“The Long Riders” (1980) directed by Walter Hill, starring the Carradine Brothers, the Keach Brothers and the Quaid Brothers / Z-View

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The Long Riders (1980)

Director: Walter Hill

Screenplay: Bill Bryden, Steven Phillip Smith, Stacy Keach, James Keach

Stars: David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Dennis Quaid, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Randy Quaid, Kevin Brophy, Harry Carey Jr., Christopher Guest, Nicholas Guest, Felice Orlandi, Pamela Reed, James Remar, Fran Ryan, Savannah Smith Boucher, Edward Bunker, Tim Rossovich and Sonny Landham.

Tagline: They were nine men from four families. They rode together from Missouri to Minnesota, and from Texas to Tennessee. This is their story…and it’s as close to the truth as legends can ever be.

The Plot…

The exploits (and eventual demise) of The James Gang.  After the Civil War ended three groups of brothers Jesse and Frank James, Cole, Jim and Bob Younger, plus Ed and Clell Miller became famous for their daring stagecoach, train and bank robberies.  Although they were stone cold killers, they became legends.

This is their story.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

After James and his brother, Stacy Keach played the Wright Brothers in a tv movie, James got the idea for them to play Jesse and Frank James.  The story was developed as a play and ultimately an off-Broadway production ran.

When James Keach and Robert Carradine starred together in the television film, The Hatfields and the McCoys, they discussed the proposed James Gang movie.  Robert though he and his brothers should play the Youngers.

When the film was first announced Beau and Jeff Bridges were to play the Millers.  When Jeff became unavailable, the Quaids came on to play the Millers.

Everything was coming together as a six hour mini-series called The Bandit Kings.  When Fred Silverman became NBC’s President he cancelled all mini-series set up before he came on board.

Walter Hill agreed to direct, David Carradine gave up his normal profit participation, and the Keach Brothers gave up their Executive Producer pay to get the film made.

Director Walter Hill was on a roll.  The Long Riders was his fourth time at the helm.  His previous three films were Hard Times, The Driver and The Warriors.  After The Long Riders his next three movies were Southern Comfort, 48hrs. and Streets of Fire.  What a start!!

The Long Riders (1980) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Elevation” starring Anthony Mackie is Here!

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The trailer for Elevation starring Anthony Mackie is here.

Deal me in.

Set in the post-apocalyptic Rocky Mountains, a single father and two women venture from the safety of their homes to face monstrous creatures to save the life of a young boy. The film stars Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, and Maddie Hasson and is directed by George Nolfi.

Vertical will release the thriller in theaters on November 8, 2024.

“From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane & Keanu Reeves – The Trailer is Here!

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From the World of John Wick — say no more.

Deal me in.

Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ballerina follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – in theaters June 6! Starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves.

“Killer’s Game” (2024) starring Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins & Ben Kingsley / Z-View

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Killer’s Game (2024)

Director: J. J. Perry

Screenplay: Rand Ravich, James Coyne, based on THE KILLER’S GAME by Jay Bonansinga

Stars: Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Ben Kingsley, Raffaello Degruttola, Domonkos Pardanyi and Sharon Rabinowitz.

Tagline: Winning is all in the execution.

The Plot…

Joe Flood (Bautista) has made his living as a hit man.  He only takes contracts on evil men.  No women.  No children.  No civilians.

Joe meets a dancer named Maize (Boutella) and they begin dating.  It soon becomes clear that they’re falling in love.  Joe’s never been happier although his headaches have been getting worse.  When Joe goes to the doctor, results show he has a fatal disease with no cure.  The disease is fast moving and will leave Joe blind, in pain and mindless in a matter of months.

Joe decides to take matters into his own hands.  He breaks it off with Maize.  Then Joe uses his connections to put a hit on himself.  When word gets out, hit teams from around the world are determined to collect the two million dollar bounty.

The Joe gets a call from his doctor.  The test result were mixed up.  Another patient has the disease, not Joe.  Except for his headaches, Joe is perfectly healthy.  The doctor says Joe could live for years.

Of course the doc doesn’t know about the hit men and women on their way to punch Joe’s ticket.  Since there’s no calling off the hit, Joe’s only way to survive is to kill the killers.

Game on.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

This is the second time Dave Bautista and Sofia Boutella appeared together in a film.  The first was Hotel Artemis (2018) which I highly recommend.

Killer’s Game (2024) is a fun ride.  It features over the top characters, cartoonish violence, a bit of romance and a twist or two.

Killer’s Game (2024) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996) directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Quentin Tarantino, starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis & Quentin Tarantino / Z-View

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From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, story by Robert Kurtzman

Stars: George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Brenda Hillhouse, John Saxon, Marc Lawrence, Kelly Preston, John Hawkes, Greg Nicotero, Robert Rodriguez and Michael Parks.

Tagline: From Quentin Tarantino. From Robert Rodriguez. From Dusk Till Dawn

The Plot…

Seth (Clooney) and Richie (Tarantino) Gecko are bank robbers on the run.  They’re desperate to get to across the border to Mexico.  If they make it, they’ll meet Carlos at a strip club called The Titty Twister.  From there, for a price, they’ll be taken to a sanctuary.

The trip won’t be easy.  Every cop including the Texas Rangers are after them.  There are roadblocks, constant news reports plus Richie is liable to royally screw things up.  Seth is a thief and will kill anyone who attempts to bring him in, but there are lines he won’t cross.  Richie is a sadist, sexual deviant and is an eager killer.

Opportunity presents itself when the Gecko brothers see Jacob Fuller (Keitel) and his two teenage kids, Scott (Liu) and Kate (Lewis) outside their RV.  They kidnap the family and force Jacob to drive them across the border.

Now it’s a short journey to The Titty Twister.  Once there the family will be set free and the brothers will go to sanctuary.  Or so they think.  No one can imagine the horrors that await.  Not everyone will survive.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I love how From Dusk Till Dawn morphs from a crime flick to a horror movie.

There are movie easter eggs throughout the film.  Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) appears here and in Kill Bill, Planet Terror and Death Proof.  Big Kahuna Burgers, made famous in Pulp Fiction (and later Death Proof) show up.  A Precinct 13 shirt worn by Scott is a reference to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13.  The crotch-gun that Sex Machine uses was also seen in Rodriguez’s film Desperado. Chango Beer seen in this film was also a beverage in Desperado.

Cheech Marin plays three roles in the film: a border patrol agent, the barker at The Titty Twister and Carlos.

From Dusk Till Dawn fits in perfectly with Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse double feature… instead make it a triple feature that would run from, uh, dusk till dawn.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Wolfs” starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt – The 2nd Trailer is Here!

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The second trailer for Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt is here.

Deal me in.

He works alone. So does he. Wolfs is streaming September 27 on Apple TV+ https://apple.co/Wolfs_

George Clooney and Brad Pitt reunite for the action comedy WOLFS. Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high profile crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) shows up and the two “lone wolves” are forced to work together, they find their night spiraling out of control in ways that neither one of them expected.

“Organ Trail” (2023) starring Zoé De Grand Maison and Clé Bennett / Z-View

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Organ Trail (2023)

Director: Michael Patrick Jann

Screenplay: Megan Turner

Stars: Zoé De Grand Maison, Lisa LoCicero, Olivia Grace Applegate, Sam Trammell, Nicholas Logan, Michael Abbott Jr., Alejandro Akara, Clé Bennett, Jessica Frances Dukes and Thomas Lennon.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The year is 1870.  The Archer family, Abraham, Celeste, and their teenage children, Tobias and Abby are traveling across the frontier in a covered wagon.  One evening they come across a massacre.  Everyone except a young woman named Cassidy has been brutally murdered.  The Archers treat Cassidy’s wounds and tell her she can travel with them.

Late that night, the four murderers, Logan, Rhys, Brody, and Felix return.  They kill everyone in the Archer family except Abby.  It turns out Cassidy is with the four men.  Abby is bound and taken to a deserted ghost town.  It is the base of operations for the killers.  They routinely use Cassidy to slow down travelers who they then kill and rob.  Cassidy’s injuries were because she tried to escape the men.

The men are sadistic, perverted killers.  Now they have two women to use as bait on unsuspecting travelers. Abby realizes that escape is unlikely and will likely result in her death.

Abby plans to leave the first chance she gets.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Organ Trail is western/horror mashup.

Zoé De Grand Maison and Clé Bennett are both new actors to me.  I will be keeping an eye out for their future performances.  They were excellent.

Nicholas Logan once again makes an excellent scary bad guy.

Organ Trail (2023) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“The Big Bang” (2010) directed by Tony Krantz, starring Antonio Banderas & Sam Elliott / Z-View

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The Big Bang (2010)

Director: Tony Krantz

Screenplay: Erik Jendresen

Stars: Antonio Banderas, Thomas Kretschmann, William Fichtner, Sienna Guillory, Delroy Lindo, Autumn Reeser, James Van Der Beek, Jimmi Simpson, Bill Duke, Rebecca Mader, Robert Maillet, Snoop Dogg and Sam Elliott.

Tagline: The search for the ultimate missing person ends… at the beginning of time.

The Plot…

Late one evening private eye Ned Cruz (Banderas) is in his office after a rough day.  When Anton ‘The Pro’ Protopov (Maillet) suddenly appears in front of his desk, Cruz is shocked.  Who wouldn’t be?  Anton is a solid,  7 foot tall ex-prize fighter, ex-con.  Anton’s career ended when he killed an opponent in the ring.

Anton wants Cruz to find Lexie.  Lexie wrote Anton regularly while he was in prison. Anton didn’t know Lexie, but wants to meet her.   And he’s willing to pay.

As Cruz follows leads, people turn up dead.  Then Cruz realizes he’s being followed. Cruz isn’t surprised since there’s $30 million in diamonds at the center of the case.

Soon Cruz is pressured by Anton and three crooked cops.  Cruz is in over his head and that’s before the trail leads to a genius/crazy physicist on the verge of discovering the “God particle”.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Big Bang owes a lot to Farewell, My Lovely.  It’s more of a love letter than rip off.

If you’re into physics, you’ll get a kick out of the Easter eggs in this film.

The Big Bang (2010) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Canary Black” starring Kate Beckinsale – Two Posters and a Trailer are Here!

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We have two posters and a trailer for Canary Black.  The first poster might be for the German release and the second the US.  I prefer the first.  The trailer has me interested enough to check out the film.

Deal me in.

Canary Black is streaming on Prime Video October 24.

A top CIA operative, Avery Graves, is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. Betrayed at every turn, she must rely on her cutting-edge training and primitive fighting skills in a deadly race to deliver a ransom that could trigger a global crisis.

“Sinners” directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Check out the poster and trailer for Sinners directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan.

I cannot remember the last time a trailer had me this hyped to see a film.

Deal me in.

A new vision of fear from director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. #SinnersMovie – Only in theaters March 7. #ShotWithIMAXFilmCameras

From Ryan Coogler — director of “Black Panther” and “Creed” — and starring Michael B. Jordan comes a new vision of fear: “Sinners.”

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Coogler, “Sinners” stars Jordan (the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises) in a dual role, joined by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld (“Bumblebee,” “True Grit”), Jack O’Connell (“Ferrari”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Passenger”), Jayme Lawson (“The Woman King”), Omar Benson Miller (“True Lies”) and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”).

The film is produced by Coogler and frequent collaborators Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler. The executive producers are Ludwig Göransson, Will Greenfield and Rebecca Cho.

Coogler’s behind-the-camera artisans include his “Black Panther” franchise collaborators: director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler, editor Michael P. Shawver, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, and Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents A Proximity Media Production, A Ryan Coogler Film: “Sinners.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on March 7, 2025, and internationally beginning March 2025.