“Untold: Caitlyn Jenner” (2022) / Z-View

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Untold: Caitlyn Jenner (2022)

Director:  Crystal Moselle

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Every four years an Olympic athlete earns a gold medal in the decathlon.  The decathlon consists of ten events over two days.  Day One: 100 meter dash; long jump; shot put; high jump and 400 meter run.  Day two: 110 meter hurdles; discus throw; pole vault; javelin throw and 1500 meter run.  Because of the variety of events and the different strengths and skills needed, the decathlon gold medalist is considered by many to be the world’s greatest athlete.

In 1976, Bruce Jenner was the Olympic Gold medalist.

This documentary explores Bruce Jenner’s life, his desire to become the World’s Greatest Athlete, and the inner turmoil he faced since childhood.  Although a Gold Medal winner, a world famous celebrity, Jenner struggled with identity issues for decades.  Bruce ultimately transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner.  This is his/her story.

Thoughts…

I was a huge fan of Bruce Jenner.  His story to become the world’s greatest athlete was inspiring.  He was married to his college sweetheart and she supported his efforts to train daily for the Olympics.  They seemed destined to have it all.

I was disappointed when they divorced.  Later Bruce had some face work done and a nose job.  I thought the nose job made him look too feminine.  Also I wondered why such a good looking guy would want to mess with his looks.  Why fix something that ain’t broken?

I had no idea of Jenner’s identity issues.  This is that story.

Untold: Caitlyn Jenner (2022) rates 3 of 5 stars

“Untold: The Fall of Favre” / Z-View

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Untold: The Fall of Favre (2025)

Director:  Rebecca Gitlitz

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Brett Favre played 20 seasons as an NFL quarterback.  Over the course of his career Favre led his team to a Super Bowl championship, three times was voted the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, once the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, three times voted First-Team All Pro, elven times voted to the Pro Bowl, was twice the NFL’s Passing Leader, and he set the record for most consecutive starts with 297.

Favre was considered a football living legend.  On the field he was considered a god.  Off the field he was far from it.

Although married, Favre wouldn’t be considered a role-model.  It came out later in his career that he was a womanizer.  Worse still he repeatedly pursued a woman through intermediaries, and text messages.  Each time the woman told him, “No.”  But Favre persisted, ultimately sending her pictures of his penis.  She rebuffed him at every turn.  In fact, she never met him or was in the same room with him, despite both being employed by the New York Jets.  At the end of the season, she was fired.

Two years later, the story came out.

Turns out that Favre also was involved in 2022 Mississippi welfare scandal.  Money earmarked for the state’s poorest, saw millions diverted to build a volleyball gym at the school where Favre’s daughter attended, and money to other of Favre’s causes.  Text messages came to light from Favre asking if the media could find out if he was paid and how much he got.  Why would he worry, if everything was on the up-and-up.  Making it even worse, Mississippi is the poorest state of our fifty.

This is story of The Fall of Favre.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If you wondered why we no longer see Brett Favre making product endorsements, now you know.  It’s too bad that Favre wasn’t as good a human being as he was a football player.

Untold: The Fall of Favre (2025) rates 3 of 5 stars

“Untold: The Liver King” (2025) / Z-View

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Untold: The Liver King (2025)

Director:  Joe Pearlman

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

This documentary looks at the rise and fall of Brian Johnson aka The Liver King.  Johnson became an influencer who promoted what he called an “ancestral lifestyle”.  Johnson said that by eating large amounts of raw meat and organs, specifically liver, one would become healthier with much more energy.

Johnson claimed that he was undersized as a kid and often bullied.  His research into a healthier lifestyle led him to his understanding of a diet that made our ancestors strong.   Johnson repeatedly denied ever using steroids.  He claimed that his muscles came from eating raw meat and exercise.  Johnson started a supplement company based around based around eating raw meat and his nine “ancestral tenets”.  He made millions.

Later it came to light that Brian Johnson was a liar.  He not only regularly used multiple steroids and testosterone, but was spending over $10,000.00 a month on pharmaceuticals.  Johnson’s reputation was shot.  His subscribers base dwindled and he was named in a class action suit for $25 million for his deception.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I had never heard of The Liver King before this documentary.  If anyone ever came off as a snake oil salesman, it is Brian Johnson.

Untold: The Liver King (2025) rates 3 of 5 stars

“Lady in the Lake” (1946) directed and starring Robert Montgomery, also starring Audrey Totter and Lloyd Nolan / Z-View

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Lady in the Lake (1946)

Director:  Robert Montgomery

Screenplay: Steve Fisher; based THE LADY IN THE LAKE by Raymond Chandler

Stars: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames, Dick Simmons, Morris Ankrum, Lila Leeds, Charles Bradstreet and Jayne Meadows.

Tagline: YOU AND ROBERT MONTGOMERY STAR IN AN EXCITING AND UNUSUAL MYSTERY-THRILLER -EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO HIM HAPPENS TO YOU!

The Plot…

Private Eye, Phillip Marlowe decides to take a shot at writing.  When Marlowe is called into the publisher’s office, he thinks they want to buy his story.  Adrienne Fromsett, is the publishing editor.  She wants to buy Marlowe’s story.  She also wants to hire Marlowe to find Chrystal Kingsby.  Chrystal is her boss’ wife.  She hasn’t been seen for two months.

After some back and forth, Marlowe accepts the job.  What sounds like a missing person’s case turns out to be a multiple murder investigation.  And Marlowe is the main suspect.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The film is shot from the viewpoint of Marlowe.  The only time he is seen is by reflections in mirrors and windows or when he speaks directly to the audience.  It’s odd seeing this decades before video games made it popular.

Lady in the Lake (1946) rates 3 of 5 stars

“CAUGHT STEALING” screenplay by Charlie Huston, directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Austin King, Regina King & Zoe Kravitz – The Trailer is Here!

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The trailer for Caught Stealing is here and I am sold.

The film’s based on Charlie Huston’s novel CAUGHT STEALING.  I’ve been a fan of the book (and Charlie Huston) since I first read it nearly two decades ago.  CAUGHT STEALING is the first of a trilogy that gets my highest recommendation.  I hope the movie can match the level of excellence.

He was just supposed to watch the cat. Now he’s running for his f**king life.

Austin Butler stars in Darren Aronofsky’s #CaughtStealingMovie – only in theatres August 29.

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant.

When his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, Hank suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters. They all want a piece of him; the problem is he has no idea why. As Hank attempts to evade their ever-tightening grip, he’s got to use all his hustle to stay alive long enough to find out…

Caught Stealing is directed by Academy Award® nominee Darren Aronofsky, screenplay by Charlie Huston, based on his book of the same name.

The film stars Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, and Carol Kane.

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Screenplay by: Charlie Huston

Based on the book by: Charlie Huston

Produced by: Jeremy Dawson, Dylan Golden, Ari Handel, Darren Aronofsky

Executive Producers: Charlie Huston, Ann Ruark

Cast:
Austin Butler
Regina King
Zoë Kravitz
Matt Smith
Liev Schreiber
Vincent D’Onofrio
Griffin Dunne
Benito A Martínez Ocasio
Carol Kane

Credits not final

 

“Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951) starring Bud Abbott & Lou Costello / Z-View

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Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

Director:  Charles Lamont

Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant; story by Hugh Wedlock Jr., Howard Snyder; based THE INVISIBLE MAN by H.G. Wells

Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Arthur Franz, Sheldon Leonard, Sam Balter, John Daheim, Bobby Barber and William Frawley.

Tagline:  AS PRIVATE EYES…they’re getting an Eyeful!

The Plot…

Bud and Lou get their first case after graduating from Detective School.  Tommy Nelson, a middleweight boxing contender on the lam from the cops after being accused of killing his manager, wants their help.  Tommy’s plan is to take a potion his fiancée’s uncle invented.  The drink will turn him invisible.  Tommy believes that once no one can see him, he can sneak around and get the evidence on the real killer.

Bud and Lou agree to help.  Let the good times roll!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The plot of this film (minus the Abbott & Costello comedy) was to be a sequel to The Invisible Man.  The success of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein caused the studio to reformat the idea to fit the comedy of A & C.

The final scene of this movie has Lou briefly turning invisible.  As he reappears his legs appear to be on backwards.  While it makes no sense, it probably got some laughs.

Don’t Touch the Loot aka Grisbi (1954) rates 3 of 5 stars

RIP: George Wendt

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It was announced today that George Wendt died today.  No cause of death was given.  Mr. Wendt was 76.

George Wendt graduated from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, with a B.A. in economics.  After seeing The Second City, Mr. Wendt became motivated to try his hand at comedy.  In 1975, he became a part of The Second City troupe.

In 1978, Mr. Wendt appeared in his first feature film.  It was an uncredited role in Robert Altman’s A Wedding.  His next role didn’t come until 1980, but that year he appeared in Bronco Billy, My Bodyguard, Avery Schreiber Live from Second City and The Gift of the Magi.  The roles just kept coming for the rest of his career.

George Wendt was best known for his role as Norm Peterson on Cheers.  Mr. Wendt appeared in all 269 episodes.  Each year from 1984 – 1989, George Wendt was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Norm.

If the only role George Wendt ever played was Norm on Cheers, he would still be an important (and loved) part of television history.

Some of the television projects that feature George Wendt include: Avery Schreiber Live from Second City; Hart to Hart; Soap; Taxi; Alice; Making the Grade (6 episodes); Cheers (269 episodes); Cheers: Uncle Sam Malone; M*A*S*H; Likely Stories, Vol. 4; Garfield Specials; Garfield in the Rough; St. Elsewhere; The Twilight Zone; The Tortellis; Mickey’s 60th Birthday; Arena; The Magical World of Disney; Disneyland’s 35th Anniversary Special; Wings; Tales from the Crypt; Michael Jackson: Black or White; Roc; Seinfeld; Bob; The Edge; The Building; The Larry Sanders Show; The Martin Short Show; The Simpsons; Columbo: Strange Bedfellows; The George Wendt Show (8 episodes); Good Company; Spin City; The Naked Truth (13 episodes); The List; Madigan Men (4 episodes); TV Funhouse; Strange Relations; Becker; Sabrina the Teenage Witch (6 episodes); Frasier; Saturday Night Live (8 episodes); George Lopez (2 episodes); Modern Men (7 episodes); Masters of Horror; Guy Walks into a Bar; The Green Grass; Family Guy (2 episodes); Less Than Kind; Ghost Whisperer; The Stay-at-Home Dad; Hot in Cleveland; Harry’s Law; The Seven Year Hitch; Kickin’ It; Portlandia; Franklin & Bash; Clipped (10 episodes); Children’s Hospital; Fresh Off the Boat; Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell; The Goldbergs; Christmas 9 to 5 and Fancy Nancy (11 episodes).

Some of George Wendt’s feature film appearances include: A Wedding; Bronco Billy; My Bodyguard; Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again; Airplane II: The Sequel; Dreamscape; Fletch; House; Gung Ho; Forever Young; The Little Rascals; The Prime Gig; Wild About Harry; Garage: A Rock Saga; Edmond; Saturday Morning; The Independents and I Lost My Body.

It’s impossible for me to pinpoint when I first saw George Wendt, but I do know that he was a HUGE part of Cheers’ success.  Mr. Wendt was perfectly cast as Norm Peterson and his one-liners as he entered the bar each week were a highlight.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to George Wendt’s family, friends and fans.

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” – The Poster and Second Trailer is Here!

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The poster and second trailer for Jurassic World: Rebirth is here.

The worst of the worst dinosaurs were left here. Watch the final trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth and get tickets now.

A new era is born. This summer, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.

Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team member; Critics Choice and Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Homeland, Obi-Wan Kenobi) appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Murder on the Orient Express) plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family.

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

Jurassic World Rebirth is directed by BAFTA winner Edwards from a script by Koepp (War of the Worlds), based on characters created by Michael Crichton. The film is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, both longtime Jurassic franchise producers and of last summer’s blockbuster, Twisters. The film is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Denis L. Stewart and Jim Spencer.

“Don’t Touch the Loot” aka “Grisbi” (1954) directed by Jacques Becker, starring Jean Gabin / Z-View

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Don’t Touch the Loot aka Grisbi (1954)

Director:  Jacques Becker

Screenplay: Jacques Becker, Albert Simonin, Maurice Griffe; based Touchez pas au grisbi by Albert Simonin

Stars: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Dora Doll.

Tagline: From the demi-mondes of Paris…with its pimps, its pushers, its passions, from the world of “RIFIFI” and “RAZZIA”…an electrifying adventure in suspense!

The Plot…

Max has beaten the odds.  He’s a criminal who reached middle age without going to prison or worse getting killed.  What’s better is that Max and Riton, his trusted crime partner, recently pulled off a heist of gold bars worth millions.  More than enough for both Max and Riton to give up their life of crime and retire.

One night shortly after the heist, Max meets Riton at a nightclub.  Riton has brought along Josy, his latest girlfriend.  Josy’s a dancer half Riton’s age.  Later that evening Max spots Josy making out with a young man.

When Max is heading home for the night, he notices he’s being followed.  He gets the drop on the thugs and sends them running.  Max calls Riton to warn him.  Max then picks up Riton and takes him to a safe house. Riton admits that he told Josy about their latest score to impress her.  They realize that Josy has sold them out.

The next day Max meets with his uncle who will fence the gold.  When Max calls to update Riton, he learns that Riton has been kidnapped.  The thugs want the gold bars in exchange for Riton’s safe return.

Max is promised a simple trade and nobody will get hurt.  Don’t count on it.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

It’s interesting that Jacques Becker doesn’t focus on the theft of the gold bars (in fact it happens prior to the start of the film).  I like the pace of the film.  Jean Gabin is perfect as Max, the world weary criminal who is so close to living the dream.  Max reminded me a bit of Mike McClusky (Mayor of Kingstown) and Harry (Mobland) in his ability/ways to deal with situations/people.

Don’t Touch the Loot aka Grisbi (1954) rates 5 of 5 stars