Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
The fourth installment of Fargo is set in 1950 Kansas City, where two criminal syndicates fighting for a piece of the American dream have struck an uneasy peace. Chris Rock stars as Loy Cannon, the head of the African American crime family who trades sons with the head of the Italian mafia as part of tenuous truce.
The 4th season of Fargo looks like a lot of fun!
They’re all in. Ozark Season 3 returns to Netflix March 27, 2020. Jason Bateman (Marty Byrde), Laura Linney (Wendy Byrde), and Julia Garner (Ruth Langmore) double down on risky decisions to expand their empire in the next chapter of the thrilling crime drama series.
I was surprised at how good Ozark is! Looking forward to season 3!
Jason Copland recently sent out a newsletter update on his crime-scifi-noir graphic novel Full Tilt which stars Massimo Miller. I’ve loved the look of the series from my first reading of the synopsis…
Massimo is the Consigliere for the Chessa Family, a position bestowed upon him by the syndicate’s boss, Russo Chessa. As Consigliere, Massimo acts as advisor and liaison in all matters that pertain to the family business giving him meaningful influence over syndicate affairs. Holding this position of power is all the more remarkable due to the fact that most of Massimo’s life was spent as a slave of a rival crime organization. Chosen for his loyalty and integrity, Massimo is no yes man. He is a heavy smoker, however, much to Russo’s chagrin. Massimo’s preferred brand is Marlboro XXV Kings.
Full Tilt is going to be full of interesting characters such as the gentleman above. You can swing over to Jason’s site and check out more of mugs, thugs and dames that populate his Full Tilt world.
If you’re so inclined (and I hope you are) after seeing preview art for Full Tilt, that you’ll follow Jason on Twitter and sign up for his newsletter. If you’re on the newsletter e-mail list, you’ll get Full Tilt updates with behind the scenes art, process discussions and be entered into drawings for free art. (Congrats to this newsletter’s winner, Juan Albarran.)
As you can guess, I’m going to end this post by suggesting that you follow Jason Copland on Twitter and sign-up for Jason’s newsletter. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
Here’s the poster and trailer for the new Amazon Prime tv series Hunters. Not sure about this one yet, but I will be tuning in to check it out.
Inspired by true events, HUNTERS follows a diverse band of Nazi Hunters in 1977 New York City who discover that hundreds of escaped Nazis are living in America. And so, they do what any bad-ass vigilante squad would do: they set out on a bloody quest for revenge and justice. But they soon discover a far-reaching conspiracy and must race against time to thwart the Nazis’ new genocidal plans.
Below is the season 5 teaser for Better Call Saul which returns Sunday, February 23 on AMC.
Scott Beggs and Mental Floss present 12 Surprising Facts about The Godfather Part II. Here are four (I couldn’t pick just 3!) of my favorite facts presented. Click on the link to read all of the facts and additional details!
3. MARLON BRANDO AND ROBERT DE NIRO ARE THE ONLY ACTORS TO WIN OSCARS FOR PLAYING THE SAME CHARACTER.
6. AN EXTRA HAD THE GUTS TO IMPROVISE AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
11. JAMES CAGNEY TURNED DOWN A ROLE IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
12. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WANTED MARLON BRANDO TO REPRISE HIS ROLE AS THE YOUNGER VERSION OF HIMSELF IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
I love recommending good books. I especially love good books that are bargains. The Lady Killer Library Edition by Jamie Rich (Author), Joelle Jones (Author & Illustrator) qualifies on both counts.
Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother–but she’s also a ruthless killer!
She balances cheerful domestic bliss with coldly efficient assassinations. From the World’s Fair in Seattle to the beaches of Florida, Josie tries to keep her perfect family alive in a bloodstained new vision of the American Dream.
Joelle Jones became an overnight sensation with this gory midcentury series, leading to successful runs on DC’s Catwoman and Batman titles. Now Lady Killer‘s complete story (so far) is together in one oversized hardcover, the perfect showcase for Jones’s phenomenal artwork.
This oversized hardcover collects the original series cowritten by Jones’s longtime collaborator Jamie S. Rich, as well as the followup, which she both wrote and drew solo. Also included are the sketchbooks from both series and previously unpublished art.
Collects Lady Killer TPB volumes 1 & 2.
The Lady Killer Library Edition will become available on May 12, 2020. Pre-orders are being taken now.
Every year there’s a lot of back and forth about Die Hard. It’s a Christmas move. It’s not a Christmas movie. Who really cares? Die Hard is a great movie.
You know what else is great? This Die Hard poster by Tony Stella. Click on the poster to see a Nakatomi Plaza-sized version.
Cut Bank (2014)
Director: Matt Shakman
Screenplay: Roberto Patino
Stars: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, John Malkovich and Michael Stuhlbarg.
The Pitch: “Do you like movies like Blood Simple and Fargo…”
Tagline: Good Folks. Bad Deeds.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Dwayne McLaren dreams of getting out of Cut Bank, a small town with little promise. When McLaren and his girlfriend accidentally video the murder of a postal worker, they may have stumbled on their ticket out. The $100,000 reward money offered by the postal service would be life-changing money.
But all is not as it seems.
The postal worker was set to deliver a parcel that a man is willing to kill to get and perhaps the postal worker’s killing wasn’t a murder at all. Who is scamming who?
Cut Bank features great cast and a story with plenty of twists. I was surprised how good it is. Although I’ve posted the trailer below, I suggest you skip it and go straight to the movie. (Some of the twists are given away in the trailer. Go in cold and enjoy!)
Rating:
Today we have the poster and trailer to Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen staring Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant.
This painting of Sly Stallone as Cobra is just too cool not to share. Click on the art above to see a larger version. Sadly, I don’t know the artist’s name, but if I learn who he/she is, I’ll be sure to post it.
Source: Sergio Pinto in Sylvester Stallone Official Fans Group.
Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery by Walter Mosley
Hardcover: 291 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
First sentence…
“I came half-awake, dead and dreaming.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Still recovering from a near-fatal car accident, Easy Rawlins agrees to find a missing teenager named Evander “Little Green” Noon. Finding Little Green is tough enough, but the real mystery is how did he come into possession of two bags of money covered in blood? There’s also the problem of what can be done about the men out to get the money back and kill those who possess it.
F. Paul Wilson’s popular character Repairman Jack will be appearing in a 120 page graphic novel published by Dynamite Comics in 2020. Wilson will team with artist Antonio Fuso, colorist Pippa Bowland and letterer Crank to produce Repairman Jack: Scar-Lip Redux.
Got a problem? He can fix it. He thought he’d seen the last of the Rakoshi, but one has survived. A particularly cunning and deadly Rakosh known to Jack as Scar-Lip. Now, Jack faces the fights of his life as he seeks to end the creature once and for all, before it ends him!
Source: Bleeding Cool.
Disturbing the Peace staring Guy Pearce has just made my must-see list. I love the look of the poster and trailer. Yeah, deal me in on January 17, 2020.
6 Underground (2019)
Director: Michael Bay
Screenplay: Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Adria Arjona,Corey Hawkins and Dave Franco.
The Pitch: “Michael Bay wants to make an action movie.”
Tagline: They Say No One Can Save The World. Meet No One.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Ryan Reynolds plays a billionaire who recruits folks with special talents to join his team to right wrongs throughout the world. That’s all you really need to know other than the fact that this mission’s goal is to replace an evil dictator with his democracy-loving brother.
Think a low-budget Mission Impossible movie made with a big budget.
The star of the movie isn’t Ryan Reynolds, it’s the action scenes directed by Michael Bay. The movie starts with a 20 minute car chase where we learn the bare bones plot and who the players are. We’re literally off and running with cars, trucks, motorcycles and parkour.
And that’s the opening.
Before 6 Underground is done we’ll have action on roof tops, in pools, hotel rooms, boats, construction sites, the desert, and museums. Bad guys are wiped out in bunches and I’ve never seen a movie where pedestrians are just as likely to be killed as the bad guy’s henchmen.
There are a lot of car wrecks and we all know the analogy — It was like watching a car wreck, I couldn’t look away. Well, that’s a good analogy for 6 Underground, because the action comes so (pardon the expression) fast and furious, you’ll find yourself watching. The movie never slows long enough to become boring before the next action scene is ramping up. So you keep looking… watching the shoot-outs, car chases and fights until the movie ends.
6 Underground is entertaining in the way a roller-coaster is fun – it moves fast, has a few surprises and doesn’t slow down long enough to bore you. When it’s over, you’ll probably say, it was fun but you’ll be ready to move on to the next ride.
Rating:
