Category: Crime

Jim Cornette Presents Behind the Curtain: Real Pro Wrestling Stories

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I’m really enjoying the Dark Side of the Ring series airing on Viceland.  Three episodes in and I remain impressed.  The series interviews the wrestlers, referees and behind-the-scenes folks that were actually involved in the events that each episode covers.  If you have any interest in the business of old school professional wrestling, then The Dark Side of the Ring is worth checking out.

If you’ve read this far, you also might be interested in Jim Cornette Presents Behind the Curtain: Real Pro Wrestling Stories.  Written by Cornette with an assist from Brandon Easton and art by Denis Medri,  Jim Cornette Presents Behind the Curtain: Real Pro Wrestling Stories is…

A true-story style anthology, these insider tales will show the lengths that wrestlers went to uphold “kayfabe” (the old carny term for the presentation of legitimate conflict) as well as the noteworthy cultural, racial, and economic effects these events and characters had on society. This is the graphic novel that old school wrestling fans have been waiting their entire lives for: a no-holds-barred representation of the moments that wrestling insiders couldn’t talk about for years.

Featuring appearances by Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, Andy Kaufman, Sputnik Monroe, The Sheik, Junkyard Dog, the Fabulous Freebirds, the Midnight Express, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels.

Behind the Curtain – Real Pro Wrestling Stories present three chapters of tales, personally curated by Cornette and adapted by Brandon Easton (M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) and Denis Medri (Red Hood/Arsenal), the award-winning team behind Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven.

Jim Cornette Presents: Behind the Curtain – Real Pro Wrestling Stories drops on August 6, 2019 and is available for pre-order now.

 

“L.A. Confidential” Gets the Cinephilia & Beyond Treatment

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L.A. Confidential is a great film and in The Sunny, Seedy ’50’s Underbelly of Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential it gets the Cinephilia and Beyond treatment.  Click over and you’ll get…

  • A larger version of  Vlad Rodriguez’s L.A. Confidential poster
  • L.A. Confidential screenplay
  • Brian Helgeland: Screenwriters Lecture (Video)
  • L.A. Confidential audio interview with James Ellroy & Curtis Hanson
  • L.A. Confidential: Off the Record – Behind the Scenes Video
  • Rare behind-the-scenes photos
  • and much more!

John Wick, Volume 1 is Available for Pre-Order Now

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John Wick fans will probably want to add this hardcover collection prequel to their libraries.  Written by Greg Pak with art by Giovanni Valletta, John Wick Volume 1‘s synopsis follows…

When a young John Wick embarks upon an epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the rules that guide their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And why is John Wick seeking vengeance?

John Wick, Volume 1 is a hard cover that is available for pre-order now and ships May 7th.

The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler / Z-View

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The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler

Hardcover: 401 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

First sentence…

That was the dirty little secret of 9/11, he thought.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When sex crimes detective, Livia Lone uncovers a child pornography ring with ties to government officials and a cover-up by the FBI, she becomes a target.  Barely avoiding assassination by a two person hit team, Lone reaches out to Dox, a mercenary and former Marine sniper.  When a second attack on Livia is thwarted, Dox contacts his former team:  John Rain, Rain’s ex-lover Delilah, black ops soldiers Ben Treven, Daniel Larison, and Colonel Scot “Hort” Horton.

Eisler is not only an excellent writer but his experience in a covert position for the CIA and black belt in judo provide authenticity to the action scenes.  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.

The Killer Collective is an intelligent action novel that entertains.

Rating:

Quentin Tarantino Takes a Second Look at “Escape from Alcatraz”

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Quentin Tarantino’s first line had me hooked…

Escape from Alcatraz, a film I didn’t like when it came out…

Why was Tarantino writing about a film he didn’t like?  Sure, it starred Clint Eastwood and was directed by Don Siegel, but Tarantino didn’t like it and it wasn’t one of my favorite Eastwood films either.

Ah, but when Tarantino revisited it a few years ago, he gained a greater appreciation for it.

Ok Quentin, tell me more.

And he does in his overview of Escape from Alcatraz.  If you click over and read it, you’ll not only get the backstory of Escape from Alcatraz, you’ll also learn about the connection to Charles Bronson, Burt Reynolds and more.  It’s an interesting read and has made me want to re-visit Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz.  Maybe I’ll like it as much on review as Quentin Tarantino.