Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
World War II: Behind Enemy Lines – The Poster and Trailer are Here!
Deal me in.
Witness one US Army unit’s battles, bravery and covert missions from D-Day to V-E Day in never-before-seen restored footage and rare firsthand accounts.
Rocky vs Apollo by Reggy The Marker Artist!
“Apollo Creed versus the Italian Stallion. Sounds like a damn monster movie.” – Apollo Creed
What Jennifer Did (2024)
Director: Jenny Popplewell
Screenplay: Jenny Popplewell
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
On the night of November 8, 2010, Jennifer Pan made a frantic 911 call. She said three men had entered the house. One had taken her upstairs and bound her to the stairwell banister with her hands tied behind her back. Downstairs, the two others were yelling at her parents. They’d come for money. As Jennifer was talking to 911, shots rang out.
When the police arrived, they found Jennifer distraught and her parents dead.
Who had killed Jennifer Pan’s parents? And why?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Jennifer was an exceptional musician. She graduated with a college degree. Her diploma was proudly framed and displayed. At her parents’ request she had stopped dating her “drug using” boyfriend. At first look Jennifer appeared to be the “perfect” daughter.
Then the police took a second look.
What Jennifer Did (2024) rates 3 of 5 stars.
A classic film, especially one as great as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window deserves only the best alt posters… like this one by Nicolas Joret.
“Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase and come back three times?” – L.B. Jeffries
Tuner (2025)
Director: Daniel Roher
Screenplay: Daniel Roher, Robert Ramsey
Stars: Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Herbie Hancock and Jean Reno.
Tagline: Everybody has one hidden talent.
The Plot…
Niki White was musical prodigy when he was young. A piano virtuoso with perfect pitch. Then Niki developed hyperacusis. This super sensitivity to sound forced Niki to constantly wear protection against noise and to give up piano playing.
Niki, now a young man, works with his former music teacher, Harry Horowitz, as a piano tuner. Thanks to his perfect pitch, Harry wearing ear protection, is an excellent tuner. Despite the difference in their ages, Niki and Harry are best friends. When Harry forgets the combination to his safe, Niki is able to open it thanks to his hyperacusis.
After Harry has a heart attack, the bills pile up. Niki reaches out to Uri, a casual acquaintance, who knows about Niki’s ability to open a safe. Uri had told Niki that if he ever wanted to earn a lot of quick easy money, to contact him. Niki wants the cash to help Harry.
Niki thinks that after a couple of quick scores, he’ll be out. Niki thinks no one will get hurt. Niki’s wrong. On both counts.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Dustin Hoffman is perfect as Harry. In the film Harry’s birthday is given as August 8th, 1937. This is Hoffman’s actual birth date. In Tuner, Hoffman plays a former music teacher. Before he decided on an acting career, Dustin Hoffman studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music.
Leo Woodall and Havana Rose Liu are excellent.
At one point in Tuner, Niki is referred to as Rain Man because of his special ability to hear. Dustin Hoffman, who also appears in Tuner, played the title character in Rain Man.
Tuner surprised me because of how little publicity it seems to have received. (Or did I just miss it all?) Tuner receives my highest recommendation.
Tuner (2025) rates 5 of 5 stars.
Rocky vs Apollo by Knuckles!
“Ain’t gonna be no rematch!” – Apollo Creed
“Don’t want one.” – Rocky Balboa
Hungry (2026)
Director: James Nunn
Screenplay: James Nunn
Stars: Madison Davenport, Tracey Bonner, Joaquim de Almeida, Michel Curiel, Samantha Coughlan, Olivia Bernstone, Jim Meskimen and River Codack.
Tagline: This hippo isn’t playing games.
The Plot…
Alligator-watching in the Louisiana swamplands is a popular tourist attraction. A group consisting of…
… venture down one of the many bayous leading deep into the wilderness.
Before the group leaves they learn some swamp history including that hippos were once released into the swampland. Surprisingly, hippos are even more dangerous than alligators! But none have been seen in the area in decades. It is believed that none have survived.
The most deadly swamp animals are now alligators. The most dangerous alligator is a massive beast dubbed “Big Ben”. Ben wears a tracker so that guides are always aware of his location.
Dionne secretly tips Rodrigo to take the group off the regular route. She is determined to get a photo of Big Ben. Unknown to the other passengers, they are going to venture into uncharted areas of the swamp.
When the group sees Big Ben they’re shocked. Not because of Ben’s size, but because Ben is dead. Something MUCH bigger than Ben bit him in half.
As Rodrigo attempts to get them out of the area, a rampaging hippo overturns the boat. With no radio, no cell service and no transportation out, the group is stranded off the grid with an enraged hippo hunting them.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
While the film was inspired by the children’s game Hungry Hungry Hippo, the movie isn’t for kids.
I was surprised to learn that at one time hippos really could once be found in Louisiana swamps. During the 1910 US beef shortage hippos were considered as a possible solution. The U.S. Congress debated importing African hippopotamuses to serve as a new meat source. Hippos were released into Louisiana swamps.
Hungry isn’t a great movie but viewers may be surprised by who lives and who dies.
Hungry (2026) rates 3 of 5 stars.
A new poster for Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn is here!
How about this I Play Rocky poster? Do I like it? Absolutely.
Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn – another poster and trailer #2 are here!
Brad Bird, the visionary director of The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and The Iron Giant, brings you a whole new world to investigate… and everyone’s a suspect.
Starring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits, Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Michelle Rodriguez, and more.
Ray Gunn – in select theaters and select 70mm showings December 4 and on Netflix December 18.
Streets of Fire (1984)
Director: Walter Hill
Screenplay: Walter Hill, Larry Gross
Stars: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Lee Ving, Stoney Jackson, Grand L. Bush, Robert Townsend, Mykelti Williamson, Marine Jahan, Ed Begley Jr., Olivia Brown, Peter Jason and Willem Dafoe.
Tagline: Tonight is what it means to be young.
The Plot…
Another time. Another place.
Ellen Aim and The Attackers return to Ellen’s hometown for a special concert. They’ve made the big time and want to show appreciation to their first fans. Things go sideways when Ellen is kidnapped by The Bombers motorcycle gang.
Tom Cody, a former soldier and Ellen’s ex-boyfriend is hired to rescue her. Ellen’s being held in the Battery, a dangerous section of town under Bomber control. Cops don’t go into the battery, but Tom Cody will.
Tonight is what it means to be young.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Amy Madigan was up for the role of Reva, but lobbied for the part of Cody’s sidekick even though it was written for a Hispanic man named Mendez. Madigan convinced Walter Hill that she was right for the part so the character was renamed McCoy and changed to a woman.
Walter Hill wanted to make a film that contained all the things he loved as a teenager – “custom cars, kissing in the rain, neon, trains in the night, high-speed pursuit, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, jokes in tough situations, leather jackets and questions of honor”. I’m right there with Walter.
Walter Hill hoped to do a trilogy of films starring Michael Paré as Tom Cody. Sadly Streets of Fire‘s box office didn’t warrant sequels.
Despite not doing well in the US, Streets of Fire was a big success in Japan where it won the prestigious Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Feature.
Marine Jahan, who doubled for Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, plays the dancer at Torchy’s bar.
Streets of Fire underwent a lot of editing to change it’s tone and to avoid a “R” rating. Entire scenes were cut. Some of these scenes explained characters’ backstory, some helped with world-building while others were concert sequences. I would love to see an “expanded cut”.
Streets of Fire features a cool soundtrack.
I’m an unapologetic fan of Streets of Fire.
Streets of Fire (1984) rates 4 of 5 stars.
Sly Stallone by Robin Schwartzman!
Stacy Keach died on November 10, 2026 due to heart failure complicated by heart disease. He was 85.
Stacy Keach was born Walter Stacy Keach. His mother was an actress and his father a theater director. Stacy Keach was his high school president the year he graduated. Mr. Keach attended the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with two B.A. degrees; one in English and the other in Dramatic Arts. Stacy Keach went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Stacy Keach made his debut television performance in 1964, in the series Channing. His first professional stage appearance on Broadway took place in 1965 in the play Danton’s Death. Mr. Keach made his feature film debut in 1968, in the film The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. For the rest of his 64 year acting career, Stacy Keach appeared on stage, television and in feature films.
Some of Stacy Keach’s television work includes: Channing; Macbeth; Great Performances; Caribe (13 episodes); Lincoln; Jesus of Nazareth (4 episodes); The Fitzpatricks; Saturday Night Live; Diary of a Young Comic; Skag; A Rumor of War (2 episodes); The Blue and the Gray (3 episodes); Murder Me, Murder You; Princess Daisy (2 episodes); More Than Murder; Mistral’s Daughter (4 episodes); The Return of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer; The New Mike Hammer (46 episodes); Hemmingway (4 episodes); Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All; The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle (3 episodes); Lincoln and the War Within; Lincoln; The Wild West; Body Bags; In the Heat of the Night (2 episodes); Batman: Mask of the Phantasm; Promised Land; Die Gang (11 episodes); Mike Hammer, Private Eye (26 episodes); Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book (26 episodes); Batman Beyond; The Outer Limits; Tesla: Master of Lightning; Rugrats (3 episodes); Gary & Mike; Touched by an Angel (2 episodes); Boomtown; When Eagles Strike; What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2 episodes); Will & Grace; George Lopez; Blackbeard (3 episodes); Galapagos; Prison Break (23 episodes); ER (3 episodes); Live from the Lincoln Center; Meteor (2 episodes); Two and a Half Men (4 episodes); Lights Out (13 episodes); Bored to Death (2 episodes); 30 Rock; Hindenberg: The Last Fight (2 episodes); Brooklyn Nine-Nine; The Neighbors (3 episodes); Sean Saves the World (3 episodes); Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Full Circle (8 episodes); Hot in Cleveland (2 episodes); Crowded (13 episodes); Ray Donovan (2 episodes); The Simpsons (6 episodes); Blunt Talk (2 episodes); Tokyo Trial (4 episodes); NCIS: New Orleans (6 episodes); Man with a Plan (50 episodes); The Blacklist (6 episodes); Titus (55 episodes) and Blue Bloods (11 episodes).
Some of Stacey Keach’s feature film work includes: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Brewster McCloud; Orville and Wilbur; Fat City; The New Centurians; The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean; The Killer Inside Me; Gray Lady Down; Up in Smoke; The Long Riders; Road Games; That Championship Season; Escape from L.A.; American History X; The Bourne Legacy; The Architect; The Great Chameleon; Nebraska; Sin City: A Dame to Kill For; Cell and Jay Kelly.
When I think of Stacy Keach, his role in The Long Riders always comes to mind first. Then I think about what a long award-winning career he had and how he was able to move from drama to comedy with ease.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stacy Keach’s family, friends and fans.
A History of Violence (2005)
Director: David Cronenberg
Screenplay: Josh Olson; based on A History of Violence by John Wagner & Vince Locke
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt, Peter MacNeill and Ed Harris.
Tagline: Tom Stall had the perfect life… until he became a hero.
The Plot…
Tom Stall is the mild-mannered owner of a small diner in a quiet Indiana town. Tom is married to Edie. They have two teenaged children, Jack and Sarah. Life is good.
That changes when two wanted murderers attempt to rob Tom’s diner. When his waitress is threatened, Tom springs into action. With surprising ease Tom kills both thugs. As word spreads, Tom is celebrated as a hero. The story makes the national news.
Not long after, Carl Fogarty, a Philadelphia mobster shows up. Fogarty contends that Tom is actually Joey Cusack, a mob hitman. Tom is shocked and denies it.
Whether Tom is or isn’t Joey Cusack, is of little matter. Tom and his family are now targets of the mob.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
A History of Violence was nominated for two 2006 Academy Awards…
William Hurt’s well deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination was the result of his only scene which lasted less than 10 minutes.
A History of Violence was adapted from the graphic novel by John Wagner & Vincent Locke.
The thing that stayed with me after watching A History of Violence was the dual nature in all of us. So… was Viggo really Tom Stall or Joey Cusak? The things that Joey did that made him a killer were the same actions that made Tom Stall a hero.
A History of Violence (2005) rates 5 of 5 stars.
