Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Sometimes a movie slips in under the radar. Felon, written and directed by Roman Waugh, a stuntman turned writer/director, may be a winner. Check out this trailer and see for yourself.
I didn’t even recognize Val Kilmer until I watched it a second time.
We’ve been talking about it for three days, so here is, George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby.
Yesterday our music link covered KC and the Sunshine Band playing a live version of “That’s the Way I Like It.” The post ended with a bit of trivia: before Harry Casey and Richard Finch created KC and the Sunshine Band they wrote Rock Your Baby for George McCrae and the song went on to be a megahit.
So it would make sense if our next link in our musical chain was George McCrae’s classic Rock Your Baby. Instead, I thought it might be fun to go with a rarity: KC and the Sunshine Band, in 1974, giving us their instrumental version of Rock Your Baby.So that’s what I did.
A Taste of Honey’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie” leads us right to KC and the Sunshine Band playing a live version of “That’s the Way I Like It.”
I knew that it wouldn’t take long to link to KC and the Sunshine Band. Behind the Bee Gees, they are probably the band most associated with the disco era. KC and the Sunshine Band’s songs featured simple, repetitive lyrics paired with music that made you want to move.
The band was formed in 1973 by Harry Wayne Casey [KC] and Richard Finch, but it wasn’t until 1975 and their hit “Get Down Tonight” that the band really took off. The album, their second, went triple platinum and the hits just kept on coming. Most people would be surprised to learn that their last #1 hit was the first hit of the 80’s [“Please Don’t Go”]. The band broke up in 1981. In 1991, KC came out of retirement and reformed the band without Richard Finch. The new band continues to tour with a full schedule.
I was fortunate enough to see KC and the Sunshine Band live a couple of times back in the glory days [1976 and 1977]. They definitely earned their money with the great show that they put on.
One last bit of trivia: Yesterday, Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., commented that he really only liked a few disco songs with “Boogie, Oogie, Oogie” being one and George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby being another. Well, did you know that Harry Casey and Richard Finch wrote Rock Your Baby? They did! It went on to become one of the first and biggest hits of the disco era selling 11 million copies.
TimesOnLine.com has posted their list of the All Time Best Movie Endings. Although my favorite movie ending wasn’t on the list, [“Ain’t gonna be no rematch!” “Don’t want one… Adrian!”], I’ll play along. Here are my top ten favorite movie endings using just those on their list:
IMPAwards.com has scored an advance look at the Conan teaser poster. Good ahead and click over for a look. I’ll be here when you get back.
There’s a nice little interview with Mike Mignola over at CBR.com. Mignola talks about everything from what it’s like seeing his creation, Hellboy, on the big screen for the second time to what he’s doing next.
Anyone else planning to tune in to “Sons of Anarchy”? It’s by the same guy who created “The Shield” [that alone is enough for me to give it a shot], and the trailers look pretty good. You can see them and a bit more 
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It’s no secret how great Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal stories are. If you’re not reading them, you should be. If you are on board then you know what I’m talking about. Either way, you can catch up on the latest Criminal news with this Ed Brubaker interview at CBR.com
A couple of days ago I posted The Sanford Townsend Band’s
I looked and came up with Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music.” I hope ya digs it.
I wonder where the next link will take me?
The Pitch: “Day of the Dead” updated with fast moving zombies and no George Romero.
The Good: The idea of a town being quarantined by the military. The chaos when the zombies begin attacking. Ving Rhames. Mena Suvari is a cutie. Several zombies jumping in unison out second [third?] story windows to get a people on the ground.
The Bad: Not enough Ving Rhames. Zombies climbing sheer walls and across ceilings. Zombies exploding when set on fire. Characters repeatedly making stupid decisions: [“Let’s sneak back into the city full of zombies that we escaped from so we can hold up in a room full of windows.” “Let‘s keep a zombie alive because he follows orders.”] Smart zombies — zombies firing guns — a zombie not attacking people because he is a vegetarian!
The Ugly: The alternate ending. Boy, if they’d have used it the movie would have been even worse.
The Summary: “Day of the Dead” is a remake of my least favorite Romero zombie movie. If you’re a real fan of zombie movies then you probably won’t mind some of this movie’s badness [and I don’t mean badness in a good way]. If you’re just a passing fan of the genre then you ought to pass on it.
The Pitch: “The Godfather” with a Russian twist.
The Good: Viggo Mortensen owns every second he is own the screen. Armin Mueller-Stahl quietly demands to be watched and heard in every scene — which is exactly what is needed as the kind restaurant owner, family man and head of a Russian mob. The killings in the public bath — brutal, but believable. The twist near the end — I totally did not see it coming and loved it.
The Bad: The movie is slow to get started and then moves at a steady pace. The violence is there, but not as bad as you may have heard.
The Ugly: “Okay. Now I’m going to do his teeth and cut off his fingers. You might want to leave room.”
The Summary: “Eastern Promises” is a brutal look at the Russian mafia. Viggo Mortensen gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the “driver.” The violence may put some off, but it grounds the movie’s reality. I have a feeling that this one is going to grow on me as time passes.
