One of my favorite movies (it gets my highest recommendation) is The Big Heat. Released the year I was born (1958), The Big Heat was directed by Fritz Lang and starred Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby and Lee Marvin.
I probably watch The Big Heat at least once a year. TCM was showing it the other night. I was checking out Twitter when the drawing above came into view. Yes! Patrick Zircher aka Patch must have been watching! How cool is Patch’s take on Glenn Ford as Dave Bannion? Too cool not to share!
Patch is pretty active on Twitter. His posts are thoughtful and his art is wonderful. Often we get both in a single helping.
I’m not sure what to make of this one. Is the poster a nod to Breaking Bad? At first glance Digging to Death appears to be a comedy. Watching the trailer I still wonder… is it a comedy? a psychological thriller? Even with all that said, I’m interested in checking out Digging to Death.
David Van Owen moves into a mysterious house and discovers a box buried in his backyard, filled with 3 million dollars and a fresh corpse. David hides the money in the house, only to be stalked by the buried body. Directed By: Michael P. Blevins Cast: Richard Riehle, Ken Hudson Campbell, Rachel Alig, Ford Austin, Clint Jung, Tom Fitzpatrick, Michael P. Blevins, Debbie DeLisi, Bryan Dodds, Sumeet Dang
When I was a kid, Equal Standard would have been advertised as “Ripped from the Headlines”. I like the poster and trailer for Equal Standard, but wish that they hadn’t shown us one of scenes in the trailer because it looks to be a big spoiler. Oh, and the tagline, It’s never as simple as black and white, is a good one.
New York City police officers lives collide in interweaving stories of race, rank, loss, and betrayal.
Death in Texas hits my sweet spot. The poster ain’t bad, but that trailer pulled me in. Ronnie Gene Blevins, Lara Flynn Boyle, Bruce Dern and Stephen Lang and look to deliver the goods. Deal me in for this crime flick.
Billy Walker is finally let out of prison after serving a seven-year sentence for manslaughter, only to find out that the only person who stuck by him during the entire ordeal, his mother, is now dying of liver failure. After visiting her doctor, Billy learns that he must break a few more laws in order to get his mother to the top of the transplant list in order to save her life.
Starring: Ronnie Gene Blevins, Lara Flynn Boyle, Bruce Dern, Stephen Lang
Director: Scott Windhauser
Wow! The Protege has a lot going for it. The poster works (I didn’t see the Maggie Q image the first couple of looks at it), and the trailer makes me want to see more., Martin Campbell knows how to direct action and the three leads, Michael Keaton, Maggie Q. and Samuel L. Jackson put butts in seats. I think The Protege is going to be a winner.
On a side note, I like Michael Keaton better as a bad guy and why don’t we see Maggie Q. in more stuff?
Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) and trained in the family business, Anna (Maggie Q) is the world’s most skilled contract killer. But when Moody – the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival – is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer (Michael Keaton) whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves even tighter.
Directed by Martin Campbell and written by Richard Wenk, the film is produced by Arthur Sarkissian, Moshe Diamant, Rob Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, and Chris Milburn.
Lionsgate and Millennium Media present, a Millennium Media / Fourteen Films / I Road production, in association with Campbell Grobman Films / Ingenious Media.
Cuddles – A Last Chance Crime Story by JED MCPHERSON (writer/ letterer), MARCO PERUGINI (artist) and SHAN BENNION (colorist) is running on Kickstarter through June 6th. CUDDLES is an oversized crime comic one-shot that will run 44 pages (32 page story plus additional content). Here’s the synopsis…
Cuddles’ life ain’t too difficult. He’s got a cushy job collecting protection money for a local crime boss, but after he’s partnered up with the boss’ son, things start to go sideways. First, he finds out that his partner has been skimming off the top. Even worse, the FBI are hot on their trail. Cuddles quickly finds that he has to play all sides against each other in order to survive.
The Cuddles’ Kickstarter offers digital and physical options, prints, and add-ons which include other comics. Below you can click on the images to see a page from Cuddles as well as the Deadbeat crime comic I added on for my order. If you use the Cuddles’ Kickstarter link, you can check out more pages and get the full picture. I love crime comics and am happy to support Cuddles – A Last Chance Crime Story by JED MCPHERSON, MARCO PERUGINI and SHAN BENNION.
I like both the poster and trailer for The Penny Black. At first I didn’t realize that this a documentary. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I look forward to seeing The Penny Black.
The Penny Black is a non-fiction investigative thriller that begins with Will, the estranged son of a conman, his mysterious neighbor, and a million-dollar stamp collection. A provocative exploration of Will’s fear and integrity, the documentary follows a hunt to find the owner of the collection. When a significant piece of the stamp collection goes missing, the filmmakers are forced to reexamine Will’s capacity for honesty.
I learned about Eric Beetner through his book reviews. Beetner (and I) share a love of crime fiction, His reviews, for books that I’d read, were directly in line with my thoughts. So, I picked up some of Beetner’s recommendations. I liked them.
I like both the poster and trailer for Feral State and it is on my watch list now.
Tucked far away from the white sandy beaches and amusement parks is a Florida that few outsiders ever see. Nestled alongside the gator infested swamps and rundown trailer parks lives a charismatic grifter and self-proclaimed ‘father of the forgotten’ named Mack Monroe (Ronnie Gene Blevins.) He takes in orphans and runaways as his own, giving them the only semblance of a home they’ve ever known… but at what cost? Mack trains his ragtag gang in the art of thievery and crime, filling their vulnerable minds with vigilante gospels and together they knock off drug dealers and meth labs. Hot on their tail is Detective Ellis (AnnaLynne McCord), a tough-as-nails cop with demons of her own. Mack and the gang’s world is flipped upside down with the arrival of a mysterious young girl, who at first seems like the perfect new recruit but turns out being something far more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
Starring: AnnaLynne McCord, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Octavio Pisano
Directed by: Jon Carlo
The Rogue Hostage trailer is here. Tyrese Gibson and John Malkovich star in Die Hard in a hardware store. I’ll check it out when it comes to a streaming service I get.
PLOT: Rogue Hostage follows single father and former Marine Kyle Snowden (Tyrese Gibson), who is struggling to adjust to life with PTSD. On a routine stop for his job in Child Protective Services, Kyle finds himself and a group of innocent customers trapped inside his stepfather’s store during a hostile take-over by militant maniac Eagan Raize. Disturbing details emerge about Eagan’s violent vendetta against Kyle’s stepfather, Congressman Sam Nelson (John Malkovich), threatening the lives of everyone inside, including the Congressman and Kyle’s young daughter. In a race against time, Kyle must battle against the terrorists as well as his personal demons to secure the store and save everyone. #RogerHostage
It seems that everyone has heard of Charles Manson, The Boston Strangler, Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, The BTK Killer, and other infamous psychos. Not as many folks have heard of Ed Gein. Gein is a true life wacko who inspired Psycho (the book and film), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and even The Silence of the Lambs (book and film). Eric Powell is teaming with Harold Schechter to tell Ed Gein’s story. Here’s the synopsis from Amazon:
One of the greats in the field of true crime literature, Harold Schechter (Deviant, The Serial Killer Files, Hell’s Princess), teams with five-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Eric Powell (The Goon, Big Man Plans, Hillbilly) to bring you the tale of one of the most notoriously deranged serial killers in American history, Ed Gein.
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is an in-depth exploration of the Gein family and what led to the creation of the necrophile who haunted the dreams of 1950s America and inspired such films as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs.
Painstakingly researched and illustrated, Schechter and Powell’s true crime graphic novel takes the Gein story out of the realms of exploitation and gives the reader a fact-based dramatization of these tragic, psychotic and heartbreaking events. Because, in this case, the truth needs no embellishment to be horrifying.
If this sounds like something you’d like, you can use this link to pre-orderDid You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?
Pierce Brosnan is back and The Misfits have him. They’ve got Tim Roth, too. After seeing the trailer below, they’ll have me at some point as well.
A band of modern-day Robin Hoods known as “The Misfits”, recruit renowned thief Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan) to help them pull off the heist of the century. The prize: millions in gold bars stashed underneath one of the world’s most secure prisons. Hold on tight for a globe-trotting, action-packed thriller from the Director of Die Hard 2.
Featuring: Pierce Brosnan, Rami Jaber, Hermione Corfield, Jamie Chung, Mike Angelo with Tim Roth and Nick Cannon
Stars: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman.
The Pitch: “It’s Spielberg’s Duel crossed with the scariest monster you can imagine!”
Tagline: He can happen to anyone.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Rachael is having a bad day. She’s going through a rough divorce. Her mom has just been moved into an assisted living home that Rachael can’t afford, her out of work brother and his “fiancé” have moved in with her and her teenage son. To make this bad day even worse, Rachel overslept. She’s got to drive her son to school, herself to work and both will be late. Yeah, Rachel is having a bad day.
It’s about to get worse.
At an intersection Rachael finds herself behind a big truck that just sits when the light turns green. She’s already late and this guy isn’t moving. So she lays on the horn. Still no movement. She lays on the horn again and then pulls around him. As she passes the truck she gives the driver a gesture letting him know she’s pissed.
As it turns out, the guy in the truck is having a worse day. His wife was divorcing him, going after his house and all his assets, and having an affair with her attorney. I say was divorcing him because she (nor her attorney-lover) are now in a position to do anything. Yeah, this guy is having a real bad day and Rachael’s actions have pushed him to the limit.
He pulls up beside her and gives her a chance to apologize. This just infuriates her and she says things to make it worse, not realizing that she’s dealing with a man who is about to come unhinged. And he does.
To tell more would be to tell too much. Suffice it to say, Unhinged delivers thrills and continues to ratchet up the tension until the very satisfying climax. Crowe is perfect as the man who is on a mission to destroy Rachael by killing everyone dear to her before he is killed. What makes Crowe so scary is he knows he’s going to die, probably at the hands of the police, and he is alright with that. For him it is just a question of how much damage he can do before they get him.
Caren Pistorius is excellent as Rachael. What I liked about her character is that she creates most of her issues and it is her actions that sets everything in motion. This is a nice change from the innocent woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pistorius is believable as Rachael. Kudos also to Gabriel Bateman who plays her son, Kyle. He comes off as sympathetic and likeable.
Crowe deserves special praise for his portrayal of the nameless man who becomes Unhinged. He isn’t just a one-dimensional psycho killer, and perhaps that is what makes him scarier than Jason, Michael Myers or any of the other monsters we’re used to seeing.
If you’re looking for a action-thriller, then you should consider Unhinged. I really liked it!
When I first watched Unhinged, I was impressed. The movie was better than I thought it would be. Since that viewing, I’ve watched Unhinged a few times. It holds up with each viewing. My initial rating for Unhinged was 4 stars, but that changes today with an updated 5 star review. As always your mileage may vary.
