Category: Crime

“The Endgame” Directed by Justin Lin – The Trailer is Here!

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The Endgame trailer looks like it was made for a feature film.  Maybe it is because Justin (Star Trek Beyond; F9: The Fast Saga) Lin is directing.  Morena Baccarin and Ryan Michelle Bathé star. The Endgame premieres February 21st.  Deal me in.

Morena Baccarin and Ryan Michelle Bathé star in the ultimate high-stakes showdown between criminal mastermind Elena Federova and FBI Agent Val Turner. When they play Elena’s game, deadly truths are revealed… and everyone bows to the queen.

Boise Longpig Hunting Club by Nick Kolakowski / Z-View

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Boise Longpig Hunting Club by Nick Kolakowski

Trade Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Down & Out Books

First sentence…

We came home from the movies to find our front door kicked open, both floors ransacked, half the food in our fridge missing.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jake Halligan comes home to find his house ransacked and a naked, dead woman in his gun safe.  Jake’s never seen the woman before, and has no idea who killed her.  The list of thugs, gangbangers, and assorted criminals Jake has tracked down (he’s a bounty hunter) is just too large.  Then Jake learns that the woman wasn’t the only murder victim.  As he gets closer to the killer(s), Jake, his ex-wife and sister are kidnapped. Soon they find themselves involved in what can only be called The Most Dangerous Game.

Nick Kolakowski has taken a classic tale and modernized it.  The Boise Longpig Hunting Club is full of memorable characters, action and humor.  Kolakowski provides situations that we’ve seen before, but he puts an unexpected twist on them that leaves us shocked and/or smiling.  I like Jake Halligan, his supporting characters and look forward to the follow-up, Rattlesnake Rodeo (which is already sitting in my to be read pile).  As for the  Boise Longpig Hunting Club, it rates 5 of 5 stars.

Rating:

“Murderville” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I love the idea behind Murderville the Netflix limited series that premieres on February 3rd.  Will Arnett plays a detective who is joined by celebrity guest stars each week to solve a crime.  The catch is the guest stars aren’t given a script and have to adlib their way through the episode!.  Murderville sounds like fun!  Deal me in.

Solving crimes is hard. Improv comedy is harder. All 6 episodes of Murderville starring Will Arnett stream February 3rd, only on Netflix.

“The French Connection” / Z-View

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The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedkin

Screenplay:  Ernest Tidyman (based on the book by Robin Moore)

Starring:  Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Ray and Tony Lo Bianco.

Tagline:  The time is just right for an out and out thriller like this.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Let me say from the start most folks like The French Connection much more than me.  The French Connection was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won five (Best Picture, Best Actor – Hackman; Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Film Editing – Gerald B. Greenberg).  When a movie gets that many awards, is the number three box office champ for the year and a reviewer only gives it 3 of 5 stars, your mileage will probably differ.

My biggest problem with The French Connection is the lead characters.  Detective Buddy Russo (Scheider) isn’t given much to do other than be Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle’s reluctant sidekick.  ‘Popeye’ Doyle (Hackman) is a loud, unlikeable screw-up.

Let me count some of the ways Doyle irritates me.  When following the drug importing mastermind, Popeye gets made and played on the subway.  Doyle “commandeers” a citizen’s car to chase a sniper making a getaway on an El-train.  During the chase he causes multiple wrecks, nearly runs over a lady pushing a baby carriage, and destroys the car he “borrowed”.  When Doyle gets into a footrace with the sniper he ends up shooting the guy in the back.  The movie culminates with Doyle accidentally shooting an FBI agent and the drug importing mastermind getting away.

Despite the nits I picked, The French Connection has its moments.  It features one of the most popular car chases in movie history.  Friedkin’s documentary feel influenced filmmakers and it is an excellent example of 70s films (anti-heroes, gritty city settings, good guys don’t always win).

The French Connection rates 3 of 5 stars (but again I stress, your mileage may vary!).

“Welcome to Sudden Death” / Z-View

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Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)

Director: Dallas Jackson

Screenplay:  Dallas Jackson, Gene Quintano

Starring:  Michael Jai White, Michael Eklund and Gary Owen.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The biggest problem with Welcome to Sudden Death was the marketing.  No, really.  Hear me out.

Welcome to Sudden Death was advertised as an action-packed remake of the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Sudden Death.  And it is, but… and this is a big but… the reboot is a comedy with action.  Folks went into the Michael Jai White version thinking that they were getting a straight up serious action movie.  They didn’t and they were rightly disappointed.  If Welcome to Sudden Death had been sold as a comedy/action film then audiences wouldn’t have judged it so harshly.  Sure, they may have felt it wasn’t funny enough or the mix of action/comedy wasn’t right, but they would have gone in with different expectations.

I had read that the original Sudden Death was supposed to be more of a comedy, but that aspect was toned down when JCVD came on.  Welcome to Sudden Death was going to play up the yuks along with the action, I was interested.

While Welcome to Sudden Death isn’t the funniest movie or the best action film you’ll ever see.  If you go in knowing that, you shouldn’t be disappointed.  The tone is less serious than the original, but not as far out as say, The Naked Gun.  Michael Jai White does a good job as the hero.  I loved Gary Owen as the reluctant sidekick.  The bad guys are over the top, the plot is what you’d expect, but if you want a few laughs and to see Michael Jai White kick butt, then I say, Welcome to Sudden Death.

I liked Welcome to Sudden Death as well if not better than the JCVD original  I rate it 3 of 5 stars.

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka / Z-View

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Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

First sentence…

Tokyo station is packed.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bullet Train is an international best seller about five assassins on a Japanese bullet train trying to retrieve a mysterious suitcase before one of the others can get to it.  Descriptions of the book that compared it to a stylish modern day yakuza film directed by Quentin Tarantino got my interest.  When I learned that Bullet Train was being made into a action thriller directed by  David (John Wick franchise) Leitch starring Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt and Zazie Beetz.  I was sold.

I went into Bullet Train with high expectations for a fast moving, exciting tale with interesting characters and action.  What I got was far from that.  The assassins are on the train.  They have names like The Prince, Tangerine and Lemon.  There’s a subplot about a hospitalized boy in danger.  Instead of action we get tons and tons of talk.  Some of the assassins (and the main psychopath) are school children.  Two that work together (Tangerine and Lemon) spend pages and pages talking about Thomas the Train.  The dialogue often seemed forced at best.

I seldom quit a book before finishing it.  I’m usually a pretty good judge of what I’ll like.  Bullet Train sounded like exactly the type of story I’d love.  Sadly it wasn’t.

Rating:

Love & Bullets Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski / Z-View

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Love & Bullets Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski

Trade Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books

First sentence…

Listen.  At some point, a poor sap will look at you and say, “This is the worst day of my life.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bill is a conman on the run from the Rockaway Mob.  They want Bill dead and the two million dollars that he stole from them back.  Lucky for Bill, his girlfriend, Fiona is on the lam with him.  Fiona’s got brains and can handle herself.  As this modern day “Bonnie and Clyde” try to stay alive they find themselves at odds with crocked cops, hired assassins, other criminals, an Elvis impersonator, a government hit man and more.

The Love & Bullets Megabomb Edition is actually a reworking of three novellas featuring Bill and Fiona (A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps; Slaughterhouse Blues and Main Bad Guy), but thanks to some clever re-editing and additional material, it reads like one rollicking adventure.  I absolutely loved the characters, plus the right mix of violence, humor and heart.  Kolakowski has the ability to make all of his major characters not only unique in voice and look, but the feel that any of them could be the “star” of their own tale.  I blazed through Love & Bullets Megabomb Edition loving every page.  I was so impressed by Nick Kolakowski that I immediately ordered three more of his novels.   

Rating:

A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance is Coming!

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A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, Volume 1 by Rick Remender (writer), André Lima Araújo (artist) and Chris O’Halloran (artist) takes place when…

…an unassuming man stops a vicious dark web contract assassin from killing their target, he turns himself into one. A quiet, atmospheric slice of life story with sudden bouts of unique and brutal violence―part THE PROFESSIONAL part ROAD TO PERDITION, writer RICK REMENDER (Seven to Eternity, Deadly Class) and artist ANDRÉ LIMA ARAÚJO (Generation Gone, The Wicked + The Divine: 455 AD) present the story of an unlikely surrogate to a boy hunted by powerful men who are used to getting away with everything.

Collects A RIGHTEOUS THIRST FOR VENGEANCE #1-5

Deal me in.

Heat 2 by Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner – Sequel/Prequel Novel to “Heat” – Info & Pre-Orders are Here!

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That’s the cover to Michael Mann’s prequel/sequel novel to his crime classic film Heat.  Cowritten with Meg Gardiner, Heat 2 will be released on August 9, 2022.  Here’s the synopsis…

Michael Mann, four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat, Collateral, Thief, Manhunter, and Miami Vice, teams up with Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann’s first crime novel — an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat — an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the iconic film.

Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film of the same name, HEAT 2 covers the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Oscar winner Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), and Nate (Oscar winner Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film.

This new story leads up to the events of the film and then moves beyond it, featuring new characters on both sides of the law, new high-line heists, and breathtakingly cinematic action sequences. Ranging from the streets of L.A. to the inner sancta of rival Taiwanese crime syndicates in Paraguay to a massive drug cartel money-laundering operation just over the border in Mexico, HEAT 2 illuminates the dangerous workings of international crime organizations and the agents who pursue them as it provides a full-blooded portrait of the men and women who inhabit both worlds. Operatic in scope, HEAT 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic — a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema.

Pre-orders are available now!  Deal me in.

“Last Looks” Starring Charlie Hunnam & Mel Gibson – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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We have the Last Looks poster and trailer.  Both look better than expected.  This will be a streaming view for me.

Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) is an ex-LAPD superstar who left the force and now lives a life of simplicity and solitude deep in the woods. Alistair Pinch (Mel Gibson) is an eccentric actor who spends his days drunk on the set of his TV show. When Pinch’s wife is found dead, he is the prime suspect and Waldo is convinced to come out of retirement to investigate what happened. The case finds Waldo contending with gangsters, Hollywood executives and pre-school teachers, all in pursuit of clearing Pinch’s name … or confirming his guilt. #LastLooks

IN THEATERS, ON DEMAND AND DIGITAL: February 4, 2022

CAST: Charlie Hunnam, Morena Baccarin, Lucy Fry, Dominic Monaghan, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Clancy Brown with Rupert Friend and Mel Gibson

“Catch the Fair One” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Catch the Fair One is a crime story with a unique spin.  I like the simplicity of the poster and the looks of the trailer.  Premieres in select theaters and video on demand on February 11th.  Deal me in.

Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Starring: Kali Reis, Lisa Emery, Kimberly Guerrero, Kevin Dunn

A Native American boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.

“Indemnity” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I like the poster and trailer for Indemnity.  It premieres February 27th in select theaters and video on demand.  Deal me in.

A traumatized ex-firefighter in Cape Town wakes up next to his wife’s murdered corpse, with no recollection of what transpired. Labelled as the prime suspect, he goes on the run and is soon hunted by a notorious police chief, and an unknown third party. He must now fight for his life and find out who killed his wife, before a conspiracy changes the course of a nation forever.

Starring Jarrid Geduld, Gail Mabalane and Andre Jacobs
Written and directed by Travis Taute
Produced by Bradley Joshua and Benjamin Overmeyer

“The Godfather” 50th Anniversary Trailer for Special Theatrical Showing!

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In honor of its 50th anniversary, one of the greatest movies of all-time, The Godfather is making a return to select theaters for a special showing.  Check out the trailer below.

In Select Theatres February 25 and on 4K Ultra HD and Digital March 22.

No movie changed Hollywood more than THE GODFATHER. From the bestselling novel by Mario Puzo to box-office blockbuster, its influential legacy endures to this day. Starring Marlon Brando in his Oscar®-winning performance as the patriarch of the Corleone family, this first installment in the three-movie saga paints a dramatic portrait of the Sicilian clan’s rise and near fall from power in America. Balanced between the Corleone’s commitment to family and the ugly crime business in which they are engaged, it features career-making performances by Al Pacino, James Caan, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall. This searing and brilliant masterpiece garnered ten Academy Award® nominations, and won three, including Best Picture.

Featuring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Sterling Hayden, Richard Conte, Talia Shire, Al Lettieri

KILL ME IF YOU CAN by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is Coming!

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Can you believe Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer turns 75 this year?  He does and to celebrate a new Mike Hammer book, Kill Me If You Can,  is coming!  Here’s the lowdown…

Mike Hammer hits his 75th anniversary hard, after the disappearance of Velda, in this brand new case between Kiss Me, Deadly and The Girl Hunters, based on an unproduced screenplay from Mickey Spillane’s archives.

Mike Hammer is on the case, this time hunting the murderer of his old friend and bootlegger-turned-legit-businessman Edward G. Robinson. Already torn up by the disappearance of Velda, his beloved secretary, Mike Hammer carves a brutal path for vengeance. Drinking heavily, his relationships fraying, his behavior self-destructive, Hammer has to track down Robinson’s black book, with the names of every corrupt official in town. With deception everywhere, and a whole host of reasons to want the ledger, Hammer has to pull himself together and solve the case before all hell breaks loose.

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Mike Hammer, and including five brand new short stories, read the lost story of Velda’s disappearance after Kiss Me, Deadly. A thrilling ride for fans new and old.

Pre-orders are available now.