“Banshee”: Season 1 starring Antony Starr, Ivana Miličević, Ulrich Thomsen, Frankie Faison and Hoon Lee / Z-View

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Banshee: Season 1 (2013)

Created by:  Jonathan Tropper, David Schickler

Director:

  • Greg Yaitanes (eps. 1; 4; 8)
  • S.J. Clarkson (eps. 2; 5)
  • Ole Christian Madsen (eps. 3; 6)
  • Dean White (ep. 7)

Teleplay:

  • Jonathan Tropper, David Schickler (eps. 1-6)
  • David Schickler (ep. 7)
  • Jonathan Tropper (ep. 8)

Stars: Antony Starr, Ivana Miličević, Ulrich Thomsen, Frankie Faison, Hoon Lee, Rus Blackwell, Matt Servitto, Demetrius Grosse, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Matthew Rauch, Rus Blackwell, Ryann Shane, Daniel Ross Owens, Lili Simmons, Anthony Ruivivar and Ben Cross.

Tagline: Good Town.  Bad Blood.

The Plot…

A man is released after 15 years in prison.  He and his girlfriend, Ana, ripped off a Ukrainian crime boss known as Rabbit for $15 million in diamonds.  When the police were closing in, the man led them on a chase so Ana could get away with the loot.  The man went to prison.

The woman disappeared. So did the diamonds.  Rabbit still wants both… and revenge on the man.

The man heads to Banshee, a small town in Pennsylvania.  He expects to find Ana and the diamonds waiting for him.  He finds Ana.  She’s taken on a new identity as Carrie Hopewell.  The new identity was expected.  Her married to the town’s D.A. with two children was not.

The ex-con can’t believe it.  Ana moved on, got married and had kids.

The ex-con ends up  in a small bar on the outskirts of town.  He’s drinking a beer with Sugar, the bar’s owner when another man comes in.  The man introduces himself as Josh Hood.  He’s soon to be sworn in as the new sheriff of Banshee.  Turns out Hood was hired over the phone and hasn’t met anyone yet.

As the three men are talking two hoods bust in to rob the bar.  Hood engages the two and is killed in a shootout.  The ex-con kills the two thieves.  As Sugar and the ex-con bury the three bodies, the ex-con tells Sugar his plan — he’s going to take on Josh Hood’s identity and become the new sheriff.

Since no one has met the new sheriff yet, what could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Banshee was created for Cinemax and therefore doesn’t hold back on filming nudity and sexual situations.

Banshee  plays out like a really fun crime comic.  There are larger than life characters combined with over the top action.

There are enough interesting characters and subplots to keep every episode moving.

Hoon Lee is a hoot as Job.  Matthew Rauch as Clay Burton is creepy.  He reminds me of an adult Kevin from Sin City.

If you’re willing to go with the concept of an ex-con taking the identity of the new sheriff (that nobody has ever met), you’re in for a fun ride.

Banshee: Season 1 (2013) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Frazetta: Painting with Fire” (2003) / Z-View

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Frazetta: Painting with Fire (2003)

Director: Lance Laspina

Stars:  Frank Frazetta, Forrest J. Ackerman, John Buscema, Glenn Danzig, Kevin Eastman, Joe Jusko, Dave Stevens, Neal Adams, Al Williamson, Ralph Bakshi, Brom and Bo Derek.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Frank Frazetta was an art prodigy.  He began working professionally at the age of 16.  At first he was doing pencil “clean-ups” for other artists.  Before long he was drawing his own work. From 1952 to 1953, he drew Johnny Comet, the syndicated comic strip.  In 1954, Frazetta was hired by Al Capp to draw “L’il Abner”.  In 1961, Frazetta left Al Capp Studios to search for new opportunities.

Frazetta began to get work.  A painting he did of Ringo Starr for MAD magazine led to movie poster work.  Frazetta also began painting book covers.  His covers for the Conan the Barbarian novel series were groundbreaking.  Fans began buying books not for their stories, but because they had a Frazetta cover.  Frazetta’s art for Warren Publishing on magazines such as Creepy, Eerie, Blazing Combat, and Vampirella brought in more fans.  More book covers, movie posters and private commissions followed.

Later in life Frazetta had a series of strokes that left his right arm and hand paralyzed.  So Frazetta taught himself to draw and paint with his left.  Even with his left hand, Frazetta’s work was of professional quality.

Frazetta’s work was universally loved by professionals and fans.  His legacy will live forever.

Thoughts…

Frazetta’s life story is told through interviews with artists, fans, family members and Frank Frazetta himself.

When I was a child, Frank Frazetta was the first artist I remember kids getting excited about.

Frazetta: Painting with Fire (2003) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“American Godfathers: The Five Families” (2024) / Z-View

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American Godfathers: The Five Families (2024)

Director:

  • Pouria Baladi, Jason Wright (eps. 1-3)

Teleplay:

  • Selwyn Raab (eps. 1-3)

Narrator: Michael Imperioli

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Members of the Sicilian Mafia immigrate to America and set-up  shop in New York City.  Prohibition provides opportunities for increased wealth and power.  There is a tradition of honor and omerta (a strict code of silence and non-cooperation with legal authorities) that protects the crime families.

As time passes and American born crime bosses rise, the old traditions are lost.  Some mafia bosses are more concerned with their personal wealth and public persona.  This attracts attention from the FBI and politicians.

The FBI uses RICO statutes for the first time to bring down mafia families.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Michael Imperioli is an excellent choice to narrate the series.

The series does an excellent job of covering the century of organized crime.  While there isn’t much new ground broken, there is a lot of acreage to cover.

American Godfathers: The Five Families (2024) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“MegaDoc” (2025) directed by Mike Figgis / Z-View

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MegaDoc (2025)

Director: Mike Figgis

Stars:  Francis Ford Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, Talia Shire, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, George Lucas, Giancarlo Esposito, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Adam Driver  and Jon Voight.

Tagline: The magic and making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

The Plot…

Francis Ford Coppola financed his dream project, the movie Megalopolis, with his own money to the tune of $120 – $140 million.  Director Mike Figgis was given complete access to the set and actors from pre-production through the actual filming of the movie.  Figgis and one assistant filmed using a small camera in order to create as little presence as possible.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Going behind the scenes is always interesting to most movie buffs.  I found the pre-production acting exercises that Coppola put the cast through surprising.

Coppola had planned to make Megalopolis for decades.  Particuarly interesting is footage from a 2001 table read that included Robert DeNiro and Uma Thurman.  There is also footage from 2003 featuring Ryan Gosling.

Adam Driver requested his performance not be filmed for the documentary.

There were several scenes of Shia LaBeouf arguing with Coppola about how to stage or play scenes.  If I was the director, putting up my own money, I would have wanted it understood from the start, this will be done my way.

MegaDoc (2025) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“The Long Lonesome Highway: The Michael Parks Story” (2025) / Z-View

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Long Lonesome Highway: The Story of Michael Parks (2025)

Director: Josh Roush

Screenplay:  Josh Roush

Stars:  Michael Parks, James Parks, Kurt Russell, Haley Joel Osment, Robert Rodriguez, Leonard Maltin, Mickey Rourke, Justin Long and Wyatt Russell.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Michael Parks is perhaps the greatest actor you’ve never heard of.

He began getting television roles in 1960 and quickly became a popular guest star.  Some of the shows he appeared on include Zane Grey Theater, The Untouchables, The Real McCoys, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Wagon Train and Route 66.

In 1965, he started appearing in feature films as well.  In 1966, Michael Parks was nominated as a Photoplay Most Promising New Star.   Then in 1969, Mr. Parks was given the lead in the television series Then Came Bronson.   The show was well received, but behind the scenes there was trouble.  Michael Parks pushed back on ideas he didn’t like.  The show lasted one season and Michael Parks developed the reputation as difficult.

When the series ended, Mr. Parks didn’t act on television or films for a couple of years.  Then he began to get guest spots and small roles in both tv and feature films.  Those that worked with Michael Parks universally praised his acting… but also tempered that with Parks’ offscreen behavior could be  non-conformist.

This is Michael Parks story.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I was a kid when Then Came Bronson premiered.  I liked the show and expected Michael Parks to become a bigger star.  Now we learn part of the reason it didn’t happen.

Michael Parks was an amazing actor.  His scene in From Dusk Till Dawn is one of my favorites.  A small role, but man did he nail it.

Long Lonesome Highway: The Story of Michael Parks (2025) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Brainstorm” (1965) directed by William Conrad; starring Jeffrey Hunter, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews / Z-View

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Brainstorm (1965)

Director: William Conrad

Screenplay:  Mann Rubin; story by Lawrence B. Marcus

Stars:  Jeffrey Hunter, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews, Viveca Lindfors, Michael Pate and Strother Martin.

Tagline: Brainstorm is the most fiendish idea ever conceived by the human brain!

The Plot…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Jim Grayam is a super intelligent computer analyst for Benson Industries. He’s a rising star within the company.  One night on a deserted road, Jim comes across a car parked on railroad tracks.  An unconscious woman is behind the wheel.

Jim’s attempts to rouse her are unsuccessful.  A train is quickly approaching.  Jim breaks a window, pushes the still sleeping woman over, and drives the car to safety.  The woman is Lorrie Benson. When she wakes up, she admits she wanted to die.  Lorrie is in an unhappy marriage to Cort Benson.  Cort is a very rich man and refuses to give Lorrie a divorce.

As it turns out Cort Benson owns the company Jim works for.

Jim and Lorrie begin meeting secretly.  Jim loves Lorrie, but knows Cort would never release her.  Jim realizes to get Lorrie free, he must come up with a plan… and he does.

Jim will begin to show symptoms of a man losing his grasp of reality.  He will do this repeatedly in front of many witnesses.  Jim will then murder Cort in public. He’ll be caught, tried and found NOT guilty.  Due to reasons of insanity.

After some months in a sanatorium, Jim will stop acting crazy.  He’ll be found safe to return to public life.  Then he and Lorrie will move away, be married and have a happy life.  Plus she will have Cort’s money.

Ah, the perfect plan.

What could go wrong?

Thoughts…

Director William Conrad, best known as an actor, has a cameo in Brainstorm.  Conrad can be seen lying on a bed, smoking a cigar, in the sanitorium.

I think that it’s ironic that you’d have to be crazy to implement Jim’s plan to act crazy so that you’d be found not guilty of murder.  Think about that for a second.

Brainstorm (1965) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) written & directed by John Huston; starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt / Z-View

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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Director: John Huston

Screenplay: John Huston; based on THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE by B. Traven

Stars:  Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Jay Silverheels and Robert Blake.

Tagline: They Sold Their Souls for… “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”

The Plot…

1925.  Mexico.  Fred C. Dobbs is down on his luck.  He’s had to resort to begging since jobs are few and far between.

Fred’s luck changes when he’s hired to be part of the construction crew on a job that should set him right.  Fred meets Bob Curtin, another American on the crew.  They become friends.  When the job is finished, Fred and Bob go to collect their pay… only to find their boss skipped out with their money.

That night in a flophouse, the boys meet an old miner named Howard.  Howard talks about his adventures mining for gold.  How beautiful life is when you hit a vein.  How he knows there’s gold in the hills just waiting to be taken.  How gold changes a man.  Makes him greedy and suspicious.  Willing to turn on a friend.  Fred and Bob both say that’d never happen to them.  Howard laughs.  He’s seen what gold will do to a friendship.

When Fred and Bob get a little grubstake they go to Howard.  They want to form a three-man partnership and become gold miners.  Howard says, he’s old.  The terrain could kill a man and if it doesn’t the bandits that roam the hills would.  Fred and Bob won’t take no for an answer.  Howard says he’s up for one last adventure.

Fred, Bob and Howard head into the mountain range.  Howard was right.  The terrain and bandits are deadly… but the biggest danger is what happens to friends when they strike gold.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was nominated for five 1949 Academy Awards and won four…

  • Nominee for Best Picture
  • Winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Walter Huston
  • Winner for Best Director – John Huston
  • Winner for Best Writing, Screenplay – John Huston

Walter Huston won for Best Supporting Actor and John Huston won for Best Screenplay.  This was the first father/son Academy Award win.

Bruno Traven, who wrote the novel THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE was a recluse and B. Traven was his penname.  Traven signed contracts, approved the screenplay and director, all by mail.  He was offered $1,000 a week to go to the set as a technical advisor.  He refused but suggested his friend, Hal Croves, to go in his place.  Croves was paid $150 a week.  Some on the set believed Hal Croves was Bruno Traven.

Screenwriter/Director John Huston shows up in a cameo as the American Bogart repeatedly  hits up for money.

Robert Blake appears uncredited as the young boy who sells Bogart the lottery ticket.

Tim Holt is excellent as are Bogart and of course, Huston.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a classic.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Hope” (2026) written & directed by Na Hong-jin / Z-View

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Hope (2026)

Director: Na Hong-jin

Screenplay:  Na Hong-jin

Stars:  Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Ko Bum-seok is the Chief of Police for the small town of Hope Harbor. Ko drives to the outskirts of town to meet with a group of hunters.  They found a badly mutilated cow carcass.  Whatever killed the bovine had great strength and huge claws.  The hunters are concerned.  They speculate that it could have been a bear… or a tiger.  Whatever killed the cow is dangerous and needs to be captured or killed before it gets into town.  Concerns rise when more dead and mutilated livestock are found.

Ko radios for back-up but most of the force is off fighting wild fires.  Ko heads into town to alert the townfolk.  The hunters continue deeper into the woods to see if they can pick up the beast’s trail.

When Ko gets to Hope Harbor he finds a path of destruction.  Something is killing everyone in its way.  The trail is easy to follow due to dead bodies and destroyed building walls.  Ko is alone, with no back-up.  He’s scared but pushes on.

Meanwhile the hunters move deeper into the forest.

Neither Ko or the hunters are prepared for what they will find.  No one could be.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Although it is never specifically mentioned, the film is set in the 1980s.  Writer/director Na Hong-jin used this time period to increase the isolation of the characters.  No cell phones or internet.  It is much harder to reach out for additional suppport once phone lines are down.

The promotion for Hope (trailers and posters) got my interest early on.  I loved that there was a mystery to what was actually happening.  This carries over to a good section of the movie.  The characters, like the audience want to know what is causing the damage.  And then when we find out — whew!

There is a nice mix of humor, action and mystery.  Na Hong-jin is not afraid to show that his characters have fear.  Their fear causes misteps, accidents and unheroic actions.  Yet these situations are caused by bravery and heroics despite fear.  It’s not often we see set-ups like these in action films.

Na Hong-jin wastes no time setting up the mystery and then getting to the action.

I like Hope.  A lot.  There are just three small nits I would pick.

  1. The ending seemed abrupt.  The final scenes are a great set-up for a sequel but I would have liked a bit more closure for Hope.
  2. Something happens near the end of the movie.  It’s a big moment.  Then in a mid-credits scene, the big moment is negated.  It felt like a cheat.  Was the intent to shock the audience and then say, “Not really.”  Or was the plan to **** spoiler alert**** really kill the character, but test screenings changed that idea?  The mid-credits scene fixed that.
  3. In some of the battles, characters survive things that should have killed them.  They came out with no or very superficial injuries.  The stakes could have been raised if there were more negative/serious outcomes.

Hats off to Na Hong-jin.  Hope is a winner.  I, er, hope we get to see more in this universe.

Hope (2026) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet” (2025) / Z-View

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Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025)

Director: Andrew Stevens

Screenplay: Andrew Stevens

Stars: Stella Stevens, Andrew Stevens, Jim Brown, Bobby Darrin, Glenn Ford, Michael Landon, Jerry Lewis, John Lithgo and Dean Martin.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Stella Stevens was married at 16.  At the time she lived in Holy Springs, Mississippi.  Within the next six years she would have a child, get divorced, give up her son, move to Hollywood, get a contract with 20th Century Fox, win a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, be featured in Playboy magazine and fight to regain custody of her son.

She was just getting started.

Stella Stevens would go on to have a career in feature films and television that would last over 5 decades.  Her son, Andrew Stevens, wrote and directed this documentary on his mother’s life.  As you can imagine, there were highs and lows in both her professional and personal life.  This is her story.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

One of the choices made in this documentary was to have an actress appear on screen as Stella Stevens.  The actress voiced Stella Stevens quotes from interviews and articles.  It came off as a bit hokey.

Stella Stevens had an impressive career, always finding a way to stay active in her chosen profession.  She wasn’t afraid of controversial roles.

As much time was given to her off-screen life as her on-screen performances.

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025) rates 3 of 5 stars.