Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I love this poster of the main characters from Rocky through Rocky Balboa. Click on the image to see it biggie-size. If anyone knows the name of the artist, please let me know so proper credit can be given.
Source: Romu Philippe.
8 Days to Hell (2022)
Director: Shane Woodson
Screenplay by: Harold Pepper, Shane Woodson
Starring: Eric Roberts and Shane Woodson
Tagline: The devil pays a visit to Los Angeles
The Overview: Beware of spoilers…
8 Days to Hell is a low-budget horror anthology consisting of seven connected tales. Each tale is designated as a “day”. I made it through day five before I tapped out. It just wasn’t for me. For example…
Day One – an actor tries out for the part of a gangster. After his audition the producer (Roberts) berates the actor’s performance saying he should have projected Brando-style machismo and a frightening image. The actor leaves, has a drink, is encouraged by a vision/demon and then goes back to re-audition. This time he does a bad Brando voice and shoots the producer.
Day Two – The actor is having sex with a woman and she turns into a preying mantis who kills the man.
I should have stopped watching there. Your mileage may differ, but 8 Days to Hell just wasn’t for me, so it gets 1 of 5 stars.
Tony Stella is back with this amazing poster for The Getaway. In addition to being my favorite Steve McQueen movie, The Getaway was directed by Sam Peckinpah from a screenplay by Walter Hill and based on the classic Jim Thompson novel. But today we’re here for the art and you can see more of Stella’s amazing art at his Instagram page or his website.
Intrusion (2021)
Director: Adam Salky
Screenplay by: Chris Sparling
Starring: Freida Pinto, Logan Marshall-Green, Robert John Burke and Megan Elisabeth Kelly.
Tagline: The Quietest Towns Hide the Darkest Secrets
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Meera (Pinto) and her mild mannered husband, Henry (Marshall-Green) have just moved into their new house located on the outskirts of a small town. Henry’s an architect who designed and built the house. It’s ultra-modern, beautiful and near perfect. The only issue is occasionally the water pipes make a weird noise.
One night, Meera and Henry wake to the sound of home invaders. Henry has a hidden gun that Meera knew nothing about. He gets the gun and helps Meera get outside. As Henry attempts to follow, the intruders attack him. Henry kills all three. The police arrive and identify the three as members of the Cobb family – local habitual criminals. Coincidentally, Christine Cobb, a member of the same clan went missing shortly before the break-in.
Meera is surprised that her husband had a gun and was able to kill the three men. While the home invasion has her shook, it hasn’t affected Henry. Meera begins to notice some strange behaviors from Henry. As she digs into the situation, she feels her life is in danger. But is Henry also at risk or the one she should be afraid of?
Intrusion rates 3 of 5 stars.
Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
Director: Howard W. Koch
Screenplay by: Richard H. Landau, George Worthing Yates, based on a story by Aubrey Schenck, Charles A. Moses, based on characters from Frankenstein (1818 novel) by Mary Shelley
Starring: Boris Karloff, Jana Lund and Don ‘Red’ Barry.
Tagline:WARNING! “Frankenstein 1970” is the most blood-freezing horror ever created! This picture may be too dangerous for people with weak hearts! Beware!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Set in the future, in 1970, the last Frankenstein, Baron Victor von Frankenstein (Karloff) is now an old, disfigured scientist. He needed money to purchase an at-home atomic reactor to complete his secret experiments, so Frankenstein rented out his castle to a crew producing a monster movie. Little do they know that Frankenstein has a secret underground lab where he is nearly finished with his creation, a huge monster made from body parts of the dead. When members of the movie crew begin disappearing, the police are called in. Will they be able to solve the mystery? Will they stand a chance against the Frankenstein 1970 monster?
Frankenstein 1970 was shot in eight days and it’s low budget shows. The creature looks more like a mummified beekeeper than a Frankenstein monster, but Karloff gives it his all. Frankenstein 1970 rates 2 of 5 stars.
Check out the art of Sly as Johnny Kovak from F.I.S.T. created by Andy Eagle in 1978! It comes from the book FAME: Portraits of Celebrated People by Brad Benedict.
Over on Facebook, Marcus Elf posted several Ghana posters. Included were these four Stallone movie posters. Click on each to see it biggie-sized, then click over to see Marcus’ post.
Ghana posters are always crazy fun. Where else could you get Rocky slugging it out with Simon Phoenix? Or Tango & Cash starring Marion Cobretti and Jack Burton? How about Cobra as a slasher movie?
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Birth of the Living Dead aka Year of the Living Dead (2013)
Director: Rob Kuhns
Written by: Rob Kuhns
Starring: George A. Romero, Elvis Mitchell, Mark Harris, Gale Anne Hurd and Bill Hinzman.
Tagline: 1968. Peace. Love. And the undead.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Rob Kuhns goes behind the scenes on the making of Night of the Living Dead. George Romero is interviewed and some of his earlier commercials are shared. Elvis Mitchell, Mark Harris, Gale Anne Hurd, Bill Hinzman and others share the impact Night of the Living Dead made on them. If you’re a George Romero or Night of the Living Dead fan, then this is for you. I give it 4 of 5 stars.
If you follow The Boys in the Lab on Twitter, you may have already seen the Escape from New York poster above. Even so, it’s worth another look. Click on the art to see it biggie-size!
Tim Sale died yesterday at the age of 66. No cause of death was given.
Tim Sale is best known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb. A few of the series that they created for DC include: Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, Superman for All Seasons and Catwoman: When in Rome. For Marvel Comics, the duo created Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray and Captain America: White.
Mr. Sale is also known for his work with Darwyn Cooke on Superman: Confidential, Grendel with Matt Wagner and Deathblow with Jim Lee. Any comic that Tim Sale worked on was worth picking up because of Sale’s unique spin on characters. Tim Sale won an Eisner Award in 1999 in the “Best Artist/Penciller/Inker” category. Tim Sale also provided art for the television series Heroes.
I was fortunate to meet Tim Sale a few times at conventions over the years. In 2011, Tim Sale did a wonderful sketch for me at MegaCon. Tim said that he wanted to do Rocky from the first movie. He chose to draw Rocky the loan collector who worked for his friend Gazzo. Tim Sale also added his turtles Cuff and Link. My buddy, John Higashi was responsible for making it happen. Thanks to John Higashi, I also attended a dinner with Tim Sale and other artists.
Tim Sale was an amazing artist. By all accounts he was a kind and gracious man. The number of news organizations reporting his passing and remembrances from people around the world is testimony to his impact.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tim Sale’s family, friends and fans.
I had just turned 13 when D.B. Cooper disappeared with $200,000 in cash. He jumped out of a jet at night – something even trained parachutists wouldn’t have tried. A portion of the money was found, but D.B. Cooper never was.
Deal me in!
In 1971, a skyjacker parachutes off a plane with a bag of stolen cash — and gets away with it. Decades later, his identity remains a compelling mystery.
No Time to Die (2021)
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Screenplay: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Story by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga
Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Christoph Waltz and Billy Magnussen
Tagline: Bond is Back
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Five years ago Bond (Craig) was almost killed in an assassination attempt that appeared to be setup by Madeline (Seydoux), a woman he deeply loves. After putting her on a train and vowing to never see her again, Bond dropped off the grid.
Now Bond has been contacted by Felix Leiter (Wright), his friend and CIA contact. Leiter wants Bond’s help in capturing Lyutsifer Safin (Malek) and taking down Project Heracles – nanobots created to kill people based on specific DNA codes. Bond agrees and finds himself at odds with his MI6 (British Secret Service) as well as the new 007 (Lynch)! The stakes are raised when Project Heracles is used against SPECTRE and Madeline becomes involved.
No Time To Die is the bookend to Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale. No Time to Die doesn’t feel like a typical James Bond film. It is grimmer. There’s no subtle winks at the audience. There’s a weight and sadness to Bond. Let’s break it down…
The Story: I liked the story. As with most James Bond films the stakes are high and probably never higher.
Craig’s Bond: My favorite James Bond film is Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig. I thought he was perfect as James Bond who is just coming into MI6. He’s not yet the suave Bond who is capable to handle every situation. With that said, Sean Connery remains my favorite Bond. So, getting back to No Time to Die, Craig is now an older Bond. He gets the opportunity to show us the suave Bond, but there’s a weariness to him. It works for this film, but my preference is the Bond that Sean Connery embodied.
The Opening / Song: Usually Bond films open with a big stunt. No Time To Die takes a bit to get to the stunt sequence, but it should satisfy fans. Billie Eilish provides the opening song. I thought it was just okay and the same with the title sequence.
New 007: Lashana Lynch plays the new 007. I like the rivalry between Lynch and Craig; as well as their growing respect. Lynch is good in what she’s given to do and has charisma.
Paloma: Ana de Armas is Bond’s new partner early in the film. She’s pretty and believable in the action beats.
Madeline: Léa Seydoux returns and is believable as the woman that James Bond would fall in love with.
MI6: Ralph Fiennes returns as M. This time he’s at odds with Bond. Their scenes are tense and I loved their exchanges. Ben Whishaw returns as Q. He has a small but important role; he’s not just the gadgets guy any more. I love Naomie Harris as Moneypenny. I can never get enough of her.
Felix Leiter: Jeffrey Wright is such a great actor. It is great that he had an expanded role.
Lyutsifer Safin: Rami Malek is perfect. Safin is scary not because of his physical presence, but his voice and look (this dude never blinks) let’s you know you’re dealing with a cold blooded killer.
Blofeld: Christoph Waltz returns in a small but pivotal role. The movie is better by having him.
Primo (Cyclops): James Bond films are famous for their memorable henchmen. Dali Benssalah excels as Primo, the killer with the bionic eye.
Logan Ash: Billy Magnussen plays a character you love to hate… and does it well.
I really liked No Time to Die. I can’t say it exceeded my expectations, but it did surprise me. There’s a twist I didn’t believe was coming. No Time to Die makes a good bookend to the Daniel Craig Bond era and rates 4 of 5 stars.
Christopher Shy created the Highlander art above. It’s available from Shy as a print in standard or master grade editions. Christopher Shy is a freelance artist and the head of Studio Ronin. You can follow Shy on Twitter and see more of his art (and order prints) from his website.
Jonathan Maberry is one of the best and most prolific writers working today. His Joe Ledger series is my favorite. Others prefer his Dead of Night/Fall of Night or Rot & Ruin series. I’ve read them as well and wouldn’t argue against someone liking them better. With his new novel, Dark of Night, Maberry does something he’s not done before: He collaborates with Rachael Lavin and combines characters from all three of his series!
Dark of Night: The dead rose. We fell. The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies…but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering. DARK OF NIGHT is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers. This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning novel series. Captain Joe Ledger (PATIENT ZERO and CODE ZERO), Officer Desdemona Fox (DEAD OF NIGHT and FALL OF NIGHT), and Rachael Elle (BITS & PIECES, a Rot & Ruin novel) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors. Jonathan Maberry teams with debut novelist Rachael Lavin to tell a sweeping story of adventure, horror, and heroism. Flesh and Fire: In the midst of a midlife crisis, Todd is haunted by Chloe, the lover who died not long after their relationship ended. When Chloe escapes Hell in search of the peaceful rest that has eluded her, a demon named Samael is on her trail and she needs Todd’s help. While on the run Todd and Chloe face demons real and personal, soul-threatening danger, and their long-buried feelings for each other.
Blood Crime (2002)
Director: William A. Graham
Screenplay: Mark Lawrence Miller, Preston A. Whitmore II
Starring: James Caan, Johnathon Schaech and Elizabeth Lackey.
Tagline: Revenge can be murder.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Daniel Pruitt (Schaech) and his wife Jessica (Lackey) are camping in the woods. Daniel leaves Jessica for a snack run to a nearby store. When he returns, Jessica has been brutally attacked. As he races to get her to the hospital, he sideswipes a semi. When the driver gets out, Jessica identifies the man as her attacker! Daniel severely beats the trucker and leaves him in the back of the semi.
When Daniel gets to the hospital, Jessica identifies an orderly as her attacker! Daniel sees a group of officers and demands to see the Sheriff McKenna (Caan). McKenna tries to put Daniel off, but relents and says, “Walk with me. Give me a minute.” They go to another room where a body is covered by a sheet. When the sheet is lifted, it is the trucker that Daniel beat up… who happens to be Sheriff McKenna’s son!
Daniel didn’t kill the Sheriff’s son, but the evidence makes him look guilty! Daniel believes that whoever attacked Jessica is also the murderer. Daniel is running out of time to prove his innocence and find the person who did the crimes. Sheriff McKenna plans to murder whoever killed his son and Daniel looks guilty. As you can imagine it all comes to a, uh, smashing ending.
Blood Crime rates 2 of 5 stars. Not even James Caan can save this one.
