’s Freedoms In Religion, Politics, And Our Private Lives, this exhaustive study reads like a cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and All The President’s Men and pretty much explains why there’s been an increase these past four years in the number of babbling loonies in high places, doublespeakers who see rational thought as a threat to our nation’s moral integrity. Also, why all the smarmy TV evangelists suck up to murderous third world dictatorships, how they’re nearly succeeding in getting their comic book theology turned into legislation, things like that. On the surface it might seem a bit alarmist, but the documentation is compelling enough that by the time the authors get around to drawing parallels between Fundamentalist proselytizing techniques and Nazi and Soviet propaganda models, it doesn’t seem like that much of a leap. A great election year book, especially as an aid in deciphering all the buzzwords and catch phrases that will be hanging in the airwaves during Reagan’s reelection campaign. I mean, “traditional values,” my butt... R.C.W.

THE BIG BROTHER BOOK OF LISTS by Robert Ellis Smith, Deborah Caulfield, David Crook & Michael Gershman (Price/Stern/Sloan)

Yeah, yeah, I know...as everybody and their big brother has been telling us, it’s 1984. To date, we’ve been deluged with every imaginable version of George Orwell’s nightmare vision; from calendars to television commentaries, from books to the Smurfs on Saturday morning TV. If you really want the lowdown on things that go bump in the night, though, The Big Brother Book Of Lists is a tasty little tome that’ll bring all of your paranoid fantasies to life. These folks cover all the bases here: chapters titled “The Central Intelligence Agency: Nabobs Of National Security,” “Mind Control & Behavior Modification” and “Big Business & Big Brother,” among many more, contain such useful and thought-provoking information as the FBI’s 20 biggest files, the names of foreign leaders on the CIA payroll, government drug experimentation and' Rick Johnson’s home phone number. Heady stuff here, and a great gift for the conspiracy-monger on your block. K.G.

BOY CRAZY by Karen Hardy (Plume)

On the crest of the men-can-be-sexobjects-too wave, in washes Boy Crazy. Its intro explains that “The gorgeous hunks girls dream of are the famous young idols who star in rock bands, movies, TV shows and on Broadway,” and that we can “meet these hot new stars” between the covers of this book. But I certainly wouldn’t shell out $9.95 to hear Michael J. Fox, 23, of Family Ties, proclaim, “Girls are my life. They really are,” John Stamos, 19, of General Hospital, reveal that if he couldn’t be an actor he’d want to be a dentist, and Menudo’s 14-year-old Robby Rosa admit he can’t stand to be scolded. A minimum of copy (half of which is lists of the guys’ “Not-SoVital-Statistics” [I know, I don’t get it either] and “Favorites”) and a maximum of photos featuring semifamiliar, pretty, pouty boys with squinty eyes. A skimming at the bookstore is all it’s worth. A.M.F.

SIXTEEN CANDLES

(Universal)

Samantha Baker’s freaking. She turned sweet 16 today, and her whole family forgot her birthday. Can you believe it? And tomorrow she’s gotta be a dumb bridesmaid in her superWASP sister’s wedding and she’s gotta wear this dress that she doesn’t have one-tenth the bod for. To make matters worse, this freshman called “The Geek” is charging admission to see her underwear. It’s enough to make a girl shit twice and die. Newcomer Molly Ringwald is blessedly without affectation as the hapless Samantha in this latest comedy from writer/director John Hughes (Mr. Mom, National Lampoon’s Vacation). Hughes has an eye for high school authenticity—the scenes on the school bus are howlers—and an ear for teen dialogue. This realistic approach keeps the film’s occasional brushes with sentimentality from becoming syrupy. Anthony Michael Hall’s fumbling nerdiness even manages to make “The Geek” appealing. A painfully funny, compassionate treatment of teenage awkwardness. H.J.