Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Once a week Joblo.com posts Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net. As you can imagine, they post awesome art that they, well, you get the idea.
I always enjoy seeing what JoBlo has found because with each post they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art. If you check it out you’ll discover amazing artists like John Dunn who did The Abominable Dr. Phibes piece above. I actually like Dunn’s poster better than the movie!
Idle Roomers (1944)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Del Lord, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Duke York, Christine McIntyre and Vernon Dent
Tagline: None.
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Moe, Larry and Curly are bellmen at an upscale hotel. When Mr. and Mrs. Leander check in, the boys only see Mrs. Leander. Not knowing she has a jealous husband, they fight over helping her to her room. When the husband arrives, there’s trouble. And even more trouble when the wolfman he has caged gets loose!
Curly does most of the heavy-lifting in this one (and I’m not just talking about the Leander’s luggage). Any time you have the boys running out of their minds with fear from monsters, you’re guaranteed laughs.
Idle Roomers earns 4 of 5 stars.
These very cool paintings of Frankenstein and his Bride were created by Candra Hope. Both will be available as limited edition prints from Vice Press. You can see more of Candra Hope’s art at her website, her Instagram Page or by following her on Twitter.
The Patient (2o22)
Directors: Chris Long (episodes 1,2, 8-10); Kevin Bray (episodes 3-5); Gwyneth Horder-Payton (episodes 6,7)
Teleplay: Joel Fields & Joe Weisberg
Stars: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson, Laura Niemi and David Alan Grier.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Dr. Alan Strauss (Carroll) is a psychotherapist who one morning wakes up in the basement of a strange house. A chain is padlocked to his leg and a bolt in the cement floor. Dr. Strauss soon learns that his captor is Sam Fortner (Gleeson). Fortner is a serial killer who believes that Dr. Strauss can cure him of the compulsion to kill.
Thoughts (Beware of spoilers)…
What a great setup for a limited series. If Strauss cures Fortner, Strauss is a liability because of his knowledge of the murders. If Strauss can’t cure Fortner, there’s no reason to keep him alive. It’s a game of cat and mouse and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
I was a little hesitant that Steve Carroll was the dramatic lead because of his role as Michael Scott from The Office. I shouldn’t have worried. Carroll was excellent, as is Laura Niemi who plays Sam’s mother. She’s aware that her son is a serial killer, but cannot bring herself to turn him in. David Alan Grier (another comedian) shows his dramatic chops.
The real surprise to me was Domhnall Gleeson. What a performance! Definitely worthy of an Emmy. While I had seen Gleeson in a few films (True Grit, Dredd and The Revenant), I had no idea of how good an actor he is.
I liked that The Patient was written as series of ten episodes. Because it was a limited series all bets were off as to who would live or die. Expect some surprises along the way.
The Patient earns 5 of 5 stars.
Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck (1942)
Director: William Beaudine
Screenplay: Lex Neal, Vernon Smith
Stars: Mantan Moreland, F.E. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Napoleon Whiting.
Tagline: A Thriller-Diller Laff Sensation Feature!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Washington (Moreland) and Jefferson (Miller) are down-on-their-luck friends looking for an opportunity. When they meet a couple of rich men standing by a limo, they learn that the driver has gone for gas. Washington entices the men into a dice game. By the time the driver has returned, Washington has won all of the men’s money, their fancy clothes and the car!
Washington and Jefferson have the driver take them to a nearby country club. The club is run by a crook named Dr. Brutus Blake (Sheffield). Blake invites Washington to play in his private gambling room. There he plans to swindle Washington out of all his cash using crooked dice. What Blake doesn’t know is that ghosts are watching and don’t like what they’re seeing.
The movie really takes off once Mantan begins playing craps in the club. He’s hilarious when he’s forced to roll using dice he knows will cause him to lose. Lady Luck isn’t as funny as Mr. Washington Goes to Town, but this semi-sequel has its moments.
Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck earns 3 of 5 stars.
Below is the teaser for The Pale Blue Eye. This looks good. Deal me in.
West Point, 1830. A world-weary detective is hired to discreetly investigate the gruesome murder of a cadet. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case — a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.
“Jack Ryan: Season 3” looks really, really good. Deal me in. Front row seat.
Jack has gone Rogue. John Krasinski returns as the unwavering hero in Season 3 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Watch the new season December 21, 2022 on Prime Video and stream the first two seasons now.
Ethan Pro recently posted his alt movie poster for First Blood! What an amazing piece of art! You can see more of Ethan’s at his Instagram page.
The Northman (2o22)
Director: Robert Eggers
Screenplay: Sjón, Robert Eggers
Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe.
Tagline: Conquer your fate.
The Plot…
Amleth (Skarsgård) is a boy destined to become King. That changes when Amleth’s father, King Aurvandil War-Raven (Hawke) is brutally murdered. Amleth watches in shock as his Uncle, Fjölnir (Bang) kills his father! As Fjölnir carries Amleth’s mother (Kidman) away, he orders his men to find and kill Amleth. Amleth escapes and vows to avenge his father and mother…
Years later Amleth has grown into a strong Viking warrior and is now ready to take his vengeance.
Thoughts (Beware of spoilers)…
The Northman‘s trailer led me to believe it would be a great adventure/revenge film with a little Viking mythology thrown in. It turned out to be an interesting adventure/revenge film with quite a bit of Viking mythology. There’s stuff like interactions with a Seeress and he-witch, prophetic dreams, rescue from chains by ravens, and a Valkyrie from Valhalla. For me, a little of that goes a long way.
Alexander Skarsgård makes a scary, believable Viking… especially in full blown warrior mode. Ethan Hawke’s role could best be described as a cameo. A small amount of screen time, but his character’s death sets everything in motion. Then again, if Ethan Hawke’s screen time amounts to a cameo, I’m not sure what you’d call Willem Dafoe’s role as a fool. Claes Bang and Nicole Kidman make worthy villains, but are they truly the “bad guys”?
One of the interesting aspects is that for the whole movie, Amleth wants to avenge his mother and father. He sees his father brutally murdered and his mother carried off by his father’s killer. When Amleth, as an adult, meets his mother we learn that she was once a slave; that Amleth’s father raped and forced her into marriage. Further it was she who convinced Fjölnir to kill her husband and take her away, She wasn’t screaming in fear as Fjölnir carried her off, she was laughing! Amleth’s father wasn’t the great man he (and we) had been led to believe! So is it heroic when Amleth kills his mother and her son by Fjölnir? And when Fjölnir learns of their deaths, and challenges Amleth to battle, isn’t Fjölnir as much of a hero as Amleth? Just some things to think about…
The Northman earns 3 of 5 stars.
Angel’s Alley (1948)
Director: William Beaudine
Screenplay: Edmond Seward, Tim Ryan, Gerald Schnitzer
Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, David Gorcey, Nestor Paiva, Benny Bartlett, John Eldredge and Mary Gordon.
Tagline: The Bowery Boys Make It Rough On Racketeers!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Slip Mahoney (Gorcey) learns that his cousin is being pressured into stealing cars for Tony Locarno (Paiva), a local crime boss. Slip decides that the best way to get his cousin out is for Slip to break in… to Locarno’s gang. Slip will then learn Locarno’s set-up and call the police. That’s the plan, but since this is a Bowery Boys’ movie, we know how their plans work out…
Angel’s Alley earns 2 of 5 stars.
The wait is over. The poster and trailer for Plane starring Gerard Butler is here. It looks pretty good.
Plane – Coming soon to theaters. Starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Daniella Pineda, Paul Ben-Victor, Remi Adeleke, Joey Slotnick, Evan Dane Taylor, Claro de los Reyes, and Tony Goldwyn.
Poker Face is a 10-episode “mystery-of-the-week” series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.
Deal me in. Check out the trailer below and let me know if we need to save you a seat!
The poster and trailer for Vertical Freedom will freak out anyone afraid of heights. I’d check this out when it comes to streaming.
Directed by: Doug Lee
Synopsis: Vertical Freedom highlights six diverse tower climbers who overcome personal struggle and everyday danger to perform extraordinary work at very high levels to connect us all. It chronicles the triumphs, challenges, and tragedies of tower climbers Robert Gallegos, Sean Gilhooley, Andrew Lealofi, Ky Nguyen, Kelsey Olson, and Angelo Wiggins as they traverse the country and work at extreme elevations to enable connectivity including breathtaking aerial footage of some of the most hard-to-reach communication towers in the United States.
How about this cool painting of Chow Yun Fat by Tony Stella? You can see more of Tony Stella’s art at his website or his Instagram page.
Hot Water (1924)
Director: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
Screenplay: Thomas J. Gray, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan, John Grey
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Josephine Crowell, Charles Stevenson and Mickey McBan.
Tagline: A cyclonic comedy of newlyweds and meddling relatives!
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
Hubby (Lloyd) is a confirmed bachelor who cannot understand someone wanting to get married. In his dash to get to a wedding on time, Hubby knocks down a woman (Ralston). As he helps her to her feet, their eyes meet… and the next thing you know they’re married. What follows are three vignettes of Hubby’s married life.
As Hubby heads home from work, Wifey asks him to pick up a “few” things from the store. While at the store Hubby wins a live turkey. Hubby has a tough time making it to the trolley and home with more groceries than he can carry and a live turkey!
When Hubby’s mother-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew show up unexpectedly, Hubby decides to take them for a ride in his new car. Runs-ins with other autos and the police are just part of the fun.
The third episode involves his sleepwalking mother-in-law, a potential murder and possible ghosts!
The segments were hit and miss for me. I liked the third episode the best.
Hot Water earns 2 of 5 stars.
