Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Although our focus is usually on entertainment, from time to time I like to include something that might be more useful than the latest preview or review. So, for the roughnecks among us who run with tough crowds, I give you…
Source: Eric Beetner. (If you enjoy great crime fiction, then you probably already know Eric Beetner… but if you don’t know, well, now you know.)
One of my favorite artists is Dan Panosian. One of my favorite characters is Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City. So when Dan draws Marv, you know it’s gonna be great.
The poster and trailer for On the Line starring Mel Gibson is here! I’m in.
An anonymous caller threatens to kill a talk radio host’s entire family while he is on the air. To save his loved ones, the host has to play a survival game over the course of one night… and the only way to win is to find out the identity of the criminal.
CAST: Mel Gibson, William Moseley, Kevin Dillon, Nadia Farès, John Robinson, Yoli Fuller, Enrique Arce, Carole Weyers
DIRECTOR: Romuald Boulanger
Poker Face directed and starring Russell Crowe! You know how this works, the poster above the trailer below.
The poster and trailer for Lost Bullet 2 has me on board! Netflix makes watching a no-brainer!
Lino is a car savant-turned-police officer with a need for speed. And he’ll stop at nothing to get justice — even if it means breaking all the rules. Lost Bullet 2 is the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2020 French action thriller that “wastes nothing in its quest to deliver the goods,” according to the New York Times.
Ambulance (2022)
Director: Michael Bay
Screenplay: Chris Fedak based on Ambulancen by Laurits Munch-Petersen, Lars Andreas Pedersen
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O’Donnell, Jackson White, Cedric Sanders, A. Martinez and Devan Chandler Long
Tagline: It was supposed to be a simple heist.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Will Sharpe (Abdul-Mateen II), a former marine, is at his wit’s end. Bills are piling up, his wife needs expensive surgery, they have a new baby and he cannot find a job. The VA is no help. With nowhere else to turn, Will meets with his adoptive brother, Danny (Gyllenhaal). Danny is a smooth-talking criminal that Will distanced himself from when he got married.
Hoping that Danny can provide a loan, Will is instead offered a spot on a huge bank heist Danny has planned for that very day. Although Will repeatedly resists, Danny talks him into the heist saying that no one is going to get hurt and his cut will more than pay for his wife’s surgery — they’ll be set for life. Of course the robbery goes sideways and a massive shootout occurs between Danny’s crew and a Special Unit of the LAPD. Danny and Will make their getaway in a stolen ambulance with a paramedic named Cam (González) and a wounded cop. With every cop in the city after them and helicopters in the air, Danny and Will want to escape to freedom… but what about the cop and the paramedic that can identify them?
Ambulance starts out well enough. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as the fast-talking, arrogant criminal. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II evokes the right amount of sympathy (at least at first) as the former vet struggling to make it. Garret Dillahunt, who is always good, doesn’t have a lot to do, but makes each scene better. I also enjoyed A. Martinez popping up! Michael Bay is back with his trademark quick cuts and over-the-top action. And it works… for a while.
Where it goes off the rails for me is that we’re supposed to sympathize with Will’s situation… and we do… at first. He reluctantly goes along with the bank robbery for his wife and baby. But when he takes an active role as the driver of the ambulance and his reckless attempts to get away cause crash after crash, he becomes responsible for the many injuries and deaths he’s causing. Also, the film runs over 2 hours and 15 minutes. How many times do we see the ambulance boxed in, surrounded by police with police and television cameras following along… and they get away? Too many for my taste. I also thought the ending was a little too pat for my taste.
Ambulance earns 2 of 5 stars.
Lawrence Block’s new novel, The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown is a Bernie Rhodenbarr tale. Bernie is a burglar and his adventures are humorous (for the reader, not as funny for Bernie) and a nice change of pace if, like me, you lean into more hardboiled yarns. Here’s the lowdown on The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown…
Suppose you’re Bernie Rhodenbarr.
You’ve got a dream job, running your own cozy secondhand bookstore, complete with Raffles, your caudally challenged cat. It’s in Greenwich Village, and your best friend’s dog grooming salon is two doors away, and the two of you lunch together and meet for drinks after work.
And you’ve got another way to make a buck. Every once in a while you put your conscience on the shelf and let yourself into someone else’s residence, and you leave with more than you came with. You’re a burglar, and you know it’s wrong, but you love it.
And you’re good at it. You’ve got two ways to make a living, one larcenous, the other literary and legitimate, and you’re good at both of them.
Nice, huh?
Until the 21st Century pulls the rug out from under you. All of a sudden the streets of your city are so overpopulated with security cameras and closed-circuit TV that you have to lock yourself in the bathroom to have an undocumented moment. And locks, which used to provide the recreational pleasure of a moderately challenging crossword puzzle, have become genuinely pickproof.
Meanwhile, internet booksellers have muscled your legit enterprise into obsolescence. The new breed of customers browse your bookshop, find what they’re looking for, then whip out their phones and order their books online.
Wonderful. You had two ways to make a living, and neither of them works anymore.
But suppose you keep on supposing, okay?
Suppose you wake up one morning in a world just like the one in which you fell asleep-but with a couple of differences.
The first one you notice doesn’t amount to much. The Metrocard in your wallet has somehow changed color and morphed into what seems to be called a SubwayCard. That’s puzzling, but you swipe it at the turnstile same as always, and it gets you on the subway, so what difference does it make?
But that’s not the only thing that’s changed. The Internet’s up and running, as robust as ever, but nobody seems to be using it to sell books. Doors are secured not with pickproof electronic gizmos but with good old reliable Rabson locks, the kind you can open with your eyes closed. And what happened to all those security cameras? Where’d they go?
All of a sudden you’ve got your life back, and your bookshop’s packed with eager customers, and how are you gonna find time to steal something?
Well, just suppose one of the world’s worst human beings has recently acquired one of the world’s most glamorous gems. When the legendary Kloppmann Diamond is up for grabs, what can you possibly do but grab it?
And what could possibly go wrong?
THAT is one strange set-up. I trust Lawrence Block to make it work. Pre-orders for the October 18th release are available now.
The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown Paperback
The Last Victim (2021)
Director: Naveen A. Chathapuram
Screenplay: Ashley James Louis from a story by Doc Justin, Naveen A Chathapuram
Stars: Ron Perlman, Ali Larter, Tahmoh Penikett, Ralph Ineson, Kyle Schmid, Dakota Daulby and Camille Legg
Tagline: None
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Jake (Ineson) taunts then kills a former member of his crew and a woman witness. He loads the bodies in his truck. Jake then hooks up with his two other crime partners to transport the bodies to a remote wilderness area.
Susan (Larter) and her husband are driving across country when they run into a closed road. Rather than double back, they press on. The pair decide to take a break in a beautiful area well off the beaten path. Unfortunately they come across Jake and his crew burying bodies. When Susan and her husband realize they’ve been seen, they take off running with the criminals in hot pursuit.
Meanwhile Sheriff Hickey (Perlman) is investigating the murder scene. He’s puzzled by the lack of bodies, but does have a clue which was accidentally left behind. As Jake and his crew continue their hunt, Sheriff Hickey continues his…
The Last Victim has one of the best opening scenes in recent memory. It’s well written, well cast and well shot. If the entire movie was made at that level The Last Victim would have rated an “A”. The Last Victim’s opening scene sets the bar high and sadly the rest of the film doesn’t maintain that level. Still, if you like crime films, then you should enjoy The Last Victim. Ali Larter is believable as the woman who refuses to be a victim. Ralph Ineson steals every scene he’s in. He’s creepy, cocky and a great villain. Ron Perlman is always good, even when he doesn’t get a lot to do.
The Last Victim earns 3 of 5 stars.
S.A. Cosby is interviewed by Phillip Fracassi on his The Dark Word podcast. It’s worth a listen for all Cosby and writing fans.
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
First sentence…
It was dusk, but as he turned onto the rutted driveway he could make out the perimeter of yellow tape that still circled the property.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
George Foss is having a drink in his favorite tavern with his on-again off-again girlfriend when he sees a beautiful woman seated at the bar. The woman looks like an older version of George’s first love from his freshman year in college twenty years ago. The first love who suddenly disappeared without a trace. The first love who may have been a murderer.
It turns out that the woman is truly George’s first love, Liana Dector. Liana says she’s back because she needs a favor. Liana stole money, a lot of money, from a rich man. The man hired some terrible people to get it back and to teach her a lesson. Liana wants George to return the cash she has left and ask the man to call off the dogs. Despite everything, including that Liana could be a cold blooded murderer, George feels compelled to help her. Maybe he’ll learn why she left all those years ago, if she truly loved him… and if she still does.
George’s decision to help Liana, puts him in way over his head. Some very bad people now have their sights on George and the police want him for questioning in a murder. Did Liana set him up or are they both victims?
Peter Swanson has created a roller-coaster ride in the tradition of Double Indemnity or Body Heat. Swanson has created a page-turner that should satisfy both the mystery lover and noir fan. The Girl with a Clock for a Heart easily earns 4 of 5 stars.
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Hardcover
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Paperback
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Kindle
Last Seen Alive (2022)
Directors: Brian Goodman
Screenplay: Marc Frydman
Stars: Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby, Ethan Embry, Michael Irby, Bruce Altman, Dani Deetté, Brian Scannell, David Kallaway, Alphonso A’Qen-Aten Jackson, Brice Anthony Heller and Robert Walker Branchaud
Tagline: He’ll stop at nothing to get her back.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Will Spann (Butler) is driving his wife, Lisa (Alexander) to her parents’ house. Will and Lisa are going through a rough patch. Although Lisa cheated on Will, he still wants the marriage to work. She wants time to think things through. When Will stops for gas, Lisa goes in to get some water.
When Lisa doesn’t return, Will looks in and around the gas station, but Lisa is no where to be found. The man at the register doesn’t remember seeing her. Will phones the police, but a woman missing for less than an hour isn’t a priority. When Will discovers that the man at the register lied about security cameras not working, he discovers that Lisa was kidnapped! But by who? And why? What’s worse is that she was last seen alive with Will!
Last Seen Alive has a few things going for it. Gerald Butler can carry a film and is believable as a desperate husband willing to do whatever it takes to get his wife back. Russell Hornsby is a welcome addition, as a cop who may not have Will’s best interests at heart. Jaimie Alexander doesn’t have much to do, but she’s good in her role. The problem is her character’s not real likable. It’s hard to see why Will is working so hard to keep the marriage together.
Last Seen Alive runs just 96 minutes, but seems longer. Part 0f that comes from the scenes with Will driving to/from and at Lisa’s parents’ house. Then there’s a repeat of a scene with Hornsby that plays at the start of the film and again near the end. Plus the reason Lisa was kidnapped, and set up to be killed gets intermingled with knuckleheads running a meth lab out in the woods and seems overly complicated.
Last Seen Alive isn’t a bad film. I liked it, but was expecting better.
Last Seen Alive earns 3 of 5 stars.
The Lodger (1927)
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay: Eliot Stannard based on The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes
Stars: Ivor Novello and Alfred Hitchcock
Tagline: None
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
A serial killer who calls himself The Avenger has killed seven blonde haired women. He strikes late at night and police have few clues.
When a tall handsome stranger rents a room from Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, they think nothing of it… until he begins to display some strange habits. He asks that the pictures of blonde women in his room be removed. He quietly leaves his room at night and returns before morning. And what is in the satchel that he keeps locked in a cabinet? Could their lodger be The Avenger?
Alfred Hitchcock wanted The Lodger to be his first full sound film, but it ended up being his last silent feature. The Lodger is also the first film to contain one of Hitchcock’s famous cameos! The Lodger features some animated title cards and inventive shots (the Lodger pacing the floor seen from below as if the floor became invisible; the Lodger descending a spiral staircase and the only thing we see of him is his hand on the banister as he goes down, etc.). Hitchcock considers The Lodger his first suspense film.
The Lodger earns 4 of 5 stars.
Run Sweetheart Run is a twist on The Most Dangerous Game (and most regular readers know I love that story!). I like the poster and trailer. Deal me in!
Run Sweetheart Run arrives on Prime Video October 28, 2022.
Eric Beetner’s new book, There and Back, has been announced for a November 1, 2022 release. Here’s the lowdown…
A WILDERNESS RETREAT GONE WRONG.
When a junior executive retreat at a tech company ends in horror, only five of the eight who went out come back. As the survivors try to adjust to life back home, they also grapple with a powerful secret. What really happened out there can never see the light of day.
Told in alternating timelines, the harrowing events of those weeks in the woods come to life. And while it’s clear that returning to life as they knew it will be impossible, these survivors of tragedy begin to suspect that they might not make it much longer.
Is it true what they say… Does the truth really set you free?
Eric Beetner is required reading. Pre-orders are available now.
There and Back Paperback
There and Back Kindle
