Category: Crime

“Cross: Season 2” starring Aldis Hodge and Isaiah Mustafa – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The Poster and Trailer for Cross: Season 2 Are Here!  Loved season one.

Deal me in.

Alex Cross is back for justice.

An all new season of Cross is out February 11 on Prime Video.

About Cross: A Washington, D.C. crime drama that follows Alex Cross, a brilliant homicide detective, whose personal struggles threaten to derail his career and life. Based on the worldwide bestselling book series by James Patterson.

“Road to Paloma” (2014) directed by and starring Jason Mamoa / Z-View

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Road to Paloma (2014)

Director: Jason Momoa

Screenplay: Jason Momoa, Robert Homer Mollohan, Jonathan Hirschbein

Stars: Jason Momoa, Robert Homer Mollohan, Lisa Bonet, Tye Alexander, Henree Alyse, Chris Browning, Charlie Brumbly, Linden Chiles, Timothy V. Murphy, Michael Raymond-James, Tanoai Reed, Steve Reevis, Wes Studi and Lance Henriksen.

Tagline: On the road. On the run.

The Plot…

Robert Wolf has been on the run.  Six months ago Wolf murdered the man who brutally raped and killed his mother.   Now Wolf has returned home to collect his mother’s ashes.  He plans to spread them on land she loved.  But when the FBI closing in, Wolf’s last wish may not be fulfilled.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Road to Paloma  features Jason Mamoa’s debut as a director. He also was the star and the film’s co-writter and co-producer.

Although Jason Mamoa and Lisa Bonet were once married, they weren’t at the time Road to Paloma was made.

Wes Studi and Lance Henriksen have small but welcome roles.

I wanted to like Road to Paloma more than I did.  I liked the story concept and actors involved.  Mamoa shows promise as a director.  My problem was the pacing of the film.  For a man on a mission as well as on the run with the FBI closing in, the film lacked a sense of urgency.  Your mileage may, of course, vary.

Road to Paloma (2014) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“STEAL” starring Sophie Turner – Two Posters and a Trailer are Here! 

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Here we have two posters and a trailer for Steal, a new series that premieres on Prime Video starting January 21st. I like what I’ve seen so far, so deal me in!

Steal is a contemporary, high-octane thriller about the heist of the century and the ordinary office worker, Zara (Sophie Turner), who finds herself at the heart of it. A typical work day at a pension fund investment company, Lochmill Capital, is upended when a gang of violent thieves burst in and force Zara and her best mate Luke (Archie Madekwe) to execute their demands.

But who would steal billions of pounds of ordinary people’s pensions and why? DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) is determined to find out, but as a recently relapsed gambling addict, Rhys must keep his own money problems at bay while dealing with the secret agendas and competing interests at the center of this far-reaching crime.

ANTIHEREO: AN OPRHAN X NOVEL by Greg Hurwitz is Coming!

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There’s a new Greg Hurwitz Orphan X novel that will drop on February 10th.  It’s the 11th in the series and it’s titled ANTIHERO.  Here’s the synopsis…

In the next book in this New York Times best-selling series, Evan Smoak takes on his most complex mission yet―one where he not only has to protect but also avenge, and find a way to balance vengeance with mercy.

Once a black ops assassin for the government known as Orphan X, Evan Smoak broke with the program and went deep underground, using his operational rules and skills to help the truly desperate with nowhere else to turn.

When Luke Devine, one of the most powerful men in the world, has a psychological crisis, Evan flies to the East Coast to help him. While there, he learns of a young woman who was kidnapped off the New York City subway, clearly in danger and in need of aid. With no name and few clues, Evan and his team track down the missing woman, who was assaulted and abandoned. Evan offers his help―and sets out finding the young men responsible. But the woman insists that Evan abandon his usual methods―no vengeance and, in particular, no killing. Which will prove no easy feat given the mounting incoming threats from all sides. In a mission that takes Evan from coast to coast, from the poorest corners of society to the richest, Orphan X must figure out a way to protect the innocent, avenge the victimized, and balance justice with a measure of mercy.

ANTIHERO: AN ORPHAN X NOVEL  Hardcover

ANTIHERO: AN ORPHAN X NOVEL  Kindle

New Trailer for “The Rip” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck & Directed by Joe Carnahan!

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Check out the new trailer for The Rip starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck & Directed by Joe Carnahan.

Deal me in!

Trust has a price… Who will pay?

The Rip is only on Netflix, January 16.

Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno & Kyle Chandler.

Directed by Joe Carnahan.

 

“Security” (2017) starring Antonio Banderas and Ben Kingsley / Z-View

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Security (2017)

Director: Alain DesRochers

Screenplay: Tony Mosher, John Sullivan

Stars: Antonio Banderas, Ben Kingsley, Liam McIntyre, Cung Le, Chad Lindberg, Gabriella Wright, Shari Watson.

Tagline: It’s going to be a long night.

The Plot…

Eddie Deacon, a former US Marine Captain has been out of work for too long.  When Deacon is offered a job as a security guard at a remote mall, he accepts.  There he finds a security detail lead by a cop wanna-be and a team of slackers.  The hardest part of most nights is staying awake.

That all changes late one night when a young girl shows up banging and screaming to get inside.  Deacon brings her in.  The girl is terrified and claims that people are coming to kill her.  A man shows up and says he’s there to bring the girl home.  He’s calm and has answers for every question.  But Deacon senses something is not right.

The man changes tactics.  He offers money for the girl.  When that is refused he says that he has an elite squad of mercenaries that are going to break in, kill everyone  and then take the girl.  Communications to the mall are jammed and the mercenaries are seen prepping to attack.

It’s going to be a long night.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)… 

Lillian Blankenship, in her film debut, plays Antonio Banderas’ daughter.  Later in the same year, she would again play Banderas’ daughter in the film Acts of Vengeance.

Security is a fun, action-packed ride.  Banderas is perfect as the former marine unwilling to give up the child.  Ben Kingsley plays the villain with such calm it’s creepy.  Liam McIntyre’s character has an unexpected arc that he makes work.

If you like action films, then give Security a try.

Security (2017) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Red Eye”: Season 2 – The Trailer is Here!

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The Red Eye: Season 2 trailer is here!

Deal me in!

The conspiracy deepens. The danger rises.

Red Eye returns this New Year as ITV’s hit thriller takes flight once again.

Jing Lusi is back as DS Hana Li, this time forced to team up with Martin Compston’s Clay Brody when a deadly threat traps the US Embassy in lockdown and a British government plane is targeted mid-flight. With lives on the line and trust in short supply, the race to uncover the truth takes Hana deeper into a world of political tension and hidden agendas.

Season 2 also features Lesley Sharp, Jemma Moore, Jonathan Aris, Robert Guilbert, Cash Holland and Steph Lacey, along with new cast members Isaura Barbe-Brown, Nicholas Rowe, Danusia Samal, Trevor White and Guy Williams.

Red Eye is produced by Bad Wolf and written by Peter A Dowling, with Jingan Young contributing one episode. Kieron Hawkes and Camilla Strøm Henriksen direct the six-part series.

FRONT SIGHT: THREE SWAGGER NOVELLAS by Stephen Hunter / Z-View

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FRONT SIGHT: THREE SWAGGER NOVELLAS by Stephen Hunter

City of Meat

First sentence…

Chicago 1934

The bickering got so bad, finally, that the director called both Sam Cowley and Mel Purvis to Washington to talk out the command difficulties in the productive but messed-up Chicago field office of the Justice Department’s glamorous Division of Investigation.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

J. Edgar Hoover is basking in the attention that his Division of Investigation is getting from the capture killing of John Dillinger.  Hoover wants more of the same.  The next big-name gangster Hoover wants to bring down is Baby Face Nelson.  Who better to get the job done, than the man who killed Dillinger?

Not the federal agent who was creditied with doing the deed.  No, Hoover wanted the man who actually pulled the trigger. Charles Swagger.  Swagger was smart.  Equally important he was cool and calm when bullets flew.  And Swagger hit what he aimed at.

So when word reached Washington that Baby Face Nelson was seen around the Chicago Union Stock Yards, Charles Swagger was sent down to investigate.

Alone, in the dark, Swagger is walking the stockyard when he is attacked by a lunatic.  Forced to defend himself, Swagger kills the man.  When the stockyard police arrive, they’re ready to sweep the event under the rug.  A white police office killed a “coon” in self-defense.  Nothing to see here.

So Swagger investigates.  Turns out the man he killed was hopped up on a new drug.  So far it was only found in the  7th District of Chicago.  Although several murders could be tied to people under the influence of the drug, the people killed didn’t rate.  The local cops wrote off the murders as business as usual for the area.

Swagger feels differently.  His investigation shifts.  Swagger plans to find the source of the drug and bring them to justice.  He knows it involves powerful people somehow associated with the stockyard.  He’s getting pressure from local cops and stockyard officals to back off.  His bosses in Washington want results on Baby Face Nelson.

But Swagger won’t quit.  Even if it kills him.

+++

Johnny Tuesday

First sentence…

It was February 1945, and in the cities of America, small or large, town, burg, village, or hamlet, everybody smoked.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Earl Swagger is, like his father Charles, a former soldier and lawman known for his brains, toughness and marksmanship.  Earl’s undercover investigation into a successful bank robbery that resulted in two murders is going nowhere.  His resistance from the local officials indicate the robbery is tied to something bigger than a couple of thugs looking for an easy score.

But what could it be?

Perhaps it’s the money laundering or the gambling ring or the two gangs looking to get on top? Earl knows that he’s being manipulated by a fem fatale.  But to what end?

And what could be worse than being trapped in a remote, deserted house with a cold blooded hitman?

+++

Five Dolls for the Gut Hook

First sentence…

Hot Springs,
Arkansas,
1978

I am improving.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bob Lee Swagger is like his grandfather and father a decorated soldier.  Bob’s war was Viet Nam.  There he was a sniper.  One of the best.  But Bob’s not a lawman.  And since the war, he’s struggled with drinking too much and survivor’s guilt over lost men.

Bob is surprised when he’s approached by an old friend from Hot Springs, Arkansas.  A serial killer has been brutally butchering young women there.  The police are stuck.  No leads.  No progress.  And the murders keep occuring.  Five so far.

Bob is confused.  He’s a sniper, not a detective.  And that’s exactly why they want him.  He’s told, “We need somebody smart who can look at stuff from different angles and maybe see something that our best people have missed… you are the son and grandson of two of the greatest detectives this state has ever produced.”

Bob agrees to assist with the investigation.  They know the killer will strike again soon.  The clock is ticking.

+++

Stephen Hunter’s Swagger novels are automatic buys for me.  I love the family history.  Hunter is an excellent story teller.  FRONT SITE provides three tales and each is a banger.  FRONT SITE gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

“Johnny O’Clock” (1947) starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes and Lee J. Cobb / Z-View

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Johnny O’Clock (1947)

Director: Robert Rossen

Screenplay: Robert Rossen; story by Milton Holmes

Stars: Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch, Thomas Gomez, John Kellogg, Phil Brown, Fred Aldrich and Jeff Chandler.

Tagline: Time Was Running Out For Johnny O’Clock … and so were his women!

The Plot…

Johnny O’Clock runs a casino for gangster Guido Marchettis.  Johnny is everything that Guido is not.  Johnny is well-liked, well-spoken and a favorite of everyone… especially Nelle, Guido’s wife.  She keeps her attraction to Johnny a secret from everyone but Johnny.

Johnny has no interest in Nelle.  That doesn’t stop Nelle from giving Johnny the gift of an expensive engraved watch.  It’s an even better version of one she gave Guido on his birthday.  Johnny doesn’t want the watch or Nelle’s attention.  He writes a note telling Nelle to stop.  Johnny gives the note and watch to the casino’s hat-check girl, Harriett to return to Nelle.

The next day Harriett is found dead from an apparent suicide.   Harriett’s sister, Nancy is notified of her sister’s death.  Nancy arrives wanting to know why her sister killed herself.  She meets Johnny and they learn that Harriett was murdered.  As Nancy and Johnny work to sort out who would want to kill Harriett, they begin to fall in love.

Police Inspector Koch gets the case.  He learns that Harriett was dating Chuck Blayden, a crooked cop interested in leaving the force and taking over Johnny’s role at the casino.  Inspector Koch finds Johnny’s note and the expensive watch.  This adds both Johnny and Guido to his list of suspects.  It also makes Guido believe that Johnny and his wife, Nelle were having an affair.

The person behind Harriett’s death decides Johnny is next… and Nancy too if she gets in the way.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)… 

Johnny O’Clock features Robert Rossen’s debut as a director.  Although in a TCM interview Nina Foch (who played Harriett) asserted that Rossen wasn’t the film’s actual director.  Foch never said who it was though.

Jeff Chandler, although uncredited, appears in his second feature film role.  Chandler credited Dick Powell for getting him the part.

I enjoyed Johnny O’Clock but most folks like it even more than I do.

Johnny O’Clock (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.