Pretzel bites: A dive into noir and baseball

Also revisiting 1996 with Swingers and Jerry McGuire

Happy Memorial Day weekend for those of us in the United States. It’s a weekend where we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in times of war to protect and defend. I always try to watch the movie Saving Private Ryan or the HBO series Band of Brothers during this time of year to remember the costs families have had to bear for the price of freedom.

Of course, Americans use the holiday to celebrate summer, which includes warm climate, water, beverages and sports. For me, I’ve felt the baseball bug. My novel, Lose Yourself, may have something to do with it, but I poured into The Fireballer by Mark Stevens and Ace on the Hill by J.C. Wesslen. Fireballer is a traditional baseball novel, while Ace is more fictional coming-of-age memoir. Both were fantastic. My thoughts below.

I’m also in a Film Noir stage. I’m in the midst of writing a 12-part serial (to span all of 2025) in Film Noir style. The tone and feel of this genre are very unique and I want to explore writing in this style in 25,000 words. It won’t be a L.A. Confidential (James Ellroy’s brilliant crime fiction novel), but I am exploring the dark edges of my protagonist Alex Shelby in this story set in the early 2000s. Shelby is also the protagonist in my next novel Landslide (first draft complete, expected release in 2027-28.) This early character study will help inform me as I enter into my first rewrite.

Now that I’m a year into this newsletter and have grown comfortable with the cadence of posts, you may see more short stories sprinkled amongst the weekly Friday posts. Please share how you’d like my stories to release?

In the meantime, here is the media I consumed in May.

Books

Ace on the Hill, J.C. Wesslen. As a fellow indie writer, I am even more thrilled when a book executes its premise as well as Ace does. It’s the story of Jay, who moves into the neighborhood at a younger age and his navigation through adolescence. A novel written in the style of a memoir, Ace brings forth those universal experiences such as a first crush and subsequent heartbreak, poor choices and consequences, perennial mischief and self-discovery. Recommend.

The Fireballer, Mark Stevens. Full Disclosure: Mark endorsed my book. He was very kind and gracious with his assessment of Lose Yourself. The Fireballer is also a baseball novel and is the story of superfreak pitcher Frank Ryder, a Baltimore rookie whose fastball tops out at 110 mph. The best part of the novel is Frank’s journey coming to grips with this past in order to be in the present and the future. The humanity and frailty of an athlete is always the heart of a good baseball novel and Stevens succeeds. Recommend

Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library, Amanda Oliver. I am conflicted about this book. At its best, I learned about the vast differences in what we think of libraries (institutions of learning, reading, and a celebration of knowledge) and their reality (a public space where society’s inequities play out in front of understaffed, underfunded and untrained library staff). My eyes were opened to the daily problems libraries face dealing with the unhoused, mental illness, substance, and more. However, Oliver’s book plays out part memoir, part sermon, part 90,000-word Facebook post. And while I admit I don’t think I would last long working in a D.C. public library, she bases her book on four years as a elementary school librarian and less than a year in the DC public library. I don’t deny the trauma she endured, but her writing makes it seem she was a veteran of decades in the trenches. Not Recommend.

Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun, Elle Cosimano. This is the third in the series of the zany mishaps of the title character. First, she’s mistaken as a hitwoman and she has to navigate these ties to the mob and crime. I enjoyed the first book. The second book was ok. By the third book, I’m starting to get annoyed by the characters. There’s a fourth, but I’m not sure if I’ll read it or not. Not Recomend.

Streaming

Anyone But You, Netflix. This RomCom is loosely based on the Shakespeare play “Much Ado About Nothing,” and tells the story of a couple who pretend to like each other, but then realize their feelings and spoiler alert! Get together. Starring easy-on-the eyes Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, the fun part of this movie is looking for the Shakespeare Easter Eggs, from random quotes in scenes to the spoken words. Also great to see Durmot Mulroney (from My Best Friend’s Wedding) play the father of the bride in this movie centered around the nuptials. Recommend.

Sugar, Apple TV+. This Colin Farrell follows a private detective on the trail of a missing young woman in Los Angeles. The series embraces its neo-noir style, even intercutting snippets of classic Film Noir, and continues with a somber jazz soundtrack. There is a twist in the last two episodes as the series nears its climax that I’m not sure I like, but it doesn’t diminish the enjoyment I had. Recommend

Chinatown, Paramount+. Watching Sugar, I decided to pull out the ultimate Neo-Noir film set in Los Angeles, Chinatown. Putting aside that it was directed by fugitive sex offender Roman Polanski (yes, I said it and I almost turned it off when I realized he helmed it.), I have never seen the movie. Filmed in 1974, Chinatown is a bridge between old and new Hollywood. The story is solid and I found myself googling locations to see how Los Angeles has changed in the last 50 years. Recommend with Reservations.

Reluctant Traveler, Apple TV+. This is the second season of Eugene Levy’s travelogue. The original premise of the show was having a man who doesn’t like to travel forced into these crazy locales and watch Levy’s neuroses create uncomfortable but funny moments. By now, he’s pretty comfortable as he travels through Europe. But he’s visiting smaller villages and cities in Europe and it’s a lot of fun to see these cities that don’t get the big publicity. Recommend

Gentleman in Moscow, Paramount+. This is one of my wife’s favorite books and I like it too, so we had high expectations for this series starring Ewen MacGregor. The story revolves around a member of the old Russian aristocracy who is sentenced to live in a hotel by the Community party and spans the course of 40 years. Over the course, you see how a man adopts the hotel as his community and how he grows from self-centered to selfless. Lived up to the book. Recommend

Podcast

Ten Percent Happier, Dan Harris with Ryan Holiday. My Instagram feed is full of Holliday’s reels sharing about the wisdom of The Stoics, Marcus Arelius, Athenorus, Zeno, etc. and most of the time I roll my eyes. Perhaps the tidbits of stoicism don’t relate. But in this hourlong podcast, I found Harris’s conversation with Holiday fascinating. Sharing some tips about self-control, being in the present, and how the philosophy shares a slight resemblance to Buddha and even to Christ, provides some resonance.

90s Rewind

Jerry McGuire, Apple TV+. Over the last decade, Tom Cruise has almost exclusively made movies featuring him jumping off of cliffs, hanging off of airplanes and running. So, it was somewhat jarring to watch him again as the cad-with-a-conscience Jerry McGuire. Aside from flip phones, land lines, sports cameos and references that are no longer relevant, the movie holds up. However, some interesting observations since the 28 years since it came out. Renee Zellwegger is 26! Tom Cruise is 35! Also, I didn’t realize before the trainwreck of Jerry McGuire. And I can’t believe Dorothy falls for him. I felt closest to her sister Laurel (Bonnie Hunt), who sees it from 100 miles away. Fun rewatch. Recommend.

Swingers, Rent: Prime. This movie came out when I graduated college in Los Angeles and when it released to video, my old friends watched this movie over and over. I’d been to Los Feliz Golf Course. My girlfriend (now wife) went to the Derby to dance to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. For two years, we told each other we were “money and we didn’t even know it.” So, I looked forward to rewatching with my wife and my 18-year-old. My wife loved it and the nostalgia hit us as we quoted lines. My daughter thought it was ok. Recommend (maybe as a rewatch?)

In case you missed it…

This week’s interview

May 20: 40/40 Vision Podcast

See other interviews I’ve done on my Press Tour.

Flash Fiction:

Impostor Syndrome

This month's flash fiction prompt draws from previous characters

This was a fun prompt, partly because I was able to included this story into canon of the world created in my novels and Substack short stories. And, I tapped into the public zeitgeist. Is that cheating? Or just a fun bi-product. Anyway, enjoy! vincewetzel.substack.com/p/impostor-syn…