"Smokin’ Aces" and Frank Miller

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I loved “Narc” and was excited to hear that Joe Carnahan was coming back with a new movie called “Smokin’ Aces.” I must admit that when I first saw the trailer a couple of months ago, I wasn’t knocked out. I went back and watched it again tonight, and I’m definitely on board now. I wonder how I’ll feel after I see the movie.

On another note, there’ s nice little interview HERE with Frank Miller who talks about “300,” “Sin City 2” and “The Spirit.”

 

Root for the Bad Guy… Again

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“Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson films. Based on the novel by Richard Stark, it’s a worthy adaptation of a crime classic. The story behind the making of the movie is almost as interesting.

Screenwriter, Brian Helgeland, hot of the success of “LA Confidential” wanted to direct. Pairing him with Mel Gibson on “Payback” seemed a natural. Things went well until late into filming when either Gibson, the studio or both decided that Gibson’s character needed to be more likeable and the film needed more action.

Helgeland disagreed. Guess who won out?

Yep, Gibson and the studio. So Mel went behind the camera and filmed some additional scenes and the tone of the movie changed.

As I said, “Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies… but I always thought it would be cool to see Brian Helgeland’s vision. Perhaps, it too, would be one of my favorites.

According to Harry at Ain’t It Cool News, we’ll soon find out! “Payback: Straight Up – The Director’s Cut” is comming out in a few months. And unlike some “director’s cuts” where a few minutes of footage [that wasn’t good enough to make the original release!] is added, this is going to be a complete overhaul. It will be Helgeland’s vision .

And I can’t wait to see it!

Hellboy vs the Universal Monsters

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If this news comes to pass it would be the coolest…

Universal has acquired the rights to Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro [who co-wrote and directed the first Hellboy movie] and Mike Mignola [creator, writer and artist of Hellboy] are excited about the prospects of not only a sequel [or two] to the 2004 movie, but the fact that a Hellboy movie could now feature some of the classic Universal monsters! That’s right, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more!!

Mignola and del Toro have discussed the possibilities. Here’s a couple of quotes from del Toro: “I must say that I’m having a great experience right now at Universal, because I find that their understanding of Hellboy as a possibility is so great… My hope is that if everything goes well and we continue [the franchise], Hellboy can start fighting the Universal monsters! I would love to see that.”

So would I. For the full article, click HERE.

Sammy Terry Anyone?

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One of the things that I love about YouTube.com is that you can find video of almost anything. I was surprised when I found a classic pro wrestling match between “Pretty Boy” Bobby Heenan [accompanied to the ring by Blackjacks Mulligan and Lanza] and “Cowboy” Bob Ellis.

I was even more surprised when I discovered video of Sammy Terry! I first told you about Sammy way back here. As host of “Nightmare Theater,” Sammy was on the air from the early 60’s through the 80’s. Although this clip is from 1987 [near the end of Sammy’s run] it will give you a taste of why I loved staying up until 11:30 on the weekend to catch Sammy hosting a horror movie double feature.

I’m really surprised that some network doesn’t have a weekend horror movie double feature hosted by someone like Sammy. My guess is that if kids didn’t tune in, there’d still be a good-size audience of folks like me!

Jericho

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Any one [besides me] watching Jericho on CBS?To be honest, the preview doesn’t really do the show justice. [Although it did do it’s job well enough to get me to tune in.] The show picked up steam and really hit it’s stride in episode 3 and with the major plot twist in episode 4, I’m sure to stay on board for a while.

If you haven’t been watching, but would like to catch up, you check out the official Jericho site.

A Day Late is Right on Time

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Chris Mills points out that yesterday was Ed Wood Jr.‘s birthday. Wood was the director of such infamous movies as “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and “Bride of the Monster” [both of which, can be seen in the early morning hours this Saturday on Turner Movie Classics].

There’s something that’s just right about celebrating Ed Wood Jr.‘s birthday a day late. So with that in mind, here’s a fan tribute him.

Shamrock Goes Out a Winner

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Let’s get this clear from the start, Ken Shamrock lost the fight to Tito Ortiz. Shamrock was stopped in the first round and there was no controversy. Ortiz was clearly the victor.

How then, you might ask, can I title this post, “Shamrock Goes Out a Winner.”? Those of you that saw the fight, probably already know where I’m going with this; but in case you don’t, or you didn’t see the fight, let me explain.

Shamrock came prepared to fight. He was in great shape. When the fight started, Shamrock didn’t rush in. He had a plan. When he and Ortiz came together, Shamrock met him head on. Ortiz went for the big takedown, and Shamrock was able to hold him off… for a bit. When they went to the mat and Ortiz started to ground and pound, Shamrock stayed cool. Ortiz was just too strong. Finally punches began to come through Shamrock’s guard and the fight was stopped.

Ortiz jumped up and began to go into his after fight antics. He did the gravedigger thing that he does. When Shamrock started to come to the middle of the octogan for the announcement of the winner, he reached out to shake Tito’s hand. Instead Ortiz began to flip off Shamrock with both of his hands. In the post fight interview Ortiz made sure to point out that he was wearing a “Punishing Him into Retirement” shirt and then gave the webstie where fans could buy one of their own.

Normally these antics would have sent Shamrock into orbit. But not tonight. Shamrock instead said that Ortiz won and that the stoppage was a good one. Shamrock thanked his fans for the support over the years and said that he wanted to go out with no hard feelings for Ortiz. In fact he wished Ortiz continued success and added “God Bless all of the guys who fight in the octogon.”

Ortiz must have been listening, because he came over and when Shamrock was done speaking, took the mic and apologized directly to Shamrock for his antics after the match. They shook hands and hugged.

Ken Shamrock has probably fought his last battle in the octogan. He went out a warrior. He went out with class. Although defeated, he acted like a winner.

It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over

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We’re just a little over 24 hours away from Ortiz vs Shamrock 3 and while Ortiz is heavily favored to perform a three-peat, it ain’t over until it’s over.

So, what does Shamrock have to do to win?

First of all, he must stay off his back. If Ortiz takes Shamrock down, the fight could be over quickly. That’s because Ortiz is at his best when he’s “groundin’ and poundin’.” If Shamrock can avoid the takedowns and push the fight into the second and third rounds, Ortiz will get frustrated.

The second thing that Shamrock must do is to keep moving and punching. If he stands still Ortiz will take him down. If he doesn’t throw a lot of punches, Ortiz will take him down. [Heck, even if Shamrock is moving and sticking, Ortiz may still take him down.] By constantly changing his angles and throwing hands, Shamrock will force Ortiz to slow his attack. And of course open up the opportunity for Shamrock to land a knockout blow.

So, what does Ortiz have to do to win?

Ortiz needs to be careful when shooting for the takedown. Everyone is expecting Ortiz to go for the big slam, so if Shamrock has trained and is able to execute, Ortiz could get hammered coming in. Ortiz needs to be patient and pick his shots. If he takes Shamrock down, he needs to swing away as fast and as hard as possible. Shamrock can be rocked and will then take a few punches before responding. This could lead to another quick stoppage.

So how do I see the fight going?

I believe that Ortiz is going to win. Shamrock has a puncher’s chance, but odds are against it.

Still… I can’t wait to see how it all goes down because, as we all know, it ain’t over until it’s over.