Category: Crime

“The Big Ugly” – Poster and Trailer are Here!

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It’s movie poster and trailer day.  Here’s The Big Ugly.

Neeyln (Vinnie Jones) has always been the loyal enforcer for crime boss Harris (Malcolm McDowell) back in London, taking care of problems and people that disrupt his illicit business. When Harris strikes a deal with an old friend – American oilman Preston (Ron Perlman) – they find themselves in the wild hills of West Virginia. Contracts are signed and the whiskey flows in celebration, but overnight Neelyn’s girlfriend disappears, last seen with Preston’s wayward son Junior. Lines are drawn between family and friends, but nothing will stop Neelyn from getting answers — and retribution.

Starring: Ron Perlman, Malcolm McDowell, Vinnie Jones
Directed by: Scott Wiper

Monopoly: “Breaking Bad” Edition

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Have you seen the Monopoly: Breaking Bad edition?

MONOPOLY: Breaking Bad
Players will want to “tread lightly” to buy, sell, and trade properties to be the last one standing in this risky version of Monopoly: Breaking Bad – based on AMC’s hit series! Familiar locations and tokens based on iconic items from the show such as Heisenberg Hat, RV, Tio’s Bell and more will take fans back through the sordid evolution of Walter White and his own capitalistic plan.

  • Relive the iconic series of AMC’s Breaking Bad featuring the sordid journey of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman
  • Buy, sell, and trade your way to infamy and be the last one standing in this collectible version of Monopoly
  • Includes 6 custom sculpted tokens: Heisenberg Hat, Tio’s Bell, Money Barrel, Gas Mask, Pink Teddy Bear, RV
  • Houses renamed Tented Houses, Hotels renamed SuperLabs, Community Chest Cards renamed Heisenberg Cards, and Chance Cards renamed Walter White Cards
  • 2-6 Players | Ages 17+ | 60+ Min Play Time

If you ever ask me to play Monopoly please remember I approach it like Walter White when he said,

“Jesse, you asked me if I was in the meth business, or the money business… Neither. I’m in the empire business.”

Bruce Lee Trivia!

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Jay Serafino at Mental Floss presents 10 Amazing Facts About Bruce Lee.  Here are my thoughts about three of the best…

BRUCE LEE REFUSED TO LOSE A FIGHT TO ROBIN.
(It’s pretty impressive that Lee took this stand since Batman was one of the most popular shows on tv, and Lee wasn’t the star of Batman or The Green Hornet. – Craig)

ROMAN POLANSKI MAY HAVE (BRIEFLY) THOUGHT BRUCE LEE MURDERED SHARON TATE.
(I was surprised when I first learned of this fact.  What are the odds Lee would lose his glasses around the same time of the murder and that a pair would be found at the scene of the crime?  Coincidences do happen and can get people locked up or worse. – Craig)

BRUCE LEE WAS DEEMED PHYSICALLY UNFIT FOR THE U.S. ARMY.
(This is probably the most surprising fact.  Who’d have guessed that Bruce Lee would be deemed unfit for anything? – Craig)

For more on Bruce Lee please consider checking out…

The All-Time Best Heist Movies!

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Matthew Jackson at Mental Floss presents The 25 Greatest Heist Movies of All Time.  Jackson’s list is a good one.  I’ve seen 18 of the 25 films listed.  Here are my thoughts on each of the movies Jackson selected.

1. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) – An excellent choice for number one.  John Huston directs a great cast in a classic film.

2. RIFIFI (1955) – The heist itself is an extended classic scene without dialogue.  Another excellent choice.

3. THE LADYKILLERS (1955) – I haven’t seen this one.

4. THE KILLING (1956) – I love this film and it gets better with each viewing. I wouldn’t have argued if it had placed higher.

5. BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1956) – I haven’t seen this one, but would like to.

6. THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) – The first film on the list that I’ve seen and didn’t love.  In fact I would have chosen McQueen in The Getaway instead.

7. THE ITALIAN JOB (1969) – I haven’t seen it.

8. THE STING (1973) – Newman and Redford re-teamed for an excellent follow-up to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

9. DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) – A unique story told from a perspective most wouldn’t expect.

10. BLUE COLLAR (1978) – I’ve never seen this one and until this list didn’t realize it was a heist film.

11. THIEF (1981) – Thief takes us into a world alien to us civilians.  You can see the groundwork for Heat being developed by Mann.

12. DIE HARD (1988) – A classic.  Until this list, I had never considered Die Hard to be a heist movie but it is.

13. RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) – My favorite Tarantino movie.  

14. HEAT (1995) – Love this one.  I wonder why it didn’t rate higher.

15. BOTTLE ROCKET (1996) – I haven’t see this one.

16. OUT OF SIGHT (1998) – I was surprised by how much I liked this one.  I need to see it again.

17. SEXY BEAST (2000) – I haven’t seen this one.

18. OCEAN’S ELEVEN (2001) – Saw it when it was first released and thought it was ok.

19. INSIDE MAN (2006) – Another movie that I thought was just ok.

20. THE TOWN (2010) – I love The Town and would have rated it much higher.

21. FAST FIVE (2011) – I like the Fast & Furious series but truthfully they all start to run together as they get more and more outlandish.  I still dig ’em though.

22. HELL OR HIGH WATER (2016) – Surprisingly good and doesn’t follow the typical Hollywood format.

23. BABY DRIVER (2017) – What a stylishly unique film.  I can’t wait to see it again… 

24. LOGAN LUCKY (2017) – This was a much better and funnier movie than I expected.

25. WIDOWS (2018) – I haven’t seen it, but wouldn’t mind doing so.

Click over to Matthew Jackson’s The 25 Greatest Heist Movies of All Time to see trailers and learn more about each film.

“Run with the Hunted” Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Here are the poster and trailer for Run with the Hunted.  The trailer has left me wanting more!

Oscar, a young boy, commits a noble murder and is forced to run away from his rural hometown, leaving behind his best friend, Loux. Fifteen years later, he has forgotten his past and become the leader of a band of lost children. Loux takes it upon herself to find the boy who saved her life. Directed by John Swab.

Trailer provided by Vertical Entertainment for promotional use only.

The MGM 31 Day Movie Challenge

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I saw the MGM 31 Day Movie Challenge and thought it would be fun to play along.  Except for days that ask for a very specific movie I’m going to use favorite films that are great but less likely to be chosen.  Here we go…

  • Day 1:  Movie I’ve watched the most – Rocky.  No surprise there.  Also in the running would be some other Stallone films, Enter the Dragon with John Wick and World War Z offering some newer challenges to the throne of most watched.
  • Day 2: Movie that makes me cry – Saving Private Ryan.  When old man Ryan asks if he is a good man something always seems to get in my eye.
  • Day 3: Movie that make me laugh – Steamboat Bill, Jr.  Made over 90 years ago by the great Buster Keaton.  It’s a silent film that still resonates.
  • Day 4: Movie with a number in the title – District B13 (2004).  A little known action film with tons of parkour and fun.
  • Day 5: Movie with a teacher – Rope directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Two college men host a dinner party with their murder victim hidden in the same room. James Stewart stars.
  • Day 6: Movie from the 90s – Last of the Mohicans.  I’ve been wanting to watch this again… now even more!
  • Day 7: Favorite musical – The Wizard of Oz!  Musicals aren’t my favorite genre, but The Wizard of Oz is one of my all-time favorite movies.
  • Day 8: Movie from the 80s – Nighthawks.  Sly Stallone is ahead of the curve with a buddy movie about terrorism in the United States.  At the time a lot of folks thought and said, “That could never happen here.”
  • Day 9: Movie with a person’s name in the title – Rambo.   Stallone returns to the character with one of the best films of the series.
  • Day 10: Movie that reminds you of your mom – Conan, the Barbarian.  My wife and I took my mom to see it and she spent the last half of the movie in the lobby.  She hated it.
  • Day 11:  Movie with a color in the title – Black Rain.  Another under-rated film.
  •  Day 12: Your favorite Rom-Com – The Apartment.  I’m not a huge Jack Lemmon or Shirley MacLaine fan, but they are perfect in The Apartment.
  • Day 13: Movie from the year I was born – Elevator to the Gallows.  A man murders his boss who is also the husband of his mistress.  Unexpected events lead the police to his trail…
  • Day 14: Your favorite horror flick – Night of the Living Dead.  George Romero’s movie’s impact is felt to this day.
  • Day 15: A  movie from the 70s – Enter the Dragon.  The best Bruce Lee and martial arts movie of all-time.  Pure perfection.
  • Day 16: Your favorite movie to quote: Rocky Balboa.  “Life ain’t all sunshine and roses… It’s not how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can be hit and…”
  • Day 17: Movie from the 60’s – Requiem for a Heavyweight.  One of the best boxing movies of all time.  Written by Rod Serling, directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney.
  • Day 18: Film based on a book – To Kill a Mockingbird.  Classic book and classic movie.
  • Day 19: Favorite Action/Adventure movie: Since I’ve listed Enter the Dragon, Rocky and Rambo and because John Wick is an obvious choice, I’m going with The Adventures of Robin Hood directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn in his greatest role.
  • Day 20: Favorite comedy – The Great Race.  I’ve come to love this movie more with every viewing! (Maybe I’m more of a Jack Lemmon fan than I knew.)
  • Day 21: First movie I saw in a theater – It may have been Goldfinger, Help! or Mary Poppins.
  • Day 22:  Movie that stars my favorite actor or actress – Cop Land.  Sly held his own with Deniro, Keitel and Liotta.
  • Day 23: Favorite cult classic – From Dusk Till Dawn.  I love this film!
  • Day 24: Favorite film series – Rocky.  No surprise there.
  • Day 25: Favorite remake – Dawn of the Dead directed by Zack Snyder.
  • Day 26: Favorite Holiday Movie – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. (Yeah, I love A Christmas Story, too.)
  • Day 27: Movie with the Best Soundtrack – Sharkey’s Machine directed and starring Burt Reynolds.  More folks should give that soundtrack a play.
  • Day 28: Movie made by my Favorite Director – Paradise Alley directed by Sylvester Stallone.  His first directorial effort and it is under-rated.
  • Day 29: Favorite Animated movie – The Incredibles.
  • Day 30: Favorite Childhood movie – The original Planet of the Apes!
  • Day 31: Movie that starts with the first letter of your name: Cabin in the Sky.  Made in 1943 with an all black cast and it is amazing.  One of my all-time favorites.

“The Last Days of American Crime” Trailer is Here! (Plus the 17 Year Journey to Make It)

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Below we have the trailer to The Last Days of American Crime.  If the title sounds familiar it could be because I’ve been talking about The Last Days of American Crime for almost 17 years.  Yep, 17 years.  I’ll explain after the trailer.

As a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. Graham Bricke (Édgar Ramírez), a career criminal who was never able to hit the big score, teams up with famous gangster progeny Kevin Cash (Michael Pitt), and black market hacker Shelby Dupree (Anna Brewster), to commit the heist of the century and the last crime in American history before the signal goes off. Based on the Radical Publishing graphic novel created by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini, The Last Days of American Crime is directed by Olivier Megaton, written by Karl Gajdusek, produced by Jesse Berger, p.g.a., Jason Michael Berman, p.g.a., and Barry Levine, with Sharlto Copley also co-starring.

Watch The Last Days of American Crime on Netflix June 5

Okay.  Let me tell you about those 17 years…

Way back in November of 2003, I posted Meet Rick Remender.  Rick was a comic writer and artist I met through my buddy, John Beatty.  John was inking Rick’s pencils on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Rick also had an idea for a comic mini-series he called The Last Days of American Crime.  I loved the art, title and idea for the story.

In 2007, I met Rick at HeroesCon.  Not only did I get hang with him for a bit, Rick also did a Stallone sketch for my collection.  Rick said that The Last Days of American Crime was still in the works. Rick had so many projects going (Fear Agent, Sea of Red, and Strange Girl just to name three) that I had started to think that he’d never get to it.


In March of 2009, I posted the art above and the news that  “The Last Days of American Crime” would premiere later that year in a three issue [48 pages each] mini-series with art by Greg Tocchini.  Yea!  The wait was nearly over.  And how about Greg Tocchini’s art!

In April 2009, we got a look at Tocchini’s The Last Days of American Crime preview cover made for Comic-Con.

In August 2009, CBR.com ran a 17 page preview of The Last Days of American Crime.

In September 2009, CBR.com gave us another preview.  The anticipation was building…

In November 2009, the news was Sam Worthington had signed on to produce and star in a big screen adaptation of Rick Remender’s The Last Days of American Crime.  Wow!  We’d probably see The Last Days of American Crime movie in a year or so, right?

In December 2009, we got another preview of The Last Days of American Crime mini-series.

In September 2010, I posted The Not So Last Days of American Crime. Rick had announced that he had ideas for more tales set in the same The Last Days of American Crime universe!

And now nearly 17 years after that first post and almost ten years after my final post about The Last Days of American Crime we have a trailer for the movie.  How long until someone starts calling Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini overnight sensations?

“Darkness Falls” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Above we have the Darkness Falls poster.  Below we have the trailer and in between we have the synopsis.  I like their twist on the serial killer genre.

After his wife’s suicide, Detective Jeff Anderson becomes convinced that she has been murdered. Obsessed with his investigation, he finds out that his wife was the victim of a team of father-and-son serial killers and sets out to stop them.

Directed by: Julien Seri
Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Gary Cole, Daniella Alonso

Russell Crowe is “Unhinged” – We have the Trailer to Prove It!

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Russell Crowe is Unhinged and we have the trailer to prove it!

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe stars in Unhinged, a timely psychological thriller that explores the fragile balance of a society pushed to the edge, taking something we’ve all experienced- road rage – to an unpredictable and terrifying conclusion. Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is running late to work when she has an altercation at a traffic light with a stranger (Crowe) whose life has left him feeling powerless and invisible. Soon, Rachel finds herself and everyone she loves the target of a man who decides to make one last mark upon the world by teaching her a series of deadly lessons. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse that proves you never know just how close you are to someone who is about to become unhinged.