Kirby DickCritiques

Missing Presumed Murdered by Dick Kirby is a look at cases that were solved without the presence of the deceased's body. The cases are interesting but the authorial voice is what turned this into a slog for me, though clearly others like his style.

On the positive side, each case is presented in detail so you can understand what (likely) happened as well as how the investigation went. Since all of the cases have the lack of a body as a common denominator they are all unusual and seem to include some of the oddest criminals and police.

As for Kirby's writing, I have two issues. One is simply that it was a very dry delivery. Maybe a step above a standard police report but well below even the newest crime beat reporter. The other issue I have is with Kirby himself. I have to question anyone, especially a former member of law enforcement, who bemoans the idea that the police should be held to ethical standards when investigating. Makes me wonder just how many unethical things he did in his "illustrious" career. Granted, this is more about lack of confidence in the writer than about the writing itself, but since the writing did nothing to make me budge, I stand by it. That said, this is the rare snoozer from Pen & Sword who usually, even when I don't care for the author, publishes books that keep my interest whether I'm in agreement or not.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Kirby - through his vast experience and network of contacts from his Flying Squad days - is able to present an eclectic range of cases from the annals of Scotland Yard. After presenting us with a brief history, representing a nostalgic view of bygone times, we are launched into our first case, taking place at the turn of the 20th century.

As with many of the earlier cases, forensics was in its infancy, and detectives were still expected to put in the hard slog and discover or reveal the evidence for themselves. Fingerprinting was in use as was the traditional "line up", but it was the sharp-eye witness and the sifting through the circumstantial evidence that aided in a conviction. Only one case presented featured the "court room confession" and a number of cases are still unsolved; and not all our suspects paid the ultimate price. We meet along the way a mixed bag of detectives - a "suspicion" of detectives if you like - and I enjoyed the "what happened to ..." at the end.

For those interested in true crime and / or police methods, this will prove an enjoyable read.

Afflicted since childhood with cystic fibrosis, Bob Flanagan fought pain with pain, using whips, chains and stranger implements to push his body to alarming lengths. Sometimes he did it on stage, mutilating his body for art's sake. Kirby Dick's sensitive, shockingly funny portrait includes frank interviews with Flanagan and his partner Sheree Rose, footage from their legendary performances (before his death at age 42, Flanagan became a hero of avant-garde theater) and a haunting, harrowing finale. An undeniable masterpiece, Sick operates simultaneously as a love story, biography and performance video, and as proof that spirituality is in the eye of the beholder. Flanagan remains one of cinema's most compelling characters, and Dick tells the story with a mixture of toughness and sensitivity. We won't kid you: Sick is not for the queasy. Then again, neither is life. (JS)

Teens say the darndest things. At least they do when they've got a camera to talk into, and know their confessions may make it onto national television. Such is the case with the subjects/creators of Chain Camera, a documentary that consists of footage shot chain-letter style by 16 teens from L.A.'s John Marshall High (Sunnydale!). They talk about everything from racism to revolution, alcoholism to oral sex. But are they just acting out for the camera? Certainly there are performative elements, but, in the end, Chain Camera isn't so much an expose of teen life as a diaristic performance piece starring 16 media savvy writer-actors. But the realness seeps out between the jokes and the bravado, and the film is all the truer for it. (JS)

Boldly revealing the hidden lives of some of the United States most powerful policymakers, Outrage takes a comprehensive look at the harm they've inflicted on millions of Americans, and examines the media s complicity in keeping their secrets. Outrage probes deeply into the psychology of this double lifestyle, the ethics of outing closeted politicians, the double standards that the media upholds in its coverage of the sex lives of gay public figures, and much more.
Our PFLAG chapter thinks this is a powerful film

Movie ratings — those Rs, PG-13s and NC-17s — won't look nearly as innocuous after seeing this sharply observed and funny investigation of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA keeps the rating process completely secret, but filmmaker Kirby Dick and the private eye he hires discover a hidden society, closed to filmmakers but overseen by religious figures. As Dick goes deeper, we start to understand how the MPAA's ratings system reflects some of American society's troubling propensities, including the glorification of violence, a fear of sex of any kind and a paranoiac attitude towards gays, lesbians and other nonconformists. Using animation, interviews and, most of all, his substantial powers as a storyteller, Dick turns This Film into a potent mix of black comedy, social critique and old-fashioned muckraking. (JS)