“Below Zero” (2021) / Z-View

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Below Zero (2021)

Director:  Lluís Quílez

Writers:  Fernando Navarro, Lluís Quílez

Starring:  Javier Gutiérrez, Karra Elejalde  and Luis Callejo.

Tagline: Escape is not the exit.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When a prison transport on a deserted road comes under attack, one police officer survives by getting in the armored truck with the prisoners.  Outside the weather is freezing and a killer wants one of them dead.  But which one?  And why?

Below Zero has action, mystery and atmosphere.  The fact that it lacks American stars adds to the suspense of who may die. The foggy night and frozen lake scenes are memorable.  Below Zero rates 3 of 5 stars.

“JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I’m not one for crowds, but the New Orleans Jazz Fest just might be worth it.

JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY

Directed By: Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern

Featuring: Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Katy Perry, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many others.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, aka “Jazz Fest,” is the signature annual music and cultural event of the city and has been called America’s greatest festival. Celebrating the music, food, and arts and crafts of all of Louisiana since 1970, Jazz Fest is an essential showcase of the rich heritage of the region, and hundreds of thousands attend the event each year. Local music heroes are joined on 14 stages by some of the most important figures in entertainment, highlighting the connections between Louisiana culture and the world.

JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY weaves together live performances and interviews from the 50th anniversary of the iconic festival, featuring some of the biggest names in the music industry, along with a wealth of archival documentary footage from the past half century. This film not only captures the Festival in all of its beauty and glory, but also delves deep into the rich culture of The Big Easy.

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (2018) / Z-View

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Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (2018)

Director:  Robert S. Bader

Writers:  Robert S. Bader, Dick Cavett

Starring:  Muhammad Ali, Dick Cavett, Joe Frazier, Woody Allen, Jimmy Breslin, Jim Brown, Howard Cosell, Angelo Dundee, Louis Farrakhan, Martin Luther King, Jerry Lewis, Joe Louis, Thomas Hauser. Lester Maddox. Norman Mailer, Malcolm X, Michael Marley  and Larry Merchant.

Tagline: None.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes is a wonderful documentary chronicling the life and boxing career of Muhammad Ali using clips from the Dick Cavett Show as the glue holding it together.  Ali not only led an interesting life, but lived in interesting and turbulent times.  It is fascinating to see how social changes and outside influences impacted Ali’s career.  As Ali matured he became more of his own man, the only three-time heavyweight champion and the most famous athlete in the world.  It’s an interesting journey and rates 5 of 5 stars!

“Cold Skin” (2017) / Z-View

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Cold Skin (2017)

Director:  Xavier Gens

Screenplay:  Jesús Olmo, Eron Sheean (based on the novel by Albert Sánchez Piñol)

Starring:  Ray Stevenson, David Oakes and Aura Garrido.

Tagline: How much horror can the heart endure?

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In 1914, a young man is dropped off on a small, remote island near the Antarctic Circle.  The island is not on regular shipping lanes and the ship won’t return for a year.  The only other person on the island is the lighthouse keeper, a strange recluse who might be crazy. 

During his first night on the island, the young man’s cabin comes under attack by strange creatures from the sea.  The young man barely gets into the cellar where he survives the night.  The next morning the young man makes his way to the lighthouse.  He’s shocked to see that it has been fortified with spikes and metal window coverings.  The lighthouse keeper explains that the creatures attack nightly and retreat to the ocean with the sunrise.  The young man barters food and ammunition in order to be let in the lighthouse.

Neither the young man nor the lighthouse keeper trust their alliance.  Tensions grow when the young man discovers a female creature is being held captive and abused by the lighthouse keeper.  

I was expecting Cold Skin to be a straight out horror film with a lot of action.  It is, but takes an unexpected turn which gives it more depth.  I continued to think about Cold Skin long after the movie ended.  Cold Skin leaves some unanswered questions, and won’t be for everyone.  I liked that it was more than just mindless monsters and left me with some food for thought.  Cold Skin rates 3 of 5 stars.

Rattlesnake Rodeo by Nick Kolakowski / Z-View

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Rattlesnake Rodeo by Nick Kolakowski

Trade Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Down & Out Books (October 26, 2020)

First sentence…

After we blew up a few of the richest and most powerful men in Idaho, my sister Frankie wanted to stop for fries.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

After surviving the horrors of the Boise Longpig Hunting Club, Jake Halligan, his fiancée and sister think they’re in the clear.

They’re not.

A powerful judge knows what Jake and his crew did to survive.  The judge offers them a deal: If they murder a child that has information the judge doesn’t want to get out, she’ll destroy all incriminating evidence linking Jake, his fiancée and sister to the crimes that they committed.

The clock is ticking as Jake, Janine and Frankie try to figure out a way to save the child and themselves.

Kolakowski picks up the action right where the Boise Longpig Hunting Club leaves off.  If you like action with heart and humor, then this one is for you.  Rattlesnake Rodeo rates 4 of 5 stars!

Rating:

“Alice” – Revenge is Long Overdue! – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I love the throwback 70s feel to the poster for Alice.  The trailer sets up an interesting mash-up of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village and most any Pam Grier movie from back in the day.

I love it.  Can you dig it?

Deal me in!

Alice (Keke Palmer) yearns for freedom as an enslaved person on a rural Georgia plantation under its brutal and disturbed owner Paul (Jonny Lee Miller). After a violent clash with Paul, she flees through the neighboring woods and stumbles onto the unfamiliar sight of a highway, soon discovering the year is actually 1973. Rescued on the roadside by a disillusioned political activist named Frank (Common), Alice quickly comprehends the lies that have kept her in bondage and the promise of Black liberation. Inspired by true accounts, Alice is a modern empowerment fable tracing Alice’s journey through the post-Civil Rights Era American South.

“Splinter” (2008) / Z-View

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Splinter (2008)

Director:  Toby Wilkins

Screenplay:  Ian Shorr, Kai Barry, Toby Wilkins (uncredited)

Starring: Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Charles Baker, Rachel Kerbs and Laurel Whitsett.

Tagline: It will get under your skin.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A young couple carjacked by an escaped prisoner and his girlfriend become trapped in a remote gas station by a parasitic lifeform that infects its victims turning them into deadly hosts.  Splinter is a low-budget film that works thanks to a well written script and excellent casting.  The story moves quickly and while there may be a few nits to pick with their ice-pack solution, why bother when the film is so much fun?

Splinter rates 4 of 5 stars.

“DMZ” – The Trailer is Here!

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Check out the trailer for DMZ and then tune in to the limited series premiering March 17th on HBOMax.

DMZ leaps off the pages of the acclaimed DC graphic novel into the visual landscape of a dangerous and distorted Manhattan as one woman navigates a demilitarized zone in a harrowing quest to find her lost son.

“F9: The Fast Saga” (2021) / Z-View

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F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

Director:  Justin Lin

Screenplay:  Daniel Casey,  Justin Lin  

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludicris, Charlize Theron, John Cena, Finn Cole, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren and Kurt Russell.

Tagline: Fast Family Forever

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

I was a big fan of the first several Fast and Furious movies. Not so much with the last few.  The problem is that in each new film the stakes get bigger and the stunts more outrageous.  We are now at the point where the Road Runner cartoons have more logical storylines and respect for physics.

With F9: The Fast Saga, whatever you need to happen will happen:

  • Drive a car over a suspension bridge that has one end cut loose? No problem, just shift gears and keep driving.
  • Drive a car over a chasm where a suspension bridge was just cut loose?  No problem, hit the nitrous and a bridge cable will wrap around your axel and swing you to the other side.
  • Need an electromagnet that will pull cars through a building to wreck a truck chasing you?  No problem, flip the switch.  Need a gag where the electromagnet pulls of necklaces, rings and watches from pedestrians?  No problem, flip the switch – the necklaces, rings and watches will come off and leave necks, fingers and wrists intact.
  • Attacked by truckloads of machinegun armed soldiers who fire hundreds of rounds?  No problem, you won’t even get winged!  And you’re able to use a pistol to take out soldiers with each shot.
  • Chase a gun repelling across the city?  No problem, drive the car crazy through traffic, stop and run to the roof of a building and jump out into space.  No worries, you’ll crash into him knocking you both through a window where you can fight!  He’ll miss a punch a knock out part of wall!  Then he’ll pick you up and run with you through the house destroying doorways.
  • Your girlfriend in the midst of a motorcycle jump has her bike knocked from under her?  No worry, you can drive your car so she lands on it!  Much softer hitting the metal car at 100 miles an hour than the ground!
  • Need to go to outer space with virtually no training or a space ship?  No problem, strap a jet engine onto a small car and put on scuba gear.

Needless to say, these are just a few of the insane things that happen.  I can suspend disbelief for a few items, but when a logical storyline goes out the window and there is no real concern that a character will be hurt, let alone killed, you’re going to lose me.  I’ll watch, but with less interest than I have in a Road Runner cartoon,  F9: The Fast Saga rates 2 of 5 stars.

“21 Bridges” (2019) / Z-View

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21 Bridges (2019)

Director: Brian Kirk

Screenplay:  Adam Mervis, Matthew Michael Carnahan

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller, J.K. Simmons, Taylor Kitsch and Keith David.

Tagline:  The Only Way Out is Through Him

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A couple of small time thieves get a tip on a cocaine stash of 30 kilos.  When they go to rip it off, they discover 300 kilos!  Cops show up and the thieves kill them all.  Detective Andre Davis (Boseman) is assigned to bring in the cop killers.  As the bodies pile up, Davis begins to realize that there is more at play than a simple robbery gone wrong.  The conspiracy runs deep and Davis doesn’t know who he can trust.

21 Bridges is a fast paced action thriller that is well cast and directed.  Sienna Miller is believable as a tough female detective.  Boseman and J.K. Simmons are always good.  Keith David doesn’t have a lot to do, but is also a welcome addition to the cast.  21 Bridges rates 4 of 5 stars.

RIP: Johnny Brown

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Johnny Brown, actor and singer, died on March 3, 2022, at the age of 84.  No cause of death was reported.

Mr. Brown began his career as singer.  He toured with Sam “the man” Taylor.  In 1961, Johnny Brown released an album of his own.  Sammy Davis Jr. became a mentor to Johnny Brown and this led to Brown’s role in Golden Boy on Broadway.  His first movie role was in Sammy Davis’ film, A Man Named Adam.

Johnny Brown was a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.  His contract on Laugh-In prevented him from accepting the role of Redd Fox’s son on Sanford & Son.  After Laugh-In, Mr. Brown was a regular on Good Times,  Other major appearances include the shows: Love American Style, Night Gallery, Maude, Chico and the Man, Gimme a Break, Archie Bunker’s Place, The Jeffersons, Fantasy Island and Family Matters.

Johnny Brown always made me smile.  I’ll miss seeing him pop-up in surprising places.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Johnny Brown’s family, friends and fans.

RIP: Mitchell Ryan

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Mitchell Ryan, the actor of stage and screen, died yesterday from heart failure at the age of 88.  Mr. Ryan’s career spanned over 60 years, so depending on your age you may know him best from his work on Dark Shadows, Lethal Weapon, Dharma & Greg or any of his well over 130 credits.

Mitchell Ryan began his career in a theater production of Thunder Road.  His Broadway credits include Wait Until Dark, Medea and The Price.  In 1958, he earned his first screen credit in the Robert Mitchum film, Thunder Road.  For the rest of his career, Mitchell Ryan alternated between television and feature films.

A few of his major television roles included the shows: Naked City, Dark Shadows, The High Chaparral, Cannon, Chase, Having Babies, The Chisholms, Hardcastle & McCormick, Dallas, Renegade, Murder She Wrote and Dharma & Greg.

Some of his more memorable film roles were in: High Plains Drifter, Electra Glide in Blue, Lethal Weapon, and Judge Dredd.

Mitchell Ryan was always a welcome addition to any movie or tv show.  He played a great bad guy – one who came off as smart, tough and just a bit arrogant.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ryan Mitchell’s family, friends and fans.