Category: Z-View

IQ by Joe Ide / Z-View

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IQ by Joe Ide

Trade Paperback: ‎ 352 pages
Publisher: ‎Mulholland Books

First sentence…

Isaiah’s crib looked like every other house on the block except the lawn was cut even, the pain was fresh, and the entrance was a little unusual.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Isaiah Quintabe is a quiet kid with a superior intellect.  While IQ is still in high school, his older brother and guardian, is killed in a hit-and-run accident.  Alone and afraid he will be sent to a home, IQ begins to earn money from neighborhood folks needing help.  When IQ finds a runaway daughter word spreads.  Soon he is getting requests for assistance with “cases the police can’t or won’t touch.”  The cases don’t pay much and sometimes the reward is food or tires for his car.  Because money is tight, IQ takes in a roommate.  Dodson is a low-level drug dealer that IQ knows from the ‘hood.  Both IQ and Dodson hope the arrangement is temporary.

When Dodson brings IQ a case offering real money, there’s an understanding that Dodson will assist. The potential reward is too good to pass, so IQ agrees.  That’s how they begin working for a big time rapper whose life was threatened.  Soon IQ and Dodson find themselves up against a cold-blooded killer with an attack dog the size of a small bear, and a large list of suspects who’d benefit from the rapper’s death.  Before it’s over IQ and Dodson are on the killer’s list.  Identifying the killer and who hired him will save the rapper’s life as well as their own.  If they can.

Joe Ide has created a unique character with Isaiah Quintabe.  It’s impressive how Ide sets up the first IQ book.  Ide gets in background information, early cases, and IQ’s unlikely partnership with Dodson while at the same time keeping the story moving.  Everything, the settings, the characters and the dialogue, all ring true. Because of this, when Ide introduces the killer and his beast-dog, we buy it.  Ide has created memorable characters and a great first story for our modern day Sherlock Holmes.  I loved IQ and look forward to more of his adventures.

IQ rates 5 of 5 stars.

IQ Hardcover
IQ Trade Paperback
IQ Kindle

“The Forever Purge” (2021) / Z-View

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The Forever Purge (2021)

Director: Everardo Gout

Writers: James DeMonaco

Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Will Patton and Zahn McClarnon.

Tagline:  The rules are broken.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When crazies across the US keep “purging” after the deadline, a rich ranching family joins their Mexican employees in a search for safety.  When they hear that for 24 hours Mexico and Canada have opened their borders to refuges looking for safety, the group heads for Mexico.

Kind of heavy-handed plot, huh?  The rich white family begins to understand how foreign families would leave everything to cross the border for safety.  If this was a better movie perhaps it would just seem ironic.

The Forever Purge rates 2 of 5 stars.

The Forever Purge Blu-ray
The Forever Purge DVD
The Forever Purge 4K

“The Wolf of Snow Hollow” (2020) / Z-View

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The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Director:  Jim Cummings

Writers: Jim Cummings

Starring: Jim Cummings, Riki Lindhome, Robert Forster and Will Madden.

Tagline:  Welcome to Snow Hollow

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Deputy Sheriff John Marshall (Cummings) is a recovering alcoholic.  He’s losing sleep and his nerves are frayed.  His ex-wife wants sole custody of their daughter.  His father’s (Forster) health is failing and he won’t take care of himself.  Complicating their relationship, John’s father is also John’s boss, the Sheriff.  John’s daughter is staying with him and at the teenage rebellious stage.  No wonder John Marshall has anger issues.

What could happen to make things worse, you ask?  I’m glad you did.

When the first victim’s body is found, badly mutilated with parts missing, word gets out that there is a deranged killer living in their small town community.

Then a second mutilated body is found missing parts. The story becomes they have a serial killer in their midst.

Once the third dismembered body is found, rumors circulate that the werewolf is back!  With each new victim, Deputy Sheriff John Marshall feels himself losing it a bit more.  He’s got to find the killer before he kills again.  And everyone knows there’s no such thing as werewolves, right?  Right?

Jim Cummings wrote, directed and stars in The Wolf of Snow Hollow.  I wonder why he made his character so unlikeable.  Robert Forster is always good and his role in The Wolf of Snow Hollow is no exception.  I like the design of the werewolf and there are a couple of cool scenes where we clearly see how huge it is.  There’s a nice (if not unexpected) twist near the end of the film.  Had I liked the main character better, The Wolf of Snow Hollow may have earned more than 3 of 5 stars.

“Windfall” (2022) / Z-View

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Windfall (2022)

Director: Charlie McDowell

Writers: Charlie McDowell &Jason Segel and Justin Lader & Andrew Kevin Walker

Starring: Jason Segel, Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons and Omar Leyva.

Tagline:  Every Kidnap is a Compromise.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A man (Segel) breaks into one of a young billionaire’s vacation homes intent to steal whatever cash and goods he can.  Things go south when the billionaire (Plemons) and his wife (Collins) show up.

Windfall starts off feeling like a Hitchcock thriller.  Then switches to comedy and finally drama. This just didn’t work for me.  It was like we’re in the comedy section now.  Ok, time for the drama.  The decisions the characters made didn’t feel real.  I felt like I was watching actors in a play doing what the writers wanted, not like people in a real-life hostage situation.

It is cool how the title of the film ties in to the ending.  I just wish the entire movie was that clever.

Windfall earns 2 of 5 stars.

“A Quiet Place Part II”  (2020) / Z-View

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A Quiet Place Part II   (2020)

Director:  John Krasinski

Writers: John Krasinski (screenplay) based on characters by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck

Starring:  Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe and Djimon Hounsou.

Tagline:  Silence is Not Enough

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A Quiet Place Part II begins on day one of the alien invasion.  The aliens are massive creatures with armor-like scales.  Although blind, they are exceedingly fast and strong.  They use their sensitive hearing to locate and kill.  The scenes of the aliens arriving and attacking are worth the price of admission.  The story then picks up where the original film ended.

The Abbotts have been surviving on the family farm since the alien invasion began over a year ago.  Lee Abbott (Krasinski) has been killed by aliens. Lee’s wife, Evelyn (Blunt) is left with her three children, Regan & Marcus as well as a baby. Her oldest, Regan (Simmonds) is deaf.  They accidentally learned that amplified feedback from Regan’s hearing aide disorients the aliens.  While disoriented, the aliens are vulnerable to be destroyed.

With limited supplies, Evelyn and her children leave the farm in hopes of finding other survivors.  Evelyn wants a safe place for her and her children.  Regan wants more.  Regan believes that if she can get to a radio station, she can broadcast how to weaponize sound against the aliens.  Evelyn and Regan both understand the dangers the aliens present… but neither has taken into account that humans can be as dangerous.

A Quiet Place Part II is an excellent follow-up to the original.  I was really happy that in Part II, they take us back to day one of the invasion.  There are terrifying scenes of the aliens attacking.  One scene in particular involves Evelyn escaping an attacking alien and coming head-on with an out of control bus — and then things get worse!

I’m an Emily Blunt fan.  John Krasinski continues to impress both in front and behind the camera.  I didn’t recognize Cillian Murphy at first, but he is a great addition to the cast.  Djimon Hounsou comes in late to the story, but plays a role with heart and does it well.  Millicent Simmonds gets a bigger part this time out, but she is more than up to the task.

A Quiet Place Part II is a worthy  follow-up to the original.  It rates 4 of 5 stars.

PAYBACK is FOREVER by Nick Kolakowski / Z-View

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Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

Trade Paperback: ‎ 170 pages
Publisher: ‎ Shotgun Honey Books (March 24, 2022)

First sentence…

While the shootout paused so everybody could reload, Miller wondered whether the clown was still alive.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Miller is a successful thief and a not so successful gambler.  This causes him to take a job with a couple of crooks he doesn’t know.  The job goes sideways, the mooks attempt to double cross Miller, and several civilians are killed.  Not all is lost since Miller gets away with the loot.

Now Miller’s on the run.  When he’s offered a job to provide protection for a “simple” transaction, Miller knows there’s no such thing as simple in his line of work.  But the money is too good to pass. Miller needs the payoff to get away and lay low.  Of course nothing is as it seems (boy, it that true!) and Miller is going to learn that Payback is Forever.

Kolakowski has created a great throwback to the Gold Medal paperbacks my grandpa and I used to read.  I blazed through it, enjoying every page.  Payback is Forever is full of interesting characters – crooked crooks, midget hitmen, a ventriloquist with a wise-ass dummy, a sexy love interest and more.

Payback is Forever rates 4 of 5 stars.  If this sounds like something you’d dig, what are you waiting for?

Payback is Forever Trade Paperback
Payback is Forever Kindle

Rating:

“Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman”  (1943) / Z-View

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Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman  (1943)

Director:  Roy William Neill

Writers:  Curt Siodmak

Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye.

Tagline:  All New Thrills as Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Four years after the events of The Wolf Man, grave robbers break into Larry Talbot’s crypt.  When light of the full moon hits Talbot’s corpse he comes back to life as the Wolf Man!  Two days later Talbot (Chaney) awakens in a hospital. Talbot remembers killing people in his werewolf form, but is unable to convince Dr. Manning that he is a wolf man.  Thinking Talbot crazy, he is restrained.  Talbot escapes and goes in search of a cure.

Although Dr. Frankenstein is dead, Talbot believes the doctor’s journals may provide an answer.  As he searches for the notes, Talbot frees Frankenstein’s monster, who is buried in ice below the castle.  Posing as a potential buyer of the Frankenstein estate, Talbot meets Dr. Frankenstein’s daughter, Elsa. With the aide of Elsa, Dr. Frankenstein’s journals and laboratory, Dr. Manning believes he can drain the Monster and the Wolf Man of their life energy.  What could possibly go wrong?

The Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man in the same movie!  What kid didn’t love that?  Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was another of our favorites when it appeared on Sammy Terry’s Nightmare Theater.  Although the Monster and the Wolf Man don’t fight until the climax (we wanted more!), their battle destroying the laboratory as flood waters rushed in was always exciting.  Every time I re-watch Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man it takes me back to being a kid excited to see two of our favorite monsters in the same movie!.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Hotel Artemis” (2018) / Z-View

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Hotel Artemis  (2018)

Director: Drew Pearce

Writers: Drew Pearce

Starring: Jodie Foster, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista, Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry and Zachary Quinto.

Tagline: Los Angeles 2028. A secret hospital for criminals with three simple rules: No guns. No cops. No killing the other patients.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The tagline for Hotel Artemis perfectly sets up the story.  In the near future LA is a war zone.  Riots are raging.  Brothers Sherman (Brown) and Lev (Henry) use the riots to provide cover for their bank robbery.  Things go sideways and Lev is shot.  Cops are killed.  The brothers make a getaway and head for the Hotel Artemis.

The Hotel Artemis would easily fit in the John Wick Universe.  It’s like the Continental, but instead of being a hotel, it is actually a secret hospital for criminals who have membership.  All guests, prior to entry, must give up their weapons and receive a code name.  The Hotel Artemis is run by an older nurse (Foster) who is a stickler for the rules.  She’s assisted by Everest (Bautista) and they make a great team.

When Sherman and Lev arrive, there are two other “guests” at the hotel.  One is there on a secret mission to commit murder.  To complicate matters, Sherman learns that in their heist Lev stole diamonds belonging to  Orian “The Wolf King” Franklin (Goldblum) and he is now in route to the hotel!

I’m surprised that Hotel Artemis didn’t do better at the box office.  The characters are well written, it has a great cast, seems like a natural for the John Wick crowd and has a great mix of action, drama and comedy.  Getting Jodie Foster to play the Nurse was a win.  She’s great.  Sterling K. Brown is also a standout.  I’d love to see him in another action or heist film.  Dave Bautista is perfect as Everest, the nursing assistant who takes his job very seriously.  The camera loves Sofia Boutella (who can blame it?) and she’s believable when the action gets rough.

Hotel Artemis is a movie that I will enjoy revisiting because it’s so much fun.  It easily rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Wait Until Dark” (1967) / Z-View

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Wait Until Dark (1967)

Director:  Terence Young

Writers:  Robert Carrington (screenplay), Jane-Howard Hammerstein (screenplay), based on the play by Frederick Knott

Starring:  Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston and Samantha Jones.

Tagline:  The blinds moving up and down. . .the squeaking shoes. . .and then the knife whistling past her ear. . .

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Mike Talman (Crenna) and Carlino (Weston) are small-time crooks waiting for their partner, Lisa (Jones).  Instead they are greeted by the very creepy Harry Roat (Arkin).  Roat explains that Lisa secretly passed the heroin she was bringing them to a a man she met on the plane.  The man, Sam Hendrix, wasn’t aware the object he was asked to hold contained heroin.  The unknown object is somewhere in Hendrix’s apartment.  Roat wants to hire Talman and Carlino to help him find the drugs.

Talman and Carlino aren’t interested, until they learn that Roat killed Lisa and has set-up them up to take the fall.  If they help Roat find the drugs, he’ll help them dispose of Lisa’s body and the evidence against them.  Talman and Carlino reluctantly agree.

The plan involves getting into Sam Hendrix’s apartment.  Sam’s blind wife, Susy (Hepburn) will be home alone.  To get in, Talman will play an old friend of Sam’s.  Carlino will play a cop and Roat will play a couple of different roles.  Roat believes that since Susy is blind, conning her will be easy. If it comes to killing her, even easier.  Way too late Talman and Carlino learn that they’ve partnered with a sadistic sociopath.  Even if they find the heroin will Roat kill Susy… and them?

I was fortunate to see Wait Until Dark during its original release.  It made a huge impact on me.  Over the years I’ve watched Wait Until Dark repeatedly and it still holds up. 

If you only know Alan Arkin for his comedies, you’re in for a treat.  Arkin plays one of the creepiest killers ever to show up in a thriller.  Richard Crenna is excellent as the ex-cop turned criminal who still retains a certain sense of decency.  Jack Weston is surprisingly believable as Crenna’s tough crime partner.  This is my favorite Audrey Hepburn film.  She smart, strong and vulnerable.  Credit should also be given to director Terrence Young.  If you only know Young as the director of big-budget 007 films like Thunderball, Dr. No and From Russia with Love, you might be surprised at how well he adapts a play with just five main characters. 

Wait Until Dark is a film I like to share with others.  Most haven’t seen it and end up being surprised at how good Wait Until Dark is.  If you fall into the “haven’t seen it” category, you might want to give it a go.  And don’t blame me if during a couple of scenes you let out a scream.  I still do.

Wait Until Dark earns 5 of 5 stars.        

Force of Nature (2020) / Z-View

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Force of Nature  (2020)

Director:  Michael Polish

Writers:  Cory M. Miller

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Mel Gibson, David Zayas and Kate Bosworth.

Tagline:  When the Perfect Crime Meets the Perfect Storm

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Two young cops (Hirsch and Bosworth) are sent to evacuate some older folks who refuse to leave their condo before a hurricane hits.  As the cops try to convince the folks to leave, an armed group of thieves attack and plan to leave no witnesses.

Force of Nature is entertaining to a point.  It could have been so much better.  Gibson and Zayas are standouts. Two poorly executed scenes and the ending lowered my rating.  So Force of Nature gets 2 of 5 stars.

“Here Come the Marines”  (1952) / Z-View

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Here Come the Marines  (1952)

Director:  William Beaudine

Writers:  Tim Ryan, Charles R. Marion, Jack Crutcher

Starring: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Hanley Stafford and Bernard Gorcey.

Tagline: THEY’RE LOADED FOR LAUGHS…WITH BOMBS AND BLONDES!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Satch is drafted, the rest of the gang joins the marines too.  While on a training march, the boys discover the body of a dead marine.  The only clue is a playing card that leads to an illegal gambling house.  Mobsters are running the place.  Further investigation shows the games are rigged to cheat soldiers out of their pay and the mobsters did kill the soldier.  Have no fear Satch, Slip and the gang are on the case.

Here Come the Marines rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Day of the Dead” (1985) / Z-View

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Day of the Dead  (1985)

Director: George A. Romero

Writers:  George A. Romero

Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Sherman Howard and Gary Howard Klar.

Tagline: First there was “Night of the Living Dead” then “Dawn of the Dead” and now the darkest day of horror the world has ever known.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The zombie apocalypse is well under way.  A small group of soldiers, scientists and civilians have found safety in an underground military bunker.  Isolation and increasing hordes of zombies are wearing on the groups’ nerves/sanity.  When the group learns that one of their scientists has been using soldiers in experiments, the breaking point is reached. The living become as dangerous as the dead.  Will anyone survive?

Day of the Dead was George Romero’s favorite of his “…of the Dead” movies.  I wish I could say the same.  I prefer my zombies as unthinking killing machines.  In Day of the Dead, not only are the zombies learning but one uses a gun!  I also didn’t care for any of the living characters.  Still, it is a Romero zombie film and even if I don’t prefer his vision, I respect it.

Day of the Dead gets 2 of 5 stars.

Fighting Fools (1949) / Z-View

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Fighting Fools (1949)

Director:  Reginald Le Borg

Writers:  Bert Lawrence, Gerald Schnitzer, Edmond Seward

Starring: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Bernard Gorcey.

Tagline:  None,

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Frankie Darro was a one-time boxing challenger for the title.  Now he’s a drunk.  When Darro’s brother is killed is killed in the ring, Slip (Gorcey), Satch (Hall) and the boys help Darro get back in fighting shape to once again challenge for the title and avenge his brother’s death.  Along the way, the boys learn that mobsters are behind Darro’s brothers death and so they work to take the gangsters down.

In Fighting Fools we get more drama than usual in a Bowery Boys movie.  It feels out of place to see alcoholism and death in one of their comedies, but they gloss over the issues so quickly the scenes seem out of place.  I have a strange affection for Bowery Boys movies, perhaps because I watched them often when I was a child at my grandparent’s house.  Most are OK at best, but I still enjoy them.  Keep this in mind when you consider watching.

Fighting Fools rates 2 of 5 stars.

SAFE AND SOUND by J.D. Rhoades / Z-View

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Safe and Sound by J.D. Rhoades

Hardcover: ‎ 288 pages
Publisher: ‎ Minotaur Books; First Edition (July 10, 2007)

First sentence…

“You’re lucky one way, you know,” the man said.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jack Keller is in his girlfriend Marie’s office as she is talking to a potential client.  A young girl is missing and presumed to be kidnapped by her divorced father who happens to be AWOL from the Special Forces.  When the client learns that Keller is also former military she asks Marie to bring him on to assist.  Marie and Keller reluctantly agree.  Soon enough Keller and Marie find themselves at odds with a group of AWOL Special Forces soldiers, the FBI and a sadistic mercenary named DeGroot who is putting together a team of his own.  Keller has no idea what they’re all after but knows that even if he figures it out, all his training may not be enough to keep Marie and her son alive.

J.D. Rhoades has created a fast paced action thriller.  A hero is only as good as the villain he is up against and DeGroot is one of the best (meaning he is one of the worst).  Safe and Sound rates 4 of 5 stars.

Safe and Sound Hardcover

Safe and Sound Kindle

Safe and Sound Mass Market Paperback

Rating:

“Death on the Nile” (2020) / Z-View

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Death on the Nile (2020)

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Writers:  Michael Green (screenplay) based on the novel by Agatha Christie

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders and Leticia Wright.

Tagline:  The Funk don’t Quit.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Death on the Nile is a throwback film, and it should be since it is based on the Agatha Christie classic novel.  While traveling down the Nile in a huge riverboat, a newlywed bride is murdered.  Who would want to kill her is a mystery.   Other than the boat employees the only people on board are invited members of the wedding party.  Hercule Poirot will sort through the few clues and use his superior powers of deduction to bring the guests together in a locked room and identify the killer!

Branagh is excellent as Hercule Poirot.  He is supported by a wonderful cast.  Standouts include Gal Godot, Emma Mackey, Leticia Wright and Sophie Okonedo.  It’s fun to play along and try to come up with the murderer before Poirot announces him/her.  If you’ve read the book, be aware that there are some changes.  I also enjoyed that Death on the Nile shows Poirot before he became a detective and why he wears such an unusual mustache.

Death on the Nile was a fun trip and rates 3 of 5 stars.

Death on the Nile Blu-ray
Death on the Nile DVD
Death on the Nile 4K
Death on the Nile Prime Video