When Colonel Scott “Hort” Horton reaches out to John Rain, Rain knows things are bad. Horton has learned of a plan to overthrow the United States government. In order to stop the coup, Horton wants Rain to team with three other assassins and take out the three high level government officials behind the plan.
The complexity of multiple hits, coupled with the big payday offered convinces Rain to team with a former friend and two talented, but unknown killers provided by Horton. Things go sideways and the new team is betrayed. Rain doesn’t know who he can trust. As the clock ticks down, the four assassins must figure out who the traitor is and still find a way to effectively end the coup.
Eisler is an excellent writer with skills enhanced by his experience in a covert position for the CIA and a black belt in judo. He’s especially good at bringing out the underlying tension when a group of mercenaries are brought together under circumstances where any one (or more of them) may be secretly part of the group they are working to bring down.
I’m diggin’ everything about the poster and trailer for Briarpatch. I hope the series is as good.
BRIARPATCH follows Allegra Dill (Dawson), a dogged investigator returning to her border-town Texas home after her sister is murdered. What begins as a search for a killer turns into an all-consuming fight to bring her corrupt hometown to its knees. The season celebrates the beloved genres represented by Thomas’ book — a stylish blend of crime and pulp fiction — while updating his sense of fun, danger and place for a new generation.
The season also stars Jay R. Ferguson (Mad Men, The Romanoffs), Brian Geraghty (Chicago P.D., Ray Donovan), and Edi Gathegi (StartUp). The first season will shoot in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
VFW, directed by Joe Begos and staring Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, Sierra McCormick and David Patrick Kelly is like something you’d see at a drive-in back in the day. And you know how much I loved drive-ins.
VFW looks like Assault on Precinct 13 meets The Wild Bunch. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?
Stallone fans are going to love this: Eye See You is getting a special edition Blu-ray release from MVD Collector’s Brands. What makes this release especially special is that in addition to the theatrical Eye See You release, the disc will also contain director Jim Gillespie’s cut known as Detox!
From MVD Collector’s Brands’ release (bold text is my doing)…
EYE SEE YOU – Update!
It’s with great pleasure that I am able to report that director Jim Gillespie (the guy that made “I Know What You Did Last Summer”) took time and energy to dig up and locate a copy his original cut of “Eye See You”, known as “Detox” (that’s how it’s spelled on his cut of the film). While I personally have not seen this version yet (it’s being used to author the disc right now), I’m told that it’s a “darker” and more horror-ish in tone (Fincher’s “Seven” was what I think they were going for here) version of the film, which was his original intention before the film was recut, re-titled and changed.
“Detox” is being included on this disc as a bonus feature. It is not in HD. The quality is VHS. It is in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and had time code under the letterbox (see image for reference). We will be reformatting the image for 16 x 9 which should eliminate most (if not all) of the time code. I don’t know what the audio quality is but given the quality of the video I would say manage your expectations accordingly.
We’ve included all of the previous available bonus features and we’ve also adding a new photo gallery (see list of “final” bonus features below). I have also made the decision to create a LIMITED RUN SLIPCOVER for the first pressing (as you know we really don’t do slips for Marquee titles anymore but I’m making an exception for this one) so if you want to guarantee a slipcover, I would suggest pre-ordering this title. After street it’s hit or miss.
I’m really excited to have produced this new “Special Edition” Blu-ray release of ‘Eye See You”. I’ve always considered this to be an underrated title. In my opinion, it’s the closest thing to a horror movie Sylvester Stallone has ever done (at least up til now) and hopefully this alternative cut will finally give everyone a chance to see what director Jim Gillespie had intended.
SURVIVAL IS A KILLER.
A brutal serial killer is targeting cops, and detective Jake Malloy is on the warpath. But now the killer is making it personal, and this dedicated agent is twisted in an emotional nightmare. Time is running out, and so are the options, as Malloy engages in an extreme game of cat-and-mouse with a killer who won’t be stopped.
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
First sentence…
“Whoever said, ‘It never rained in Southern California lied.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Gabby Leggett left her wealthy Boston family and went to Hollywood to become a star. Beautiful, talented and after making a popular commercial Gabby’s star was on the rise.
Then Gabby Leggett disappeared.
Spenser is hired by Gabby’s family to find her. In Hollywood the suspects include 1) Gabby’s ex-lover (and her current agent), 2) a powerful womanizing movie producer, 3) a “self-help” sisterhood some would call a cult led by an ex-con scam artist and 4) Armenian gangsters. Spenser does what he does best, irritating all suspects until his life is threatened. Then things get even more interesting. Gabby may or may not be dead, but many are going to die before Spenser finds out.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are coming back strong with a new graphic novel titled Pulp.
Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at 5 cents a word – tales of a wild west outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same, when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from his past?
One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, PULP is unlike anything the award-winning team of BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS have ever done. A celebration of pulp fiction, set in a world on the brink. And another must-have hardback from one of comics most-acclaimed teams.
Last of the Independents by Matt Fraction (Writer) and Kieron Dwyer (Artist) was first published nearly 20 years ago. Here’s part of what I said when I reviewed it back in 2007:
Last of the Independents is Fraction’s love letter to the creators and fans of the movie “Charley Varrick”. Like in the movie, a middle aged guy and his crew knock off a small town bank only to discover it’s mob money that they’ve stolen. There are other similarities, but never does this feel like anything more than a tip of the fedora to a movie, a genre and an era that had an enormous impact on crime fiction fans. Fraction’s story and script are first rate. He drops us in as the bank is being robbed and introduces us to the main characters quickly without wordy exposition. In fact, he often lets Kieron Dwyer’s art tell the tale. Dwyer’s art is perfect for the graphic novel. [I’ve been a fan of his work for some time and hope to someday see a piece by him in my Stallone Gallery.] Last of the Independents rates an “A”.
On May 26, 2020, Last of the Independents will get a new hard cover printing! It has already received my highest recommendation, so if this sounds like something you’d like, jump on board.
Collin Schlicht created this retro Pulp Fiction poster. You can see a larger version by clicking on the photo above. Want to check out more of Collin’s art? Click here to go to his site.
Gerardo Moreno is back, and this time he’s brought with him a potential sequel to Cobra starring Sylvester Stallone. Not only do I dig the poster but props also to Moreno for his suggested title, Angel of the City: Cobra II.
Screenplay: Steve Zallian based on the book by Charles Brandt
Stars: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, and Jesse Plemons.
The Pitch: “Martin Scorsese wants to do a new gangster movie!”
Tagline: His story changed history.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
On his deathbed in 2003, Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a former bodyguard and alleged mob hitman confessed to a killing that if true would resolve a mystery that has remained unsolved for decades. Sheeran’s confessions (of that murder and more) became the basis of I Heard You Paint Houses: The Inside Story of the Mobsters, the Teamsters & the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa by Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran and Charles Brandt. That book became the inspiration for The Irishman.
The Irishman re-teams Scorsese, De Niro, and Pesci, then adds Pacino for good measure. De Niro plays Sheeran who accidentally meets and becomes friends with mobster, Russell Bufalino (Pesci). As the years pass Sheeran works his way into Bufalono’s inner circle because of his willingness to take care of business. Sheeran’s choices take him down a road that leads inevitably to the loss of his family, friends and the betrayal of those he cares about.
The Irishman is getting almost universal praise. It should. Scorsese is in top form and gets the best performances from De Niro and Pacino that we’ve seen in years. Pesci gives his best performance ever. Pesci deserves all of the awards he’ll receive for this role. I was worried that Pacino would be too over the top for his role as Hoffa, but he reined it in and pulled it off.
Now to the two nits, many are picking: 1) The de-aging CGI and 2) the length of The Irishman.
I’ll admit that at first the CGI is distracting. As the film went on it became less so. Scorsese has said that a lot of attention was paid in the de-aging scenes to make sure the main actors (all 70+) moved age appropriately for their scenes. (“Uh, Al, let’s do that again. Remember when you’re getting out of the chair in this scene, you’re 45.”) There were a couple of scenes where the faces look younger but the body movements don’t have the same snap as a younger man. Minor distractions in my opinion, but some folks are complaining big time so your mileage may vary.
The second nit some are picking is the length of The Irishman which clocks in at 3 hours and 29 minutes making it the longest movie Scorsese has directed, and reportedly the longest mainstream film released in decades. I thought the film moved at the right pace. I was never bored. I never checked my watch. It didn’t feel like a three hour plus movie. Again your mileage may vary.
3. Boorman acknowledges that there are theories that Walker (Marvin) is dying from the opening gun shots and simply dreams the rest of the movie. Soderbergh asks his opinion on that argument but also wonders if it even matters. “I don’t think it does, but… what it is is what you see.” [I think this is a cool theory, but no more than that. – Craig]
11. The scene where Walker surprises Lynne, shoots the bed, and then gets information from her was written to have him interrogating her, but when they shot it Marvin chose to stay silent. Acker continued with her side, and Boorman realized the brilliance of Marvin’s choice. “Lee never made suggestions, he would just show you.” They made the alterations and shot it with Lynne providing all of the info responding to his presence rather than his questions. [What a really cool choice on Marvin’s part. He’s supposed to be like this force of nature and his presence alone is able to get Lynne to give up all the details of the double-cross. Well played, Lee Marvin! – Craig]
4. The fractured structure was intended from the start despite it being highly atypical for a studio picture at the time. Marvin actually called a meeting at the studio with the big wigs to confirm that he had final approval over the script, casting, and more. They said yes, and he replied “I defer those approvals to John” and then walked out of the meeting. Boorman adds that once the film was completed the suits watched his cut and immediately began mumbling about re-shoots. It was released as he intended. [Lee Marvin comes across as one of those folks who if they like you, they’ll do anything for ya. If they don’t like you, you’ll know it. A couple other comments support this. – Craig]
Hoyt Silva knocked it out of the park with his swing at John Wick and his pal. Click on the art if you’d like to see a bigger version.
Hoyt is a great artist and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. If you’d like to check out more of Hoyt’s art you can at his Instagram, his Twitter, his Facebook page or you can even become a patreon at his Patreon page.
Sean Murphy (with an assist from Matt Hollingsworth) created one of the best received graphic stories in recent years with Batman: White Knight. Due to it’s critical acclaim and popularity, Batman: White Knight is getting the deluxe treatment…
A Newsweek Best Graphic Novel of the Year. The impossible has happened: The Joker has become a…hero?
The critically acclaimed Batman: White Knight gets a new deluxe treatment. Quickly becoming a classic Batman story, Batman: White Knight follows the transformation of The Joker into a sane citizen of Gotham: Jack Napier. After reconciling with his long-suffering partner, Harley Quinn, he sets in motion a carefully plotted campaign to discredit the one person whom he views as Gotham City’s true enemy: Batman.
Napier’s crusade exposes a decades-long history of corruption within the Gotham City Police Department and transforms Napier into a city councilman and civic hero. But when the sins of his past return to threaten everything that he has accomplished, the distinctions between savior and destroyer begin to break down for both The Joker and Batman alike–and with them any hope for Gotham’s future.
Writer and artist Sean Murphy delivers an extraordinary examination of comics’ greatest antagonists in Batman: White Knight, exploring justice, corruption, activism and the darkest depths of mental illness. Collecting the acclaimed eight-issue miniseries, including sketches and scripts as well as Sean Murphy’s orginal pencils. This stunning graphic novel also marks the debut of the DC Black Label imprint, which features classic DC characters in all-new, standalone stories written and illustrated by world-class authors and artists.
