Rocky & Adrian’s Thanksgiving by Joel Tesch!
Happy Thanksgiving! Joel Tesch created this cool “Thanksgiving-themed” painting. You can see more of Tesch’s art at his Instagram page.
“Frankenstein” Alt Poster by Tom Walker!
I love Tom Walker’s alt Frankenstein poster. You can check out more of Walker’s art at his Instagram page.
“Three Little Pirates” (1946) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View
Three Little Pirates (1946)
Director: Edward Bernds
Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre and Vernon Dent
Tagline: The Stooges’ newest tickler.
The Plot…
Larry, Curly and Moe are sailors who washed ashore on Dead Man’s Island. After Curly flirts with Rita (McIntyre), the island’s ruler’s fiancée, the boys are sentenced to death. Lucky for Larry, Curly and Moe, Rita has a plan to help the boys escape by dressing them as travelers from a strange land. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The highlight of Three Little Pirates is Curly and Moe performing the “Maharaja” routine. Sadly this is the last short that features Curly throughout the whole production. He had suffered a serious of small strokes and his health was in decline. Larry gets in on the laughs when Curly and Black Louie have a knife-throwing contest.
Three Little Pirates earns 4 of 5 stars.
THE LAST ACTION HEROES by Nick de Semlyen is Coming!
The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage by Nick de Semlyen looks like something many of us will want to check out. Here’s the lowdown…
The behind-the-scenes story of the larger-than-life action stars who ruled ’80s and ’90s Hollywood—Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren, and Jean-Claude Van Damme—and the beloved films that made them stars, including Die Hard, Rambo, and The Terminator.
The Last Action Heroes opens in 1990, at the Cannes film festival, where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone finally forged a truce. After years of bitter behind-the scenes combat—Stallone once threw a bowl of flowers at Schwarzenegger’s head; the body count in Schwarzenegger’s Commando was increased to “have a bigger d*** than Rambo”—the world’s biggest action stars had at last formed a friendship.
In The Last Action Heroes, film journalist Nick de Semlyen charts their wild, carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship. He also reveals the personal stories of the colorful characters who ascended in their wake, from Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, to Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan. But as the ‘80s rolled on, the era of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts, or the perfect weapon to save the day started to fade. When Jurassic Park trounced Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero in 1993, everyone knew that the glory days of these macho men–and the vision of masculinity they celebrated–were officially over.
Drawing on candid interviews with the action stars themselves, plus their collaborators, friends, and foes, The Last Action Heroes is a no-holds-barred account of a period in Hollywood history when there were no limits to the heights of fame these men achieved, or to the mayhem they wrought, onscreen and off.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, pre-orders are available now. The book drops June 6, 2023.
Thanks to @popcornwithafork for the head-up!
“Three Pests in a Mess” (1945) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View
Three Pests in a Mess (1945)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Del Lord
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Vernon Dent and ‘Snub’ Pollard
Tagline: Three screwballs on the loose!
The Plot…
Larry, Curly and Moe are inventors who become enamoured with a gold digger who thinks the boys are loaded. When she finds out they’re not, she calls in her partners to rough up the boys. While making their escape Curly accidently shoots a mannequin. Thinking that Curly has killed a man, the boys put the “body” in a bag and take it to a cemetery to bury it. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Three Pests in a Mess is another Stooges classic. Curly’s interactions with the gold digger and his shirt “preparedness” are priceless. The cemetery scenes at night with Larry, Curly, Moe and the folks from the masquerade party (A devil, skeleton, and mad magician) are classic. Curly shines when carrying the bag containing the mannequin and with each step he takes gets slapped in the head by the mannequin’s hand. Three Pests in a Mess is another great example of how comedy and “horror” work so well together.
Three Pests in a Mess earns 5 of 5 stars.
“Rocky – The Awakening” by John Rivoli!
John Rivoli is back with a new ROCKY painting. How cool that he took an scene that we all know and gave us a fresh perspective. Bravo!
Rocky’s ferocious first round knockdown of Apollo woke the sleeping giant. LIMITED EDITION FINE ART GICLEE AVAILABLE of A never before seen angle of this moment from the film as imagined by artist John Rivoli
“Prey” by Chris Miller!
I really like Chris Miller’s Prey art above. You can see more of Miller’s work at his Twitter feed.
Blonde Dynamite (1950) starring The Bowery Boys / Z-View
Blonde Dynamite (1950)
Director: William Beaudine
Screenplay: Charles R. Marion
Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Harry Lewis, Murray Alper, Bernard Gorcey, Jody Gilbert, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, John Harmon, Michael Ross and Karen Randle
Tagline: THE ESCORT BUREAU’S GOOFIEST GIGOLOS! They’re professional Romeos…to a gang of glamorous gun-girls!
The Plot…
When Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Satch (Hall) are unable to get jobs as male escorts, Slip decides to open his own escort service. Slip convinces Louie (Bernard Gorcey) to take a long vacation. As soon as Louie is gone, Slip turns the sweet shop into a male escort service using himself, Satch and the rest of the gang as escorts.
Gangsters have a plan to rob the bank next to the sweet shop. They’ll go in at night since they’ve got the combination to the safe. The mobsters use some of the women they work with to hire the boys as escorts so they can break through the sweet shop wall into the bank. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Bowery Boys as male escorts has a lot of potential for laughs. I wish the movie was as good as the premise.
Blonde Dynamite earns 2 of 5 stars.
“Judge Dredd” Alt Poster by Mickaël Journou!
Mickaël Journou created this cool alt Judge Dredd poster. Here’s what he had to say about it:
I recently rewatched the movie. An all-time classic for me (yeah, huge fan of Sly! haha). I’m obviously older now so I couldn’t help to wonder if our current society is heading towards what we see in that movie. This is my new full digital art poster!
“Alligator” (1980) starring Robert Forster / Z-View
Alligator (1980)
Director: Lewis Teague
Screenplay: John Sayles from a story by John Sayles, Frank Ray Perilli
Stars: Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael V. Gazzo, Dean Jagger, Sydney Lassick, Jack Carter, Henry Silva, Buckley Norris and Sue Lyon
Tagline: It lives 50 feet beneath the city. It’s 36 feet long. It weighs 2,000 pounds…And it’s about to break out!
The Plot…
An alligator that was flushed into the Chicago sewers twelve years ago begins feeding on discarded animal remains used in experiments. This causes the gator to grow to a gigantic size with an insatiable appetite. When body parts of missing city workers show up, police officer David Madison (Forster) and a rookie cop are sent into the sewer to investigate.
They discover the alligator, or perhaps it’s better to say the alligator discovers them. Madison barely escapes but his partner isn’t as lucky. Madison reports that there’s a giant alligator living in the sewers system, but no one believes him until the gator comes to the surface… and it’s hungry!
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Alligator is a better movie than you might think a low-budget Jaws knockoff would be. That’s thanks to the folks involved. Lewis Teague (Death Race 2000; Cujo) knows how to get the most bang for the buck directing low budget horror. John (The Howling; Piranha; Lone Star) Sayles provides a story with more depth than expected from a giant alligator movie. Robert Forster is joined by Michael (Godfather II) Gazzo, Sydney (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) Lassick and Henry (Sharky’s Machine) Silva. Dean Jagger and Sue Lyons also appear in what would be their last film roles.
There are two cool Easter Eggs in Alligator: 1) The first sewer worker to go missing is named Edward Norton which is a tip of the hat to The Honeymooners. 2) There’s graffiti on a sewer wall near the end of the movie that says, “Harry Lime Lives”. This is a reference to Orson Welles character in The Third Man who escapes through a sewer.
Bryan (Breaking Bad) Cranston worked on the film as a production assistant for the Special Effects department and became friends with Robert Forster.
Alligator isn’t a great film, but it’s better than you might expect.
Alligator earns 3 of 5 stars.
TROOPER DOWN! by Anthony Neil Smith is Coming!
Anthony Neil Smith recently shared the cover of his next novel, Trooper Down! It’s described as a…
Psychological thriller in the Hitchcock tradition told in first person by a South Dakota State Trooper who is shot in the head and tries to redeem himself.
Trooper Down! isn’t available for pre-order yet. Once it is, I’ll let you know… right after I put in my order.
“An Ache in Every Stake” (1941) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View
An Ache in Every Stake (1941)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Lloyd French
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Vernon Dent, Bess Flowers and Bud Jamison
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Larry, Curly and Moe are delivering ice using their horse drawn ice carriage. Along the way, their escapades cause a business man to twice fall onto a birthday cake he is trying to bring home. When a woman at the top of a very long/steep staircase calls for a block of ice, the boys are at a loss as how to get it up before it melts.
After several false, but funny starts, they get the ice up to the house. Their antics disrupt the woman’s caterers so much that they quit. No worries. Larry, Curly and Moe offer to cook and serve the birthday meal… which is for, you guessed it, the man who was trying to get birthday cakes home.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
An Ache in Every Stake is another favorite Three Stooges short. If the long staircase looks like the same one Laurel and Hardy tried to get a piano up, it’s not! Yeah, I was sure it was too.
An Ache in Every Stake earns 5 of 5 stars.
TOO MANY BULLETS: A Nathan Heller Case by Max Allan Collins is Coming!
It’s no secret. I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nathan Heller series. In it, detective Nathan Heller gets involved with famous cases throughout history. Max Collins does an exhaustive amount of research for each book and provides a solution to each case, that is sometimes at odds with history. As the series progresses, Heller ages in real time.
Hard Case Crime has announced that a new Heller book will be out in the Fall of 2023. Titled Too Many Bullets, it will have Heller investigating Robert Kennedy’s assassination. That’s the cover above, and it’s a beauty painted by Paul Mann.
If you’re a fan of alternative history or detective stories, heck, if you’re a fan of well written books, then you owe it to yourself to check out the Nathan Heller tales by Max Allan Collins.
“A Plumbing We Will Go” (1940) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View
A Plumbing We Will Go (1940)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Elwood Ullman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Dudley Dickerson and Bud Jamison
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
There’s bad blood between Officer Kelly (Jamison) and the boys (Larry, Curly and Moe) when a judge finds them innocent of stealing chickens. (And they’re plainly guilty!) Later the cop sees the guys attempting to catch fish from a pet store tank. The chase is on!
When a butler thinks the boys are plumbers, he invites them in. Seeing the police officer getting closer, they accept the offer. In order not to blow their cover, Larry, Curly and Moe attempt to fix a bathroom leak…
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
A Plumbing We Will Go was Curly’s favorite Three Stooges Short. It’s hard to argue that it’s not the best. Every scene has a laugh, starting with the judge finding the boys not guilty of chicken stealing as Curly pulls out his hat and chicken feathers fly everywhere. Most folks know the gag where Curly keeps adding pipes to pipes and traps himself. But there’s so much more – the cook dealing with the results of the “plumbers” work – the guests watching tv with a picture “so real”… even the final scene has a callback to a magician who appeared in an earlier gag and returns to end the short with a great “trick”.
A Plumbing We Will Go earns 5 of 5 stars.
ABOVE SNAKES by Sean Lewis & Hayden Sherman is Coming!
As I was going through the latest issue of Previews, I came across Above Snakes by Sean Lewis & Hayden Sherman.
A supernatural Western about DIRT, a man out to avenge his wife’s death with nothing but a bloodthirsty vulture to guide his way. What happens when the story of Dirt’s pain gets stolen by others and the world he thought he understood turns upside down? Featuring the incredible work of the team behind THUMBS and THE FEW, this thrilling new series is best described as Deadwood meets The Sandman.
Above Snakes drops January 24, 2023. If this sounds like something you’d like pre-orders are available now.
