Category: Crime

Diablerie by Walter Mosley (2007) / Z-View

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Diablerie by Walter Mosley (2008)

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

First sentence…

The apartment reeked from the acrid odor of roaches – a whole colony, tens of thousands of them, seething and unseen in the walls and under the dull, splintery floorboards of the vacant apartment.

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Ben Dibbuk is a middle aged computer programmer with a successful wife and a daughter headed to college.  Life should be great… but it’s not.  His wife has become distant and may have a lover which would only be fair since Ben has a young mistress.  Ben knows that he’s at a crossroads and needs to sort things out.

That becomes more complicated when a woman from his past approaches him with the knowledge that years ago he killed a man in a drunken stupor.  Ben is a recovering alcoholic and remembers much of what the woman tells him but not the murder.  Did he kill a man?  Why is the woman approaching him now?  And why is his wife having him investigated?

Craig says: While Mosley is probably incapable of writing a bad book, Diablerie isn’t in the same league as his Easy Rawlins novels.  I enjoyed the story but didn’t hate to see it end.  Be aware that this is one of Mosley’s “erotic” novels.

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Night Monster (1942) / Z-View

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Night Monster (1942)

Director: Ford Beebe

Screenplay: Clarence Upson Young

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Leif Erickson and Irene Hervey.

The Pitch: “How can we go wrong with people stranded in an old, creepy house with mysterious murders?”

Tagline: “NIGHT MONSTER with Mystery’s Greatest Thrill Team: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Dr. King [Atwill] gets three doctors out to his secluded, remote mansion under false pretenses.  King has been left paralyzed and blames the doctors he invited.  Dr. Lynn Harper  [Hervey] is also there but for another reason.  When one-by-one doctors begin turning up strangled, Harper and her new friend, Don, must figure out who is doing the killing and how they’re able to do it before they become the next victims.

Craig says: This one just didn’t work well for me.  Low on humor, suspense and when all is said and done, not that convincing of a killer aka Night Monster.  It was fun seeing Leif Erickson at such a young age.  It seemed to me that Bela was there just to throw suspicion his way.  I may be in the minority on this one…

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Heist (2015) / Z-View

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Heist (2015)

Director: Scott Mann

Screenplay: Stephen C. Sepher

Stars: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Robert De Niro, Gina Carano, Dave Bautista, Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut and D.B. Sweeney. 

The Pitch: “Oceans 11 meets Speed.”
Tagline: “Never make a bet you can’t afford to lose.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Vaughn [Morgan] is a dealer in his old crime partner’s casino.  They separated ways when Vaughn went straight.  Now his old buddy [Deniro] is an infamous gangster known as The Pope.

When The Pope refuses to loan Vaughn enough money for a life-saving treatment for Vaughn’s daughter, Vaughn risks it all by joining in on a robbery of The Pope’s casino.  Things go from bad to worse when Vaughn and crew find themselves trapped on a bus with The Pope’s crew and the cops hot on their trail.

Craig says:  Excellent cast in a throwback action movie with a couple of nice twists.

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Blood Ties (2013) / Z-View

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Blood Ties (2013)

Director: Guillaume Canet

Screenplay: Guillaume Canet & James Gray 

Stars: Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup,  Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, James Caan and Noah Emmerich.

The Pitch: “How about a gritty crime movie set in the 70’s — one brother’s a cop and the other is an ex-con?”

Tagline: “Crime runs in the family.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Chris (Owen) is a recently released ex-con who’d been in for murder.  Frank (Crudup), his brother is a New York City detective who places his job on the line to help Chris make a new start.

Chris gives it a go, but soon enough circumstances have him involved in crimes that will place him at odds with his brother (who has another man out to kill him).

An excellent cast in a gritty crime story set in the 1970’s.  What’s not to like?

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Ace Atkins & Marco Finnegan: Last Fair Deal Gone Down Interview!

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Ace Atkins [writer] and Marco Finnegan [artist] the team behind the graphic novel Last Fair Deal Gone Down recently were interviewed by Alex Dueben for The Beat.

Last Fair Deal Gone Down…

It’s Christmas in New Orleans. For many, it’s the best season of the year. But instead of spending time with the people he cares about, Nick Travers is searching for the killer of his friend, Fats, one of the best saxophone players you could find in the Crescent City. At first it appears that Fats took his own life, but Nick quickly discovers that the saxophone is missing from Fats’ apartment and he hits the streets to track it down. He soon learns that there is more to the story than a simple suicide, and the woman who Fats had been paying to keep him company may hold the answers.

Last Fair Deal Gone Down will be the first in a series of Nick Travers graphic novel adaptations from 12-Gauge Comics― introducing the character and his stories to a brand new audience.

Preview of Moonshine by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso

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Moonshine by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso the creative team behind the award-winning series 100 Bullets is…

Set during Prohibition, and deep in the backwoods of Appalachia, MOONSHINE #1 tells the story of Lou Pirlo, a city-slick “torpedo” sent from New York City to negotiate a deal with the best moonshiner in West Virginia, one Hiram Holt. What Lou doesn’t figure on is that Holt is just as cunning and ruthless as any NYC crime boss. Because not only will Holt do anything to protect his illicit booze operation, he’ll stop at nothing to protect a much darker family secret…a bloody, supernatural secret that must never see the light of day… or better still, the light of the full moon. MOONSHINE #1 marks the first time AZZARELLO and RISSO have worked together for Image Comics and reunites the Eisner Award winning creative team that defined modern crime comics with 100 Bullets… and now puts a horror-twist on a classic gangster tale.

Moonshine is for mature audiences due to violence and language.  If you meet those qualifications, CBR.com has a five page preview of things to come.

The Lineup (1958) / Z-View

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The Lineup (1958)

Director: Don Siegal

Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant

Stars: Eli Wallach, Robert Keith and Richard Jaeckel.

The Pitch: “Hey, if it works on tv…?”

Tagline: “The Manhunt They Had To Put on the Giant-Sized Movie Theatre Screen!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A criminal organization gets heroin into the US by hiding it in tourists’ luggage (without the tourists’ knowlege).  A psycho hitman and his partner then retrieve the heroin (by whatever force needed).

Two police detectives investigating a murder discover what is going on.  As the bodies pile up they learn that a woman and her little daughter are next on the psycho’s list!

I was expecting a lot more than a by-the-numbers police procedural from director, Don [Dirty Harry] Siegal, writer and Sterling [Route 66] Silliphant.  There’s a lot of potential here but only Eli Wallach rises above the material given. 

Perhaps my rating is a bit tough because I was expecting so much more.

 

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A First Look at the Training Day TV Series!

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I’m a huge fan of the original Training Day movie and I think the Training Day series has a lot of potential.

Based on the hit feature film, this crime thriller begins 15 years later when an idealistic young police officer is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD and he is partnered with a seasoned yet morally ambiguous detective. Starring Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell, Training Day. Coming soon to CBS.

Spectre (2015) / Z-View

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Spectre (2015)

Director: Sam Mendes

Screenplay: John Logan and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth based on character created by Ian Fleming

Stars: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Dave Bautista.

The Pitch: “Hey, I’ve got an idea on a new James Bond movie!”

Tagline: “The dead are alive”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bond [Craig] discovers SPECTRE, a mysterious worldwide organization behind many terrorist activities. As Bond follows clues in the field, the new head of National Security in England has decided to shut down the MI6 division of National Security.  Bond is alone and without backup when SPECTRE turns their sights to Bond.

I really like Daniel Craig as Bond and much of Spectre was fun, but I found myself wanting more — more from the opening action sequence and more from the main fight between Craig and Batista.  Perhaps Casino Royale just set the bar too high…

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Takers (2010) / Z-View

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Takers (2010)

Director: John Luessenhop

Screenplay: Peter Allen & Gabriel Casseus and John Luessenhop & Avery Duff

Stars: Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Michael Ealy, Idris Elba, Paul Wakler and Zoe Saldana.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a movie about a pair of cops after a gang of thieves and will put in two twists at the end!”

Tagline: “Everyone’s after something.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A very successful group of thieves finds a huge score suddenly placed before them by a team member who just go out of prison.  The short time for prep before the score is going to be as much of an issue as the pair of cops that they don’t know are on their trail.

There are a couple of nice twists near the end of the film.

 

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“Sicario 2” is “Sicario” on “Steroids”

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Sicario was one of the best movies in recent memory.  Naturally, a sequel is planned with Taylor Sheridan returning to write the screenplay which will focus Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) and Matt Graver (Josh Brolin).

To read more about Sicario 2 and how Taylor Sheridan describes it check out Jack Giroux’s “Sicario” Screenwriter Says the Sequel Is The First Movie on “Steroids” at /Film.

The Courier (2012) / Z-View

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The Courier (2012)

Director: Hany Abu-Assad

Screenplay: Brannon Coombs, Pete Dris

Stars: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Josie Ho, Til Schweiger, Miguel Ferrer, Lili Taylor, Mark Margolis and Mickey Rourke.

The Pitch: “I’ve got an idea for a new ‘Transporter’ movie!”

Tagline: “He delivers”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A transporter courier is hired to deliver a briefcase containing who knows what.  He’ll be paid a million dollars if he meets the deadline.  If he is late his family will be killed.

I’m a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan and The Courier starts out fun enough with a girl held at gunpoint on a plank from the top of a roller coaster.  The clock is clicking down — will the courier get the money there in time.

I won’t spoil it for you but after that intro we’re off and running (the clock is ticking again after all).  Great cast and a fun movie right up until the very end.  Things seem rushed and convoluted as the movie comes to a close.  Mickey Rourke has a glorified cameo.

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