“Stand by Me” Trivia!

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Jessica Fisher at GeekTyrant posted Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the Classic Coming of Age Stephen King Adaptation STAND BY ME.  Here are three of my favorite facts and my comments on each…

As with most of Stephen King’s stories, this one originally contained connections to other books he has written. Ace Merrill later re-appeared in the book Needful Things (1993), although he does not appear in the film. The dog Chopper is compared to Cujo (1983). Characters are familiar with Shawshank Prison, from The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Teddy Duchamp was actually first mentioned in King’s first book, Carrie (1976), in which Carrie destroys a gas station he once worked at.

(I love when authors create different books/movies with overlapping characters.  Elmore Leonard did it well.  Jonathan Maberry does it regularly.  Tarantino has carried the idea into movies. – Craig)

Rob Reiner considers this the best film he has ever made. This is pretty big, considering he has directed some of my favorite movies, including The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, This is Spinal Tap, and A Few Good Men. But he’s not the only one who is proud of the film. King, who has been a vocal critic of many of his adaptations, also praised the movie.

(High praise indeed.  I lean towards The Princess Bride as Reiner’s best, but a rewatching of Stand by Me may be in order to verify.  – Craig)

In the shot where Gordie and Vern are running towards the camera with the train right behind them, the train was actually at the far end of the trestle with the two actors on the opposite end. The crew used a 600mm long-focus lens that, when shot at the telephoto end, compressed the image so much that it made it look like the train was right behind them.

(And that is a peak behind the curtains! – Craig)

If you’ve enjoyed these facts, check out Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the Classic Coming of Age Stephen King Adaptation STAND BY ME.

The Monkees Trivia!

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MeTV posted 10 Things You Might Not Know About The Monkees.  Here are three of my favorite facts and my comments on each…

Only Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz appear in every episode of the TV show.

(Interesting.  Don’t you think these days, shows would just shoot scenes earlier to avoid having a star miss appearing in an episode? – Craig)

Micky and Michael both auditioned to play the Fonz on ‘Happy Days.’

(Mickey as the Fonz would have been more slapstick and silliness. Michael had the height to be intimidating and it would have been a different kind of cool.  Ayyyy! – Craig)

‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.’ is one of the first albums to feature a Moog synthesizer.

(I used to own that album! – Craig)

“The Rock” Movie Trivia and a “Making Of” Documentary!

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Joey Paur at GeekTyrant posted 25 Fun Facts About Michael Bay’s THE ROCK and a Short “Making Of” Documentary.  Here are three of my favorite facts and my comments on each…

Arnold Schwarzenegger was offered the role of Cage’s character, but at the time the script was only eighty pages “with a lot of handwriting and scribbles, and it didn’t seem fully baked.” He said he regrets not taking the role.

(I’m an Arnold fan, but he would have been wrong for this role. – Craig)

Michael Biehn, who has played Navy S.E.A.L.s, or some variation thereof on multiple occasions, was unsure of himself while acting for the first time here against real S.E.A.L.s. He told Bay he was freezing up pretending to be the leader in front of them, as well as in Connery’s presence.

(That would have been intimidating. – Craig)

Michael Bay’s idea for a sequel involves a now-married Goodspeed in possession of the microfilm evidence who finds himself pursued by the government, and with nowhere else to turn, he’s forced to ask Mason for help.

(That would have been a great idea.  Sadly, it will never happen now. – Craig)

If you’ve enjoyed these facts, click over to see the rest and to check out the Making Of The Rock documentary.

The “Earth and Blood” Trailer is Here!

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The Earth and Blood trailer looks pretty good…

Saïd owns a sawmill deep in the woods, which he decides to sell. Little does he know that one of his apprentices was cornered by his brother and forced to hide a large amount of cocaine inside the factory.
When the gang to whom the drugs belong shows up, Saïd quickly realizes how determined these tough guys are. Albeit outnumbered, he knows his factory like no one else. Forced to strike back to protect his daughter Sarah, Saïd transforms the sawmill into an embattled camp. And as the number of casualties grows, so does the thirst for revenge…

Svengoolie, Horror Movies and Bernie Gonzalez!

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When I was a kid growing up in Indiana, I looked forward to staying up late each weekend and watching a horror movie.  They were hosted by Sammy Terry.  It was something most of my friends did and it was always cool either watching with them or knowing they were watching too.

These days you don’t have to stay up late (unless you call 8 – 10pm late) and you can still catch a weekly horror movie.  These monster films are hosted by Svengoolie.   A lot of folks watching post comments on Twitter and it’s almost like watching with friends when I was a kid.  You might want to give it a try if this sounds like fun.

Each week, Bernie Gonzalez, the creator, artist and writer of Midnight Mystery (highly recommended) posts foreign movie posters for the film Svengoolie runs.  This week he posted the cool French poster for The Horror of Dracula.  Gonzalez’s posts are just another good reason to join in the fun!

“Peninsula” the “Train to Busan” Follow-Up Update!

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Hey!  We have an update for Peninsula the Train to Busan sequel.

First up, ComingSoon has a Peninsula photo slideshow and update.  This quote from director Yeon Sang-Ho jumped out…

“The scale of Peninsula can’t compare to Train to Busan, it makes it look like an independent film…”

Next we have an update on JoBlo.  Again a quote from Yeon Sang-Ho…

“It takes place four years after Train To Busan, in the same universe, but it doesn’t continue the story and has different characters. Government authority has been decimated after the zombie outbreak in Korea, and there is nothing left except the geographical traits of the location – which is why the film is called Peninsula.”

Check out both sites for more info!

“Spenser Confidential” / Z-View

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Spenser Confidential (2020)

Director: Peter Berg

Screenplay: Sean O’Keefe & Brian Helgeland based on characters created by Robert B. Parker and the novel by Ace Atkins

Stars:  Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Maron, Donald Cerrone  and Post Malone.

The Pitch: “Let’s turn Ace Akins’ Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novel into a movie!”

Tagline: The Law Has Limits. They Don’t.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you’re not a fan of Robert B. Parker and Ace Atkins Spenser characters there’s an outside chance you may like Spenser Confidential.  If you are a fan of the books, my guess is that you’ll hate this movie.  That’s because not a single character goes unchanged to something fundamentally different from the novels.

Spenser goes from an intelligent, wisecracking ex-cop to a less than stellar (IQ-wise) ex-con who aspires to be a trucker.  In the novels, Susan is a Harvard-educated, calm, supporting soul mate to Spenser.  In the movie she becomes a foul-mouthed, crazy girlfriend that Spenser works to avoid until he needs sex or help with the “case”.  In the novels Hawk starts out as a respected rival who works on the fringes of the law and ultimately becomes Spenser’s best friend (outside of Susan).  In the movie Hawk is a big, nerdy, untrained lug who dreams of being a MMA Champion who is forced to be Spenser’s roommate.

Peter Berg is usually a director that makes fun movies.  Not here.  Brian Helgeland wrote the screenplays for LA Confidential, Payback, Mystic River, and Man on Fire.  Spenser Confidential isn’t in the same ballpark… not even the same continent.

You may be thinking that if I wasn’t such a big fan of Parker and Atkins’ Spenser novels I would have liked Spenser Confidential better.  Perhaps I would have liked it a bit more… but not much.

Rating:

Rare & Vintage Paul Gulacy Morbius Sketch!

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Above is a rare, vintage sketch of Morbius the Living Vampire drawn by Paul Gulacy way back in 1980.

The sketch reminds me of the first Paul Gulacy art I ever owned.  It was also a Morbius and victim sketch that I purchased in 1978 or 1979.  At the time he was a second or third tier Marvel character.  Who’d have thought that Morbius would be the “star’ of a movie in 2020?

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

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On August 4, 2020, Dark Horse Comics is releasing Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics…

…Featuring stories by Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and many more of crime comics’ top talent!

Murder, passion, and criminal enterprise are presented here at their darkest, directly from the most talented writers and artists in crime comics!

In these thirteen pitch-black noir stories, you’ll find deadly conmen and embittered detectives converging on femme fatales and accidental murderers, all presented in sharp black and white by masters of the craft.

If Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics sounds like something you’d like, I’ll be you know what to do.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner

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Matt Wagner not only draws a great Batman, but has also created many great Batman stories.  Come this June, DC Comics is releasing Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner with a bunch of them.

Matt Wagner’s prolific run on Batman is collected in one place for the first time ever. From a mad scientist who has created a race of giant monster men to do his bidding, to Batman encountering sinister machinations and new dimensions of wickedness as he confronts the hooded menace of the Mad Monk, there’s plenty of horror and action!

Collects issues Batman #626-641 and #54 (2016), Batman and the Monster Men #1-6, Batman Black and White #3, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #28-30, Batman: The Mad Monk #1-6, Detective Comics #647-649, Robin II: Joker’s Wild #1 and Batman: Riddler — The Riddle Factory.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner is available for pre-order now!