Category: Celebs

“Babylon A.D.” (2008) / Z-View

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Babylon A.D. (2008)

Director:  Mathieu Kassovitz

Writers:  Mathieu Kassovitz & Joseph Simas (screenplay) with Éric Besnard (scenario and dialogue) based on the novel by Maurice G. Dantec.

Starring:  Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling.

Tagline:   Save the World One Child at a Time.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the near future, Toorop (Diesel), is an exiled American mercenary living in a dangerous gang-ridden Russian slum.  Toorop is hired to safely transport Aurora (Thierry) and her guardian (Yeoh) across the war torn continent and sneak them into the United States.  Under the best circumstances this would be a tough gig, but the fact that two different organizations have sent armed teams to kidnap Aurora for vastly different reasons makes survival unlikely.

Babylon A.D. is an under-rated and flawed film that I absolutely love.  Bad weather, budget over-runs, problems  between the director and 20th Century Fox all contributed to the end result.  20th Century Fox released a drastically cut (reports range from 15 to 93 minutes shorter than the director’s cut) theatrical version with almost zero publicity.  In 2011, Mathieu Kassovitz released a behind the scenes documentary of the troubled production called Fucking Kassovitz.  I’ve seen the documentary.  It is clear that problems with the production team meeting the director’s vision were enormous.

With that said, I still love Babylon A.D.  It has scope, vision and attempts to rise above the action genre film.  There’s so much to love.  The opening with Toorop in the Russian slum.  Gorsky (Depardieu), the Russian crime lord’s method of getting Toorop on board.  How Gorsky gets Toorop to the convent to pick-up Aurora.  Slowly seeing that there is more to Aurora than meets the eye.  The gradual development of respect and then friendship between Toorop and Sister Rebeka (Yeoh).  The parkour fighters.  Toorop “rescuing” Aurora from the monster cage fighter.  The submarine scene.  Escaping the drones.  The New York showdown and more.

Babylon A.D. is not a great movie.  As I said at the start, it is flawed.  But I love what they did get on film.  I’ve watched Babylon A.D. several times over the years and like it better with each viewing.  This is one where I expect the mileage will differ from mine with many viewers.  Why not give it a shot and see?  As for me, I rate Babylon A.D. five of five stars.

Rarely Told Behind-the-Scenes Facts of the Assassination of President Kennedy!

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If you have any interest at all in the Assassination of President Kennedy, you will want to check out Ten Tales from Dallas’s Parkland Hospital, Where JFK Died by Christopher Dale at Listverse. 

Normally I would pick out my three favorite items from the list.  I won’t this time because each fact/tale of the ten is rare and interesting.  Without giving too much away, Dale’s behind-the-scenes of the Kennedy Assassination tells…

  • Why Jackie Kennedy wouldn’t immediately let the Secret Service take President Kennedy into the emergency room.
  • Why doctors performed procedures that they knew were useless and what Jackie had for them.
  • What a doctor said and immediately regretted.
  • How one of the procedures the doctors performed destroyed potential evidence.
  • Prank calls received at the hospital once it was announced that President Kennedy had died.
  • Why the Last Rites were performed even though the President had died, and how the Priest disobeyed warnings from the Secret Service
  • Why Vice President Johnson delayed an official announcement that President Kennedy had died.
  • Why local authorities struggled with Secret Service agents in an effort to take control of President Kennedy’s body.
  • What happened when President Kennedy’s suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was taken to the same hospital as President Kennedy after being shot.
  • The contents of the self-serving memo released by Parkland Hospital Administrator Charles Jack “CJ” Price less than a week after the murder of President Kennedy.

Hats of to Christopher Dale!

“There Are No Saints” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Ignore the boring poster and instead check out the trailer for There Are No Saints starring Jose Maria Yazpik, Ron Perlman, Tim Roth, Neal McDonough, Tommy Flanagan and Paz Vega with a screenplay by Paul Schrader  directed by Alfonso Pineda Ulloa.

Looking to start a new life, a former hitman nicknamed The Jesuit (Jose Maria Yazpik) is unable to escape the sins of his past. With enemies on both sides of the law, he has nowhere to turn when his only son is kidnapped by a ruthless cartel boss (Ron Perlman). He’ll stop at nothing to save his boy in this gritty action-thriller from the writer of TAXI DRIVER.

“Outer Range” Starring Josh Brolin – The Trailer is Here!

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Outer Range has an interesting premise, a trailer that makes me want more and I’m a Josh Brolin fan, so deal me in.

Outer Range centers on Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), a rancher fighting for his land and family, who discovers an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming’s wilderness. A thrilling fable with hints of wry humor and supernatural mystery, Outer Range examines how we grapple with the unknown. At the onset of the series, the Abbotts are coping with the disappearance of daughter-in-law Rebecca. They are pushed further to the brink when the Tillersons (the gaudy owners of the neighboring profit-driven ranch) make a play for their land. An untimely death in the community sets off a chain of tension-filled events, and seemingly small-town, soil-bound troubles come to a head with the arrival of a mysterious black void in the Abbotts’ west pasture. Wild revelations unfold as Royal fights to protect his family; through his eyes, we begin to see how time contains secrets held in the past and unsettling mysteries foreshadowed.

“The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” – The Trailer is Here!

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Although I doubt there will be any world-shaking revelations, I plan to tune in to The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes.  Like with almost everything these days, there’s a conspiracy theory.  The Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theory is that she was murdered because of her relationship with President Kennedy.

Since I have Netflix, this will be an easy choice to tune in.

Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness. By piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life, and offers a new perspective on that fateful night. Only on Netflix, April 27.

Drew Struzan’s Limited Edition “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” Prints!

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Hellboy II director, Guillermo del Toro commissioned Drew Struzan to create a poster to promote the film.  The studio decided not to use Struzan’s art and so the poster was previously only available as a giveaway print at New York Comic con in 2008… until now.  Well, tomorrow.

There will be two different versions of the Hellboy II: The Golden Army print:

The one shown above is a Limited Edition of 450, 24×36 inches, Hand Numbered Offset Lithograph Print With Gold Hot Foil Title, Printed on 300gsm Archival Paper.  It retails for $85.

The other version doesn’t have the Hellboy II: The Golden Army logo or movie info at the bottom.  It has a Limited Edition of 250, 24×36 inches, Hand Numbered Offset Lithograph Print, Printed on 300gsm Archival Paper.  It retails for $75.

If you’re interested you will be able to pick up both versions of the poster on Thursday the 31st of March, starting at 1pm Eastern from Vice-Press.com and Sideshow Art Prints.

RIP: Marvin J. Chomsky

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Marvin J. Chomsky, the four time Emmy winning director and producer died on March 28th at the age of 92.  No cause of death was given.

Mr. Chomsky began his career as an art and set director.  He began directing in 1964 on the television series The Doctors and the Nurses where he helmed three episodes.  Mr. Chomsky spent the bulk of his career working in television where he directed some of the most popular tv series (usually multiple episodes) and television movies.  Mr. Chomsky also directed five feature films.

A sample of some of the series where Mr. Chomsky served as a director include: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; Gunsmoke; Lancer, The Magical World of Disney; The Name of the Game; Bearcats!; Mission Impossible; Hawaii 5-0; Mannix; The Magician and Police Story.

Some of the tv movies directed by Marvin Chomsky include: Mrs. Sundance; Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan; Victory at Entebbe; Attica and Catherine the Great.

A few of the TV mini-series on which Marvin Chomsky directed include: Roots; Holocaust; Peter the Great; The Deliberate Stranger; Billionaire Boys Club and Brotherhood of the Rose.

His feature films include: Evel Knievel; Mackintosh and T.J.; Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff and Tank.

Mr. Chomsky won three Emmy Awards: as Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for Holocaust in 1978; as Outstanding Director for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for Attica in 1980 and for Inside the Third Reich in 1982.  When Mr. Chomsky accepted his third Emmy for directing, he was said that he had won awards for directing projects about events that “never should have happened.”

Marvin Chomsky directed episodes of some of my favorite shows when I was a kid: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; (the short-lived) Bearcats! and (also short-lived) The Magician.  Another favorite directed by Mr. Chomsky was Brotherhood of the Rose based on David Morrell’s best selling novel.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Marvin Chomsky’s family, friends and fans.

“Under the Banner of Heaven” Starring Andrew Garfield – The Trailer is Here!

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I haven’t read Under the Banner of Heaven, the bestselling book by Jon Krakauer, but the trailer for the upcoming limited series based on it looks good.

This goes beyond just a murder. Watch the OFFICIAL TRAILER for FX’s Under the Banner of Heaven, starring Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Premieres April 28. Only on Hulu.

From Executive Producer and Academy Award® winner Dustin Lance Black.

Subscribe now for more Under the Banner of Heaven clips: http://bit.ly/SubscribeFX

“Under the Banner of Heaven” is an original limited series inspired by the true crime bestseller by Jon Krakauer, which follows the events that led to the 1984 murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her baby daughter in a suburb in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah. As Detective Jeb Pyre investigates events that transpired within the Lafferty family, he uncovers buried truths about the origins of the LDS religion and the violent consequences of unyielding faith. What Pyre, a devout Mormon, unearths leads him to question his own faith.

Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” Wins 1st Ever Oscar as Fan Favorite!

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With all the talk about The Slap at last night’s Academy Awards, the fact that Army of the Dead won a Oscar in the (first ever) Fan Favorite category may have slipped by.  From Variety…

This year, a best popular film category was added to recognize a film chosen by fans, based on Twitter votes. That award went to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.

Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead won a freaking Oscar and I couldn’t be happier about it.

“The Survivor” Directed by Barry Levinson and Starring Ben Foster – The Trailer is Here!

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Mark your calendars for April 27th.  That’s when The Survivor, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Ben Foster,
Vicky Krieps, Peter Sarsgaard, John Leguizamo and Danny DeVito premieres!  Check out the trailer below!

Barry Levinson’s biographical drama stars Ben Foster as boxer Harry Haft, who looks to carry on after fighting to survive in the Holocaust.

When the Nazis invade Poland, Harry Haft is sent to the Auschwitz extermination camp. He is a powerfully built man, so a charming but sadistic Nazi officer offers him an impossible deal: fight fellow prisoners in the boxing ring for the amusement of his captors, or die. The winner of the bout survives to fight again. The loser is shot or sent to the gas chamber. How far will Harry’s will to live take him? What will he do to escape the death all around him?

“Glass” (2019) / Z-View

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Glass (2019)

Director:  M. Night Shyamalan

Writers: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring:  James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson and M. Night Shyamalan.

Tagline:  Real villains are among us. Real heroes are within us..

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

David Dunn (Willis), the hero with super-strength and the brilliant but evil Elijah Price (Jackson), both from Unbreakable along with Kevin Wendell Crumb (McAvoy), the serial killer with multiple personalities from Split find themselves locked up together in a mental ward.  Dr. Ellie Staple (Paulson) is providing therapy to convince the three that they don’t have super powers, even though she knows that they do.  So what is her end game?

McAvoy is fun to watch as he moves from personality to personality.  He’s the star of the show.  Willis and Jackson don’t have a lot to do until the end, but their presence is essential (and felt) through0ut the movie.  Paulson is always good and a great addition to this world.  Shyamalan’s twist works well and sets up more movies in this universe.

Glass was fun.  It rates 3 of 5 stars.

Night Teeth (2021) / Z-View

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Night Teeth (2021)

Director:  Adam Randall

Writers: Brent Dillon

Starring:  Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Debby Ryan, Lucy Fry, Raúl Castillo and Alfie Allen.

Tagline:  Paint the Town Red.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A college student (Lendeborg Jr.) takes his brother’s shift as a chauffer for the evening.  His fare is two young women (Blair & Fry) who say that they plan to party-hop throughout the night.  The reality is that they are two vampires with something far more sinister in mind.

Night Teeth works thanks to a fast-paced story, interesting direction, a likeable lead character (Lendeborg), a couple of sexy vampires (Ryan & Fry) and an unlikeable one (Allen).  If you’re looking for high art or a movie with deep meaning, then this isn’t the one for you.  However, if you’re after a night of partying with a cool chauffer and a couple of bad girls who happen to be vampires, then this ride is for you.  Night Teeth rates 3 of 5 stars.