Category: Z-View

“A Snitch in Time” (1950) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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A Snitch in Time (1950)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Writer:  Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Jean Willes, John Merton, Henry Kulky and Emil Sitka

Tagline: None

The Plot…

When wealthy Mr. Goodrich (Sitka) receives a note from a serial killer saying Goodrich will be his next victim, he hires our boys to guard him.  When our guys arrive they are greeted by Goodrich’s niece who says her uncle is missing.  Little do Larry, Moe and Shemp know, but the niece and her two accomplices are behind this!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Who Done It? is one of my favorite Shemp shorts.  It contains the mansion with hidden panels, a scary looking monster/creep and the hijinks that come when our boys are running for their lives from room to room.

Moe sprained his ankle crashing through a door and so in scenes where he’s limping, the limp is real!

Who Done It? (1949) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“The Belko Experiment” (2016) written by James Gunn / Z-View

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The Belko Experiment (2016)

Director:  Greg McLean

Writer: James Gunn

Stars: John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Sean Gunn, David Dastmalchian, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker,   and Abraham Benrubi.

Tagline: This Is Not A Drill

The Plot…

Belko Industries is situated in a remote building on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. It hires people from all over the world to work for them.  On for the first day of work an implant is placed in the base of a new employee’s neck in case something happens to them.

One day when Mike (Gallagher) arrives at work, he notices a new squad of security guards telling the Bogotá staff to go home.  Mike thinks little of it and checks in.  A short time later a voice comes over the intercom.  It instructs everyone to stop and listen.  They are told that unless two employees are killed within 30 minutes, more will die. Suddenly steel shutters come down on all windows and doors sealing everyone in the building.

Reactions vary, but most believe it to be a terrible prank.  When 30 minutes pass and no one is killed the voice returns to the intercom.  It announces since the group did not comply, instead of two people dying, four will.  Four employees are killed when the implants in their heads detonate.  The voice then says that unless thirty employees are dead within two hours sixty will die.

All hell breaks loose.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

James Gunn of The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker fame wrote the screenplay with the intention of directing it.  When the film was ready for production, Gunn was going through a divorce and passed on directing.  Still, several actors who regularly appear in Gunn’s films were cast including Sean Gunn (his brother), Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry and Stephen Blackehart.

I loved the concept, but felt that we didn’t get to know any of the characters.  I would have preferred to care/know more about who lived and died with less emphasis on gore.

The Belko Experiment (2016) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Who Done It?” (1949) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Who Done It? (1949)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Writer:  Edward Bernds

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre and Emil Sitka

Tagline: None

The Plot…

When wealthy Mr. Goodrich (Sitka) receives a note from a serial killer saying Goodrich will be his next victim, he hires our boys to guard him.  When our guys arrive they are greeted by Goodrich’s niece who says her uncle is missing.  Little do Larry, Moe and Shemp know, but the niece and her two accomplices are behind this!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Who Done It? is one of my favorite Shemp shorts.  It contains the mansion with hidden panels, a scary looking monster/creep and the hijinks that come when our boys are running for their lives from room to room.

Moe sprained his ankle crashing through a door and so in scenes where he’s limping, the limp is real!

Who Done It? (1949) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Watcher” (2022) starring Maika Monroe / Z-View

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Watcher (2022)

Director:  Chloe Okuno

Writer: Chloe Okuno based on the screenplay by Zack Ford

Stars: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman

Tagline:  Evil Wants to be Seen.

The Plot…

Julia (Monroe) and Francis (Glusman) are newlyweds. They’ve just moved to Bucharest, Romania for Francis’ job,  While Francis is at work, Julia is alone.  She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t able to speak the language.  When Julia sees a man in the apartment across the street constantly staring into her apartment, it begins to creep her out.  Then she notices a man following her.  Julia tells her husband but he thinks it’s just her nerves.

When Julia learns that a serial killer known as The Spider is torturing and beheading women in Bucharest, she is sure that the killer is planning for her to be his next victim.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Maika Monroe is very good in this role.  I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Chloe Okuno adapted Zack Ford’s screenplay.  Ford had originally set the story in Brooklyn.  It was a smart move to change the location to Bucharest.  It made Julia even more isolated and increased the probability that her nerves were playing tricks on her.

Burn Gorman was excellent as the creepy neighbor.

Watcher is a slow burn.  The ending plays with the viewer.  Overall there’s a Hitchcock feel to the film and that’s never a bad thing.

Watcher (2022) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Sock-a-Bye Baby” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Sock-a-Bye Baby (1942)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison and Dudley Dickerson

Tagline: None

The Plot…

A crying woman leaves a baby on the boys’ doorstep.  So our boys decide to raise the child.  Later Larry sees an article about a kidnapped infant.  When the woman returns with police to retrieve her baby, our guys mistakenly believe the cops think that they’re kidnappers.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The title, Sock-a-Bye Baby, was first used in a Popeye cartoon!

Pearl Harbor had recently been bombed by the Japanese when this short was made. Curly sings a tune where he says, “What am I sayin’? Poo on the Japanese.”

Sock-a-Bye Baby (1942) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Bill Russell: Legend” (2023) / Z-View

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Bill Russell: Legend (2023)

Director:  Sam Pollard

Stars: Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Satch Sanders, Bill Walton, Jeannine Russell, Jalen Rose, Karen Russell, Lawrence O’Donnell, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry, Bill Bradley, Shaquille O’Neal, Earl Monroe  and Chris Paul.

Tagline:  He Changed More Than the Game

The Plot…

Bill Russell: Legend explores Russell’s life on and off the basketball court. Archival news reports as well as interviews with Bill Russell, his contemporaries, current athletes and sportswriters round out this two part series.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Bill Russell is considered by many the greatest basketball player of all time.  He made every team he played on the best. Bill Russell led his high school team to two California State High School Championships.  In college his team won two back-to-back NCAA titles.  As an Olympian, the U.S. basketball team won a Gold Medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. When he went into the NBA his team, the Boston Celtics won 11 championships in his thirteen-year career. The last two were won with Bill Russell playing and serving as the coach!  “He has more NBA championship rings than he has fingers.”

Off the court Bill Russell was a man concerned with civil rights and world events.  He was a proud man that felt that the things he did off the court were more important.  I am not the biggest basketball fan in the world, but I give Bill Russell: Legend my highest recommendation.

Bill Russell: Legend (2023) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Three Missing Links” (1938) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Three Missing Links (1938)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Searle Kramer

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Ray Corrigan and Dudley Dickerson

Tagline: None

The Plot…

The boys are janitors at a movie studio when they are discovered!  Curly is perfect to star in the studio’s next feature.  He’ll play the missing link.  Larry and Moe will get parts.  They head to a jungle for location filming.  There they have run-ins with a cannibal/medicine man who sells “love candy”, a lion and a gorilla.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Three Missing Links (1938) is the first Stooges short to be directed by Jules White.  White would go on to produce and/or direct over 130 of the Stooges 190 shorts.

It’s a funny twist that Curly eats the “love candy” and becomes enamored with the gorilla to the point that the gorilla is frightened and runs away.

Three Missing Links (1938) rates 5 of 5 stars.

 “Spiral: From the Book of Saw” (2021) starring Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson & Max Minghella / Z-View

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 Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Director:  Darren Lynn Bousman

Writer: Josh Stolberg, Peter Goldfinger

Stars: Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Richard Zeppieri, Ali Johnson, Edie Inksetter, Nazneen Contractor and Chad Camilleri.

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

When an off-duty cop is found murdered in a subway, clues indicate the killer is a fan of Jigsaw, the deceased serial killer.  Jigsaw would trap, incapacitate his victims and then kill them using elaborate methods causing pain and disfigurement.  Detective Zeke Banks (Rock) and rookie Detective William Schenk (Minghella) are assigned to the case.

As Banks and Schenk follow leads, more cops are found murdered by Spiral.  Each murder strikes closer to Banks’ circle of fellow officers,,, and now Banks’ father is missing.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I was a fan of the original Saw.  The sequels that I watched (I haven’t seen them all) put more emphasis on gory, bizarre methods of murder.  I realize that is part of the appeal of these movies, but I prefer to see the set-up and let my imagination do the rest.  I was hoping that Spiral would be more of a serial killer mystery with less emphasis on gore.

There’s a twist at the end that for my money works.

Darren Lynn Bousman directed Saw sequels 2, 3 and 4.  I liked the choices he made in Spiral (well, except for some of the torture scenes),

Chris Rock impressed me in Fargo and I enjoyed him here.  Samuel L. Jackson elevates any movie.  I’d never seen anything with Max Minghella before.  He does an excellent job, especially in the film’s final set piece.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“No Census, No Feeling” (1940) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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No Census, No Feeling (1940)

Director:  Del Lord

Writer:  Harry Edwards, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bruce Bennett, Symona Boniface, Vernon Dent and Frank Mills

Tagline: Those madcap merchants of mirth score a laugh touchdown!

The Plot…

While on the run from the cops, our guys hide in a building hiring census takers.  Soon the boys have jobs. They end up at a rich woman’s mansion and create havoc.  Then they get the bright idea that a stadium full of fans would provide plenty of “customers”.  But when Larry, Curly and Moe are mistaken for professional football players, all bets are off.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

An extended scene where Curly adds alum to the punch and all guests (our guys included) try to talk through puckered lips is hilarious.

Moe asks one man, “Are you happy or married.”  Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk.

No Census, No Feeling (1940) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Tassels in the Air” (1938) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Tassels in the Air (1938)

Director:  Charley Chase

Writer:  Al Giebler, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Vernon Dent and Bud Jamison

Tagline:  They’re Nuthouse Painters!

The Plot…

When Moe is mistaken for the famous painter, Omay, the boys are hired to paint and redecorate a rich woman’s mansion.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The gag that “Curly goes crazy” whenever he sees/smells something is used again in Tassels in the Air.  This time whenever Curly sees tassels, he goes loco until he’s tickled under the chin.  This gimmick was used in three previous Stooges shorts (in Punch Drunks, Horses’ Collars and Grips, Grunts and Groans).

The director, Charley Chase directed and acted in hundreds of shorts and features. In one scene Vernon Dent appears dressed like Oliver Hardy.  Some wonder if this was Chase’s influence as a nod to the comedy great.

Tassels in the Air (1938) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Pop Goes the Easel” (1935) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Pop Goes the Easel (1935)

Director:  Del Lord

Writer:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Phyllis Crane

Tagline:  Help! Help! They’re loose again!

The Plot…

The boys on the run from the law, take refuge in an art studio.  There they take on multiple disguises in an effort to not get caught.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Pop Goes the Easel features several Stooges’ firsts:

  • It is the first Stooges’ short directed by Del Lord who would go on to helm more than three dozen.
  • It features the first eye poke
  • It has the first multiple face slap
  • It ends with a big clay fight, which would morph into pie fights in future shorts

There’s a quick scene of two little girls playing hopscotch as the boys run by.  The girls were the daughters of Moe and Larry.

Pop Goes the Easel (1935) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Brideless Groom” (1947) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Brideless Groom (1947)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Writer:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Virginia Hunter and Emil Sitka

Tagline: Gold-diggers mob the Stooges for their money!

The Plot…

Shemp learns that he will inherit $500,000 if he is married by 6pm.  The trouble is he has no girlfriend and no prospects.  Luckily, Shemp is joined by Moe and Larry in an effort to find him a wife before the deadline arrives.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Emil Sitka, a Stooges regular, gets his best-remembered line “Hold hands, you lovebirds!” in this one.  Believe it or not, the line is on Sitka’s headstone!

Christine McIntyre, another Stooges regular, has a scene where she is to repeated hit Shemp.  Despite repeated takes, the punches didn’t look convincing.  The story goes that Shemp told Christine to really let him have it, explaining that a lot of repeated half-hearted slaps hurt more than a few good ones.  On the next take Christine cut loose with a punch that broke Shemp’s nose.  The take was used.  As Christine apologized, Shemp told her, it was okay, he told her to cut loose and she sure did!

Clyde Bruckman, the writer of Brideless Groom,  was the co-writer on the film Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925) which had a similar plot.

Brideless Groom (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Pals and Gals” (1954) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Pals and Gals (1954)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Bruckman, Jack White

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent and Blackie Whiteford

Tagline: Round up a herd of howls Out West!

The Plot…

When the doctor explains that Shemp is suffering from an enlarged vein in his leg, it is recommended that Shemp head out west where the climate will do him good.  So our boys end up in a rough cowboy town.  When the crook, Doc Barker overhears Shemp talking about his large vein, he thinks Shemp has a gold mine.  As Barker makes moves to steal the mine, our guys learn that Barker is holding three sisters prisoner.  Larry, Moe and Shemp plan to free the girls and fall in love.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Pals and Gals uses footage from previous Stooges shorts: Goofs and Saddles (1937) and Out West (1947). Because of careless editing, Doc Barker dies in one scene and then reappears briefly later in a group shot.

Shemp has a funny scene playing cards with two cowboys trying to cheat.

Pals and Gals (1954) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Luther: The Fallen Sun” (2023) starring Idris Elba / Z-View

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Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

Director:  Jamie Payne

Writer:  Neil Cross (based on characters Cross created for the BBC Television series)

Stars: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis, Dermot Crowley, Vincent Regan, Ross Waiton and Carl Spencer

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Elba) is on the case of a serial killer who first kidnaps and blackmails his victims. When the serial killer, David Robey (Serkis) learns that Luther is closing in, Robey uses his use wealth and technology to learn of illegal steps that Luther took in the past to bring criminals to justice.  Luther stands trial and is sentenced to prison.

While in prison, Robey taunts Luther with a video showing Robey committing a recent murder.  Luther works with friends to set up a prison break so that he can track down Robey.  With the police on his trail, Luther closes in on the killer.  Robey knows Luther is coming and has a plan to make Luther his next victim.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

It’s great to see Elba return to the character that made him famous.  I’d love to see more Luther movies.  There was talk that Elba would make a great 007.  The ending of Luther: Fallen Sun makes that unnecessary.

Kudos to Jamie Payne for his direction.  I look forward to seeing what Payne does next.

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“So Long Mr. Chumps” (1941) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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So Long Mr. Chumps (1941)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Bruckman, Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Bruce Bennett, Bud Jamison and Blackie Whiteford

Tagline: NUTTIER THAN EVER!

The Plot…

The boys find an envelope full of bonds and return the it to the rightful owner.  The grateful man offers our guys a $5,000 reward if they can find an honest man to run his business.  After repeated unsuccessful attempts, Larry, Curly and Moe realize that an honest man is being held in jail.  Our boys decide the best plan of action is to get arrested and then get the man out.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Bruce Bennett’s birth name was Herman Brix.  He was an Olympic athlete and actor under his given name.  He also played Tarzan in the movies.  Feeling he was typecast as Tarzan, Brix changed his name and went on to in both low budget features as well as major motion pictures such as Sahara with Bogart, Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford, Dark Passage with Bogart and Bacall, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Bogart, Sudden Fear with Joan Crawford and Gloria Grahame and Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart.

In the last scene Curly breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience.

Moe stops Curly from smoking a cigarette, Curly continues to pull out bigger and bigger smokes until he’s finally lighting up a cigar that’s a couple of feet long.

So Long Mr. Chumps (1941) rates 3 of 5 stars.