Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The poster and trailer for Icefall starring Joel Kinnaman is here!
To Find Redemption, You’ll Have to Break Through.
#IceFallMovie starring Joel Kinnaman is on digital and on demand November 4.
“The Pitt” (2025)
Created by: R. Scott Gemmill
Teleplay by:
Directed by:
Stars: Noah Wyle, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez, Amielynn Abellera,
Jalen Thomas Brooks, Brandon Mendez Homer, Kristin Villanueva, Tracy Ifeachor, Joanna Going, Johnath Davis, Brad Dourif and Shawn Hatosy.
Tagline: 15 episodes. 15 hours. 1 shift.
The Plot…
The Pitt follows Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch in real time as he works a major hospital emergency room that is understaffed and overworked. It is the anniversary of the death of Dr. Robby’s mentor and the first day he has worked it since.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Pitt was nominated for 13 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 5…
Taylor Dearden (Dr Mel King) is Bryan Cranston’s daughter. She is excellent in this role.
Dr. Cassie McKay and her father Neil McKay are played by real-life daughter and father Fiona and Brad Dourif.
The Pitt was must-see tv for me.
Noah Wyle and Kathernine LaNasa won well deserved Emmys.
“The Pitt” (2025) earns 5 of 5 stars.
Quentin Tarantino fans are gonna love this. THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD by Jay Glennie premieres soon. Here’s the lowdown…
Legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino personally introduces the definitive and official examination of his entire oeuvre with the Quentin Tarantino Library written by Jay Glennie.
In the first book in the series, THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, writer Jay Glennie pulls back the curtain on the visionary writer/director/producer’s ninth film, with unprecedented access to the filmmaker, cast, and crew. This epic tome is a stunning and faithful deep dive into the mind of a masterful auteur and a must-have book for all film lovers and Quentin Tarantino fans.
For the first time ever Academy Award winning filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has granted respected journalist and author Jay Glennie unique access revealing the never-before-told behind-the-scenes making of one of the most iconic films of all time, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Quentin Tarantino personally introduces the volume, as well as providing hundreds of behind-the-scenes photographs, along with production memos, concept art, and costume and production design sketches. There are also exclusive reproductions of letters, studio documents and film ephemera. The result is an account of the monumental effort undertaken to produce Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and is the official record of how it was achieved, from inception to the world premiere and on to ten Academy Award nominations, resulting in two Oscars.
The book includes new and exclusive interviews undertaken by Jay Glennie with key cast and crew members, including Oscar winning actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, Oscar nominee Margot Robbie, and the brilliant supporting cast including Oscar winner Mikey Madison, Margaret Qualley, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Lena Dunham, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Maya Hawke, and Sydney Sweeney.
First book in the series!!
THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Hardcover
THE MAKING OF QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Kindle
It was announced that Drew Struzan died yesterday. Mr. Struzan had dealt with Alzheimer’s disease for may years . Drew Struzan was 78.
Drew Stuzan was born in Oregon City, Oregon. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. After graduation Drew Struzan began working for the design studio Pacific Eye & Ear. During his time there Mr. Struzan designed many record album covers including covers for the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, Black Sabbath, Glenn Miller, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many others. Perhaps the most famous of Drew Struzan’s album art is Welcome to My Nightmare created for Alice Cooper.
Drew Struzan and a friend decided to start their own company, Pencil Pushers. In these early days, Mr. Struzan began to get movie poster work, but it was mostly for B-films such as Empire of the Ants. In 1977, Drew Stuzan was asked to work with Charles White III on a poster for the re-release of Star Wars. Mr. Struzan painted the human likenesses and Mr. White worked on the spacecraft, robots and Darth Vader. The poster was a hit.
Drew Struzan was considered by many to be THE go-to guy for a great movie poster. Steven Spielberg said that Drew Struzan was his favorite artist and “I had to almost live up to the art that we later were going to ask Drew to create for the poster.” High praise indeed.
Some of the movies that featured posters by Drew Struzan include: Escape to Witch Mountain; Robin and Marian; Harry & Walter Go and New York; Food of the Gods; Futureworld; Car Wash; The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; Tentacles; Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope; Empire of the Ants; The Last Remake of Beau Geste; March or Die; California Suite; The Muppet Movie; The Frisco Kid; Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back; Fame; Oh, Heavenly Dog; Raise the Titanic; All Night Long; Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Cannonball Run; The Great Muppet Caper; The Fox and the Hound; I, the Jury; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; The Thing; Blade Runner; Tron; First Blood; The Dark Crystal; The Sting II; The Pirates of Penzance; Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi; Under Fire; Risky Business; To Be or Not to Be; Police Academy; Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Ladyhawke; Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment; The Goonies; Back to the Future; Better Off Dead; White Nights; Police Academy 3: Back in Training; Big Trouble in Little China; The Name of the Rose; An American Tail; Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol; Harry and the Hendersons; Adventures in Babysitting; Masters of the Universe; Coming to America; The Land Before Time; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Harlem Nights; All Dogs Go to Heaven; Back to the Future Part II; Back to the Future Part III; Hook; Aladdin; The Muppet Christmas Carol; The Flintstones; Angels in the Outfield; The Mask; The Shawshank Redemption; Mallrats; Cutthroat Island; Mars Attacks; The Lost World: Jurassic Park; Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace; The Green Mile; Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s Stone; Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Hellboy; Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith; War of the Worlds; Pans Labyrinth; The Mist; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; This is the End; Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and Animal Crackers.
I first became aware of Drew Struzan’s art before I even knew who he was. I saw a drawing of Sly Stallone for First Blood on a paperback cover. I actually wrote to the publishing company with a self-addressed stamped envelope asking for the name of the artist that did the art. I held out little hope for a response, but I got one. Sadly, the person who responded didn’t know the name of the artist. They did tell me that the company used was Pencil Pushers. Since this was the days before the internet, I never found where Pencil Pushers was located. Or that Drew Struzan created the art. I would learn that later when I like every other movie fan fell in love with his beautiful movie posters.
My favorite Drew Struzan posters are the First Blood paintings he did followed very closely by his artwork for I, the Jury starring Armand Assante. Thanks to the internet, as well as Drew Struzan’s personal website and his instagram page, we’ve been able to see many pieces of his art that weren’t movie posters. I love Drew Struzan’s sketches, drawings, commissions and personal work. There’s always a thrill to see a Drew Struzan piece for the first time. Like all great artists, the thrill of repeated viewings is always there.
Out thoughts and prayers go out to Drew Struzan’s family, friends and fans.
The Conversation (1974)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, Mark Wheeler, Ramon Bieri, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Robert Duvall and Robert Shields.
Tagline: Harry Caul is an invader of privacy. The best in the business. He can record any conversation between two people anywhere. So far, three people are dead because of him.
The Plot…
Harry Caul is an audio recording specialist. Perhaps the best in the business. That’s why Harry is hired to secretly record conversations for high priced clients. Harry says he doesn’t care how the recordings are used once he turns them over. Truth is Harry feels guilty that some of his recordings may have led to the murders of three people.
When on his current job Harry pieces together muffled audio, the conversation indicates someone is going to be murdered. Now Harry feels it is his responsibility to stop the killing.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Conversation was nominated for three 1975 Academy Awards…
Francis Ford Coppola’s screenplay for The Conversation, written in 1966, couldn’t get financing until his success with The Godfather.
Harrison Ford’s part was originally written as a cameo. His character didn’t even have a name. Ford’s suggestion to play the character as gay (an unusual choice in 1974) and his suggestions to Coppola, led to the part being expanded.
Gene Hackman and Terri Garr would also appear together in Young Frankenstein the same year.
Most folks rate The Conversation higher than me. It currently has a 7.7 rating on IMDB and on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 94% reviewers rating and 89% users’ rating. So, as always, your mileage may vary.
The Conversation (1974) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Frank Miller the genius behind Sin City, 300, The Dark Night Returns, Batman: Year One, Ronin and so many more great comic tales has a new book coming. Here’s the lowdown…
From the all-time bestselling mind behind Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, 300, and Sin City, Push the Wall is part memoir, part master class for budding artists and writers by one of the greatest living creators whose work has influenced pop culture for decades.
Frank Miller is our greatest living comic book writer and artist.
Frank Miller shares his life, and through, his artistic process. Miller’s artistic influence is evident in so very much of our popular culture, perhaps most notably with Batman — every film adaptation from the past forty years has been influenced by Miller’s work with the Dark Knight.
Simply, Frank Miller has transformed the way comics are told.
Here, Frank’s mix of autobiographical lessons evokes Patti Smith’s Just Kids as it weaves his struggles as a seventeen-year-old kid fresh from Vermont into a seedy 1970s New York City with his eventual success on reimagining Daredevil and Wolverine. From there to Miller’s rescue and revitalization of Batman, to his time in Hollywood, the Sin City comics and film adaptations he would codirect, and the retelling of the Spartans’ last stand in 300. Miller, by constantly challenging himself as an artist and writer on his terms, built an iconoclastic career.
With over a dozen illustrations of Miller’s art, PUSH THE WALL is the work of his career—it is a masterclass as it encapsulates his life in sixteen lessons for the aspiring creative reader.
This will be a must-have for aspiring writers and artists, as well as die hard Miller fans.
Rich Hennemann is a freelance artist. A few years ago I picked up his sketchbook and a sketch and I was hooked. Since then I’ve gotten several sketches from Rich.
For this piece I requested Sly Stallone as Dwight Manfredi from the hit television series Tulsa King. Rich absolutely nailed it. I couldn’t be more pleased. There will be more art from Rich in my future. If you’re a sketch collector, you owe it to yourself to get a piece as well.
“The Paper” (2025)
Created by: Greg Daniels, Michael Koman; based on The Office created by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Teleplay by:
Directed by:
Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Ramona Young, Nancy Lenehan and Oscar Nuñez.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The documentary crew that followed Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton, Pennsylvania, office has now turned their cameras to The Toledo Truth Teller Newspaper office. The dying paper has hired a new editor. He has brought in volunteers from Enervate’s (the newspaper’s parent company) other departments to work as reporters.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Paper is an nice way to spend 3o minutes.
It’s interesting to note that the lead of The Paper, Domhnall Gleeson co-starred in the limited series The Patient. Gleeson’s co-star in The Patient was Steve Carell. Carell was the lead of The Office. The Paper is a spin-off (of sorts) of The Office.
The Paper (2025) earns 4 of 5 stars.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025)
Created by: Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman Jenny Lumet; based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Teleplay by:
Directed by:
Stars: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn, Dan Jeannotte, Paul Wesley, Adrian Holmes, Melanie Scrofano, Cillian O’Sullivan, Warren Scherer and Carol Kane.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
During Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise face more dangerous adventures.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Ethan Peck, who plays Mr. Spock, is the grandson of actor Gregory Peck. Ethan Peck is excellent as Spock.
I was a fan of the original Star Trek series, cartoon and movies with the original cast. I never watched any other Star Trek productions. So I’m not a die hard fan of everything Star Trek. Believe me, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is exceptional. Everything from the production values, the cast, the direction and the music is spot on. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a love letter to everything the original series strived to be.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is perfectly cast. Anson Mount is perfect in his role, but so are Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Celia Rose Gooding and Melissa Navia. The series is well written with each major cast member displaying personality and getting a showcase. If you’re a fan of the original series there are things that begin in Strange New Worlds that will reverberate in the original series.
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 3 different characters continue to get the spotlight. This season saw a greater focus on humor. I love Pike as a Captain, but seeing how Spock and Kirk first interacted is a real joy. It’s also cool that when the focus moves to secondary characters, my interest is still there — Ortega, Nurse Chapel, M’Benga and Nyota Uhura are favorites.
I enjoyed every episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 3 and look forward to Season 4.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025) earns 4 of 5 stars.
Andrew Charipar is a Florida artist that I met going to conventions throughout the state. Andrew was always friendly. Getting a sketch at any show Andrew attended was mandatory.
In addition to his work as an artist, Andrew owns and manages Misfit Corner Comics in Jacksonville, Florida.
Here we have Andrew’s take on Sly Stallone as Barney Ross from The Expendables!
Way back in 2009, EmpireOnLine.com posted their list of The 25 Best One Man Armies in the Movies. Of course, Rambo came in at #1. Who could argue with that? Using just their choices I made my top ten list. You can check it out here should you desire.
But since that list was made so long ago, I felt it was time to come up with an updated list of The 25 Best One Man Armies in the Movies. These choices can [and should] be debated. Isn’t that the purpose of lists?
Here are my suggestions…
The rest appear in alphabetical order
Alejandro played by BENECIO DEL TORO in SICARIO
Billy Jack played by TOM LAUGHLIN in the BILLY JACK franchise
Bryan Mills played by LIAM NEESON in TAKEN
Chance Boudreaux played by JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME in HARD TARGET
Detective Dave Bannon played by GLENN FORD in THE BIG HEAT
Geno Felino played by STEVEN SEAGAL in OUT FOR JUSTICE
Jack Reacher played by TOM CRUISE in the REACHER franchise
John Matrix played by ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER in COMMANDO
John McClane played by BRUCE WILLIS in the DIE HARD franchise
John Patrick Mason played by SEAN CONNERY in THE ROCK
Leon played by JEAN RENO in LEON THE PROFESSIONAL
Martin Riggs played by MEL GIBSON in the LETHAL WEAPON franchise
Marv played by MICKEY ROURKE in the SIN CITY franchise
Max Rockatansky played by MEL GIBSON in the MAD MAX franchise
Porter played by MEL GIBSON in PAYBACK
Scott Ward played by DAVE BAUTISTA in ARMY OF THE DEAD
Snake Plissken played by KURT RUSSELL in the ESCAPE FROM franchise
Tom Sharky played by BURT REYNOLDS in SHARKY’S MACHINE
Toorop played by VIN DIESEL in BABYLON A.D.
Tyler Rake played by CHRIS HEMSWORTH in the EXTRACTION franchise
Walker played by LEE MARVIN in POINT BLANK
Walker played by TOM HARDY in HAVOC
I’d never seen Mat Peg‘s art before today. What a talented and creative artist! The Twilight Zone art above is just one example. Click on the link and plan to stay awhile!
The Outfit (1973)
Director: John Flynn
Screenplay: John Flynn, Walter Hill (uncredited); based on THE OUTFIT by Richard Stark
Stars: Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Felice Orlandi, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Tom Reese, Bill McKinney, Anita O’Day, Archie Moore, Tony Young and Elisha Cook Jr..
Tagline: Nobody plays rougher than The Outfit…Except maybe Earl, Cody and Bett!
The Plot…
When Earl Macklin gets out of prison, his girlfriend Bett picks him up. She drives to a motel and informs Earl that his brother was recently murdered. Late that night a man breaks into the hotel room and attempts to kill Earl. Earl survives and gets the upper hand. He then tortures the man for information.
Earl’s brother robbed a syndicate bank. That’s the reason he was killed. They sent the killer to take out Earl so he wouldn’t seek revenge. Earl lets the killer live on the condition he takes a message to the people that hired him. The message: The Outfit owes him $250,000.00. If they pay, Earl will go away. Until they do, Earl is going to cost them money that he’ll keep. And they will still owe him the quarter million.
Earl wants his money. And he doesn’t care how many people he has to kill to get it.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Film legend, Robert Ryan’s last released film. He was also in Executive Action filmed after The Outfit, but released first.
The Outfit features Joanna Cassidy’s film debut.
Former Light Heavyweight Champion Archie Moore has a role as a tough guy. Moore held the light heavyweight boxing title for ten years — longer than any champ in that division.
The great (and eccentric) character actor Timothy Carey appears in a supporting role. Same could be said of Elisha Cook, Jr.
The Outfit (1973) rates 4 of 5 stars.
Jarrod Alberich aka The Yard Sale Artist created the Jack Carter piece for pick-up at HeroesCon. I’ve known Jarrod for years. He’s a fun guy and an easy artist to deal with.
Jarrod calls himself The Yard Sale Artist because he uses materials that he finds at yard sales, thrift stores and so on. Jarrod passes those savings on to his customers with reasonable prices.
Kurt Brugel is a freelance artist. When I saw he was taking commissions for quick studies, I jumped on board for a few. Here takes aim at Sly Stallone as Freddy Heflin from the movie Cop Land. Bullseye!
