Category: Crime

PUSH THE WALL by Frank Miller / Z-View

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PUSH THE WALL by Frank Miller Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: S&S/Saga Press First sentences…
How to start a story? At the ending. Know your ending. I repeat: Know your ending.
The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you know of Frank Miller, it could be for any number of reasons.  Perhaps it was because of the comics he took to new heights (Daredevil; The Dark Knight Returns; Batman: Year One) or those groundbreaking comics that he created (Ronin; Sin City; 300) to name just a few.  Maybe you know Miller from his work as a writer and/or director on feature films (Sin City; 300; Robocop 2 and Robocop 3; The Spirit).  Miller revolutionized comics.  Then he went to Hollywood.  He’s considered a living legend.

PUSH THE WALL is Miller’s memoir.  Through stories and remembrances he takes us back to his childhood in Vermont.  Wanting to be a comic artist from an early age.  Coming to New York City and discovering he’s not ready.  Getting work.  Getting lucky.  Honing his craft.  Getting better and wanting to be better still.  Success that took him to the stratosphere.  Expectations that rose as well.  Falling short.  Going to Hollywood.  Again success… and failure.  Getting back to what he loves… comics.  With more stories to tell.

Miller set the book up as a series of lessons.  These are lessons that he learned and can be used by other writers/artists to improve their craft.  Miller’s anecdotes are both entertaining and enlighting.  We get a glimpse behind the curtain of Miller’s thought processes, as well as the artists, comics, books and movies that influenced him.  All told in a writing style that makes you feel as he’s talking to you.

The more of a Frank Miller fan you are, the more you will like the book.

Rating:

“Enter the Dragon” (1973) starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly / Z-View

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Enter the Dragon (1973)

Director: Robert Clouse

Screenplay:  Michael Allin; Bruce Lee (uncredited)

Stars:  Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien and Jim Kelly.

Tagline: Their deadly mission: to crack the forbidden island of Han!

The Plot…

Han is a crime lord.  On his private island his word is law.  Han runs a worldwide drug distribution and human trafficking operation.  Each year Han invites the world’s best martial artists to take part in a competition that he hosts on the island.  The winners are potential recruits to his organization.

British Intelligence wants to bring down Han, but they need firsthand evidence. They approach Lee, a martial artist and Shaolin monk.  Lee agrees to go undercover as a participant in the tournament.

Roper, a gambler who loves the good life, is in debt to the mob.  He heads to the island hoping to win money in Han’s tournament.

Williams heads to the island to particpate in the tournament after an incident with racist cops.

Lee, Roper and Williams find themselves under suspicion when Han discovers that someone (but who?) is on his island for reasons other than the tournament.

Whoever it is must die.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Jackie Chan plays one of Han’s henchmen who battles Lee.

Bruce Lee died three weeks before the premiere of Enter the Dragon.

Enter the Dragon is a classic.

Enter the Dragon (1973) rates 5 of 5 stars.

PETRIFIED DREAMS: A HAP & LEONARD NOVEL by Joe R. Lansdale is Coming!

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Joe Lansdale, as well as Hap & Leonard fans will be preoccupied on October 6th.  That’s when PETRIFIED DREAMS: A HAP & LEONARD NOVEL drops.  Here’s what the boys are into this time…

With women going missing across the Deep South, dynamic detective duo Hap and Leonard zero in on a horrific, chimerical villain protected and abetted by Texas’ most powerful figures in this thrilling conclusion to the beloved series.

“Joe R. Lansdale is to crime fiction what Willie Nelson is to country music: . . . raw, gritty, soulful, and lastly, timeless.” — May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

The sun never sets on justice, but it may finally be setting on the beloved crime fighting duo of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. The two opposites — brothers from another mother — have called the detecting business quits, but when a prop plane holding the bodies of several kidnapped women crashes into their favorite watering hole, the boys know they’re in for one last effort. With the help of a victim’s sister, they learn that a network of men has stolen vulnerable young women on behalf of a horrifying, charismatic villain known as The Artist, a sculptor of living things, including his own body, and protected by the elite of the South. But the Artist refuses to be found, and every lead brings Hap and Leonard into the crosshairs of something even more dangerous. Finding The Artist is a long shot, and getting out alive is even less likely.

Perhaps the darkest, funniest, and most intense of the Hap & Leonard mysteries, PETRIFIED DREAMS concludes the revered series as audaciously as one would expect from the mojo master of Southern crime and wit.

The series conclusion? Say it isn’t so.

Preorders are available now.

“The 24th” (2020) starring Trai Byers, Bashir Salahuddin, Aja Naomi King, Mo McRae, Tosin Morohunfola, Mykelti Williamson and Thomas Haden Church / Z-View

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The 24th (2020)

Director: Kevin Willmott

Screenplay:  Kevin Willmott, Trai Byers

Stars: Trai Byers, Bashir Salahuddin, Aja Naomi King, Mo McRae, Tosin Morohunfola, Mykelti Williamson and Thomas Haden Church.

Tagline: Courage isn’t just fighting the enemy — it’s standing up for justice.

The Plot…

1917.  An all black US army unit is stationed just outside the city limits.  Although the soldiers are trained and want to help in the war effort, because of segregation they’re not allowed.  Worse still, the men face racial discrimination every time they go into the city.  Not only are the local police of no assistance, they often participate in the mistreatment of the soldiers.

Tension and frustration continues to ratchet up.  Soldiers have been beaten and worse.  When word reaches the camp that an armed white mob was headed for the base, the soldiers arm themselves.  The soldiers decide to not wait and take the fight to the mob.  They head into the city and begin shooting locals on site.

It isn’t until after 11 civilians and 5 policemen are gunned down that the soldiers learn that there never was an armed mob coming to the base.

There will be repercussions.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The 24th is the true story of the 1917 Huston riot.  Although I had heard of the riot, I had no idea of the specifics.

The riot lasted two hours.  Nineteen people were killed.  Fifteen were white (including five police officers).  Four were black soldiers killed by friendly fire or suicide.  118 black soldiers were charged and went to trial.  One soldier was found mentally unfit to stand trial.  Eight were acquitted of all charges.  Sixty-three soldiers were sentenced to life in prison.  28 received shorter prison terms or other sentences.  19 were sentenced to death and executed.

The 24th does a good job of dramatizing a terrible time in our history.

The 24th (2020) rates 4 of 5 stars.

QUARRY’S REUNION by Max Allan Collins is Coming Soon!

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Max Allan Collins’ Quarry returns November 10th in QUARRY’S REUNION.  Here’s the scoop…

The hitman hero of the acclaimed Cinemax series comes out of retirement for another nail-biting suspense thriller from the New York Times best-seller, MWA Grandmaster and award-winning author of Road to Perdition, Max Allan Collins.

YOU’RE CORDIALLY INVITED TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF MURDER…

Since his first appearance in 1976, Max Allan Collins’ quintessential killer-for-hire, Quarry, has starred in 17 novels, two films, a graphic novel, and a Cinemax TV series — and with QUARRY’S REUNION, he reaches a milestone never before achieved by any character in American crime novels: a series that has continued for 50 years.

To celebrate, MWA Grand Master Collins is taking Quarry somewhere he’s never gone before: back home, to the town in Ohio where he grew up, before his tour of duty in Vietnam and his even bloodier experiences Stateside. An old high-school girlfriend summons Quarry for his 50th reunion – but old times take a back seat when bullets start to fly. Thrilling, moving, and revealing, this new installment in Quarry’s Edgar and Shamus Award-nominated saga delivers a powerful capstone to the killer’s career – and a perfect entry point for readers new to Quarry’s story.

Pre-orders are available now.

Jack Carter and Marv Meet at Kadie’s by Marc Lapierre!

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Every year the Cartoon Art Museum does a fundraiser.  Artists take on commissions with the funds raised going to support the Museum.  It’s a great cause supported by exceptional artists who share their talents in an effort to support the Museum.

This year I commissioned Marc Lapierre again.  Last year Marc created one of my favorite comissions of the year.  I asked for Stallone as Jack Carter with Keanu Reeves as John Wick.  Here is the beauty Marc produced.  Not only did Marc nail the likenesses (which is always a plus), but the captions were the icing on the cake.  I hoped this year lightning would strike again.

As you can see, I asked for Stallone from Get Carter and gave Marc a choice of three characters to choose from to add to the scene.  The characters were, in no particular order: Seth Gecko (Geore Clooney) in From Dusk Till Dawn, Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) from Justified and Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Marc liked all of the choices, but knew immediately which he was going to draw.  He came through with another great in-joke and wonderful drawing.  I hope to add another to the collection the next time.  I also suggested  with his drawing talent and sense of humor, that a book of “bar interactions” between pop culture icons would be a cool thing!

I cannot thank Marc Lapierre enough for this sweet addition to my Stallone art collection.

CHAIN REACTION: A REACHER NOVEL by Lee Child and Andrew Child is Coming Soon!

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The new Jack Reacher novel, CHAIN REACTION by Lee Child and Andrew Child drops on October 20th.  Here’s the lowdown…

The heart-pounding new Jack Reacher thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child.

Jack Reacher is hard to find. It’s not easy to track him down. And he likes it that way. But General Susan Turner, based deep inside the Pentagon, has the means and the motive. She needs his help. A member of her team has been brutally murdered on covert duty. She can’t trust anyone she works with, not even her deputy. She needs someone from the outside. Someone who solves problems and disappears without a trace.

Reacher heads to Summertown, Colorado. A town as remote and bizarre as it gets. One diner, one motel, five massive data centers, two giant solar farms humming away in the dust. Total population: four people. And one of them is watching him. But Reacher isn’t built to run. He’s built to finish things. General Turner knows that if they come for Reacher, they’ll regret it—all the way to the top of the chain.

Preorders available now.

“I, The Jury” (1982) starring Armand Assante, Barbara Carrera, Laurene Landon, Alan King, Paul Sorvino and Geoffrey Lewis / Z-View

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I, the Jury (1982)

Director: Richard T. Heffron

Screenplay:  Larry Cohen; based on I, THE JURY by Mickey Spillane.

Stars:  Armand Assante, Barbara Carrera, Laurene Landon, Alan King, Paul Sorvino, Judson Scott, Jessica James and Geoffrey Lewis.

Tagline: He’s charming, he’s sexy, he’s tough, and he’s too hot to cool down! He’s “The Hammer”.

The Plot…

PI, Mike Hammer gets word that Jack Williams, an old army buddy, was murdered.  Jack lost his arm saving Mike during the war.  Despite being warned off by the cops, Hammer decides to look into Mike’s murder.  Hammer hopes to find the killer before the cops.  That way he can make sure justice is served.

The leads point to a sex clinic, the C.I.A., mobsters and a psycho killer.

The movie is I, the Jury and court is in session.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I, the Jury features Armand Assante in his first feature film starring role.  Assante makes a great Mike Hammer.

Larry Cohen, the screenwriter also started as the film’s director.  He was replaced after six days of shooting since he was already $100,000 and a day over budget.

I, the Jury is based on Mickey Spillane’s classic novel.  Changes to the film include setting it in the 1980s, adding the CIA/Mafia subplot and more.  Thankfully Hammer’s final line in the novel was kept for the movie.

Larry Cohen planned to do a trilogy of Mike Hammer films since he had the rights to two other Hammer novels by Spillane.  Sadly, this never happened.

Laurene Landon is excellent as Hammer’s secretary Velda.

I, the Jury features one of my all-time favorite movie posters.  It was created by Drew Struzan.

I, the Jury (1982) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Al Pacino, John Cazale & Charles Durning / Z-View

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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay:  Frank Pierson, story by Thomas Moore, based on The Boys in the Bank article in Life magazine by P. F. Kluge, Thomas Moore

Stars:  Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar, Carol Kane, Lance Henrikson, Floyd Levine, Dick Anthony Williams, Chris Sarandon and Charles Durning.

Tagline: The robbery should have taken 10 minutes. 4 hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. 8 hours later, it was the hottest thing on live T.V. 12 hours later, it was all history. And it’s all true

The Plot…

On the morning of August 22, 1972, three buddies, Sonny, Sal and Stevie, first time crooks, went in to a New York bank.  They intended to rob it.  As soon as Sonny and Sal pulled their guns, Stevie lost his nerve.  As Sonny and Sal held the clerks at bay, Stevie apologized and ran away.

Things went downhill from there.

The bank’s daily cash pick-up had already occurred.  There was barely $1,000.00 in the bank.  Worse still, a silent alarm had been triggered during the commotion.  In no time the bank was surrounded by cops and onlookers.

It was a stand-off.

Because Sonny and Sal were new at this, their actions confused the police.  The cops thought they were dealing with hardcases who would kill their hostages without a second thought.  Their demands though were confusing.  They wanted pizzas for the hostages and themselves, transportation to the airport and a jet to take everyone (hostages included) to an undisclosed location.  When asked why they were robbing the bank, their answer: Sonny wanted to get his lover a sex change operation.

As crazy as this sounds, it is all true.  And would get even crazier before it was over.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Dog Day Afternoon received six Academy Award nominations and won one…

  • Nominee for Best Film Editing – Dede Allen
  • Nominee for Best Director – Sidney Lumet
  • Nominee for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Chris Sarandon
  • Nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Role – Al Pacino
  • Nominee for Best Picture – Martin Bregman, Martin Elfand
  • Winner for Best Writing, Original Screenplay – Frank Pierson

Director Sidney Lumet was against the casting of John Cazale as Sal.  In real life, Sal was just 18 when the robbery took place. John Cazale was nearly 40, clearly too old for the role.  Al Pacino kept pushing for Cazale, so Lumet brought him in to audition and was won over.

This real life robbery became a model for police to learn how (and how not) to deal with hostage situations and unruly mobs of onlookers.

Sidney Lumet allowed his cast to improvise much of the dialogue.  When Al Pacino incites the crowd by yelling “Attica! Attica!”, Charles During looks confused.  He was.  Pacino improvised the line.  When Pacino asks Cazale, “What country he’d like to fly to” and Cazale responds, “Wyoming” it was another improvisation.  Pacino’s look of surprise was genuine.

Dog Day Afternoon features Chris Sarandon’s feature film debut.  Sarandon won an Oscar for his performance.

Dog Day Afternoon is classic.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) rates 5 of 5 stars.