Category: Z-View

Small Crimes (2017) / Z-View

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Small Crimes (2017)

Director: Evan Katz

Screenplay: Macon Blair and Evan Katz based on a novel by David Zeltserman

Stars:  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Robert Forster, Jacki Weaver and Gary Cole.

The Pitch: “Let’s turn David Zeltserman’s novel into a movie!”

Tagline: None.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When ex-cop, ex-con, Joe Denton is released from prison he finds himself still entangled with the crooks and crooked cop who got him sent up.  Each step Joes makes takes him deeper into a life of crime where his chances of survival are knife-blade thin.

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Tarzan and His Mate (1934) / Z-View

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Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

Director: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Conway (uncredited) and James C. McKay (uncredited)

Screenplay: James Kevin McGuinness based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Stars:  Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan and Neil Hamilton

The Pitch: “Let’s make a sequel to ‘Tarzan the Ape Man’!”

Tagline: Johnny Weismuller is back again!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Hunters from England come to Africa in order to bring Jane back to civilization along with a fortune in elephant tusks.  This doesn’t sit well with Tarzan.

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Shield for Murder (1954) / Z-View

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Shield for Murder (1954)

Director: Howard W. Koch and Edmond O’Brien

Screenplay: Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins from a novel by William P. McGivern

Stars:  Edmond O’Brien, John Agar, Marla English, John Agar, Caroline Jones and Claude Akins.

The Pitch: “Let’s turn William McGivern’s best-seller into a movie!”

Tagline: The Story Of A Killer-Cop Who Used His “SHIELD FOR MURDER”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When tough cop Detective Nolan (O’Brien) kills a bookie for the 25 grand the bookie is carrying, he thinks there are no witness.  Nolan then learns a deaf/mute man saw the murder.  This leads Nolan down a path of no-return full of murder and mayhem.

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Kill Me Again (1989) / Z-View

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Kill Me Again (1989)

Director: John Dahl

Screenplay: John Dahl and David W. Warfield

Stars:  Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen and Bibi Besch.

The Pitch: “Let’s throwback detective story about a pretty woman, stolen money, a psycho boyfriend and down-on-his-luck private eye.”

Tagline: Her last request was his first mistake.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When an attractive woman (Whalley) offers Jack Andrews (Kilmer) enough money to get him out from under with his bookies, Andrews agrees to help her disappear.  What Andrews doesn’t know is that she’s on the run from her psycho boyfriend (Madsen) with the cash that they stole and killed to keep.

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Kansas City Confidential (1952) / Z-View

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Kansas City Confidential (1952)

Director: Phil Karlson

Screenplay: George Bruce and Harry Essex from a story by Harold R. Greene and Rowland Brown

Stars: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam and Donna Drake.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a crime movie with an ex-con trying to go straight framed for a heist by crooks and crooked cops!”

Tagline: Exploding! Like a gun in your face!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Joe Rolfe (Payne) is an ex-con trying to go straight who finds himself set-up to take the fall of a million dollar heist.  When the cops can’t beat a confession out of Rolfe, they release him.  This allows Rolfe to begin a real investigation. The trail takes him to Mexico where he finds himself up against the crooks and a crooked cop.

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Baby Driver (2017)

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Baby Driver (2017)

Director: Edgar Wright

Screenplay: Edgar Wright

Stars: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Lily James, Kevin Spacey and CJ Jones.

The Pitch: “Hey, Edgar Wright has this cool idea for a crime love story wrapped around a killer soundtrack!”

Tagline: All you need is one killer track.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Baby is a young getaway driver working off a debt to a crime boss.  Baby has one more heist to drive and he’s out debt-free.  Then Baby meets the girl of his dreams and things get complicated, not because of her but because preparation for the job goes sideways.  People die and Baby finds himself on the run from his team and the cops.

Edgar Wright has created a cool, action-packed love story wrapped around bigger than life characters all moving through life to their own internal soundtrack.  The more I think about Baby Driver the more I like it.  Wright’s story is a fable or yarn that has all of the characters you’d want, played by people you’d cast.  Yeah, Baby Driver deserves an “A”.

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Kill Me Three Times (2014)

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Kill Me Three Times (2014)

Director: Kriv Stenders

Screenplay: James McFarland

Stars: Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Alice Braga,  Luke Hemsworth and Bryan Brown

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s do a crime comedy!”

Tagline: Once is never enough

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When hitman Charlie Wolf (Pegg) fails to kill his target, he finds himself drawn into three interwoven cases of infidelity, revenge, blackmail and murders!

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They Live by Night (1948)

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They Live by Night (1948)

Director: John Boorman

Screenplay: Charles Schnee and Nicholas Ray based on the novel by Edward Anderson

Stars: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger and Howard Da Silva

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s do a crime love story about a young couple in a doomed relationship!”

Tagline: “We’re in a Jam!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A young escaped convict who hopes to prove his innocence falls in love with a woman helping to hide and nurse him back to health.  Persuaded to assist in a couple of robberies by the cons who helped him escape only draws more heat to catch them.  When the young couple attempt to get away and start a new life, they find the cops closing in.

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Point Blank (1967)

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Point Blank (1967)

Director: John Boorman

Screenplay: Alexander Jacobs and David Newhouse & Rafe Newhouse based on the Donald E. Westlake novel written as Richard Stark

Stars: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bochner, John and James B. Sikking

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s get Lee Marvin to star in a crime movie!”

Tagline: There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world: his victims and his women. And sometimes you can’t tell them apart.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Walker (Marvin) is double crossed and left for dead after helping his friend steal money to pay off his friend’s mob debt.  Walker recovers and vows to get revenge and his share of the money.

 

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Full Metal Jacket (1987)

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Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick & Michael Herr & Gustav Hasford from the novel by Gustav Hasford

Stars: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Kevyn Major Howard,  Arliss Howard and Ed O’Ross.

The Pitch: “Hey, Kubrick wants to make a war movie!”

Tagline: One rifle, one gun. One for killing, one for fun.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Full Metal Jacket follows a bunch of young, raw recruits from boot camp to war in Viet Nam.  One of Kurbrick’s best movies with special props to R. Lee Emey and Vincent D’Onfrio.

 

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Cat People (1942)

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Cat People (1942)

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Screenplay: DeWitt Bodeen

Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a sensual monster movie!”

Tagline: A Kiss Could Change Her Into a Monstrous Fang-and-Claw Killer!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Kent Smith meets, falls in love and quickly marries Irena Dubrovna only to discover that Irena believes she is cursed to turn into a panther when her passions rise.  I kid you not.

As with all reviews, your mileage may vary, but I think that most people will like Cat People better than me.  I found it to be slow and silly (but not funny).  Meow.

 

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Director: Don Siegel

Screenplay: Daniel Mainwaring based on a story by Jack Finney

Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, Carolyn Jones, Sam Peckinpah, Whit Bissell and Richard Deacon

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a smart monster movie!”

Tagline: “Something is happening! Send your men of science quick!” The panic stricken cry went over the phone to Washington D. C. until the lines went dead!……

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When a couple of Dr. Miles Bennell’s patients show up with the concern that their family members have been replaced by identical look-alikes, he becomes concerned.  He wants to find out what is causing the delusions, but discovers that they ARE being replaced by things from outer space.  Now Bennell is their next target!

 

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The Set-Up (1949)

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The Set-Up (1949)

Director: Robert Wise

Screenplay: Art Cohn based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March

Stars: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter and George Tobias

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a boxing movie!”

Tagline: The Sensational Picture You’ve Been Hearing and Reading About!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Bill “Stoker” Thompson (Ryan) is an over-the-hill fighter on the club circuit.  Although he still packs a punch, his best days are gone.  Stoker’s manager sets up a fixed fight with an up-and-coming prospect backed by the mob.  His manager is so sure that Stoker is going to lose, he doesn’t tell Stoker about the set-up.

 

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The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

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The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Director: Terence Fisher

Screenplay: Anthony Hinds (as John Elder) based on the novel by Guy Endore

Stars: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a werewolf movie!”

Tagline: Even the innocent girl who loved him was not safe… once the full moon rose!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Leon (Reed), the son of a nobleman, is born with the curse of the werewolf.

 

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Too Late for Tears (1949)

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Too Late for Tears (1949)

Director: Byron Haskin

Screenplay: Roy Huggins

Stars: Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make movie about a woman corrupted by money!”

Tagline: That’s just to remind you… you’re in a tough racket now!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Jane and Alan Palmer accidentally come into possession of a satchel full of money things quickly go south.  Although they know it’s mob money, they can’t agree what to do with it.  Jane wants to keep it.  Alan wants to turn it over to the police.

Soon enough a rough character shows up wanting the money.  Jane is willingly to do anything to keep at least part of the cash… even if it means murder.  And it does.

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