Category: Crime

“Sean Combs: The Reckoning” (2025) / Z-View

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Sean Combs: The Reckoning (2025)

Executive Producer: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson

Director: Alexandria Stapleton

Cast: Sean Combs, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Janice Combs, Mark Curry, Kirk Burrowes, Aubrey O’Day, Suge Knight, Andre Harrell, Kalenna Harper, Al B. Sure!, Kim Porter, Cassie Ventura and Snoop Dogg.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Sean Combs: The Reckoning uses archival footage/interviews from the early 1990s to present day to cover the rise of Sean Combs from a college student intern to hip hop mogul to industry powerhouse able to put his name on a variety of products and make them best-sellers to a convicted felon doing several years in prison.

The four part documentary, through the use of archival news reports, court verdicts and interviews with accusers and those who claim to witnessed the events, details Sean Combs’ proven and or/alleged…

  • longterm sexual and emotional abuse of women
  • sexual assault and drugging of women… including rape, videotaping sexual assaults and playing the tapes for friends
  • sexual assault and harrasment of men
  • drugging men and women in order to take advantage of them
  • using intimidation and threats to regularly take advantage of business partners, cheating them out of money due or simply not paying them.
  • questions about Combs’ involvement in the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.
  • infamous “freak off” parties where people were secretly videotaped having sex, coerced or drugged for sex
  • involvement as co-promoter of the 1991 “first annual Heavy D and Puff Daddy Celebrity Charity Basketball Game” where dozens of people were injured and nine people died when nearly 5,000 people pushed to get in a gym with a capacity of 2,730.  No criminal charges were filed, but Combs settled with families in civil court.
  • involvement in a 1999 shooting incident while dating Jennifer Lopez.  Combs was arrested on a weapons and bribery charge.  He was acquitted of all charges. Still there are those who say Combs should have been found guilty.
  • and more.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)… 

If only some of the allegations are true (and we know many are), Sean Combs is perfect example of how power can corrupt.

I am not a huge hip-hop fan, but I found the documentary compelling.

Sean Combs: The Reckoning (2025) rates 5 of 5 stars.

THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY BY John D. MacDonald / Z-View

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THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY by John D. MacDonald

First sentences…

I was in deep sleep, alone aboard my houseboat, alone in a half acre of bed, alone in a sweaty dream of chase, fear, and monstrous predators.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

At 4am, Travis McGee is awakened from dark dreams by someone climbing aboard his boat, The Busted Flush.  The intruder is Carrie Milligan, a former lover.  She’s scared, but won’t say why.  The only thing she brought with her is a suitcase.  A suitcase full of cash.

Carrie asks Travis to hold the suitcase.  If she doesn’t return in two weeks, Travis is to give the cash to Carrie’s sister.  Travis can keep ten grand for his troubles.  Travis agrees.

Two weeks pass.  Carrie doesn’t return.  Then Travis learns she was killed in an auto accident in the small coastal town of Bayside.  Travis decides to look into Carrie’s death.  It’s too coincidental that she was killed during a time she was worried she might not return to claim the suitcase.

Travis goes to Bayside and starts digging into Carrie’s last hours.  Clues lead him to an apartment complex managed by a wanna-be tough guy everyone calls Big Daddy.  Travis also meets a lawyer and judge who warn Travis about sticking his nose in unwanted places.

Travis keeps digging.  The people behind Carrie’s murder have too much at stake to let a beach bum like Travis McGee screw things up.  They plan to fix that.

+++

THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY is the sixteenth of 21 Travis McGee novels.

In 1972, John D. MacDonald was named a grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America.  MacDonald is best known for his Travis McGee novels as well as a standalone thriller (THE EXECUTIONERS) that was retitled Cape Fear when adapted into a movie (twice).

THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY by John D. MacDonald

Rating:

“The Beauty” starring Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher and Rebecca Hall – The Poster and Teaser are Here!

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This looks like fun.  Check out the poster and teaser for The Beauty starring Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher and Rebecca Hall.

Deal me in.

Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. FX’s The Beauty. Premieres January 21 on FX | Hulu

In FX’s The Beauty, when international supermodels begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways, FBI Agents “Cooper Madsen” (Evan Peters) and “Jordan Bennett” (Rebecca Hall) uncover a conspiracy that threatens the future of humanity. The investigation leads them directly into the crosshairs of “The Corporation” (Ashton Kutcher), who will stop at nothing to protect his trillion-dollar empire.

WISDOM CORNER by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

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WISDOM CORNER by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is set to premiere on July 7, 2026.  The novel is Weiden’s follow-up to WINTER COUNTS, which I loved.  Here’s the lowdown…

From the award-winning author of WINTER COUNTS comes a new thriller about life — and death—on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Virgil Wounded Horse is desperately trying to escape his past as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. But when a legendary figure from the reservation is murdered, he’s forced to return to the job. Making matters more complicated, threats are coming from the Pine Ridge 705 — a street gang from a neighboring reservation who want to expand their reach into Rosebud — and Mitch Gagnon, a shady politician who will stop at nothing to gain more power.

With a heated tribal council election looming, as well as new revelations regarding past injustices at the local Native boarding school, the stakes grow even higher. Will Virgil find the justice he’s seeking before it’s too late?

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, whose writing “melds the gritty realism of Dashiell Hammett with the lyricism of Tommy Orange” (O, The Oprah Magazine),once again brings us a tour de force of crime fiction—and an expansive look at Native American life in a shifting world.

WISDOM CORNER Hardcover

WISDOM CORNER  Kindle

Syfy’s Twilight Zone 2025/2026 New Year’s Marathon Schedule is Up!

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Twilight Zone fans are in for a treat.  This year the Syfy Channel is running a Twilight Zone Christmas Marathon and then less than a week later, an even longer Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon!

The New Year’s Marathon starts at 5am on December 31st with the last episode starting at 6:30am on December 2nd.

The Twilight Zone Marathons have been one of our family traditions for decades.  Sometimes we binge watch. Other times we just check in on favorite episodes. Please allow me to suggest some favorite Twilight Zone episodes…

Wednesday, December 31, 2025
5:ooam – Come Wander with Me  (Kicks off the marathon)
7:30pm – It’s a Good Life
9:30pm – Nick of Time
11:00pm – The Midnight Sun

Thursday, January 1, 2026
3:30am – The Howling Man
6:30pm – Time Enough At Last
7:o0pm – The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
7:30pm – To Serve Man
8:00pm – The Invaders
8:30pm – Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
9:00pm – Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
9:30pm – The Eye of the Beholder

Friday, January 2, 2026
3:00am – The Shelter
3:30am – The Grave

“The Strip” (1951) starring Mickey Rooney and Sally Forrest / Z-View

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The Strip (1951)

Director: László Kardos

Screenplay: Allen Rivkin

Stars: Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, William Demarest, James Craig, Louis Armstrong, Tom Powers, Vic Damone, Monica Lewis, Don Anderson  and Tommy Rettig.

Tagline: Torchy romance tingling with mystery and throbbing with the rhythm of Dixieland along the glamorous avenue of night clubs!

The Plot…

When Stanley Maxton is released from a long hospital stay due to injuries sustained in the Korean War, he heads for LA..  He dreams of becoming a successful drummer and owning his own club some day.

A chance encounter earns Stanley a high-paying job working for mobster Sonny Johnston. In no time Stanley has money, a fine car and flashy clothes.  Then he meets Jane Tafford.  She’s a nightclub dancer who dreams of becoming a movie star.  Stanley falls hard.

So hard, he quits working for Sonny and takes a lower paying job as a drummer at the club where Jane is a dancer.  But it’s no go.  Jane is only interested in becoming a star and a nightclub drummer can’t help her with that.

Stanley takes Jane to meet Sonny.  Stanley figures Sonny’s mob connections can get Jane an audition.  Problem is, even though he’s married, Sonny falls for Jane.  This puts Stanley and Sonny at odds.

So when a woman is murdered, and evidence points to Stanley, he knows who set him up.  Time is running out to prove his innocence.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)… 

The Strip earned one 1952 Academy Award nomination…

  • Nominee for Best Music, Original Song – For “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” – Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Oscar Hammerstein II

The Strip is as much (if not more) a musical than a crime noir. The film features songs performed by Vic Damone, Monica Lewis, Jack Teagarden, and Louis Armstrong, floor show routines by Sally Forrest as well as drum solos by Mickey Rooney.

The film features an unexpected dark (for a musical featuring Mickey Rooney) twist.

Louie Armstrong, Vic Damone and Monica Lewis play themselves.

The Strip (1951) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Crime 101” starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry – A New Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Crime 101 starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry – A New Poster and Trailer are Here!

Get an inside look at the making of #Crime101 starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, and Halle Berry. Experience it in theaters and IMAX on February 13.

Set against the sun-bleached grit of Los Angeles, Crime 101 weaves the tale of an elusive jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) whose string of heists along the 101 freeway have mystified police. When he eyes the score of a lifetime, his path crosses that of a disillusioned insurance broker (Halle Berry) who is facing her own crossroads. Convinced he has found a pattern, a relentless detective (Mark Ruffalo) is closing in, raising the stakes even higher. As the heist approaches, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur, and all three are faced with life-defining choices–and the realization that there can be no turning back.

Adapted from Don Winslow’s acclaimed novella of the same name, the film is written and directed by Bart Layton (American Animals, The Imposter). Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte round out the cast.