The Review: Conan (2011)

Posted on by

Conan (2011)

The Pitch: “Let’s remake the John Milius/Arnold Schwarzenegger cult classic Conan the Barbarian!”

The Tagline: “Enter an age undreamed of.“

The Story: Conan, born on a battlefield, who became a warrior as a child, gets the opportunity as an adult, to get vengeance against the man who murdered his father.

The Good: Not much really. Jason Momoa shows promise as Conan, but is let down by a really bad script. There is plenty of action (the best two scenes being Conan as a youth fighting four savages, and then as an adult fighting sand warriors) but just don’t think too hard about what takes place before and after.

The Bad: The script is bad. Things happen just because they need to without regard to logic, continuity or common sense. Perhaps the only thing worse than the script is Ron Perlman’s beard.

The Ugly: Did I mention the script? Ron Perlman’s beard?

The Rating: D

Sage Stallone – Rest in Peace

Posted on by

Sage Stallone has died. At this point the cause is unclear. Sage was 36.

Sage made his movie debut acting with Sly in Rocky V. Six years later they appeared together on screen in Daylight. Sage was an actor, director, producer, business man and musician. Long time StalloneZone readers know that Sage would contact us from time to time and even shared a personal photo of his mom and dad taken in 1971.

Sage appreciated his fans and was always kind and gracious in our interactions.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans. Rest in Peace, Sage.


Kurt Sutter Talks SONS OF ANARCHY

Posted on by

If you’re a fan of the Sons of Anarchy, then you’ll probably like the TVGuide.com interview with series creator, Kurt Sutter.  Sutter gives us a hint at season five (and even more in the interview)…

  • Jax has the immediate threat of retaliation from Damon Pope (guest star Harold Perrineau), whose daughter was accidentally killed by Tig (Kim Coates) last season. Soon enough, both Jax and Pope will land in bed with Neron “Nero” Padilla (Jimmy Smits), a Latino gangster who becomes a dangerous mentor for Jax. But ultimately, creator Kurt Sutter tells TVGuide.com that Season 5 will be the year that Jax stops taking advice and begins making his own tough decisions.

Z-View: “Savages”

Posted on by

The Pitch: “Let’s get a name director, a first-rate cast and film an adaptation of Don Winslow’s Savages.”

The Overview: Ben (a pacifist) and Chon (ex-military) are best friends who share a thriving marijuana business and a woman named Ophelia.  The relationship works as well as their multi-million dollar pot business.  All is paradise until a brutal Mexican cartel (is that redundant?) decides to move in on their pot trade.  When Ben and Chon refuse their offer, the cartel kidnaps Ophelia.  Nothing will stop Ben and Chon from getting her back.

The Good: The novel by Don Winslow provides a solid foundation.  The screenplay by Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and Olver Stone isn’t afraid to make changes to the great source material.  The cast: Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, and Salma Hayek are excellent in their roles.  Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta are as well, and own almost every scene they’re in.  Oliver Stone delivers.

The Bad: The things that happen to folks that mess with a Mexican cartel.  Don’t mess with a Mexican cartel.  (Sounds like a commericial for direct tv, doesn’t it?)

The Ugly: Keep an eye out for what happens when “traitors” are bull-whipped.  Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Rating:

Did Anderson Silva Fight Dirty?

Posted on by

Kirik Jenness at MixedMartialArts.com asks Did Anderson Silva Fight Dirty? and provides a good deal of evidence that Silva did.  There was the questionable knee (to the face?) while Sonnen was down, Silva grabbing Sonnen’s trunks, and the most blatant violation, at least in my opinion, Silva spreading grease from his face over his arms and chest.

Are any of these violations enough to change the ruling of the fight.  Of course not.  Are any of them alone so bad?  Not really.  Except for the spreading of the grease, they occurred during the heat battle.  Taken together though, they seem to show a fighter truly concerned about the other guy’s chances of winning.  That should be some consolation to Sonnen.

Mike Torrance Draws Rocky 4 Me

Posted on by

Mike Torrance aka The Krayola Kidd makes a return visit with his patriotic Rocky 4 card drawn for July 4th. I was one of the proud winners of Mike’s recent Free Sketchcard Day and requested Rocky. What you see is the result of that request.

You can see more of Mike’s art at The Daily Sketch with The Krayola Kidd (and if you’ve never checked out Mike’s site, you ought to if only to see his Walking Dead cards!) and his Deviant Art site. Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable.


UFC 148: Results & Thoughts

Posted on by

UFC 148 was held last night and featured three fights that had my interest.  Normally, I post my predictions prior to the events [otherwise they wouldn’t be predictions, would they?) and then the results the following day.  I just couldn’t decide who I thought or wanted to win.  So no predictions this time, but here are the results and my thoughts:

  • Cung Le defeated Patrick Cote by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
    Thoughts: Although he’s 40, Le is still in excellent form.  I always enjoy watching Cote fight and actually thought the fight was closer than the judges (although I still gave the edge to Le).
  • Forrest Griffin defeated Tito Ortiz by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
    Thoughts:     This was an interesting fight with a good deal of back and forth.  After the final round, Griffin left the ring in a hurry (a la his loss to Anderson Silva) and had to be called back to the cage for the decision…. which he won.  Leaving the cage before the decision is read shows a lack of respect for the other fighter and fans.  This is the second time that Griffin has done that.
  • Anderson Silva defeated Chael Sonnen by TKO (Ref Stoppage, 2nd Round, 1:55)
    Thoughts: Sonnen     took Silva down four seconds into the first round and totally dominated him.  It seemed like this could be a replay of the first fight.

    The second round quickly showed that wouldn’t be the case.  Silva stuffed a takedown and then rocked Sonnen.  Both men ended up against the cage and Sonnen was unable to take Silva down.
    When Sonnen missed with a spinning backfist and fell to the mat, Silva kneed him in the chest and then rained down punches.  The ref stepped in to stop it.

    Although I think the fight could have gone on a bit longer, there’s no doubt that Silva was in control and I’d rather see a fight stopped too early than too late. 

    Silva showed class in the post fight interview when talking about Sonnen.  (However when asked in the post fight conference, if he would like to fight Jon Jones, Silva simply replied, “No.”  Where’s the champion’s heart, Anderson?)