Category: Crime

“Spenser Confidential” / Z-View

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Spenser Confidential (2020)

Director: Peter Berg

Screenplay: Sean O’Keefe & Brian Helgeland based on characters created by Robert B. Parker and the novel by Ace Atkins

Stars:  Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Maron, Donald Cerrone  and Post Malone.

The Pitch: “Let’s turn Ace Akins’ Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novel into a movie!”

Tagline: The Law Has Limits. They Don’t.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you’re not a fan of Robert B. Parker and Ace Atkins Spenser characters there’s an outside chance you may like Spenser Confidential.  If you are a fan of the books, my guess is that you’ll hate this movie.  That’s because not a single character goes unchanged to something fundamentally different from the novels.

Spenser goes from an intelligent, wisecracking ex-cop to a less than stellar (IQ-wise) ex-con who aspires to be a trucker.  In the novels, Susan is a Harvard-educated, calm, supporting soul mate to Spenser.  In the movie she becomes a foul-mouthed, crazy girlfriend that Spenser works to avoid until he needs sex or help with the “case”.  In the novels Hawk starts out as a respected rival who works on the fringes of the law and ultimately becomes Spenser’s best friend (outside of Susan).  In the movie Hawk is a big, nerdy, untrained lug who dreams of being a MMA Champion who is forced to be Spenser’s roommate.

Peter Berg is usually a director that makes fun movies.  Not here.  Brian Helgeland wrote the screenplays for LA Confidential, Payback, Mystic River, and Man on Fire.  Spenser Confidential isn’t in the same ballpark… not even the same continent.

You may be thinking that if I wasn’t such a big fan of Parker and Atkins’ Spenser novels I would have liked Spenser Confidential better.  Perhaps I would have liked it a bit more… but not much.

Rating:

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

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On August 4, 2020, Dark Horse Comics is releasing Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics…

…Featuring stories by Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and many more of crime comics’ top talent!

Murder, passion, and criminal enterprise are presented here at their darkest, directly from the most talented writers and artists in crime comics!

In these thirteen pitch-black noir stories, you’ll find deadly conmen and embittered detectives converging on femme fatales and accidental murderers, all presented in sharp black and white by masters of the craft.

If Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics sounds like something you’d like, I’ll be you know what to do.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner

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Matt Wagner not only draws a great Batman, but has also created many great Batman stories.  Come this June, DC Comics is releasing Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner with a bunch of them.

Matt Wagner’s prolific run on Batman is collected in one place for the first time ever. From a mad scientist who has created a race of giant monster men to do his bidding, to Batman encountering sinister machinations and new dimensions of wickedness as he confronts the hooded menace of the Mad Monk, there’s plenty of horror and action!

Collects issues Batman #626-641 and #54 (2016), Batman and the Monster Men #1-6, Batman Black and White #3, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #28-30, Batman: The Mad Monk #1-6, Detective Comics #647-649, Robin II: Joker’s Wild #1 and Batman: Riddler — The Riddle Factory.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner is available for pre-order now!

The “Ozark” Recap Trailer is Here!

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If you haven’t watched Ozark, you might want to give it a try.  Season 3 is coming, but below is a trailer to give you a taste.

Official Recap for Ozark Season 2. The Byrde family drama ramps up as their money laundering operation in the Ozarks region grows more powerful and complex, drawing them further into the criminal world. Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Julia Garner return to their roles for Ozark Season 3, arriving on Netflix March 27, 2020.

Robert B. Parker’s Someone to Watch Over Me (Spenser) by Ace Atkins

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They’ve announced the next Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novel.  It’ll be called Someone to Watch Over Me and Ace Atkins will again (yea!) be the writer.

In this next thriller in the New York Times bestselling Parker series, Spenser and his new apprentice trace the murder of a young woman to an international crime ring that has been operating with impunity because of the powerful and highly connected billionaire at its helm.

Ten years ago, Spenser helped a teenage girl named Mattie Sullivan find her mother’s killer and take down an infamous Southie crime boss. Now Mattie–a college student with a side job working for the iconic private eye–dreams of being an investigator herself. When Mattie’s childhood friend from the South Boston housing projects, Chloe Turner, is found dead, she decides to take on the case for the family. Taking a cue from her boss, Mattie has a knack for asking the right questions to the wrong people.

Soon, Spenser and Mattie find ties between Turner and dozens of other girls from poor families to an eccentric billionaire with a massive home along Commonwealth Avenue. The man owns properties and business throughout the Massachusetts with connections to local politicians, the state house, and beyond. As a bleak winter bears down on Boston, Spenser and trusted ally Hawk must again watch out for Mattie as she unravels a massive sex trafficking ring that will take them from Boston to the Bahamas, crossing paths with local toughs and an old enemy of Spenser’s–The Gray Man–for a final epic showdown.

Anything Atkins writes is worth getting — never read a clunker by him yet — and his Spenser novels are more than worthy successors to Parker.  Robert B. Parker’s Someone to Watch Over Me (Spenser) by Ace Atkins is available for pre-order now and drops on November 17, 2020.

The Poster and Trailer for “The Quarry” Starring Shea Wigham and Michael Shannon!

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Here is the poster and trailer for The Quarry.  The poster is okay, I like the trailer more.  The Quarry looks like a winner.

From the novel by Damon Galgut comes this searing thriller, a tale of sin and redemption set in the wilds of Texas. After murdering a traveling preacher, a fugitive drifter (Shea Whigham, Joker) travels to a small town and poses as the man he killed. Though the congregation loves the drifter’s sermons of forgiveness, the local police chief (Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon, The Shape of Water) is suspicious of the man. Soon a gruesome discovery at a local quarry forces the killer to fight for his freedom.

Two Posters and a Trailer for “Arkansas” Starring Vince Vaughn, Liam Hensworth and Many Others!

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Here are two posters and a trailer for Arkansas.  I like both posters – love the Arkansas logo with the skull –  and the clever tag line “Kyle and Swin are working their way to the top… but the top has other plans.”  The trailer shows how quirky Arkansas will be.  The question is will it be too quirky?

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition – Last Call

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If like me, you’re a Darwyn Cooke fan… and if like me, you’re a Richard Stark fan, and if like me, you already own or have pre-ordered  Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition, then you’re going to love this post.

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition – Last Call has been announced for a September 29, 2020 release!  This oversized edition will contain…

Features more than 100 pieces of never-before-seen Parker art by Darwyn Cooke; a round table talk with Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Bruce Timm, and Scott Dunbier on Parker and Cooke; and a brand-new 17-page story by multiple Eisner Award-winning creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

Darwyn Cooke crafted four universally acclaimed Parker graphic novels, adapted from the works of Richard Stark (A pseudonym for Donald Westlake), before his untimely death. This volume will be (along with the Martini Edition) the last word on Cooke’s brilliant Parker stories.

This edition is a loving tribute to the legacy of Darwyn Cooke and Parker.

If like me, then today you’re going to pre-order Richard Stark’s Parker: The Martini Edition – Last Call and count down the minutes until its release.

50 Must-Read Noir Detective Novels!

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Over at B&N Reads, Jeff Somers posted his list for The 50 Must-Read Noir Detective Novels.  I’ve read half of the books on Somers’ list and if the other books are just as good, Somers has picked nothing but winners.

I’d be interested in how many you’ve read and if you’d add any that Somers missed.

Speaking of Jeff Somers, I recommend his Avery Cates series to anyone who likes hardboiled sci-fi.

The “Ozark: Season 3” Trailer is Here!

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What a great day for trailers!  Here’s the Official Trailer for Ozark Season 3.

Official Trailer for Ozark Season 3. All new episodes arrive on Netflix March 27, 2020. They are all in. The Byrdes are back in business and the stakes have never been higher. As tensions mount surrounding their new casino, The Missouri Belle, Marty and Wendy struggle to balance their family’s safety with the growing success of their money laundering empire.