Category: Z-View

San Andreas (2015) / Z-View

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San Andreas (2015)

Director: Brad Peyton

Screenplay: Carlton Cuse from a story by Andre Fabrizio & Jeremy Passmore

Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario and Paul Giamatti.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a movie with the Rock.”

The Tagline: “ A rescue pilot survived an earthquake, this is what happens next…”

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The San Andreas fault has triggered a series of major earthquakes causing buildings to fall, tsunami waves and an ever-increasing series of dangerous situations.  Think collapsing super-structures, electrical fires, panicked crowds and more.  Ray Gaines is a rescue pilot trying to get to his estranged wife and teenage daughter and nothing is going to stop him.

San Andreas takes us back to a time when disaster movies were the rage – think The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, well, you get the idea.  Now add in modern special effects and The Rock and I think you smell what I’m cooking.

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Triple 9 (2016) / Z-View

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Triple 9 (2016)

Director: John Hillcoat

Screenplay: Matt Cook

Stars: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Godot and Norman Reedus.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a gritty crime movie — look at the cast we have lined up!”

The Tagline: “A deadly heist needs a killer distraction”

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A crew of dirty cops are being blackmailed.  In order to get out from under, the cops plan a huge heist during a Triple 9 (that they will manufacture).  A triple 9 is code for “cop down” and the cop going down is the rookie not in their crew.

I was hoping for more [look at that cast!], but I did like Triple 9.

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The Revenant (2015) / Z-View

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The Revenant (2015)

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Screenplay: Mark L. Smith & Alejandro G. Iñárritu (based in part on Michael Punke‘s novel)

Stars: Leonardi DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

The Pitch: “Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Leonardo DiCaprio want to make a movie together.’”

The Tagline: “Revenant: (n. One who has returned, as if from the dead.)”

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

An 1820 expedition into the frontier for beaver finds itself under attack by Indians.  While making their escape, scout Hugh Glass is savagely mauled by a bear.  Fearful that they will be found by the marauding Indians, the Captain of the expedition leaves Glass and his young son in the care of John Fitzgerald [Hardy] who promises to stay with Glass until Glass dies.  Fitzgerald will then catch back up to the expedition.

When Glass doesn’t die, Fitzgerald decides to help things along.  He is caught by Glass’ son burying Glass alive.  Fitzgerald kills Glass’ son and leaves Glass for dead.  Glass slowly recovers and must make his way across the frontier fighting Indians, and the elements with his goal of revenge giving him a reason to live.

I liked The Revenant quite a bit, but probably not as much as most.  The action scenes were amazing.  The cinematography was beautiful.  No complaints with the acting or direction.  I did feel that a bit too much time was spent looking up a trees and with Glass’ visions.  The ending was unexpected and didn’t quite ring right with me.  Still, I really liked The Revenant and all the awards it won may be an indication that I’m picking nits.

Awards Won:

  • Academy Award: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Academy Award: Best Achievement in Directing – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  • Academy Award: Best Achievement in Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki
  • Golden Globe: Best Picture [Drama]
  • Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama – Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Golden Globe: Best Director – Motion Picture – Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Another 70 wins & 156 nominations.

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Bone Tomahawk (2015) / Z-View

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Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Screenplay: S. Craig Zahler

Stars: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Michael Pare, and Sean Young.

The Pitch: “S. Craig Zahler is a writer/director to watch.  Let’s give him the 1.8 million he needs to make ‘Bone Tomahawk.’”

The Tagline: “May the Lord have mercy and grant you a swift death.”

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A raiding party of cannibalistic Troglodytes are led to farm on the outskirts of a small western town.  The cannibals kill some settlers and kidnap others.  The town folk are too frightened to go after them except for the Sherriff [Russell], the injured husband [Wilson] of the woman kidnapped [Simmons],  the old deputy [Jenkins] and a gunfighter [Fox].

What begins as almost a character study turns into one of the most tense, frightening and violent movies in recent history.  The characters are so well written/played that I loved their interactions and the pace leading up to the action.  It was also fun seeing name actors in smaller roles.  Jenkins as the old deputy is a joy!

S. Craig Zahler moved to the must-watch list with Bone Tomahawk.

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Werewolf of London (1935) / Z-View

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Werewolf of London (1935)

Director: Stuart Walker

Screenplay: John Colton (based on a story by Robert Harris)

Stars: Henry Hull, Warner Oland and Valerie Hobson

The Pitch: “Monster movies are making dough.  Let’s make a werewolf movie!”

The Tagline: “Beware the Stalking Being – Half-Human – Half-Beast!”

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

While on a expedition to Tibet, botanist Dr. Glendon [Hull] is attacked and bitten by a strange beast.  Although he survives and returns to his home in London, Glendon turns into a werewolf each night of a full moon.

Will Gelndon find a cure before he kills again or he is discovered to be the werewolf terrorizing the city…

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Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

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Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

What do you do when the power goes off?

 

  • Terrorists have acquired a terrible new weapon that can crash the power grid and plunge America into a new dark age. A coordinated attack is planned to shut out all lights and emergency services to ten major cities. Planes will fall, hospitals will go dark, no help will come.
  • And in that terrible darkness, a dreadful plague will be released. If the lights go off, nothing can stop the bioweapon from killing millions.
  • At the same time, the intelligence services are being torn apart from within by a plague of betrayal, murder, and suicide. Even the Department of Military Sciences is stumbling in its response to the growing threat.
  • Time is running out, and Joe is being hunted by a terrifying new kind of assassin. A team of remote viewers have the ability to take over any person and turn ordinary citizens into killers. Where can you turn when there’s nobody left to trust?
  • Joe Ledger faces his deadliest challenge as friends and allies become enemies and all of the lights begin to go out…

Maberry puts the DMS in the worst place yet against perhaps their toughest adversaries.  The clock is ticking down to an bio-weapon attack on ten cities.  The terrorists have the ability to take over the minds of anyone to do their bidding and the DMS has been ordered to stand down by the President.

You know that’s not going to happen.  Sadly people we have grown to know and care for are going to die trying to save our country.  Maberry creates characters that feel real so when we lose them (and we do throughout the course of the series) it hurts.

Kill Switch mixes just the right amount of actions (tons), suspense (much), and humor (as needed) to propel you to the bloody climax.  I can’t wait for Ledger’s next mission!

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Twilight Zone: The Very Best of the Series

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Thanks to last year’s SYFY Twilight Zone Marathon which ran every episode in order, I can now say with complete certainty I’ve seen every Twilight Zone episode.  Rod Serling deserves all the praise he’s received for creating not only the best television anthology series but one of the overall best tv series ever.  Sure, there were some episodes which didn’t quite work, but overall the excellent episodes outweighed those that fell short.

There were eleven episodes that earned my top rating.  These are the episodes that can be watched repeatedly without losing their impact.  Here they are…

  • Time Enough at Last [Season 1, Episode 8]
    Poor little, nearsighted, henpecked Henry Bemis [Meredith] loves to read.  Reading is his passion but sadly life deprives him of it.  A twist of fate provide Bemis with time enough at last to read to his heart’s content… until another twist of fate proves this is The Twilight Zone.

 

  • The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street [Season 1, Episode 22]
    It’s a beautiful summer afternoon until a strange sound and vibration brings neighbors outside.  Paranoia soon takes over as the thought of an alien invasion takes hold.  Who among them isn’t human?

 

  • The Howling Man [Season 2, Episode 5]
    David Ellington [Wynant] while on a long hike alone in the woods in Europe becomes ill.  Ellington stumbles across a monastery.  Initially told he cannot stay, Brother Jerome [Carradine] allows him to stay until he is well enough to travel.While recuperating, Ellington hears a man howling in pain.  The screams lead to a cell where a man is being held prisoner.  Before Ellington can release him, Brother Jerome arrives and explains that the thing in the cell is not a man, but the devil!

    How could the devil be held in a cell?  Are the monks insane?  If so, Ellington is in danger as well.  Isn’t his duty to help the man escape?  These are the thoughts that race through Ellington’s mind before he makes a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

  • Eye of the Beholder [Season 2, Episode 6]
    Janet Tyler [Stuart] is lying in her hospital bed, her head and face totally covered by bandages.  Tyler nervously waits for her doctor to remove the bandages hoping that her latest (and last) surgery will make her look normal.Sadly Tyler is hideously ugly and lives in a society where the less desirables are sent away.  As the bandages are removed her worst fears are revealed.
  • Nick of Time [Season 2, Episode 7]
    While driving through a small town heading for their honeymoon, Don [Shatner] and Pat [Breslin] Carter’s car breaks down.  The mechanic says it will take a few hours to repair, so the newlyweds head into a small cafe for lunch and to pass the time.Don is nervous to hear about a possible promotion but is afraid to call his boss.  There’s a little penny fortune-telling machine at their table, so Don jokingly puts in a penny to get the answer.  When it appear that the machine got the answer correctly, Don asks more and more questions and the machine answers with startling accuracy… or does it?
  • The Invaders [Season 2, Episode 15]
    An old woman who lives alone in a rural shack with no modern conveniences finds herself under attack when small visitors from another planet land on her roof.  Contains one of the best Twilight Zone twist endings of all.

 

  • Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up? [Season 2, Episode 28]
    On a dark, snowy night, two deputies respond to a call about a crashed spaceship.  Tracks lead to a remote dinner where seven bus passengers and the diner’s owner are waiting out the storm.  The funny thing is there were only supposed to be six passengers on the bus and strange things are starting to happen at the dinner.  Coincidence or is there an alien among them?

 

  • The Shelter [Season 3, Episode 3]
    Several families from the neighborhood have come together to celebrate a birthday.  Just as toasts are made with everyone expressing their friendship, an emergency warning announcing an imminent nuclear attack is broadcast.As each family prepares for the incoming bombs, they realize that one of the families has a bomb shelter.  Sadly it is not big enough to hold everyone.

 

  • It’s a Good Life [Season 3, Episode 8]
    Little Anthony Fremont [Mumy] has extraordinary mental powers.  Anthony has made all of the world outside of his small farming town disappear.   He’s done the same or worse to anyone of anything that displeases him.
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    Anthony demands that everyone think happy thoughts.  The town people live in fear that they will displease Anthony and they will be next.Tonight is Anthony’s birthday.  Let’s hope he’s not disappointed.

 

  • To Serve Man [Season 3, Episode 24]
    Aliens come to earth promising peace and shared technology. They seem to be making good on their promise to turn earth into a paradise, yet some doubts linger…  This is one of the best Twilight Zone episodes made.

 

  • Nightmare at 20,000 Feet [Season 5, Episode 3]
    Bob Wilson [Shatner] and his wife are flying home.  Wilson has just recovered from a nervous breakdown and a storm is making the flight less than comfortable.  Wilson becomes alarmed when he sees a creature on the wing of the plane tearing at wires.  His wife and others think Bob is suffering a relapse but he’s not…

 

 

Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” [Season 5, Episode 36] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” [Season 5, Episode 36]
Original Air Date: June 19, 1964

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Mary Badham, Dee Hartford and Tod Andrews.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Two young children of self-centered divorcing parents who are always fighting find a portal at the bottom of their swimming pool that takes them to a better place.

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Twilight Zone: “The Fear” [Season 5, Episode 35] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Fear” [Season 5, Episode 35]
Original Air Date: May 29, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Peter Mark Richman and Hazel Court.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A woman in a remote cabin.  A state trooper sent out to check on her.  Strange sounds and the trooper’s patrol car turned over as night sets in and you have the right set-up for The Twilight Zone.

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Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me” [Season 5, Episode 34] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me” [Season 5, Episode 34]
Original Air Date: May 22, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Anthony Wilson

Starring: Gary Crosby, Bonnie Beecher and Jonathan Bolt.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Floyd Burney [Crosby], the “Rock-a-Billy-Kid”, drives way off the beaten path in hopes of finding a real country song that he can turn into a hit.  He finds the song and his destiny in the deep woods.

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Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples” [Season 5, Episode 33] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples” [Season 5, Episode 33]
Original Air Date: May 15, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Richard Deacon, Paul Newlan and Ted de Corsia.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Wallace Whipple [Deacon] looks to automate his company in every way possible to save money.  Firing long-time dedicated employees is a small price to pay to increase profits.  His goal is to automate every position possible… but of course he’s in the Twilight Zone so he should be careful what he wishes for.

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Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” [Season 5, Episode 32] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” [Season 5, Episode 32]
Original Air Date: May 8, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Mike Korologos

Starring: John Dehner, Stanley Adams, J. Pat O’Malley.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Mr. Garrity [Dehner] arrives in the western town of Happiness promising to raise beloved dead family and friends from their local graveyard.  Folks think Garrity is  con man until he revives a dead dog.

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Twilight Zone: “The Encounter” [Season 5, Episode 31] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Encounter” [Season 5, Episode 31]
Original Air Date: May 1, 1964

Director: Robert Butler

Writer: Martin Goldsmith

Starring: Neville Brand and George Takei.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A veteran [Brand] of the war in the Pacific and a Japanese-American [Takei] find themselves at odds when they are locked together in an attic.

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Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town” [Season 5, Episode 30] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town” [Season 5, Episode 30]
Original Air Date: April 24, 1964

Director: Ron Winston

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Barry Nelson, Nancy Malone and Denise Lynn.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

After a night of too much to drink, Bob [Nelson] and Millie Frazier [Malone] wake up in a strange bed, in a strange house in a deserted town.

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Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room” [Season 5, Episode 29] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room” [Season 5, Episode 29]
Original Air Date: April 17, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Martin Landau, John Van Dreelen and Bob Kelljan.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Major Ivan Kuchenko [Landau] recently escaped from a Communist prison and plans to defect to the United States.  All he has to do is catch a flight and he will be free.

Unfortunately, Comissar Vassiloff and his assassin assistant have caught up to Kuchenko in his flop house room.  The sadistic Vassiloff has planted a bomb in the room and his assassin has the exits covered with a high-powered rifle.  As the clock ticks down, Kuchenko must figure out his escape.

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