Category: Movies

“A Haunting in Venice” (2023) directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh &Tina Fey /Z-View

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A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Screenplay by: Michael Green based on Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Riccardo Scamarcio.

Tagline:  Death is just the beginning.

The Story:

The year is 1947.  The world famous detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is retired and living in Venice.  Because of Poirot’s fame, people from all over the world attempt to hire him.  Poirot turns down every offer.

When Poirot’s old friend, mystery author Ariadne Oliver (Fey) visits, she tells Poirot about psychic Joyce Reynolds (Yeoh).  Poirot scoffs.  All psychics are frauds.  Ariadne agrees, but says that she couldn’t figure out how Joyce Reynolds pulls off her readings.  Ariadne says that if the smartest person she knows (herself) can’t figure it out, perhaps the second smartest (Poirot) can.

Ariande invites Poirot to attend a Halloween séance.  It will be held in a building that was once an orphanage.  It is now said to be haunted by orphans who were locked in and left to die during a plague.  Joyce Reynolds will lead the séance.  Poirot agrees to come along.  Ariande figures Poirot will either expose Reynolds as a fraud or not.  Either way she will have a story.

Everyone invited arrives for the séance. Reynolds while channeling a spirit says that one of the people in attendance is a murderer!  In short order, Joyce Reynolds is found impaled on a statue.  Periot locks everyone in. One of them is the killer.

Hercule Poirot is out of retirement.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers

Kenneth Branagh filmed on location in Venice.  He also didn’t tell the actors in advance about things like doors slamming, lights suddenly going out, etc.  He wanted to get their actual responses to startling events.

This was Tina Fey’s first appearance in a feature film or television production that wasn’t a comedy.  She was excellent as Ariadne Oliver.

This is Kenneth Branagh’s third outing as Hercule Poiroit.  He starred and directed Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Death on the Nile (2022) as well as A Haunting in Venice (2023).  I hope he does more.

“Fast Charlie” starring Pierce Brosnan – The Trailer is Here!

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Fast Charlie is based on Victor Gishler’s novel GUN MONKEYS.  I read the books years ago.  If the movie is as good, we’re in for a treat.  The trailer looks like it might be.

Deal me in.

Charlie Swift is a fixer with a problem: the target he’s whacked is missing his head and the only way Charlie will be paid is if the body can be identified. Enter Marcie Kramer, the victim’s ex-wife and a woman with all the skills Charlie needs.

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin, James Caan
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Release Date: 12/8/23

“The Wolfman” (2010) starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt & Hugo Weaving / Z-View

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The Wolfman (2010)

Director: Joe Johnston

Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self based on The Wolf Man by Curt Siodmak

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik, David Schofield, Roger Frost, Geraldine Chaplin, Rick Baker and Clive Russell.

Tagline:  The legend is alive.

The Story:

The year is 1891.  Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), the famous actor, received word that his brother has disappeared.  By the time Lawrence arrives at the family estate, his brother’s mutilated body has been found in the woods.

Some townsfolk believe that a wild animal did the deed.  Others blame a group of gypsies that have moved into the area.  A few believe that a werewolf has returned.  When Lawrence visits the gypsy camp, a wild animal attacks killing several people and badly wounding Lawrence.

When Lawrence makes a unnatural recovery from wounds that should have been fatal, people believe that he was bitten by a werewolf.  Anyone who survives such a bite, becomes a wolfman when the moon is full.  Now Lawrence is marked for death.  They believe he will turn into a werewolf at the coming full moon.

The truth is  much worse.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

The Wolfman won Rick Baker and Dave Elsey the 2011 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup.  Their werewolf design looked like a cross between the monsters in The Wolf Man (1941) and Curse of the Werewolf (1961).

Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt would reteam five years later for Sicario.  I’m a fan of both.  Kudos also to Hugo Weaving for his performance as Inspector Francis Aberline.

Danny Elfman did the score.  When the film was recut for release, Elfman was already at work on another movie and couldn’t return to adjust his music.  Ultimately other composers were brought in to reshape Elfman’s work.

The Wolfman has an excellent cast.  Rick Baker created a great looking werewolf.  I wish Art Malik, as Singh, got more to do.  He was an interesting character.  You can never go wrong with Del Toro and Blunt.  Getting Hopkins was a bonus.

“Rebel Moon – Part One”: A Child of Fire – The Official Trailer is Here!

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Rebel Moon has Zack Snyder and an excellent cast.  Looking forward to this.

From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes REBEL MOON, a 2-part movie event decades in the making.

After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers. But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) — leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.

Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose. But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all.

RIP: Robert Butler

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Robert Butler, the award winning director and writer, died on November 3, 2023.  Mr. Butler was 95.

Mr. Butler began his career in entertainment as a CBS usher after graduating from UCLA with a degree in English.  Robert Butler also worked as a production clerk, stage manager, before getting the job as an associate director where he worked with mentor directors such as John Frankenheimer and Arthur Penn.

Mr. Butler’s first directing job was for the television series Hennesey.  Robert Butler would direct television and feature films for the rest of his career.  Mr. Butler became known as the go-to guy for directing television pilots which set the tone for the series.  Some of the pilots that Robert Butler directed include: Hogan’s Heroes (1965), Star Trek (1966), Batman (1966), The Blue Knight (1973, TV’s first mini-series), Hill Street Blues (1978), Moonlighting (1985), Sisters (1991) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993).

Mr. Clark was an award-winning director…

  • 1974 Winner Primetime Emmy Director of the Year – The Blue Knight
  • 1974 Winner Primetime Emmy Best Directing in Drama – A Single Program of a Series with Continuing Characters and/or Theme – The Blue Knight
  • 1981 Winner Primetime Emmy Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Hill Street Blues premiere episode
  • 1982 Winner DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series – Hill Street Blues premiere
  • 2001 Winner Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award
  • 2015 Winner Lifetime Achievement Award – Television Direction

Mr. Butler was also the co-creator of the television series Remington Steele.

Some of the television shows Robert Butler directed include: Hennesey (3 episodes); The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis; The DuPont Show with June Allyson (5 episodes); Peter Loves Mary (2 episodes); Have Gun – Will Travel; Bonanza; The Dick Van Dyke Show (2 episodes); The Gertrude Berg Show (2 episodes); The Rifleman; Follow the Sun (3 episodes); The Detectives (5 episodes); Stoney Burke (2 episodes); The Untouchables (7 episodes); Dr. Kildare (2 episodes); The Greatest Show on Earth (2 episodes); Ben Casey (3 episodes); The Lieutenant (2 episodes); The Twilight Zone (2 episodes); The Defenders (2 episodes); The Virginian; Mister Roberts (4 episodes); Hogan’s Heroes (5 episodes); The Fugitive (6 episodes); Batman (6 episodes); Shane; Star Trek (3 episodes); I Spy (4 episodes); The Invaders (3 episodes); N.Y.P.D. (2 episodes); Judd for the Defense (2 episodes); Ironside; Cimarron Strip (2 episodes); The Felony Squad (3 episodes); Mission Impossible; Then Came Bronson; Lancer (4 episodes); Death Takes a Holiday; Nichols; Gunsmoke (3 episodes); Hawaii 5-0; Kung Fu (4 episodes); The Blue Knight; The Waltons (3 episodes); Columbo (2 episodes); The Magical World of Disney (12 episodes); Insight (4 episodes); Hill Street Blues (6 episodes); Remington Steele (5 episodes); Moonlighting; Out on a Limb (2 episodes); Sisters (2 episodes); Sirens (2 episodes) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (2 episodes).

Some of the feature films Robert Butler include: Guns in Leather; The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes; The Barefoot Executive; Now You See Him, Now You Don’t; Hot Lead and Cold Feet; Night of the Juggler and Turbulence.

It’s difficult for me to pick my favorite show that Robert Butler directed because he helmed so many that I watched and enjoyed.  My sentimental favorite is probably the premiere of Batman.  That show brings back so many good memories.  We all anticipated the premiere and it was the talk of our elementary school the next day.  Mr. Butler also directed a Twilight Zone episode, The Encounter, that was kept out of syndication in the United States until 2016 for “overt racism and revisionist history”.  It’s a testimony to Robert Butler’s talent and professionalism that he directed so many (and often multiple episodes) of the best television shows in the years he worked.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Robert Butler’s family, friends and fans.

“The Show” (1927) directed by Tod Browning, starring John Gilbert, Renee Adoree & Lionel Barrymore / Z-View

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The Show (1927)

Director: Tod Browning

Written by: Joseph Farnham, Screenplay by Waldemar Young, based on THE DAY OF SOULS by Joseph Farnham

Starring: John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Connelly.

Tagline:  Strange were these figures in the show the crowds gaped at. But stranger by far the drama of underworld life they played back of the scenes! An amazing romance, a lurid tale of a rogue, torn between baser passions and a girl’s redeeming love.

The Story:

Cock Robin (Gilbert) is the star of a sideshow.  Robin is a handsome ladies man.  He has a charisma about him that he puts to use drawing in crowds to see the human oddities.  Robin also participates in the acts.  After the shows are over, Robin always has female admirers waiting for the chance to pay for his dinner and spend the evening with him. Robin’s behavior doesn’t endear him to other members of the sideshow.  The women are disappointed and the men jealous.

One of Robin’s admirers is a young woman named Lena.  Robin learns that Lena’s father is wealthy.  Perhaps, it is time to settle down.  Perhaps not.

When Lena’s father is killed in an attempted robbery, Robin becomes the main suspect. Someone in the show has set him up.  But who?  And is there anyone who will help him clear his name?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Tod Browning who would go on to direct Dracula and (the more closely related to The Show) Freaks. Browning was the perfect person to direct this.

John Gilbert displays the charisma needed to play the lead.  The great Lionel Barrymore as the villain.  What more could we want?

“Abandoned” (1949) starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr with Mike Mazurki / Z-View

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Abandoned (1949)

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Screenplay by: Irwin Gielgud, William Bowers (additional dialogue)

Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr, Jeanette Nolan, Steve Darrell, Frank Cady and Mike Mazurki.

Tagline:  NO NAME FOR HER BABY…only a PRICE! 

The Story:

Paula Considine (Storm) goes to L.A. in search of her missing sister.  Her sister left their small town because she was pregnant and not married.  It’s late when she arrives at the missing person’s bureau.  There she meets Mark Sitko (O’Keefe), a newspaper reporter.  When Sitko notices a shady character following Paula, he intervenes.  Soon Sitko and Paula discover that Paula’s sister was murdered and her baby stolen by child traffickers.  As they dig deeper, Sitko and Paula become marked for murder!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

The film uses a semi-documentary style popular at the time.

Gale Storm had been making movies for close to a decade when she got the co-starring role in Abandoned.  A few years later Ms. Storm would become a tv star in her own series, My Little Margie which ran for four seasons.  She followed that with another starring television role in The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna.  It also ran for four seasons.

Jeff Chandler has a supporting role.  He would soon break out into leading roles.

Raymond Burr is cast as a heavy.  He played a lot of those type roles in those days because he was good at it.  Mr. Burr would go on to become a bigger star playing a good guy.  Perry Mason ran for 9 seasons, earned Raymond Burr two Best Actor in a Leading Role Emmys and earned him world-wide fame.Years after Perry Mason went off the air, it returned with Mr. Burr starring in 26 television movies.

Mike Mazurki appears as a thug which was par for the course.  I love it when Mazurki appears in any production.  He had an interesting life.  Mr. Mazurki played football and basketball in college and professionally,  He earned a law degree from Fordham.  Then he decided to become a professional wrestler because he could earn more money!  He also worked as a bodyguard before being discovered and cast in movies.

Abandoned was ahead of it’s time.  The topic of black-market babies and child trafficking could be pulled from today’s headlines.  The film also faced aspects being censored.  Still, if you read between the lines it becomes pretty clear that Paula’s dad was probably the baby’s father.

“A Murder at the End of the World” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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This has a Glass Onion or Hercule Poirot feel to it.  So far, I like what I see.  Deal me in!

A Murder at the End of the World is a mystery series featuring a Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker “Darby Hart.” Darby and eight other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must use her skills to prove it was murder before the killer takes another life.

A mystery of epic proportions. Watch OFFICIAL TRAILER 2 for FX’s A Murder at the End of the World streaming 11.14. Only on Hulu.

“SLY” (2023) directed by Thom Zimny, starring Sylvester Stallone / Z-View

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SLY (2023)

Director: Thom Zimny

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Stallone, Talia Shire,  Henry Winkler, John Herzfeld, Wesley Morris, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Scarlet Rose Stallone, Sistine Rose Stallone, Sophia Rose Stallone and Sage Stallone.

Tagline:  Meet the man behind the hero.

The Story:

Sylvester Stallone takes us behind the scenes for an intimate look at his rise from humble beginnings to international superstardom as well as the ups and downs along the way.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

SLY is as much a personal reflection as it is a documentary.  Director Thom Zimny said that he had full access to tell Sly’s story without interference.  What Zimny did is allow Sly to open up. From these reflections, Zimny created the documentary.

Many of us (especially die hard Stallone fans) know the broad strokes.  Sly came from a broken home. He did poorly in school, He was only getting bit parts as thugs in movies when he wrote ROCKY and refused to sell out. We know the Rocky films led to Rambo films.  There were disappointments along the way.  Cop Land was supposed to bring the big comeback.  It showed Sly had the acting chops to hang with DeNiro and the rest of the all star cast, but it didn’t work as a springboard back to the top.  We know that Sly refused to let Rocky V be Balboa’s swan song.  Against all odds, Sly was able to get Rocky Balboa done and that put him back on top.  Rambo (2008) followed.  Then The Expendables.  We knew that Sly for nearly 50 years has been a movie superstar and shows no signs of slowing down.

Yeah, we knew all that.  Because we are Sly’s diehard fans.  Many moviegoers don’t know these things.

What many of us (even Sly’s biggest fans) didn’t know were the stories and side notes that Sly provides throughout the documentary.  Sure, we knew his dad was tough on Sly and Frank.  Now we learn just how deep that went and the impact it had on Sly’s work.  We learn of Sly’s regrets.  Not just with films chosen or passed on, but in his use of time.  Especially when it comes to family.  Sly says, “Life up to forty is all about addition, after that it is all about subtraction.” If that doesn’t resonate with you, then my bet is you’re still under forty.

We hear from celebrities about Sly – Arnold, Tarantino, his brother Frank, Talia Shire, Henry Winkler and one of Sly’s oldest friends who also made it in Hollywood, John Herzfeld.  Their contributions are excellent.  What really makes the documentary work for me is Sly’s reflections.  Seeing his handwritten early draft scripts.  Getting a glimpse behind the scenes.

SLY is an excellent documentary.  I would love it to be first in a series detailing different aspects of Sly’s life/career.  He’s such a great raconteur. We know he has more stories to tell.  Still, if this is all we get, we got a winner.