Category: Celebs

Black Sabbath (1963) / Z-View

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Black Sabbath (1963)

Director: Mario Bava

Screenplay: Mario Bava and Alberto Bevilacqua

Stars: Michèle Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi and Boris Karloff

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s have Mario Bava direct Boris Karloff!”

Tagline: This is the night of the nightmare…

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Boris Karloff introduces a trio of horror tales and stars in one.  In the first, a woman preparing a corpse for burial steals the dead woman’s ring… and comes to regret it.  In the second a young woman receives terrorizing phone calls from a man watching her.  In the third Boris Karloff plays an old man returning home from battle with vampire… but did he win?

 

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15 Intense Facts About “Cape Fear”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Intense Facts About Cape Fear.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. STEVEN SPIELBERG TRADED THE MOVIE TO MARTIN SCORSESE FOR THE RIGHTS TO SCHINDLER’S LIST.

Martin Scorsese was apprehensive about making Schindler’s List after the controversy surrounding his previous two films, Goodfellas and The Last Temptation of Christ. Steven Spielberg, on the other hand, said he “wasn’t in the mood” to make a movie about a “maniac.” So, once Scorsese promised Spielberg that the Bowdens would survive in the end, they traded. Spielberg had Bill Murray in mind to play Max Cady. Scorsese had other ideas.

4. IT COULD HAVE STARRED HARRISON FORD AND ROBERT DE NIRO.

Scorsese asked De Niro to ask Harrison Ford to play Sam. Ford told De Niro he would only be interested in working on the film if he played Cady and De Niro played Sam. De Niro said no to that.

6. REESE WITHERSPOON BLEW HER AUDITION TO PLAY DANIELLE. SO DID DREW BARRYMORE.

“It was my second audition ever,” Witherspoon said in 1999. “My agent told me I’d be meeting Martin Scorsese. I said, ‘Who is he?’ Then he mentioned the name Robert De Niro. I said, ‘Never heard of him.’ When I walked in I did recognize De Niro, and I just lost it. My hand was shaking and I was a blubbering idiot.”

Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role, too, but believed she overacted for one of Scorsese’s assistants. In 2000, she called the audition “the biggest disaster” of her life and said that Scorsese thinks she’s “dog doo-doo” because of it.

Dave Wachter and Barney Ross

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Dave Wachter is back and he brought his take on Sly from The Expendables with him. I met Dave several years ago and became an instant fan. I wasn’t the only one to discover Dave’s fantastic sketches! How can you not like a great guy who is a terrific artist?

It has become a HeroesCon tradition that I get  Dave to draw his take on Sly.  Somehow this one was never posted until now.

You can see more of Dave’s art at his site. – Craig

To Have and Have Not (1944) directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Walter Brennan / Z-View

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To Have and Have Not (1944)

Director: Howard Hawks

Screenplay: Jules Furthman and William Faulkner based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael.

Tagline: Humphrey Bogart…with his kind of woman in a powerful adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s most daring man-woman story!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Harry Morgan [Bogart] is a US citizen living on the  island of Martinique in 1940.  World War II rages in Europe but is just starting to reach Martinique.  Morgan makes his living taking tourists on his fishing boat.  When a group of freedom fighters approach Morgan about sneaking one of their own to safety using his boat, Morgan turns them down.  It’s not his war and he won’t risk his boat or his neck.

Things change when Morgan meets Marie [Bacall], a young, tough, self-sufficient woman.  One thing leads to another and Morgan finds himself falling for Marie and pulled into alliance with the freedom fighters…

… an alliance that could get them all killed.

Thoughts…

To Have and Have Not was Lauren Bacall’s first film.  She was nervous during filming and discovered keeping her chin down and eyes up helped calm her.  It also gave her the sultry look she became famous for.

Lauren Bacall was just 19 years old during filming.  Humphrey Bogart was 44 and on his third marriage.  Bogie and Bacall fell in love.  He divorced his wife, and in 1945 were married.  The marriage lasted until Bogart’s death in 1955.  To Have and Have Not was the first of four films in which Bogie and Bacall co-starred.

Another hit for Bogart — one of his best. Walter Brennan is perfect as Bogart’s alcoholic friend.

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) / Z-View

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Director: Edward Zwick

Screenplay: Richard Wenk and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz based on the novel by Lee Child

Stars: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper.

The Pitch: “Let’s get Tom Cruise and make ‘Jack Reacher 2’!”

Tagline: Never give in, never give up, never go back.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jack Reacher finds himself framed for the murder of a military officer and on the run with Major Turner, a tough women officer also framed for murder because she was investigating the murder of two soldiers in her command.  To complicate matters, they also have a teenage girl in tow who may or may not be Reacher’s child.

If you liked the first Jack Reacher movie, you should love this one.  It starts with a bang, has a great cast and well-written script.  There’s no real mystery to viewers who the bad guys are or how things will turn out, but the joy is the journey.

Cobie Smulders as Major Turner holds her own with Cruise in the action scenes and doesn’t come off as a damsel in distress.  It was also cool to see Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper in smaller but important roles.

I liked Jack Reacher a lot and enjoyed Jack Reacher: Never Go Back even more.

 

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Master Minds (1949) / Z-View

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Master Minds (1949)

Director: Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay: Charles R. Marion and Bert Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Garbriel Dell, Alan Napier and Glenn Strange.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in with a mad scientist and a monster!”

Tagline: THE CHILLS WILL ELECTRIFY YOU When The Bowery Boys Meet The Monster.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house when a mad scientist kidnaps Satch [Hall] because of his extraordinary brain!  Wha- what?

When a bad tooth gives Satch the power to predict the future, Slip [Gorcey] puts him in a sideshow in order to make some fast cash.  Mad scientist, Dr. Druzik [Napier] sees first-hand Satch’s ability and decides that Satch’s brain would be perfect for a transplant into his monster [Strange].   The usual hi-jinks ensue when the Boys set out to rescue Satch.

Master Minds is a cut above the previously reviewed East End Kids/Bowery Boys movies!

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Ghosts on the Loose (1943) / Z-View

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Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

Director: William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Kenneth Higgins

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a creepy deserted mansion with a killer ghosts on the loose.”

Tagline: You’ll yell with glee when these happy-go-lucky hooligans invade the shivery domain of the Man of a Thousand Horrors! It’s Chill-arious!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The East Side Kids (who would later grow into The Bowery Boys) find themselves in another creepy, old house with strange things going on.  When the boys decide to surprise newlywed friends by fixing up their new house, they get confused on the address and end up in a haunted house.

If you’ve seen Spooks Run Wild you’re in for more of the same.  I expected more from a horror comedy with Bela Lugosi, a spooky old house, Ava Gardner and the East Side Kids.  Perhaps because I’ve seen the same gags done better with The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, my sights were set too high.

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Some Like It Hot (1959) / Z-View

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Some Like It Hot (1959)

Director: Billy Wilder

Screenplay: Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond

Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Pat O’Brien and Joe E. Brown.

The Pitch: “Hey, Billy Wilder has an idea for a Marilyn Monroe comedy with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon!”

Tagline: The movie too HOT for words!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When musicians Joe [Curtis] and Jerry [Lemmon] witness a gangland execution and are seen by the killers, they know their days are numbered.  The mob has placed a price on their heads and they have to get out of town.  So Joe becomes Josephine, Jerry becomes Daphne and they join an all girl band headed for Florida by train.

Things become even more complicated when Joe falls for Sugar [Monroe] and millionaire Osgood Fielding the third, goes ga-ga for Daphne.  The only way things could get worse is if the gangsters find them and guess what?  Yep.  The gangsters find them.

Monroe looks great. This is my favorite Jack Lemmon role.  You won’t be disappointed.

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Spooks Run Wild (1941) / Z-View

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Spooks Run Wild (1941)

Director: Phil Rosen

Screenplay: Carl Foreman & Charles R. Marion …  Jack Henley (additional dialogue)

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall and Angelo Rossitto.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a creepy deserted mansion with a killer on the loose.”

No Tagline

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The East Side Kids (who would later grow into The Bowery Boys) find themselves sent to a rural summer camp.  When the boys sneak out one night looking for some fun they find themselves in a creepy old house where the sinister looking Nardo (Lugosi) and his diminutive servant Luigi [Rossitto] live.  They will soon learn that a killer is on the loose and closer than they can imagine.

I expected more from a horror comedy with Bela Lugosi, a spooky old house and the East Side Kids.  Perhaps because I’ve seen the same gags done better with The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, my sights were set too high.

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George Romero, the NOTLD Restoration and His Thoughts on The Walking Dead, World War Z and More!

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Yesterday The Hollywood Reporter posted Aaron Couch’s interview with George Romero.  Here’s a taste then click over and read the whole thing…

  • Night of the Living Dead is getting a restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, which brings it back to pristine condition!
  • When asked about the future of his Living Dead franchise, Romero said: “I think really Brad Pitt killed it. The Walking Dead and Brad Pitt just sort of killed it all. The remake of Dawn of the Dead made money. I think pretty big money. Then Zombieland made money, and then all of a sudden, along comes Brad Pitt and he spends $400 million or whatever the hell to do World War Z.”
  • Romero:  “It’s not about the gore, it’s not about the horror element that are in them. It’s more about the message, for me. That’s what it is, and I’m using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.”

 

I’m looking forward to seeing the restored Night of the Living Dead.  I hope that the restoration doesn’t take away from the film’s horror.  If it is too clean looking it may feel more like a movie.

While I can see where Romero is coming from, I don’t think that the bigger budget zombie movies are a bad thing… as long as they’re done well.  ; )