Category: Z-View

“The Accountant” (2016) starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal & John Lithgow / Z-View

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The Accountant (2016)

Director: Gavin O’Connor

Screenplay by: Bill Dubuque

Starring: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, John Lithgow, Alison Wright, Jason Davis, Robert C. Treveiler, Seth Lee, Ron Prather and Jean Smart.

Tagline: Calculate your choices.

The Story:

Christian Wolff (Affleck), a mathematics savant, was diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum as a child.  His father, a military vet, forced Christian to deal with the things that triggered him.  Dad also provided martial arts and weapons training for Christian and his brother.

Now an adult, Wolff uses his math talents as an accountant to criminal enterprises.  He operates out of a small office that is a front.  Wolff also owns several businesses used to launder money.  Wolff is hired by Lamar Blackburn (Lithgow), the billionaire owner of Living Robotics, to check his books.  What Wolff discovers puts in motion a chain of events that result in several murders.  At the same time Wolff is dealing with this, he learns that the Treasury Department has been investigating him and are about to close in.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers) 

Ben Affleck is excellent as Christian Wolff.  He is supported by an amazing cast.  Standouts include Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow.  Kudos to the always excellent Jon Bernthal, who owns every scene he’s in.

The Accountant features a cool twist that I didn’t see coming.

I’d love for Affleck and Bernthal to return in a sequel.

“The Eagle” (2011) starring Channing Tatum & Jamie Bell / Z-View

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The Eagle (2011)

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Screenplay by: Jeremy Brock based on THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH by Rosemary Sutcliff

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Paul Ritter and Julian Lewis Jones.

Tagline: The destiny of a soldier. The honour of a slave. The fate of an empire.

The Story:

The year is 140 AD.  Marcus Aquila (Tatum) has grown up in the shadow of his father, the Commander of the Ninth.  Twenty years ago, his father and the Centurions he led disappeared.  Also missing was the golden eagle – the standard they carried into battle.  Rumors persist that his Marcus’ father died a coward.  Some say he was a terrible leader and blame him for the loss of the golden eagle.

Marcus, in his first command at a remote Roman garrison, proves himself.  His decisive actions turn the tide of the battle and save the fort from being wiped out.  Sadly, Marcus sustains an injury that prevents him from continuing his career as a soldier.  While recuperating, Marcus hears a rumor that the golden eagle has been seen deep in the wilderness held by Pict warriors.

Still not fully recovered, Marcus and his slave, Esca (Bell) travel deep into territory held by warrior tribes hostile to Rome.  There Marcus will learn the truth about his father and the loss of the golden eagle.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers) 

The Eagle starts off like Gladiator and ends like a buddy movie.  If you compare the battle scenes to the last shot of the film, they are like two completely different movies.

Donald Sutherland seems so out of place in this film.  I have a hard time seeing him, looking like he always looks in modern movies, as a character in 140 AD.

I love the depiction of the Pict warriors.  I think the chase and battle scenes are the best parts of the film.

“Monster on the Campus” (1958) / Z-View

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Monster on the Campus (1958)

Director: Jack Arnold

Screenplay by: David Duncan

Starring: Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore, Joanna Moore, Troy Donahue, Phil Harvey, Helen Westcott, Helen Westcott, Whit Bissell, Ross Elliott, and Eddie Parker.

Tagline: Co-ed beauty captive of man-monster! Campus terror! Students victims of terror-beast!

The Story:

Professor Donald Blake (Franz) accidently cuts himself on the teeth of a well-preserved million-year-old fish fossil. Right after, while putting the fossil away, his injured hand dips into the water holding the specimen.  Later Blake learns the fossil had been preserved using gamma rays.

That evening a woman is savagely attacked.  Her corpse is found hanging from a tree.  Professor Blake is found barely conscious on the ground nearby.  He has no memory of what happened.  When the police find a huge deformed handprint they believe it to be the killer’s.  While the police begin a hunt for the monster, Professor Blake worries that he is devolving into a creature from the past.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

At the start of the movie on a shelf in Professor Blake’s lab is a series of molds showing the evolution of man’s face.  The very first mold looks a lot like The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Jack Arnold, who directed Monster On the Campus, also helmed The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Jack Arnold was the go-to director for horror/sci-fi movies in the 1950s.  He helmed It Came from Outer Space; The Creature from the Black Lagoon; Revenge of the Creature; This Island Earth; Tarantula; The Incredible Shrinking Man; The Space Children and Monster on the Campus.

Monster on the Campus was Troy Donahue’s last film for Universal.  The following year he signed a contract at Warner Bros. and soon became a top name star.

“Chrome and Hot Leather” (1971) starring William Smith / Z-View

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Chrome and Hot Leather (1971)

Director: Lee Frost

Screenplay by: Michael Haynes & David Neibel and Don Tait from a story by Michael Haynes & David Neibel

Starring: William Smith, Tony Young, Michael Haynes, Peter Brown, Michael Stearns, Larry Bishop, Kathrine Baumann, Wes Bishop, Herb Jeffries, Bobby Pickett, Cheryl Ladd (aka Cherie Moor), Robert Ridgely, Erik Estrada, Dan Haggerty  and Marvin Gaye.

Tagline: A terrifying look at Motor Cycle Savagery – from the same studio that made “Born Losers”

The Story:

When a US Special Forces sergeant learns that his fiancé was killed by the member of a motorcycle gang, he recruits three of his service buddies to track down the murderer.  Four Viet Nam vets against an entire motorcycle gang?  Yeah, that sounds about right.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

William Smith and Peter Brown co-starred in the television series Laredo before working on this film.

Chrome and Hot Leather features some interesting cast member trivia…

  • Cheryl Ladd made her feature film debut billed as Cherie Moor.
  • Marvin Gaye, best known as a multi-Grammy award-winning singer, made his feature film debut as well.
  • Bobby Pickett, best known as the writer/singer of the classic The Monster Mash appears.
  • Herb Jeffries, a popular jazz singer and actor in films made for African-American audiences in the 1930s/1940s, shows up.
  • Erik Estrada can be seen in an uncredited role in only his second feature film.
  • Dan Haggerty also has an uncredited role.  He plays a bearded member of the biker gang.

Chrome and Hot Leather (1971) was made to cash in on the biker craze of the era.  It’s a low-budget drive-in film.  William Smith was built for biker films.  If he was a bit younger, he’d have been an action movie star of the 80s.  Still playing Conan’s dad is quite a notch on your resume.

“Day Zero” (2022) starring Brandon Vera / Z-View

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Day Zero (2022)

Director: Joey De Guzman

Screenplay by: Ays De Guzman

Starring: Brandon Vera, Pepe Herrera, Mary Jean Lastimosa.

Tagline: When the dead rise, humanity falls.

The Story:

As a zombie virus spreads like wildfire, Emon (Vera) fights to get home to his wife and child.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Brandon Vera is a former MMA fighter.  He has the potential to become a better known action star.

Day Zero is low budget zombie film.  It also had potential.  Pepe Herrera was Vera’s comic relief sidekick.  Thankfully, the comedy wasn’t over the top.  As Vera and Herrera fought their way to save Vera’s family the action became to repetitive.  I taped out after 43 minutes.

CHASING THE BOOGEYMAN (A Novel) by Richard Chizmar

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CHASING THE BOOGEYMAN (A Novel) by Richard Chizmar

First sentence…

When I first started clipping newspaper articles and jotting down notes about the tragic events that transpired in my hometown of Edgewood, Maryland, during the summer and autumn of 1988, I had no thoughts of one day turning those scattered observations into a full-length book.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Richard Chizmar just graduated college.  He’s making plans to marry his girlfriend.  He dreams of being a writer.  The only negative is that Richard will have to live with his parents for some months until he’s married.  Still, going back to the house he grew up in will provide time to strengthen family bonds and rekindle old friendships.  At least that’s how Richard thought things would be.

That all changes when mutilated bodies of dead girls begin showing up.  When Richard arrives home, there’s a curfew in effect.  Everyone in his small town is jumpy.  The F.B.I. has assisted local police, but there have been no solid leads.  Because of the way the murderer butchers and eludes detection, rumors are flying that the killer isn’t human.  When Richard learns that he knew one of the victims, his writer’s curiosity causes him to dig into the case.  The killer begins taunting the police, the FBI and Richard.  That’s when Richard realizes he has put himself and his family in danger.

+++

Richard Chizmar has written a novel that reads like a true crime story.  In addition to placing himself in the story, Chizmar provides maps, newspaper photos, and more in regard to the case. You may find yourself double checking to make sure it is fiction.

Often true crime tales read like procedurals. Not this baby.  It reads like one of the best true crime stories you could ask for. But remember, it’s fiction.

Rating:

“JFK: What the Doctors Saw” (2023) / Z-View

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JFK: What the Doctors Saw (2023)

Director: Barbara Shearer

Tagline: None.

The Story:

Immediately after President Kennedy was assassinated conspiracy theories appeared.  The official story is that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.  Despite witnesses who swore there was another gunman, the Warren Commission determined that Oswald was the sole gunman.

JFK: What the Doctors Saw documents what the doctors at Parkland Hospital dealt with when President Kennedy was brought in mortally wounded.  By using archival news footage, copies of official reports, and most importantly video interviews with these doctors, we are given first hand accounts of what these medical professionals dealt with.  What they saw does not line up with the official story,

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

I was just five years old (by a month) when President Kennedy was assassinated.  Since I was young I’ve followed the news reports and conspiracy theories.  When I was in high school I read the Warren Commission Report.

Over the years there have been many documentaries and specials that “investigated” the assassination of President Kennedy.  What this documentary does is focus on what the doctors at Parkland Hospital saw when President Kennedy was brought in.  Despite there being no doubt that the President was mortally wounded, they did their best to save him.  While the official story is that the President was shot from behind, all of the doctors believed that at least one shot came from the front.  This would explain the small bullet wound to President Kennedy’s neck and the blown out portion at the back of his skull.

The doctors all agree that the official autopsy report is not consistent with the President’s injuries as they saw them.  The doctor’s have said this from day one and have never changed their stories.  You can see this from the written reports that had to submit.  It’s very powerful to see video interviews with the doctors shown to the public for the first time in this documentary.

If you’re familiar with the Kennedy assassination, there isn’t much new ground covered.  Still, hearing from the doctors about their personal experiences on that terrible day is powerful.

“Born Losers” (1967) directed by & starring Tom Laughlin / Z-View

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Born Losers (1967)

Director: T.C. Frank (Tom Laughlin)

Screenplay by: James Lloyd (Elizabeth James)

Starring: Tom Laughlin, Elizabeth James, Jeremy Slate, William Wellman Jr., Jack Starrett, Robert Tessier, Jeff Cooper, Stuart Lancaster, Delores Taylor and Jane Russell.

Tagline: KITTEN ON WHEELS WITH HER BIKE, HER BOOTS and HER BIKINI! Out for kicks… in for trouble! She’s going to Join the… BORN LOSERS

The Story:

The Born Losers motorcycle gang has begun to terrorize a small California town. Victims and witnesses alike are terrified to testify against them.

Billy Jack is a former Viet Nam vet who lives a quiet life in the mountains.  On a trip to town, Billy Jack sees gang members savagely beating a man.  Although no one else is willing to help, Billy Jack grabs his rifle.  He orders the gang to stop.  One gang member says he doesn’t have enough bullets to get them all and they begin to surround him.  Billy Jack shoots one in the leg.  The police arrive and arrest everyone including Billy Jack.  Billy Jack later learns that his fine for firing the gun was more than the gang members got for assault.

News spreads that gang members have raped some young women.  Only one is willing to testify.  She is being kept in protective custody at a hotel.  When gang members lure the cop guarding her away, others go to kidnap her.  Billy Jack intervenes.

Billy Jack plans to keep her safe until the trial.

What chance does one man have against an outlaw biker gang?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Tom Laughlin had the character Billy Jack in mind for years before he ever made it to the screen.  Born Losers was written to cash in on the biker craze and be a springboard for Billy Jack.  Elizabeth James, the movie’s co-star wrote the screenplay using the name James Lloyd.  The thought was who would want to see a biker movie written by a chick?

Tom Laughlin, who played Billy Jack, directed Born Losers. He used the pseudonym T.C. Frank. His three children are named Teresa, Christina and Frank. His wife Delores Taylor has a quick cameo as a mother with two children (played by Teresa and Frank).

Movie tough guy, Robert Tessier, makes his film debut in Born Losers!

Born Losers was successful enough for Laughlin to get financing to make Billy Jack.  When Billy Jack became a breakout hit, American International re-released Born Losers.  They advertised it with a new poster that focused on Billy Jack.  The box office of Born Losers ended up being American International’s highest grossing release until 1979.

Born Losers generated 3 more Billy Jack movies; Billy Jack (1971), The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977).

Jack Starrett plays a deputy much like the deputy character he played in First Blood.

Most folks may be surprised my rating for Born Losers is so high.  The film resonates with me.  I saw Born Losers on a double feature with Billy Jack when I was in 9th grade.  (The perfect age for both those movies.)  My “date” was my girlfriend and future wife.  I love that Tom Laughlin had a vision and despite many, many obstacles (losing financing, losing distribution, etc.) was able to make his dream come true and create a legendary character.  Your mileage may vary.

“Island of Lost Souls” (1932) starring Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen & Kathleen Burke / Z-View

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Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Director: Erle C. Kenton

Screenplay by: Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie based on THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU by H. G. Wells

Starring: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Kathleen Burke, Arthur Hohl, Stanley Fields, Paul Hurst.

Tagline: THE PANTHER WOMAN lured men on – only to destroy them body and soul!

The Story:

After a dispute with a supply ship’s drunken Captain, Edward Parker (Arlen), is left stranded on the remote jungle island of Dr. Moreau (Laughton). Moreau welcomes Parker to his home.  Parker thanks him for the hospitality and says he will leave on the next supply ship.  Parker is warned that many wild creatures live on the island.  He is then introduced to Lota (Burke) and Montgomery (Hohl), Moreau’s assistant.

Later as Lota and Edward are talking they hear terrible screams coming from Dr. Moreau’s lab.  Lota tells Edward the lab is called “the house of pain”.  Edward bursts in to find Moreau and Montgomery operating without anesthesia on some sort of human-animal hybrid.

Edward decides to take a small boat and leave.  As he walks from the safety of the house, Edward sees dozens of half-human beasts coming towards him.  Dr. Moreau shows up with his whip and drives them back into the jungle.  Moreau explains that the creatures are results of his failed experiments to turn animals into humans.

Edward is trapped on the island with the crazy Dr. Moreau and his assistant Montgomery.  As the jungle creatures get more daring, Edward knows that time for survival is running out.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Paramount decided the role of Lota the Panther Woman would go to an unknown actress.  Kathleen Burke, a fashion model and radio actress who had never appeared in a feature film, won the role beating out 60,000 hopefuls.  The opening credits read Lota…. the Panther Woman, but the final credits list Kathleen Burke by name.  It’s interesting to note that Lota does not appear in H.G. Wells’ novel.

Island of Lost Souls (1932) was made before the Hays Code, which prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic or realistic violence, sexual persuasions and rape, went into effect.  Subsequently, the movie was censored in many countries and re-releases.

H.G. Wells reportedly felt that the film focused on horror at the expense of the “novel’s philosophical themes”.

“Cry Terror!” (1958) written & directed by Andrew L. Stone, starring James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens, Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson, Kenneth Tobey & Jack Klugman / Z-View

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Cry Terror! (1958)

Director: Andrew L. Stone

Screenplay by: Andrew L. Stone

Starring: James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens, Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson, Kenneth Tobey, Jack Klugman, Jack Kruschen, Carleton Young, Barney Phillips, Chet Huntley, Jonathan Hole, Mae Marsh and William Schallert.

Tagline: TERRIFYING…as the time-triggered explosive of a mad bomber ticking-ticking-ticking!

The Story:

Jim Molner (Mason) is sickened to discover that his old army buddy, Paul Hoplin (Steiger) duped him.  Molner created a small, but powerful bomb design.  He was told it was for the U.S. army.  Hoplin instead used it to extort money from an airline.  He had one of the bombs placed on a airplane where it would be found with a note demanding $500,000.00.  The note said there were other bombs on other planes and gave a deadline for payment.

Now Jim, his wife, Joan (Stevens) and their small daughter are being held by Hoplin’s crime partners.  Molner and his daughter are captives of Vince (Klugman) and Eileen Kelly (Dickinson).  Joan is at the mercy of Steve (Brand), a convicted rapist.  Jim and Joan realize that they and their daughter are going to be killed even if the money is delivered.  It will be up to them to figure a way to survive.  The clock is ticking.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers

Cry Terror! features an awesome cast:

  • James Mason, who had earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination three years prior was the star.
  • Rod Steiger, who also earned an Oscar nomination three years prior, for Best Supporting Actor, co-starred. Steiger is great as the nerdy, creepy but dangerous mastermind.
  • Inger Stevens in only her second feature film played Mason’s wife.  Her life would end tragically by suicide when she was just 35.
  • Neville Brand is excellent as a pill-popping sexual predator.
  • Angie Dickinson plays a woman as tough as the men and even more cold-hearted.  She’d hate to kill a kid, but she’d despise losing the payoff even more.
  • Jack Klugman as a bad guy!
  • The rest of the cast features many familiar faces: Kenneth (The Thing From Another World) Tobey, Jack (The War of the Worlds) Kruschen, Carleton (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) Young, Barney (The Twilight Zone) Phillips, Chet (The Huntley – Brinkley Report) Huntley, Jonathan (The Twilight Zone) Hole and William (The Patty Duke Show) Schallert.

Kudos to Cry Terror! writer and director Andrew L. Stone for writing/directing a movie that still holds up. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The year before Cry Terror! was released, Stone wrote and directed a film called Julie.  It starred Doris Day as a woman who learns that her insanely jealous husband intends to kill her.  Julie featured many of the same actors (Barney Phillips, Jack Kruschen, Carleton Young, Harlan Warde and Mae Marsh) as Cry Terror! Andrew L. Stone received a Best Writing, Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for Julie.

“The Killer” (2023) directed by David Fincher, starring Michael Fassbender / Z-View

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The Killer (2023)

Director: David Fincher

Screenplay by: Andrew Kevin Walker based on The Killer by Alexis “Matz” Nolent, Luc Jacamon

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sala Baker, Endre Hules and Monique Ganderton.

Tagline:  None

The Story:

When a professional assassin misses his target, his employers mark him for death.  The assassin realizes in order to survive he will have to kill his way up the chain of command to get the hit on him called off.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers

This movie is based on the graphic novel The Killer written by Alexis “Matz” Nolent and  illustrated by Luc Jacamon.

Fans of 1970s sitcoms will get a kick out of the aliases the Killer uses: Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Archibald Bunker (All in the Family), Oscar Madison (The Odd Couple), Howard Cunningham (Happy Days), Reuben Kincaid (The Partridge Family), Lou Grant (The Mary Tyler Moore Show / Lou Grant), Sam Malone (Cheers), George Jefferson (The Jeffersons), and Robert Hartley (The Bob Newhart Show).

This is the second teaming of David Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker.  Their first was Se7en.

The Killer features an awesome fight scene between The Killer and a huge guy.

“A Haunting in Venice” (2023) directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh &Tina Fey /Z-View

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A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Screenplay by: Michael Green based on Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Riccardo Scamarcio.

Tagline:  Death is just the beginning.

The Story:

The year is 1947.  The world famous detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is retired and living in Venice.  Because of Poirot’s fame, people from all over the world attempt to hire him.  Poirot turns down every offer.

When Poirot’s old friend, mystery author Ariadne Oliver (Fey) visits, she tells Poirot about psychic Joyce Reynolds (Yeoh).  Poirot scoffs.  All psychics are frauds.  Ariadne agrees, but says that she couldn’t figure out how Joyce Reynolds pulls off her readings.  Ariadne says that if the smartest person she knows (herself) can’t figure it out, perhaps the second smartest (Poirot) can.

Ariande invites Poirot to attend a Halloween séance.  It will be held in a building that was once an orphanage.  It is now said to be haunted by orphans who were locked in and left to die during a plague.  Joyce Reynolds will lead the séance.  Poirot agrees to come along.  Ariande figures Poirot will either expose Reynolds as a fraud or not.  Either way she will have a story.

Everyone invited arrives for the séance. Reynolds while channeling a spirit says that one of the people in attendance is a murderer!  In short order, Joyce Reynolds is found impaled on a statue.  Periot locks everyone in. One of them is the killer.

Hercule Poirot is out of retirement.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers

Kenneth Branagh filmed on location in Venice.  He also didn’t tell the actors in advance about things like doors slamming, lights suddenly going out, etc.  He wanted to get their actual responses to startling events.

This was Tina Fey’s first appearance in a feature film or television production that wasn’t a comedy.  She was excellent as Ariadne Oliver.

This is Kenneth Branagh’s third outing as Hercule Poiroit.  He starred and directed Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Death on the Nile (2022) as well as A Haunting in Venice (2023).  I hope he does more.

BLOOD STANDARD (An Isiah Coleridge Novel) by Laird Barron / Z-View

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BLOOD STANDARD (An Isiah Coleridge Novel) by Laird Barron

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Hardcover: ‎336 pages

First sentence…

As a boy, I admired Humphrey Bogart in a big way.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Isiah Coleridge had been a hit man and enforcer for the mob.  Working out of Alaska (yeah, the mob wets their beak there too), Coleridge was the gold standard.  He was a big, tough half-Maori, half-Caucasian, able to handle himself.  And he had more brains than you’d expect.

If Coleridge had given it any thought, he wouldn’t have punched Vitale Night, a mob captain, in the throat. Normally that would be a death sentence. Even if the jabroni deserved it.  Which Night did. But Coleridge got lucky when his boss went to bat for him.  Coleridge was exiled from the mob and Alaska.  He was told to lay low because Vitale Night still wanted revenge.

Living in upstate New York, Isaiah Coleridge begins to adjust to a quiet life.  Keeping a low profile isn’t so bad.  Coleridge begins to make new friends.  All is going well until a teenage girl disappears and Coleridge agrees to look into it.  As the big man digs deeper, he begins to make waves and attract the kinds of attention that can be dangerous.

BLOOD STANDARD is stylish, brutal, witty, and fun.

Laird Barron is as adept at storytelling as Isaiah Coleridge is at handling a violent situation.  Both Barron and Coleridge have jumped to the top of my must-read list.

Rating:

“The Wolfman” (2010) starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt & Hugo Weaving / Z-View

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The Wolfman (2010)

Director: Joe Johnston

Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self based on The Wolf Man by Curt Siodmak

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik, David Schofield, Roger Frost, Geraldine Chaplin, Rick Baker and Clive Russell.

Tagline:  The legend is alive.

The Story:

The year is 1891.  Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), the famous actor, received word that his brother has disappeared.  By the time Lawrence arrives at the family estate, his brother’s mutilated body has been found in the woods.

Some townsfolk believe that a wild animal did the deed.  Others blame a group of gypsies that have moved into the area.  A few believe that a werewolf has returned.  When Lawrence visits the gypsy camp, a wild animal attacks killing several people and badly wounding Lawrence.

When Lawrence makes a unnatural recovery from wounds that should have been fatal, people believe that he was bitten by a werewolf.  Anyone who survives such a bite, becomes a wolfman when the moon is full.  Now Lawrence is marked for death.  They believe he will turn into a werewolf at the coming full moon.

The truth is  much worse.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

The Wolfman won Rick Baker and Dave Elsey the 2011 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup.  Their werewolf design looked like a cross between the monsters in The Wolf Man (1941) and Curse of the Werewolf (1961).

Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt would reteam five years later for Sicario.  I’m a fan of both.  Kudos also to Hugo Weaving for his performance as Inspector Francis Aberline.

Danny Elfman did the score.  When the film was recut for release, Elfman was already at work on another movie and couldn’t return to adjust his music.  Ultimately other composers were brought in to reshape Elfman’s work.

The Wolfman has an excellent cast.  Rick Baker created a great looking werewolf.  I wish Art Malik, as Singh, got more to do.  He was an interesting character.  You can never go wrong with Del Toro and Blunt.  Getting Hopkins was a bonus.

“Rebel Moon – Part One”: A Child of Fire – The Official Trailer is Here!

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Rebel Moon has Zack Snyder and an excellent cast.  Looking forward to this.

From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes REBEL MOON, a 2-part movie event decades in the making.

After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers. But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) — leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.

Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose. But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all.