Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Recently, the Fan To Fan (F2F) team spoke with me about Sly Stallone. We had so much fun talking that the discussion was split into two parts. Part I is here and part 2 is below. Talking to Bernie, Pete and Doug was a blast. It was truly fans hanging out. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I did.
RRR (2022)
Director: S.S. Rajamouli
Screenplay: S. S. Rajamouli from a story by Vijayendra Prasad
Starring: Ram Charan, N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Ray Stevenson and Alison Doody.
Tagline: None
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
RRR is a film that defies description. If someone had described it to me prior to me seeing it, I would have said, “Pass” and missed out on a movie experience that I look forward to repeating. So, I’ll do my best to review RRR, but, no matter what you think after my review, you should give it a look.
Set in 1920, India is under British rule. The British Governor, Scott Buxton (Stevenson) thinks the people he governs are heathens. Buxton’s wife, Catherine (Doody) is a sadistic wretch. While visiting a village, Catherine tells her husband she wants to take one of the children home with her. Governor Buxton orders his soldiers to get the child. Despite the pleas of the mother and villagers, they leave with the little girl.
Bheem (Rao, Jr.), a warrior who lives in the forest vows to bring her back. Bheem will find himself up against the might of the British army and Ram (Charan) an Indian soldier fighting for the British!
Before that happens we will get back story of both warriors. We see how Bheem and Ram meet while saving a boy from a raging fire. Bheem and Ram become best friends and then mortal enemies, only to learn that both possess a secret that will change everything!
RRR is at times an action movie, a drama, a love story, a war movie and a musical. RRR seamlessly changes genres and keeps the story flowing. The action is over the top crazy (in a great way)! The director pulls out all the stops — we get slow-motion entrances, heroes doing the impossible (but we believe it while watching — at least most of the time). When the action becomes too outrageous, we watch with a smile.
The love story (between Bheem and an English woman) is sweet and innocent. It provides opportunities for humor, an insight to how most of the British view the population. It also leads to one of my many favorite scenes in RRR (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) — a dance off. Yep. A dance off. But it works!
The heroes are heroic and the villains are despicable. RRR is a movie that wears its heart on its sleeve. It shamelessly has fun as it presents the story of a legend. I absolutely loved RRR and it earns my highest rating 5 of 5 stars.
Yesterday we took a look at a rare Barry Windsor-Smith concept piece. Today we have not one, but two concepts by Frank Frazetta for the poster for Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet. How cool is that?
Source: Tony Stella
The Old Guard (2020)
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Screenplay: Greg Rucka based on The Old Guard comic series by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez
Starring: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Harry Melling.
Tagline: Forever is Harder Than It Looks
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Andy (Theron) leads a team of centuries-old near-immortals who take on missions to improve the world. When Steven Merrick (Melling), a drug company executive learns of the near-immortals, he puts together a group of mercenaries to capture Andy’s team. Merrick plans to experiment on the near-immortals to discover their secrets to longevity.
I was expecting more from The Old Guard. I’m a long time fan of Greg Rucka’s writing (both novels and comics). For some reason the story/dialogue just didn’t resonate with me. The action scenes were good. There’s one horrifying thing that happens to one of the near-immortals that will stay with you. Other than that The Old Guard played out like a good, but not great action flick. The Old Guard rates 3 of 5 stars.
The final trailer for NOPE is here.
“What’s a bad miracle?”
Oscar® winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.
The film reunites Peele with Oscar® winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar® nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.
Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) and Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman) and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions. The film will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide.
The Unforgivable (2021)
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Screenplay: Peter Craig, Hillary Seitz, Courtenay Miles based on Unforgiven, a British limited series by Sally Wainwright
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Aisling Franciosi, Richard Thomas, Tom Guiry, Emma Nelson and Will Pullen.
Tagline: No one walks free of their past.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Ruth Slater (Bullock) has just been released from prison after serving twenty years for the murder of a sheriff. She has two goals. The first is to make sure that her younger sister, Katie (Franciosi) is doing alright and the second is to get on with her life. Neither goal is going to be easy.
After Ruth’s imprisonment, Katie was adopted. Katie has splotchy memories of a traumatic incident, but no idea of her life before adoption. Katie’s adoptive parents do not want Ruth to have any contact with Katie.
When Keith (Guiry), one of the sons of the murdered sheriff, sees that Ruth Slater has been released from prison he is enraged. He blames Ruth for all of the crappy things in his life that began with the murder of his dad. Keith plans to kill Ruth.
Ruth’s refusal to back down from meeting with Katie, and Keith’s plans to kill Ruth are going to play out in unpredictable ways.
I was impressed with how good The Unforgivable is since it could have easily gone the Lifetime Movie route. The Unforgivable is a dark story that is well written, well directed featuring an excellent cast. Kudos to Sandra Bullock for starring in a movie where she doesn’t look like a movie star and is believable as an ex-con.
Viola Davis has a small, but pivotal role. Vincent D’Onofrio plays an attorney married to Davis’ character. I loved the interactions between these two amazing actors.
Jon Bernthal is one of my favorite actors. He has a small role as a potential love interest for Ruth. Their scene in the diner is heartbreaking… especially later when we learn more.
Richard Thomas is excellent as Katie’s adoptive dad. It’s good to see Thomas in more roles.
I figured out The Unforgivable early on, and had most of it right. The ending did surprise me though. I really liked The Unforgivable so of course it rates 4 of 5 stars.
Check out this very cool poster of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry Callahan by Tony Stella. It is available as a print from Tony Stella!
The second trailer for The Terminal List starring Chris Pratt is here!
The Fan To Fan (F2F) podcast with hosts Bernie Gonzalez, Peter Charbonneau and Doug Ziegler takes a simple idea and does it well. Each episode of F2F features a conversation between fans. The subject could be movies, comics, TV, video games, toys, cartoons, or anything pop culture! Bernie, Peter and Doug pick a fan with a love and/or knowledge of the episode’s topic and then do a deep dive.
Recently, the F2F team spoke with me about Sly Stallone. When I was approached to be a guest, I explained that there are Stallone fans with greater knowledge and bigger collections than mine. Still, they were interested in how I became a Stallone fan, the creation of StalloneZone and more. I was already a fan of Bernie’s Midnight Mystery, so I checked out F2F and became a fan of it as well.
Talking to Bernie, Pete and Doug was a blast. It was truly fans hanging out. Here’s part one of the conversation. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I did.
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
Director: Raoul Walsh
Screenplay: Sam Hellman, James V. Kern based on an idea by Aubrey Wisberg
Starring: Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran, John Alexander, Margaret Dumont, Robert Blake and Mike Mazurki
Tagline: Benny’s from Heaven and the laughs are out of this world!!!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Athanael (Benny), plays third trumpet in the orchestra of a live late night radio show. During a commercial break, Athanael falls asleep. And dreams…
Athanael dreams he’s an angel trumpet player in heaven’s orchestra. He’s given the job to go to Earth and signal it’s destruction by blowing his trumpet at midnight. A woman who wants to commit suicide and two fallen angels are determined to stop Athanael from blowing his horn. Will Athanel sound his trumpet and destroy the earth? Will he fail and become a fallen angel? Do we really care since this is all a dream?
And that is one of the problems with The Horn Blows at Midnight. It’s all a dream. Whatever happens doesn’t matter.
It. Is. A. Dream.
There are some humorous moments when Athanael and several cast members are hanging off a building or when Athanael ends up in and clinging to a gigantic cup of coffee (again high up on a building).
I’m a Jack Benny fan and love his standup comedy and television show. Benny joked for years about how bad The Horn Blows at Midnight is. After seeing it, I realize Benny wasn’t joking..
The Horn Blows at Midnight rates 2 of 5 stars.
Batman (2022)
Director: Matt Reeves
Screenplay: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig, based on Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro and Andy Serkis
Tagline: Unmask The Truth
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
A sadistic, extremely intelligent psycho killer is murdering political figures in Gotham City. At each murder scene, the killer who has been dubbed The Riddler, leaves a message for Batman (Pattison). Meanwhile Selena Kyle aka Catwoman (Kravitz) is investigating the disappearance of one of her friends. When Batman and Selena realize that their investigations overlap, they form an uneasy alliance. As the Riddler’s body count goes up, it becomes clear that the corruption goes deep… perhaps all the way to the Wayne Foundation and Batman’s father.
The Batman doesn’t feel like a super hero movie. Instead it plays out more like a mystery or a noir thriller. That’s a good thing. Even the music doesn’t scream SUPER HERO. Let’s break it down…
The Story: I liked the story and was surprised that Bruce Wayne’s dad was shown in a different light.
Batman: Robert Pattison makes an excellent Batman. I liked that they played up the “strike fear into the hearts of criminals” aspect. Criminals would hear Batman’s heavy footsteps coming closer in the dark before they could see him. This is a more violent Batman but not (usually) excessively so.
Bruce Wayne: The way they portrayed Bruce Wayne threw me a bit. A times I thought he looked like a young John Cazale or Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Having Bruce Wayne as a recluse does help to explain why he isn’t seen in public more often.
Selina Kyle aka Catwoman: Zoë Kravitz owns this role. She’s tiny but believable as a tough woman. The screen loves her and she stole every scene she was in.
The Riddler: The new take on this character is money. He was smart, frightening and crazy. The Zodiac Killer on steroids. Paul Dano deserves an ovation!
The Penguin: Colin Farrell is unrecognizable under the make-up and latex, but his character doesn’t look made-up. Farrell did a fine job.
Carmine Falcone: John Turturro was amazing. He had the crime boss / godfather part down pat. Turturro’s role was one of my favorite parts of the movie.
Alfred: I like the new direction they took with Alfred. No longer the old man with amusing quips, this is the Alfred that served as Bruce Wayne’s bodyguard and mentor from childhood to adult. Andy Serkis nailed the part.
Jim Gordon: Jeffrey Wright makes a great Jim Gordon. Wright is such an under-rated actor, I was glad to see him in The Batman.
The Batmobile: Batman’s car didn’t look like any of the previous Batmobiles. It looked like a built up car that could do what needed to be done. I liked that and the fact it was never referred to as “the Batmobile.” I also loved the scene where the criminals could hear the monstrous motor revving, before they saw it. Again playing up the strike fear into the criminals.
The Batcave: I loved the brief look we got at it. All of those bats flying around was a great touch.
The Batman exceeded my expectations. I hope the entire team returns for a sequel. The Batman earned 4 of 5 stars.
Click on the poster above by Mike Lynaugh and admire the detail that he put in it. Mike captured Rocky’s story from Rocky through Creed. All of Rocky’s opponents are there including Spider Rico and Thunderlips. Butkus is shown. Rocky’s address and Mighty Mick’s gym appear.
Click over to Mike’s Instagram where he writes of the time he spent on the painting. What a true Rocky fan!!
Here are two tv spots for Bullet Train!
Director: David Leitch
Screenwriter: Zak Olkewicz
Cast: Brad Pitt , Joey King , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada , Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz, Logan Lerman , Karen Fukuhara, Masi Oka , and Sandra Bullock
Distributor: Columbia Pictures ( Sony Pictures Releasing )
US Theatrical Release Date: August 5, 2022
Black Crab (2022)
Director: Adam Berg
Screenplay: Adam Berg, Pelle Rådström based on the novel by Jerker Virdborg
Starring: Noomi Rapace and Jakob Oftebro
Tagline: Hope Burns Brightest in The Cold
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
In a world at war, Caroline Edh (Rapace) is one of six soldiers selected for a secret mission. The team is to skate across frozen waters where the ice is too thin for vehicles (and often people) to deliver a mysterious package to an island research base. If Edh survives the mission she has been told she will be reunited with her missing daughter.
Black Crab has an interesting plot and the set-up looks like we’re in for a good (maybe even very good) movie. I kept thinking, “This film is about to take off.” We’d get cool scenes like retrieving the backpack from the woman under the ice or all the bodies frozen in the ice, but between the cool scenes were lots of shots of soldiers skating or hiding from a helicopter that could almost find them. Bah! The movie’s tagline is Hope Burns Brightest in the Cold. My hope that the movie would get better was left out in the cold.
Black Crab rates 2 of 5 stars.
