John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) / Z-View

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John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019)

Director: Chad Stahelski

Screenplay: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams from a story by  Derek Kolstad

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick and Anjelica Huston.

The Pitch: “It’s time for the sequel”

Tagline: “Tick Tock, Mr. Wick”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

John Wick [Reeves] is on the run after killing a member of the High Table on neutral ground.  With a $14 million bounty on his head, there’s danger at every turn.  Wick has a plan, but for it to work, he’ll have to fight his way out of the city and to the one person who can provide a possible option for his life.  The odds are against any of it working, but then again, this is John Wick we’re talking about.

The John Wick series is the best movie franchise in years.  Each new chapter (film) really feels like an extension of the previous films.  In other franchises each film often feels like a step up or slightly different world.  John Wick 3 raises the bar for action and provides a broader view of Wick’s world.  The new cast members (Berry, Dacascos and Dillon) are perfectly cast.

If you liked John Wick 1 and 2, you’ll dig Chapter 3.  They’ve already set a release date for John Wick 4 and that’s May 21, 2021.

Rating:

Andy Smith’s “Dynamic Hero Templates”

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My buddy, Andy Smith has been a working professional artist for over 25 years.  He’s worked for all the major companies and equally impressive; Andy has been the author and artist on several “how-to” books on drawing super-heroes  and comics.

Andy’s latest book is on Kickstarter and is titled, Dynamic Hero Templates.  The 48 page book is 11″ x 8.5″ in a landscape format.  It features 8 varying male physiques so there’s a variety of body shapes to use to design your characters.

Andy created Dynamic Hero Templates for all ages and skill levels.  He also priced the book at $10 which is not only affordable but less than the $12.95 price point after his Kickstarter ends.  If you missed out on Andy’s earlier books or are a fan of his art, there are addition levels of support that will get you exactly what you crave.  Dynamic Hero Templates also would make an excellent gift!

The 50 Best Sports Movies of All Time

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Tim Grierson & Will Leitch and Vulture.com present The 50 Best Sports Movies of All Time.  I’m happy to report that Creed came in at #28 and Rocky at #3.

The list is a good one, but I’d have included The Set-up, Requiem for a Heavyweight and a couple more from the Rocky series and Paradise Alley. (Would you expect any less?)

Here’s what Grierson and Leitch said about Rocky and Creed:

28. Creed (2015)
The Rocky series had run out of gas several times by the time Ryan Coogler got together with his Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan to inject the whole franchise with adrenaline and soul … and even liven up old Rock himself in the process. The best scenes of Creed aren’t even about boxing at all, as we see young Adonis Creed struggle with his identity, his purpose in life, and the power of his feelings for a young, hearing-impaired musician (played wonderfully by Tessa Thompson). Putting Rocky Balboa in the Paulie role is a brilliant idea, and the relationship between the young boxer and his trainer works … and even manages to transcend the whole 40-year-old enterprise.

3. Rocky (1976)
Roger Ebert famously wrote, in his initial review of Rocky, that Sylvester Stallone reminded him of a young Brando, and while that classification hasn’t, uh, aged so well, you can understand what he was thinking. Before all the sequels, before the montage sequences, before Stallone became a muscled, chiseled ode to misguided masculinity, he was just a guy who wanted to tell a story about a past-his-prime palooka who met a girl and then suddenly finally got his chance at the big time. This is a big hokey underdog story, but it’s told with a grit and realism that matches the era; Rocky’s just a good-hearted schmo from the neighborhood who doesn’t have the stomach to break thumbs for the mob but isn’t sure what else the world has for him either. But he’s got heart, kid. This series is more than 40 years old now, but, as Creed showed, this story remains eternal. It’s probably going to outlive us all. Even Stallone.

RIP – Leon Redbone

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Leon Redbone, the singer-songwriter known for his sense of humor and songs performed in the musical styles of the 1920’s has died at the age of 69.

Redbone’s website announced his passing with the following…

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that early this morning, May 30th, 2019, Leon Redbone crossed the delta for that beautiful shore at the age of 127.  He departed our world with his guitar, his trusty companion Rover, and a simple tip of his hat. He’s interested to see what Blind Blake, Emmett, and Jelly Roll have been up to in his absence, and has plans for a rousing sing along number with Sári Barabás. An eternity of pouring through texts in the Library of Ashurbanipal will be a welcome repose, perhaps followed by a shot or two of whiskey with Lee Morse, and some long overdue discussions with his favorite Uncle, Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites. To his fans, friends, and loving family who have already been missing him so in this realm he says, ‘Oh behave yourselves. Thank you…. and good evening everybody.’”

I first became aware of Leon Redbone from his performance on Saturday Night Live.  I loved that he was so willing to do his own thing in a style no one else (at least to my knowledge) was doing.  Redbone went on to create albums, provide songs for movies and do voice work for movies and television.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

27 Things We Learned from Brian Helgeland’s ‘Payback’ Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 27 Things We Learned from Brian Helgeland’s ‘Payback’ Commentary.  But first some background…

Payback is one of the very rare films that has more than one version available.  Brian Helgeland was fired from the film when he refused to make changes ordered by the studio.  The studio then ordered additional scenes changing the tone and ending of the film.  That version was released to great success both theatrically and on video/dvd.  And thanks to the video/dvd market, Helgeland was able to have his version released and it was also successful.  I have both versions in my collection and like both.

With all that said, here are my three favorites from Helgeland’s commentary:

12. He was in post-production on this film the night of the Academy Awards, and having been nominated for his L.A. Confidential (1997) script he really hoped he would be named the winner. “I knew that they were getting close to finally removing me off this movie,” and he thought winning the Oscar would mean they couldn’t fire him. He won, Sean Connery tussled his hair backstage while congratulating him, and that was his Sunday night. “And on Tuesday I got fired. So much for the magic of an Academy Award.”

13. Walter Matthau handed him his Oscar. Matthau starred in Charley Varrick (1973). The restaurant scene at 32:53 was filmed in a place called Varricks.

17. An early teaser strung together the film’s funnier scenes, and both audiences and the studio responded favorably. He protested and was told by the marketing department that “what it is is one thing, and selling it is another thing.” The studio clearly wished the movie “was more like our trailer, and I didn’t know it at first but it became this struggle for what the heart of the movie was about.” Re-shoots began leaning heavily toward the teaser’s tone, and the writing was on the wall.

Ken Meyer, Jr. Presents Adams, Kirby, Kane, Frazetta and More!

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Ken Meyer, Jr. presents a monthly column called Ink Stains. In the column Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts a fanzine from his collection.  Here’s Ken…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

In Ink Stains 114, Ken shares with us Gaslite #10 which is a fantastic fanzine.  Gaslite #10 is filled to the rim with talent and features a cover by R. Crumb, Jack Kirby art and interview, a Dick Giordano interview, Frank Frazetta sketch, Klaus Janson spot illo, Neal Adams art and interview, Kirby and Dan Adkins full-pager, Bill Gaines interview, Vaughn Bode art and interview, Isaac Asimov interview, Gil Kane backpiece and more.

As always, thanks to Ken for bringing back great memories of fandom!

RIP – Bart Starr

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Bart Starr, the Hall of Fame quarterback has died at the age of 85.  Mr. Starr had been in failing health since 2014 when he suffered a heart attack and two strokes. 

Starr was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1977 after playing for 16 years as a Green Bay Packer, leading them to five NFL Championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls.  Personal awards include being picked four times for Pro-Bowl, two times as an All Pro, being selected as the 1966 NFL Most Valuable Player, the Most Valuable Player for the first two Super Bowls and selected to the All Decade Team for the 1960s.  The NFL also named an award after him.  The Bart Starr Award is given out annually to a player of outstanding character.  The Green Bay Packers retired Starr’s jersey in 1973 (as just the third player to ever receive that honor).  What a legacy!

I have always been a Chicago Bears fan, but also a Bart Starr fan.  I can remember watching Starr dive into the end zone for the winning touchdown with just seconds remaining in the NFL Championship game in 1967!  When we played football, all of the kids wanted to be Bart Starr when quarterbacking (myself included — even if he wasn’t a Bear).  And could there have been a cooler name for a NFL quarterback than Bart Starr?

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Starr’s family, friends and fans.

Michael Biehn Looks Back at “The Terminator” and More

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Patrick Galvan and Syfy present Michael Biehn Looks Back at The Terminator and More.  It is definitely worth a read.  Here are a couple of tidbits…

The reason I took the role (in Terminator) was because I really liked the character of Kyle Reese and I knew I could play that character really well. Even if the movie didn’t do well, that was a really good character: a great fighter in love with the woman he was sent to protect. That part made me think, “Well, I can probably come out of this unscathed.”

You know, a lot of movies have been made throughout the years and a lot of them have been forgotten. But The Terminator, Aliens, and another movie I did called Tombstone… people still, to this day, come up and tell me how much they loved them. And their children love them, too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had some kid come up to me and say, “My name’s Kyle. My parents named me after your character from The Terminator.” It’s fun to see those kind of movies pass from generation to generation.