Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Adam Chow is an artist and a Bruce Lee fan. His Instagram page is filled with his Bruce Lee art. A sample of Chow’s cool pieces include Bruce Lee from his various movies, with Brandon Lee as the Crow, if Bruce was in Star Trek, Bruce Lee as John Wick and much more. Click over and give Adam Chow’s art a view!
Babylon A.D. (2008)
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Writers: Mathieu Kassovitz & Joseph Simas (screenplay) with Éric Besnard (scenario and dialogue) based on the novel by Maurice G. Dantec.
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling.
Tagline: Save the World One Child at a Time.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
In the near future, Toorop (Diesel), is an exiled American mercenary living in a dangerous gang-ridden Russian slum. Toorop is hired to safely transport Aurora (Thierry) and her guardian (Yeoh) across the war torn continent and sneak them into the United States. Under the best circumstances this would be a tough gig, but the fact that two different organizations have sent armed teams to kidnap Aurora for vastly different reasons makes survival unlikely.
Babylon A.D. is an under-rated and flawed film that I absolutely love. Bad weather, budget over-runs, problems between the director and 20th Century Fox all contributed to the end result. 20th Century Fox released a drastically cut (reports range from 15 to 93 minutes shorter than the director’s cut) theatrical version with almost zero publicity. In 2011, Mathieu Kassovitz released a behind the scenes documentary of the troubled production called Fucking Kassovitz. I’ve seen the documentary. It is clear that problems with the production team meeting the director’s vision were enormous.
With that said, I still love Babylon A.D. It has scope, vision and attempts to rise above the action genre film. There’s so much to love. The opening with Toorop in the Russian slum. Gorsky (Depardieu), the Russian crime lord’s method of getting Toorop on board. How Gorsky gets Toorop to the convent to pick-up Aurora. Slowly seeing that there is more to Aurora than meets the eye. The gradual development of respect and then friendship between Toorop and Sister Rebeka (Yeoh). The parkour fighters. Toorop “rescuing” Aurora from the monster cage fighter. The submarine scene. Escaping the drones. The New York showdown and more.
Babylon A.D. is not a great movie. As I said at the start, it is flawed. But I love what they did get on film. I’ve watched Babylon A.D. several times over the years and like it better with each viewing. This is one where I expect the mileage will differ from mine with many viewers. Why not give it a shot and see? As for me, I rate Babylon A.D. five of five stars.
The Home is filled with tension due to professional acting, directing and production values. Well done.
Set in a small, isolated 19th century Irish home for unwed mothers, a young pregnant woman must fight for her survival as the home falls siege to a group of mysterious invaders.
“The Home”
Writers: L. Gustavo Cooper & Peter Cilella
Director: L. Gustavo Cooper
Starring Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep, Midnight Mass)
Ignore the boring poster and instead check out the trailer for There Are No Saints starring Jose Maria Yazpik, Ron Perlman, Tim Roth, Neal McDonough, Tommy Flanagan and Paz Vega with a screenplay by Paul Schrader directed by Alfonso Pineda Ulloa.
Looking to start a new life, a former hitman nicknamed The Jesuit (Jose Maria Yazpik) is unable to escape the sins of his past. With enemies on both sides of the law, he has nowhere to turn when his only son is kidnapped by a ruthless cartel boss (Ron Perlman). He’ll stop at nothing to save his boy in this gritty action-thriller from the writer of TAXI DRIVER.
PopCultArt recently sent out a Tweet with four different Alt. Rocky posters. The one above was created by Agu Mendez. You can see the other three here.
I love this Bride of Frankenstein print by Greg Staples. It’s available from Vice Press if you have a blank spot on your wall that needs to be covered.
Although I doubt there will be any world-shaking revelations, I plan to tune in to The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes. Like with almost everything these days, there’s a conspiracy theory. The Marilyn Monroe conspiracy theory is that she was murdered because of her relationship with President Kennedy.
Since I have Netflix, this will be an easy choice to tune in.
Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness. By piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life, and offers a new perspective on that fateful night. Only on Netflix, April 27.
Check out Danny Earls take on Sly Stallone as Rambo. Ain’t that something! I first saw Danny Earls’ art on the Hopeless Kickstarter. I liked what I saw, backed the project and then headed over to Danny Earls’ Instagram. Truth be told you should do the same.
The poster for The Nameless is ok, but the trailer worked better than expected. Deal me in.
Young immigrant Rahui and his pregnant sister are attacked and separated by a demonic spirit as they embark on a dangerous trek across the U.S. border. Injured but determined to survive, Rahui must rescue his sister before the demon takes the one thing she was denied in life–a baby.
Starring Ally Ioannides, Charles Halford, Alejandro Akara
Directed by Andrew Mecham & Mattew Whedon
Hellboy II director, Guillermo del Toro commissioned Drew Struzan to create a poster to promote the film. The studio decided not to use Struzan’s art and so the poster was previously only available as a giveaway print at New York Comic con in 2008… until now. Well, tomorrow.
There will be two different versions of the Hellboy II: The Golden Army print:
The one shown above is a Limited Edition of 450, 24×36 inches, Hand Numbered Offset Lithograph Print With Gold Hot Foil Title, Printed on 300gsm Archival Paper. It retails for $85.
The other version doesn’t have the Hellboy II: The Golden Army logo or movie info at the bottom. It has a Limited Edition of 250, 24×36 inches, Hand Numbered Offset Lithograph Print, Printed on 300gsm Archival Paper. It retails for $75.
If you’re interested you will be able to pick up both versions of the poster on Thursday the 31st of March, starting at 1pm Eastern from Vice-Press.com and Sideshow Art Prints.
Above we have the cover and below several pages from an Argentine comic adaptation of Rocky III. I wish we had more comic adaptations of movies in the US. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see larger size versions.
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Source: John Rivoli.
Marvin J. Chomsky, the four time Emmy winning director and producer died on March 28th at the age of 92. No cause of death was given.
Mr. Chomsky began his career as an art and set director. He began directing in 1964 on the television series The Doctors and the Nurses where he helmed three episodes. Mr. Chomsky spent the bulk of his career working in television where he directed some of the most popular tv series (usually multiple episodes) and television movies. Mr. Chomsky also directed five feature films.
A sample of some of the series where Mr. Chomsky served as a director include: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; Gunsmoke; Lancer, The Magical World of Disney; The Name of the Game; Bearcats!; Mission Impossible; Hawaii 5-0; Mannix; The Magician and Police Story.
Some of the tv movies directed by Marvin Chomsky include: Mrs. Sundance; Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan; Victory at Entebbe; Attica and Catherine the Great.
A few of the TV mini-series on which Marvin Chomsky directed include: Roots; Holocaust; Peter the Great; The Deliberate Stranger; Billionaire Boys Club and Brotherhood of the Rose.
His feature films include: Evel Knievel; Mackintosh and T.J.; Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff and Tank.
Mr. Chomsky won three Emmy Awards: as Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for Holocaust in 1978; as Outstanding Director for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for Attica in 1980 and for Inside the Third Reich in 1982. When Mr. Chomsky accepted his third Emmy for directing, he was said that he had won awards for directing projects about events that “never should have happened.”
Marvin Chomsky directed episodes of some of my favorite shows when I was a kid: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; (the short-lived) Bearcats! and (also short-lived) The Magician. Another favorite directed by Mr. Chomsky was Brotherhood of the Rose based on David Morrell’s best selling novel.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Marvin Chomsky’s family, friends and fans.
The poster for Shepherd is weak, but the trailer raised enough interest that I want to see more. I’m not totally sold but as I said, interested in seeing more.
Duel is a clever title for a movie about a clone (her duel image) that she must fight to the death (duel). Aaron Paul is an under-rated, under-used actor so I am glad to see him in a new role. Deal me in.
The trailer for Choose or Die doesn’t look bad for the type of movie it is. The fact that it’s on Netflix makes watching it a no-brainer.
After firing up a lost 80s survival horror game, a young coder unleashes a hidden curse that tears reality apart, forcing her to make terrifying decisions and face deadly consequences.
