Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is probably my favorite comic character. Any time I come across a cool drawing of the lug, I just have to share it. Gabriel Hernández Walta created the piece above. You can see more of this Eisner Award winning comic-book artist, painter & illustrator’s art at his Instagram page.
Firestarter (2022)
Director: Keith Thomas
Screenplay: Scott Teems based on Firestarter by Stephen King
Stars: Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben, Kurtwood Smith and John Beasley
Tagline: None.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Andy McGee (Efron), his wife Vicky (Lemmon) and their daughter Charlie (Armstrong) are living off the grid. Andy and Vicky were part of an experimental drug test conducted by a secret government organization. Andy gained telepathic powers, and Vicky developed telekinesis. Charlie was born with the ability to cause objects to burst into flame. Her ability is becoming more powerful and Charlie hasn’t yet learned to control it. The organization is looking for them to take advantage of their powers.
When Charlie is bullied at school, she runs to the bathroom in an attempt to control the fire she feels coming. Her rage at being picked on causes a flame burst that school officials think was a small explosion set off by Charlie. This incident brings Charlie and her family to the attention of the secret government agency. They send Rainbird (Greyeyes), to bring back the girl even if it means killing her parents. Things are about to heat up…
Firestarter (2022) doesn’t hold a candle to the 1984 version. Before Andy uses his telepathic powers he does an exaggerated neck crack which just comes off as silly. Charlie is made less sympathetic when she accidentally unleashes her fire burst and roasts a cat. We see the cat badly burned and then Charlie is told to put it out of it’s misery, so she lights the cat up again. We hear a final cry from the cat. Charlie accidentally sets her mom on fire and then later tells her dad, “I meant it to be you.” The movie ends — big spoiler alert — with Charlie willingly going off with Rainbird, the man who brutally killed her mother, captured her father which lead to his death, and forced Charlie to kill many folks who worked for the organization.
Usually movies I watch all the way through earn at least a two star rating. Sadly, Firestarter (2022) doesn’t.
Firestarter earns 1 of 5 stars.
The Outfit (2022)
Director: Graham Moore
Screenplay: Graham Moore, Johnathan McClain
Stars: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Johnny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Mehdizadeh, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Chiedu Agborh and Michael Addo.
Tagline: Every Suspect Fits a Pattern
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
1956. Chicago. Leonard Burling (Rylance) is a gentleman cutter. Some might call Burling a tailor, but they wouldn’t understand his craftmanship or the pride he takes in his work. Burling’s shop is frequented by men who want tailored suits so they look their best. What those customers don’t know is that in the back room is a drop box used by the Roy Boyle (Beale) gang to pass along dirty money and messages.
Burling keeps his nose out of who uses the drop box and what may go into it. He just wants to make the finest suits possible. All of that changes when Richie (O’Brien), Roy Boyle’s son and Francis (Flynn), Richie’s bodyguard, show up unexpectedly at the shop one evening. Richie has a brief case and a bullet wound. He was shot in a confrontation with members of the LaFontaine family. The brief case contains a tape recording that could bring down the Doyle family.
Richie is bleeding out. Cops are everywhere. The LaFontaines are still looking for them. Richie will die unless something is done… and that tape needs to be hidden. Burling is put in a position where helping or not helping could get him killed. Richie’s dad and backup is on the way… but so are the cops and the LaFontaine gang.
The Outfit is easily one of the best films of the year. Screenwriters Graham Moore and Johnathan McClain have crafted a story where every scene intensifies the action and takes the characters in a different direction with the same destination — people are going to die. First time director (and co-screenwriter) Graham Moore has faith in the story and actors to let scenes go on without quick cuts. Every actor does an outstanding job and rises to the level of the material given.
I cannot give The Outfit or the folks behind it enough praise. I was surprised at the revelations that just kept coming and the twists that kept ratcheting up the stakes. The Outfit is a movie I look forward to sharing and watching again.
The Outfit earns 5 of 5 stars.
I’m diggin’ that poster and the trailer has me looking forward to checking out Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.
You’ve heard his influential music, now hear his incredible story. Get to know Louis Armstrong through never-before-heard home recordings, archival footage, and personal conversations when Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues premieres October 28 on Apple TV+ https://apple.co/_BlackAndBlues_
This definitive documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, honors Armstrong’s legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States. The film shows how Armstrong’s own life spans the shift from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era. With the full support of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the filmmakers have access to a treasure trove of rare archival materials, including hundreds of hours of audio recordings, film footage, photographs, personal diaries, and a life’s worth of ephemera for exclusive use in the first significant documentary dedicated entirely to his life.
Song: “Black and Blue” by The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars, Nicholas Payton, Common https://apple.co/_BlackandBlue
Song: “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black & Blue” by Louis Armstrong https://apple.co/WhatDidIDo_Armstrong
Scotched in Scotland (1954)
Director: Jules White, Edward Bernds (stock footage)
Screenplay: Jack White, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Philip Van Zandt, Christine McIntyre and Theodore Lorch
Tagline: A MAN CAN GET KILT DOING THIS!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Larry, Shemp and Moe are in Scotland where they are hired by a rich man to guard his valuables while he is away from his spooky castle. Little does the man know, but it is his hired staff who plan to rip him off! The would-be thieves decide to scare the Stooges into leaving and hilarity follows.
Scotched in Scotland is a remake of The Three Stooges’ earlier short, The Hot Scots and uses quite a bit of footage from the earlier film.
Scotched in Scotland earns 4 of 5 stars.
Spook Louder (1943)
Director: Dell Lord
Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Lew Kelly, Stanley Blystone Theodore Lorch, Charles Middleton and Shirley Patterson
Tagline: None.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Professor J.O. Dunkfeather (Kelly) tells the story of how spies trying to steal a death ray from an inventor were thwarted and how a mysterious pie thrower was involved. Larry, Curly and Moe are door-to-door salesmen who get hired to housesit for a scientist who is going to Washington, DC, to test his death ray. The boys are on edge since the scientist lives in a spooky mansion and they’re jumping at every sound. However when criminals dressed in Halloween costumes show up to steal the death ray, things are taken to a whole new level. Will the criminals get what they’re looking for? Will the Stooges survive? And WHO is throwing those pies?
Curly gets a lot of mileage out of a balloon with a face painted on it that gets attached to his backside!
Spook Louder earns 4 of 5 stars.
Alex Bayouth who was known professionally as Ted White, stuntman and actor, died yesterday at the age of 96. Mr. Bayouth enlisted in the marines when he was 17 and served at Iwo Jima! He played football at the University of Oklahoma and was also a Golden Gloves boxer. Because of his size and athletic ability, Mr. Bayouth decided to pursue a career as a stuntman/actor.
Mr. Bayouth was known professionally as Ted White. As an actor/stuntman, Mr. White amassed over 150 credits performing on television and in feature films. Clark Gable, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Richard Boone and Fess Parker are just five of the stars for who Ted White served as a stunt double.
Some of Ted White’s television appearances include: Maverick (actor); Cimarron City (actor/stunts); Perry Mason (actor); Wagon Train (actor); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (actor/stunts); The Andy Griffith Show (actor); Bonanza (actor); Mannix (actor); Mission: Impossible (actor); Daniel Boone (actor/stunts 15 episodes); Marcus Welby (actor); Kojak (actor/stunts); Kung Fu (actor); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (actor); The Streets of San Francisco (stunts); The Six Million Dollar Man (actor); Police Story (actor); The Rockford Files (actor); Matt Houston (actor/stunts); Spenser for Hire (stunts); The Fall Guy (actor); Magnum PI (actor) and The X-Files (actor).
Some of Ted White’s feature films include: Sands of Iwo Jima (actor); Creature from the Black Lagoon (stunts); Giant (stunts); The Naked and the Dead (stunts); Rio Bravo (actor/stunts); The Horse Soldiers (stunts); The Alamo (actor/stunts); The Misfits (stunts); Cat Ballou (stunts); The Cincinnati Kid (stunts); Point Blank (actor/stunts); Will Penny (stunts); Planet of the Apes (stunts); They Call Me Mister Tibbs (stunts); Prime Cut (stunts); Soylent Green (stunts); Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (actor/stunts); Rollerball (stunts); King Kong (stunts); Tron (actor); 1941 (stunts); Bronco Billy (stunts); Used Cars (stunts); Escape from New York (stunts); Against All Odds (actor); Romancing the Stone (actor); Ruthless People (stunts); Death Wish 4 (stunts); Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (actor); Road House (stunts); Starman (actor); Silverado (actor); 2 Fast 2 Furious (stunts) and Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift (stunts).
What an amazing career Ted White had. As I compiled the list of some of his television and movie credits, I was truly shocked at how many of my favorite tv shows and movies he appeared in. Although Ted White is most famous for playing Jason in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, it was not one of his favorite roles. In fact, he turned down the change to return in the sequels. Interestingly enough, many fans feel that Ted White was the best at playing Jason.
The role that first came to mind for me was when he played an escaped convict who returned to Mayberry to get even with the law officer that put him away — Barney Fife. It’s one of my favorite Andy Griffith Show episodes. Ted White was a legitimate tough guy — a marine, a college football player, a boxer and a stunt man. Coupled with his talent for acting, he put together a career to make any actor proud.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ted White’s family, friends and fans.
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Eduardo Risso, the artist best known for his legendary work on 100 Bullets, turned his sights to Clint Eastwood and created the awesome sketch above. You can see more of Risso’s art here.
War of the Dead aka Stone’s War (2011)
Director: Marko Mäkilaakso
Screenplay: Marko Mäkilaakso, Barr B. Potter
Stars: Andrew Tiernan
Tagline: None.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
In 1941, during World War II, US Captain Martin Stone (Tiernan) is leading a squad of American and Finnish soldiers when they are attacked by the living dead.
I love a good zombie movie. World War II and Nazi zombies provides a lot of potential. Unfortunately War of the Dead just wasn’t for me. Little character development, bad/shaky camera-work and poor special effects wore me down. I made it about 30 minutes before tapping out.
War of the Dead earns 1 of 5 stars.
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.
We Want Our Mummy (1939)
Director: Dell Lord
Screenplay: Searle Kramer, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Theodore Lorch and Robert B. Williams
Tagline: Found – in a storm of laughs!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Larry, Curly and Moe are hired to go to Egypt to find the mummy of the famous King Rootin-Tootin. A quick cab ride to Cario and the boys end up alone in the desert. While Curly is swimming in a mirage, he accidentally discovers a series of tunnels that may lead to Rootin-Tootin’s mummy. Although they think they’re alone some criminals are also looking for the mummy and the riches he left behind. Soon enough it’s the Stooges vs the criminals as mayhem takes center stage.
This was the first Stooges short to use Three Blind Mice as the theme song. Curly has the best lines: “I can’t be a mummy, I’m a daddy…” “I got an uncle in Cairo, he’s a chiropractor…” are just two.
We Want Our Mummy earns 4 of 5 stars.
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.
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Director: John McTiernan, Michael Crichton (reshoots)
Screenplay: William Wisher, Jr., Warren Lewis based on Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Dennis Storhøi, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif, Tony Curran, Clive Russell and Erick Avari
Tagline: Fear reigns.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan is a poet accustomed to a luxurious lifestyle until his affair with a rich man’s wife brings him unfavorable attention from the sultan. Sent as ambassador to the Northland, Fahdlan encounters a band of Vikings. During the evening celebration, a message arrives requesting the Vikings’ aide at a Northern Kingdom. Inhuman beings are attacking and killing even their best warriors. The things come at night with the mist and appear to be bear-men.
The Vikings ask their shawman to read the bones. She says the Vikings will be successful if they send 13 warriors… but one must not be a Norseman! Fahdlan is reluctantly recruited.
When the 13 warriors arrive, they discover that there are truly bear-men creatures coming with the mist. They kill and eat the men and women of the Kingdom. As the village prepares for an attack, Fahdlan says to one of the Vikings, “But I am not a warrior.” The Viking’s response: “Very soon you will be.”
Thoughts…
Michael Crichton, the author of the source novel, was the uncredited director of film reshoots.
John McTiernan was the director when the movie was originally titled Eaters of the Dead. Graeme Revell composed a complete original score for the film. Test screenings reviews were terrible. Michael Crichton was brought in to reshape and shoot additional scenes. Revell’s score was discarded. Jerry Goldsmith was brought in to create a new score for the film now titled The 13th Warrior.
I absolutely love The 13th Warrior. It has a great blend of action/horror with just the right amount of comedic moments.
Banderas is perfect as the lover/poet who finds himself among Viking barbarians. His disgust for them matches their disdain for him. Yet, as they get to know each other a mutual respect forms.
The bear-men are terrifying. There are so many great scenes in this film. The tension mounts as Vikings die and the bear-men seem unbeatable. And don’t get me started on how creepy their Queen is.
I’ve watched The 13th Warrior many times and look forward to more viewings.
One of the Viking ships used in The 13th Warrior is now part of a playground in the Norwegian pavilion at the EPCOT in Orlando, Florida.,
The 13th Warrior earns 5 of 5 stars.
