Category: Z-View

Stagecoach (1939)

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Stagecoach (1939)

Director: John Ford

Screenplay: Dudley Nichols  from an original story by Ernest Haycox

Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine and John Carradine

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a western that’s more than just white hats vs black hats.”

Tagline: Danger holds the reins as the devil cracks the whip ! Desperate men ! Frontier women ! Rising above their pasts in a West corrupted by violence and gun-fire !

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

Stagecoach is not only one of the best westerns ever made, but one of the best movies ever made.  It has it all, danger, romance, humor, mystery and more.  It could actually be the film that laid the ground work for disaster/apopcalyptic movies.  Throw a group of strangers together and drop in a disaster and see what shakes out.

The strangers include: The stage driver and his partner riding shotgun, an alcoholic doctor and a prostitute (who’ve been run out of town), a gambler, a pregnant woman, a bank manager (who has a bag of stolen money) and an escaped convict seeking revenge for the murder of his father and brother.

The stagecoach is traveling through Apache territory in the middle of an uprising.  As they get deeper and deeper into Indian territory, the odds of their surviving are dropping fast.

This is the movie that made John Wayne a star.

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The Rules of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake

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The Rules of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake

Publisher: Mysterious Press

First sentence…

Eddie Gato pleaded with us to take him on that run last winter but we said no.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

Eddie Gato Wolfe is an ambitious young man who wishes to make a fast rise in the vast Wolfe family criminal organization.  When things aren’t moving as fast as he’d like, Eddie heads down to Mexico and takes a security job for the La Navaja drug cartel.

Assigned to a remote but luxurious desert villa, days and nights are boring.  The only time things liven up is when the cartel bosses fly in with young women to party.  Although contact or conversations with the help is not allowed one of the women seems interested in Eddie… and he in her.  Eddie learns her name is Miranda.

On Miranda’s next visit he sneaks a visit to her and they hit it off.  All is going well until the man who brought her finds them together.  He and Eddie fight and the man ends up dead.  The dead man is the brother of  La Navaja’s leader.  Eddie knows that unless he and Miranda can escape across the desert and back into the United States, a brutal merciless death awaits them both.

Eddie and Miranda head into the desert with the knowledge that the entire La Navaja cartel will be looking for them.  They’re only hope is a lot of luck and maybe some help from the Wolfe’s… the family that he deserted.

James Carlos Blake has another winner!

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The Traveler (2010)

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The Traveler (2010)

Director: Michael Oblowitz

Screenplay:  Joseph C. Muscat

Stars: Val Kilmer, Dylan Neal and Paul McGillion

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a murder mystery with supernatural revenge overtones.”

Tagline: How do you catch a killer you’ve already caught?

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Late one evening a stranger walks into a deserted under-staffed police station and begins confessing to murders he hasn’t yet committed.

Interesting premise that falls way short in reality.  The underlying premise is that an innocent man has been killed by the officers in the station and that the stranger is there to get revenge.  What follows is a lot of stupid decisions made by characters that results in torture and gore.  Then at the end there is a reveal that makes all that we’ve seen even worse.  Bah!

 

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Hold That Hypnotist (1957)

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Hold That Hypnotist (1957)

Director: Austen Jewell

Screenplay: Dan Pepper

Stars: Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements and Jane Nigh

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make another Bowery Boys movie.”

Tagline: They’re HYSTERICAL…They’re HYPNUTICAL!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Satch gets hypnotized and has visions of an earlier life when he was a pirate and wakes with the knowledge of a buried treasure.  Less laughs than most Bowery Boys films and one of the weakest in the series.

 

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San Quentin (1937)

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San Quentin (1937)

Director: Lloyd Bacon

Screenplay:
Peter Milne and Humphrey Cobb

Stars: Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Barton MacLane and Joe Sawyer.

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a dramatic romance focused around a prison.”

Tagline: “IT’S EASIER TO FIGHT TEN PRISON RIOTS THAN TAME ONE DIZZY DAME!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Captain Stephen Jameson (O’Brien) tasked with bringing discipline to the prisoners of San Quentin goes there to make a difference.  Jameson falls in love with the sister (Sheridan) of one of the convicts (Bogart).  When the convict escapes Jameson vows to bring him in.

One of the most unintentionally funny movie endings ever.

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Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

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Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

Director: Don Siegel

Screenplay: Richard Collins

Stars: Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon, Robert Osterloh, Paul Frees, Don Keefer, Alvy Moore, Dabbs Greer and Whit Bissell.

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a dramatic expose on prison life.”

Tagline: YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE SCORCHING CENTER OF A PRISON RIOT! YOU feel the savage frenzy of 4000 caged humans! YOU see the horror of the wolf pack on a vengeance kick! YOU sweat out every second with tortured hostages! YOU rock with the impact of brute force against bullets!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

James Dunn (Brand) leads a prison riot intended to bring about better conditions for all prisoners.  Unfortunately, Dunn’s partner in the uprising is Crazy Mike Carnie (Gordon) who sees this as his chance to get back at guards and maybe more.

Leo Gordon is a force of nature in this.

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Fingers at the Window (1942)

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Fingers at the Window (1942)

Director: Charles Lederer

Screenplay: Rose Caylor and Lawrence P. Bachmann from a story by Rose Caylor

Stars: Lew Ayres, Laraine Day and Basil Rathbone

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a scary love story!”

Tagline: DANGER AT NIGHTFALL!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

An axe-murderer is terrorizing the city of Chicago with six killings so far.  When Oliver Duffy (Ayers) sees a strange looking man following a woman late one night he stops to warn her.  Although skeptical at first, Edwina (Day) comes to realize Oliver isn’t kidding.  Oliver walks her home and a second attempt on her life is made.

Soon enough they realize that the other murders were just a ruse and she is the real target.  But who wants to kill her and why?  Oliver and Edwina may die finding out.

 

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London Has Fallen (2016)

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London Has Fallen (2016)

Director: Babak Najafi

Screenplay: Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt and Christian Gudegast and
Chad St. John

Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell, Angela Bassett and Morgan Freeman

The Pitch: “Hey,let’s make a sequel to Olympus Has Fallen!”

Tagline: The world’s leaders have assembled. So have their enemies.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

World leaders have all come to London for the funeral of an English diplomat.  When terrorists strike in attempt to kill as many world leaders as possible, it is up to Secret Service agent, Mike Banning (Butler) to get the President to safety… and kill as many terrorists as possible along the way.

 

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Rear Window (1954)

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Rear Window (1954)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: John Michael Hayes based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich

Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey and Raymond Burr

The Pitch: “Hey, Alfred Hitchcock wants to make Rear Window!”

Tagline: In deadly danger…because they saw too much!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Stuck in his apartment mending a broken leg, professional photographer, Jeff Jeffries (Stewart) has taken to watching the lives of the people in the building across the courtyard.  It seems a harmless way to pass the time until Jeffries is convinced he saw a man kill his wife.

The police don’t have any evidence and Jeffries is stuck in his wheelchair.   With no proof and the appearance that the man is about to move away, Jeffries convinces his girlfriend, Lisa, (Kelly) that a murderer is about to escape justice.  Lisa is caught looking for evidence. The man now has Jeff and Lisa in his sights.

 

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The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)

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The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)

Director: Reginald LeBorg

Screenplay: Griffin Jay & Henry Sucher & Brenda Weisberg

Stars: John Carradine, Robert Lowery, Ramsay Ames and Lon Chaney, Jr.

The Pitch: “Hey, it’s time for another mummy movie!”

Tagline: NO CHAINS Can Hold It! NO TOMB Can Seal It!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Like all mummy movies, a mummy is brought back to life and is attracted to a modern woman who may be the reincarnation of his past love.  Terror ensues at a slow pace (mummies have a hard time walking all bandaged up and all).  This mummy movie does have at least one surprise.

 

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Rope (1948)directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart / Z-View

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Rope (1948)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Hume Cronyn adapted from the play by  Patrick Hamilton

Stars: John Dall, Farley Granger, Edith Evanson, Douglas Dick, Joan Chandler, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Dick Hogan and James Stewart

The Pitch: “Hey, turn Rope into a movie!”

Tagline: Nothing ever held you like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Shortly before a dinner party they’re hosting, two college intellectuals strangle a man and hide his body in a trunk in their apartment.  They then decide to serve their dinner party on the trunk.  Invited to the dinner party are the man’s parents, his girlfriend, her former boyfriend and one of their past professors.

Because one of the murder’s thinks he is so intellectually superior he continues to taunt and tease his crime partner… only thing is, someone at the dinner party is picking up the clues.

Rating:

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Director: Frank Capra

Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein based on the play by Joseph Kesselring

Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, James Gleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander and Charles Lane.

The Pitch: “Hey, turn Arsenic and Old Lace into a movie!”

Tagline: She Passed Out On Cary! No Wonder . . . She’s just discovered his favorite aunts have poisoned their 13th gentleman friend!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

As he’s about to leave on his honeymoon, Mortimer Brewster discovers that his dear old Aunts have been poisoning old, lonely men who are without friends or family.  The Aunts have their crazy brother (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) bury them in the basement.  “Teddy” thinks that they’re victims of malaria and he’s digging the Suez canal.

To complicate maters, Mortimer’s violent criminal brother, Jonathon,  returns after 20 years away.  Jonathon is more than willing to kill Mortimer, the Aunts or anyone who gets in his way.

Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my all-time favorite comedies.  Yes, the comedy is broad and there are double takes and it is all wonderful.

Rating:

Re-Kill (2015)

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Re-Kill (2015)

Director: Valeri Milev

Screenplay: Michael Hurst

Stars: Bruce Payne, Daniella Alonso, Roger Cross

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

Tagline: We are the endangered species.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

 

It’s five years after the zombie apocalypse and life inside gated communities with security goes on.  Watching Re-Kill is like watching a tv station that is all-zombie kills all the time.  Maybe like watching Cops but the criminals are now zombies.  There are commercials and public service ads insterspliced within the “Re-Kill” programming.

Rating:

Before killing Bogue, Chisholm reveals that Bogue and his men had raped and killed his mother and sisters years earlier.  They had even hung Chisholm and left him for dead.

While this gives additional justification for Chisholm wanting to take on Bogue and his men, it makes him a little less heroic.  Up to the point of the reveal, it appeared that Chisholm and the others recruited were going against impossible odds because it was the “right” thing to do… not because one of them wanted revenge.

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

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The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Screenplay: Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolatto based on the original The Magnificent 7 which was based on the movie The Seven Samurai.

Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio,
Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett
and Peter Sarsgaard.

The Pitch: “Hey, Denzel wants to make a western.”

Tagline: Justice has a number.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When the town folk of Rose Creek reject Bartholomew Bogue’s pittance offering for their land he brings in hired killers to run them off.  The widow (Bennett) of one of the men killed hires Chisholm (Washington) to help the town fight.

Chisholm recruits other gunfighters to the cause.  Chisholm ends up with seven fighting men and a town full of farmers and store owners… but he has a plan.

The Magnificent 7 is well cast and directed but falls short of the original.  There’s a twist at the end that is supposed to be shocking and provide additional reasoning for Chisolm taking the impossible job but I didn’t like it.  I’ll explain after the rating in case you don’t want the secret spoiled.

 

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Before killing Bogue, Chisholm reveals that Bogue and his men had raped and killed his mother and sisters years earlier.  They had even hung Chisholm and left him for dead.

While this gives additional justification for Chisholm wanting to take on Bogue and his men, it makes him a little less heroic.  Up to the point of the reveal, it appeared that Chisholm and the others recruited were going against impossible odds because it was the “right” thing to do… not because one of them wanted revenge.

North by Northwest (1959)

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North by Northwest (1959)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Ernest Lehman

Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau, and Edward Platt


The Pitch: “Hey, Hitchcock wants to make a new movie.”

Tagline: Alfred Hitchcock takes you…. North by Northwest!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken as a U.S. spy by foreign agents.  Thornhill is kidnapped and brought to  Philip Vandamm (Mason) for questioning.  Thornhill is totally at a loss since he isn’t a spy.  Thinking that he just won’t speak, Vandamm orders his agents to kill Thornhill.

Thornhill escapes and goes to the authorities who don’t believe his story.  Vandamm is a rich, respected man who is scheduled to speak at the United Nations.  Thornhill goes to the U.N. to speak to Thornhill and ends up framed for his murder.  Now on the run from foreign agents and the police, Thornhill led on a cross-country chase to prove his innocence.

North by Northwest has it all: drama, suspense, humor and romance.  A true classic!

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