Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Max Allan Collins posted an excellent piece on The Shining – the book, the movie and the differences that Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick had in regard to their versions. As a bonus Collins looks at Doctor Sleep and the 1997 TV mini-series of Stephen King’s The Shining.
Max Allan Collins’ blog is always worth reading (as are his novels) and his “Shining” post is just an example of the fun to be had.
Frank Frazetta is a legendary artist known for his beautiful magazine and book covers so his pencil art isn’t as widely seen. It’s a shame when he produced pieces like this one. You can see a bigger version by clicking on the art above.
Source: Frank Frazetta Art.
Phil Pirrello at Syfy Wire posted his choices for The Twilight Zone’s 10 Most Shocking Twist Endings. His list is a good one.
I’ve posted how I’d rank his top ten below. Click on the link above to get the entire Pirrello piece. If you click on the links in my ratings, you’ll get my Z-View for the individual episodes.
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Phil Pirrello / Syfy Wire |
Craig |
| 10. “The Silence” (Season 2) | 10. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Season 5) |
| 09. “Five Characters In Search of an Exit” (Season 3) | 09. “Five Characters In Search of an Exit” (Season 3) |
| 08. “The Masks” (Season 5) | 08. “The Masks” (Season 5) |
| 07. “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up” (Season 2) | 07. “The Silence” (Season 2) |
| 06. “The Invaders” (Season 2) | 06. “I Shot an Arrow Into the Air” (Season 1) |
| 05. “To Serve Man” (Season 1) | 05. “Eye of the Beholder” (Season 2) |
| 04. “I Shot an Arrow Into the Air” (Season 1) | 04. “Time Enough At Last” (Season 1) |
| 03. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (Season 5) | 03. “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up” (Season 2) |
| 02. “Time Enough At Last” (Season 1) | 02. “The Invaders” (Season 2) |
| 01. “Eye of the Beholder” (Season 2) | 01. “To Serve Man” (Season 1) |
ComingSoon posted their choices for The 25 Best Movie Posters of 2019. My favorite of their picks was the Alex Ross poster for Glass shown above.
Although a John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum poster did make the ComingSoon Top 25, the version they selected wasn’t one of my favorite posters of the year (which probably surprises a lot of you).
I would have also included this poster, this poster, this poster and this poster all for Rambo: Last Blood. (Which probably surprises nobody.)
Scott Beggs and Mental Floss present 12 Surprising Facts about The Godfather Part II. Here are four (I couldn’t pick just 3!) of my favorite facts presented. Click on the link to read all of the facts and additional details!
3. MARLON BRANDO AND ROBERT DE NIRO ARE THE ONLY ACTORS TO WIN OSCARS FOR PLAYING THE SAME CHARACTER.
6. AN EXTRA HAD THE GUTS TO IMPROVISE AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
11. JAMES CAGNEY TURNED DOWN A ROLE IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
12. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WANTED MARLON BRANDO TO REPRISE HIS ROLE AS THE YOUNGER VERSION OF HIMSELF IN THE GODFATHER PART II.
I love recommending good books. I especially love good books that are bargains. The Lady Killer Library Edition by Jamie Rich (Author), Joelle Jones (Author & Illustrator) qualifies on both counts.
Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother–but she’s also a ruthless killer!
She balances cheerful domestic bliss with coldly efficient assassinations. From the World’s Fair in Seattle to the beaches of Florida, Josie tries to keep her perfect family alive in a bloodstained new vision of the American Dream.
Joelle Jones became an overnight sensation with this gory midcentury series, leading to successful runs on DC’s Catwoman and Batman titles. Now Lady Killer‘s complete story (so far) is together in one oversized hardcover, the perfect showcase for Jones’s phenomenal artwork.
This oversized hardcover collects the original series cowritten by Jones’s longtime collaborator Jamie S. Rich, as well as the followup, which she both wrote and drew solo. Also included are the sketchbooks from both series and previously unpublished art.
Collects Lady Killer TPB volumes 1 & 2.
The Lady Killer Library Edition will become available on May 12, 2020. Pre-orders are being taken now.
Every year there’s a lot of back and forth about Die Hard. It’s a Christmas move. It’s not a Christmas movie. Who really cares? Die Hard is a great movie.
You know what else is great? This Die Hard poster by Tony Stella. Click on the poster to see a Nakatomi Plaza-sized version.
Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it and Happy Wednesday to those of you who don’t.
Cut Bank (2014)
Director: Matt Shakman
Screenplay: Roberto Patino
Stars: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, John Malkovich and Michael Stuhlbarg.
The Pitch: “Do you like movies like Blood Simple and Fargo…”
Tagline: Good Folks. Bad Deeds.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Dwayne McLaren dreams of getting out of Cut Bank, a small town with little promise. When McLaren and his girlfriend accidentally video the murder of a postal worker, they may have stumbled on their ticket out. The $100,000 reward money offered by the postal service would be life-changing money.
But all is not as it seems.
The postal worker was set to deliver a parcel that a man is willing to kill to get and perhaps the postal worker’s killing wasn’t a murder at all. Who is scamming who?
Cut Bank features great cast and a story with plenty of twists. I was surprised how good it is. Although I’ve posted the trailer below, I suggest you skip it and go straight to the movie. (Some of the twists are given away in the trailer. Go in cold and enjoy!)
Rating:
Today we have the poster and trailer to Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen staring Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant.
This painting of Sly Stallone as Cobra is just too cool not to share. Click on the art above to see a larger version. Sadly, I don’t know the artist’s name, but if I learn who he/she is, I’ll be sure to post it.
Source: Sergio Pinto in Sylvester Stallone Official Fans Group.
It’s become a tradition around this time of year for Mark Evanier to post what he calls My Xmas Story.
ME has been blogging for nearly 20 years, with over 25,000 posts and My Xmas Story is his site’s most popular. As you’ve probably guessed, it features the gent in the photo above. For our younger readers, that gent is Mel Torme. I invite each of you (young and old) to click over to Evanier’s post and enjoy.
Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery by Walter Mosley
Hardcover: 291 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
First sentence…
“I came half-awake, dead and dreaming.”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Still recovering from a near-fatal car accident, Easy Rawlins agrees to find a missing teenager named Evander “Little Green” Noon. Finding Little Green is tough enough, but the real mystery is how did he come into possession of two bags of money covered in blood? There’s also the problem of what can be done about the men out to get the money back and kill those who possess it.
Check out Arnold Schwarzenegger in this DeepFake trailer to Dirty Harry! The technology is improving so quickly that soon we’ll see dead actors/actresses making a comeback.
Some folks are against putting deceased stars in ads or movies, but I like the idea if the heirs are okay with it. Who’d have thought we may someday see new movies with Marlon Brando, Bruce Lee, Humphrey Bogart or Lon Chaney?
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood poster above was created by Nuno Sarnardas. His poster came in 2nd place in a recent contest at Poster Spy. You can see the contest winner as well as all the entries here. Selecting the top three must have been tough because there were quite a few well designed posters in the running!
