Category: Crime

“The System” Starring Tyrese Gibson & Terrence Howard – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I like the poster and trailer for The System starring Tyrese Gibson, the always good Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven and Lil Yachty.

When a young soldier (Tyrese Gibson), newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison to investigate what is really going on behind the scenes. When he discovers an underground prisoner fighting ring, the warden forces him to compete. In order to win his freedom, he must fight to stay alive as well as take down the warden’s corrupt system.

CAST: Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven, Lil Yachty

DIRECTOR: Dallas Jackson

WRITER: Dallas Jackson

RUNTIME: 97 Minutes

RATING: R for violence, language throughout and some drug material.

“Corrective Measures” (2022) Starring Bruce Willis and Michael Rooker / Z-View

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Director:  Sean Patrick O’Reilly

Screenplay:  Sean Patrick O’Reilly based on Corrective Measures by Grant Chastain and Fran Moyano

Stars:  Bruce Willis, Michael Rooker and Tom Cavanagh

Tagline: None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Overseer Devlin (Rooker) is Warden of a maximum security prison for super powered villains.  When Payback, a vigilante is sent there, things heat up.  Payback sees himself as an avenger who kills super powered villains and the prison is full of them.  In addition as Devlin works out his plan for an early retirement, Lobe (Willis), an evil genius with secret powers is working on his own plan for an early release.

Corrective Measures is a low budget film.  And the amount and type of effects used throughout the film are evidence of it.  Willis and Rooker aren’t given much to do and the film would probably benefited from having their salaries go to unknown actors and a bigger effects budget.  Then again, having Willis and Rooker’s names on the poster probably got more eyes on the film.

State of Emergency earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Lou” (2022) Starring Allison Janney & Jurnee Smollett / Z-View

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Lou (2022)

Director:  Anna Foerster

Screenplay:  Maggie Cohn, Jack Stanley

Stars: Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, Logan Marshall-Green, Ridley Asha Bateman, Matt Craven and Daniel Bernhardt

Tagline: None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Hannah (Smollett) lives on a small, remote island with her daughter Vee (Bateman).  The island is sparsely populated with much of it wilderness.  Hannah’s nearest neighbor is her landlord, Lou (Janney).  Lou is a grumpy, older woman who keeps to herself.

While a storm rages, Vee is kidnapped by her former special forces psycho father (Marshall-Green).  All phone lines are down so Hannah runs to Lou’s place for help.  Surprisingly, Lou seems to come alive.  She arms herself with a pistol and rifle.  Lou tells Hannah she will track and bring back Vee.  Hannah says that her ex-husband is former special forces and he’s crazy.  Lou says she can handle it and starts off.  Hannah follows.  There’s more to Lou than Hannah realized, but can Lou really save her daughter?

Who’d have thought Allison Janey could be an action star?  Surprisingly, she pulls it off!  The fight scenes and action beats are believable.  Janey’s best acting occurs when she comes off as a tired old lady lost in the woods and then takes on two men!  Logan Marshall-Green maintains the right balance as the crazy dad/pitiful son.  Jurnee Smollett and Ridley Asha Bateman are perfect for their roles and look like they could actually be mother and daughter.  If you’re a fan of action movies, you should enjoy Lou.  I did.

Lou earns 3 of 5 stars.

JAEGER Written and Illustrated by Ibrahim Moustafa / Z-View

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Jaeger is a 48 page graphic novel written and illustrated by Ibrahim Moustafa, with letters by Nate Peikos of BLAMBOT,  Jaeger was first published as a web comic where it was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Idris Morel was a freedom fighter captured and tortured in a Nazi prisoner of war camp during World War II.  Now Morel is a  French-Algerian spy who tracks down and eliminates Nazi war criminals who have escaped justice.  Nazis speak in hushed whispers of the silent avenger they call “Der Jaeger” (the Hunter).  They live in fear that Der Jaeger will come for them.  As his body count grows, Morel’s obsession with revenge pushes him to the brink… will he become what he fights?

Ibrahim Moustafa has created what could have been a traditional World War II revenge tale and added twists to make it his own.  Nazis are easy targets, but the ones in Moustafa’s tale aren’t one dimensional bad guys.  I also like that Moustafa’s hero of the tale isn’t American or British.  He’s put the World part of the War back into the mix.

I really enjoyed Moustafa’s art.  It isn’t over rendered and the colors that Moustafa uses enhance each page.  The storytelling is straightforward with excellent use of inset panels to draw the reader’s eye to what’s most important.  The graphic novel comes with a choice of three different cover artists:  Dennis Calero, Phil Hester or Ibrahim Moustafa.  The graphic novel also contains a five page bonus section with character studies, page and cover roughs and a Jaeger commission.  I enjoyed Jaeger and could see additional tales of The Hunter.

Jaeger earns 4 of 5 stars.

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (2022) / Z-View

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The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes (2022)

Director:  Emma Cooper

Appearances: Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmy Hoffa, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Peter Lawford

Tagline: The brighter the star, the darker the truth.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Anthony Summers, who wrote the Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, shares snippets of some of the 650 interviews he did while researching the book. The documentary uses actors/actresses to lip sync to the recordings.  I found this distracting. It gave the movie a tabloid feel.  I was hoping for some new information, but if you know Marilyn’s story as well as the most popular theories of her death, there’s nothing new here.

The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes earns 2 of 5 stars.

Into the Ashes (2019) Written & Directed by Aaron Harvey, Starring Luke Grimes, James Badge Dale, Frank Grillo & Robert Taylor / Z-View

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Into the Ashes (2019)

Director:  Aaron Harvey

Screenplay:  Aaron Harvey

Starring: Luke Grimes, Frank Grillo, Marguerite Moreau, James Badge Dale, Rob Mello and Robert Taylor

Tagline: None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Nick Brenner (Grimes) used to run with a rough crew.  But he got smart and got away.  He moved to another town, found the woman of his dreams and married.  Nick’s holding down a job at a furniture store and making things work with his father-in-law, the local sheriff (Taylor).  The past is behind him… or so he thinks.

When his crime partners show up unexpectedly the unthinkable happens.  Nick is plunged back into his criminal past.  Both Nick and his father-in-law will have to decide how far their willing to go when nothing can fix what’s been done.

Hats off to Aaron Harvey for writing, producing and directing Into the Ashes.  What could be a simple revenge film was instead a layered tale that respected the audience’s intelligence.  The film features a strong cast of relative unknowns outside of the always good Frank Grillo and Robert Taylor.  Rob Mello and Marguerite Moreau deserve special praise for their small but impressive roles.  I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about Into the Ashes and look forward to Aaron Harvey’s next film.

Into the Ashes earns 4 of 5 stars.

“I Came By” (2022) / Z-View

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I Came By (2022)

Directors:  Babak Anvari

Screenplay:  Babak Anvari, Namsi Khan from a story by Babak Anvari 

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Percelle Ascott, George MacKay, Kelly Macdonald, Franc Ashman and Varada Sethu

Tagline: None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Toby (MacKay) and Jay (Ascott) are best friends.  For kicks they like to sneak in to rich people’s homes and leave the graffiti message, I Came By painted on one of their walls.  These hijinks have gotten media attention wondering who these bold social activists could be and what the message means.

When Jay learns that his wife is pregnant, he tells Toby his I Came By days are over.  He wants to be there for his child and he won’t risk getting arrested over nonsense.  Jay becomes angry and says they’d already picked out their next target, Hector Blake (Bonneville), a judge that Jay believes is a hypocrite.  When Toby stands firm, Jay says that he’ll go alone.

And he does.  When Jay breaks into Blake’s mansion he hears noises from the basement.  What he discovers sets off a chain reaction that plays out in surprising and bold ways.  I Came By is well written, well acted and well directed.  I was impressed with the screenwriters’ ability to create a story with surprises and a director who trusted the viewer’s intelligence.  I Came By easily rates 4 of 5 stars.

I Came By earns 4 of 5 stars.

“End of the Road” (2022) / Z-View

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End of the Road (2022)

Directors:  Millicent Shelton

Screenplay:  Christopher J. Moore, David Loughery

Starring: Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, Beau Bridges, Frances Lee McCain and Keith Jardine

Tagline: There’s No Turning Back..

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Brenda (Latifah), her two children, Kelly (Lee) and Cam (Dixon) along with Brenda’s brother, Reggie (Ludacris) are on a cross-country road trip.  Late at night in their hotel they hear a commotion and gunshot in the next room.  They go over to find a man dying from a bullet wound.  Brenda gives first aide until help arrives.

The next morning, Brenda provides what little information she has to the police.  Sheriff Hammers (Bridges) wants her to stick around, but Brenda says she’s available by phone. The family leaves.  Before too long Brenda receives a call from someone saying he knows who she is and he wants his money back!  Brenda hangs up, only to learn that Reggie took a satchel of cash from the hotel room while Brenda was giving first aide.  Now a brutal killer is on their trail… he wants his money and will kill everyone to get it!

End of the Road starts off well enough.  A family on the road in peril is a idea.  The problem is there’s never any mystery to who the killer is and while the family is placed in dangerous situations, the way the movie unfolds we know that there’s no real danger.  There is a tense situation at the start of the movie between two rednecks in a truck blocking the path of Brenda’s car.  Reggie is ready to fight, but Brenda is able to calm him and get the thugs to move on.  Later Brenda is trapped by a group of white supremacists and she turns into some sort of fighting machine, beating up some and shooting another!  In the final act of the film (get ready for a big spoiler!), we learn Sheriff Hammers is the killer!  We’re supposed to believe that 81 year old Beau Bridges is a physical threat to a woman who handed a butt-whoopin’ to Mace’s (UFC fighter Keith Jardine) skinheads?

What could have made this film work is to change the look and feel to a 1970s blaxploitation movie.  Since every major white character the family interacts with is racist or bad, it wouldn’t have been too difficult.  Throw in a soundtrack that echos Lalo Schifrin or Isacc Hayes and we’d have something.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen and we’re left with an OK movie that should have been better.

End of the Road earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Into the Deep” – The Trailer is Here!

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Netflix is known for documentaries and Into the Deep looks like a good one.  Deal me in.

Filmmaker Emma Sullivan was looking to profile eccentric inventor Peter Madsen and his homemade rocket for a documentary. Instead, she captures incriminating footage that helped convict him of the murder of journalist Kim Wall.

When journalist Kim Wall disappears after boarding inventor Peter Madsen’s submarine, his changing story about her fate masks a terrifying truth.

Tulsa King | Inside Tulsa King | Paramount+

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TULSA KING follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet. The series also stars Andrea Savage (“I’m Sorry”), Martin Starr (“Silicon Valley”), Max Casella (“The Tender Bar”), Domenick Lombardozzi (“The Irishman”), Vincent Piazza (“Boardwalk Empire”), Jay Will (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), A.C. Peterson (“Superman & Lois”) with Garrett Hedlund (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”).

The series will be executive-produced by Sheridan, Winter, Stallone, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin and Allen Coulter. Braden Aftergood is also set to executive-produce.

Stream the new series on November 13, exclusively on Paramount+.

THE BIG BUNDLE: A Nathan Heller Case by Max Allan Collins is Coming!

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Any time that Max Allan Collins has a new book coming out it is time to celebrate.  If the new novel is a Nathan Heller tale, then plan an even bigger party.  Collins takes true life cases, does intensive research and then writes a fictional account with Nathan Heller in the middle of things.  Max Allan Collins’ new Nathan Heller novel is titled The Big Bundle.

True Crime detective Nathan Heller returns in a brand new case that connects a millionaire’s kidnapped child to Robert F. Kennedy’s campaign to bring down union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

Nathan Heller, star of MWA Grandmaster Max Allan Collins’ most acclaimed series of novels (more than 1 million copies sold to date!), comes to Hard Case Crime for the first time in an all-new thriller drawn from the pages of history. A millionaire’s son is kidnapped and private eye Heller is called in to help. But when half of the record $600,000 ransom goes missing, Heller must wade through a morass of deception and depravity to blow the lid off a notorious crime whose consequences reach into the corridors of power in Washington D.C., where Bobby Kennedy works tirelessly to take down crooked union boss Jimmy Hoffa…

Deal me in.  Pre-orders are available now!

“The Poison Rose” (2019) Starring John Travolta, Morgan Freeman and Brendan Fraser / Z-View

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The Poison Rose (2019)

Directors:  Francesco Cinquemani, George Gallo

Screenplay by:  Richard Salvatore, Francesco Cinquemani, Luca Giliberto

Starring: John Travolta, Morgan Freeman, Brendan Fraser, Famke Janssen, Ella Bleu Travolta and Robert Patrick

Tagline:  A Private Eye. A Public Murder. A Perfect Crime.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Carson Phillips (Travolta) is a Private Eye who drinks and gambles too much.  Both vices have always caused him problems.  Carson used to be a hotshot college quarterback until he was caught shaving points.  Carson left town in disgrace and never went back.  Now he’s been hired to return on a missing person’s case.

All Carson has to do is go to a sanitorium to verify that Ms. Poole is alive and well.  Carson is given the run around by Dr. Miles Mitchell (Fraser), the sanitorium’s director.  As Carson digs deeper he begins to suspect Ms. Poole is dead and evidence points to a conspiracy involving an influential rich behind-the-scenes player named Doc (Freeman).  The same man behind Carson’s fall from grace.

Travolta is good as Carson Phillips.  Brendan Fraser steals every scene he’s in and I wish he was in more.  It’s good to see Robert Patrick, even if his role is a small one.

There’s one scene that should have never made the final cut – Carson is being shot at by a man with a rifle from the top of a stadium.  The sniper keeps missing Carson despite having a rifle with a scope.  Carson’s handgun runs out of bullets so he picks up a football and throws a perfect spiral hitting the would be assassin in the face.  In a later scene the assassin returns with a broken nose.  C’mon, man.

The Poison Rose earns 3 of 5 stars.