Risso Takes The Punisher to Sin City!
Eduardo Risso, genius that he is, takes the Punisher to Sin City… and yes, that is Nancy Callahan!
Source: In Trash We Trust
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) / Z-View
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Director: Frank Lloyd
Screenplay: Talbot Jennings & Jules Furthman and Carey Wilson based on the book by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
Stars: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone
The Pitch: “Let’s turn Robert C. O’Brien’s novel into a movie!”
Tagline: Clark Gable as the daring mutineer in the screen’s most exciting adventure story!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
The classic tale of Fletcher Christian’s mutiny against the sadistic Captain Bligh!
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Trailer for “Brawl in Cell Block 99” is Here!
The trailer for Brawl in Cell Block 99 didn’t knock me out, but I still can’t wait to see S. Craig Zahler’s follow-up to Bone Tomahawk.
The 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time
BBC Culture polled 253 film critics from 52 countries to determine The 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time. While I question Pulp Fiction as one of the all time greatest comedies, I’ll play along. Using just their list, here are my top six…
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Step Brothers (Adam McKay, 2008)
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Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra, 1944)
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Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
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Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
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Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, 1980)\
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Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
Z for Zachariah (2015) / Z-View
Z for Zachariah (2015)
Director: Craig Zobel
Screenplay: Nissar Modi based on the novel by Robert C. O’Brien
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine and Margot Robbie
The Pitch: “Let’s turn Robert C. O’Brien’s novel into a movie!”
Tagline: After the end of the world she thought she was alone. She was wrong.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
After an apocalyptic event that has wiped out humans, a woman who thought herself alone, finds a dying man. She nurses him back to health and they begin to make a life together on her family’s farmland. All is well until a young, handsome man shows up looking for refuge.
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Jack Kirby Comic Con Tribute Book
Today is, as most readers here know, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jack Kirby. Mark Evanier (whose blog should be on your daily visit list) directed folks to a special treat…
This year’s Comic-Con International paid special note to Jack’s 100th birthday and its souvenir book included a wonderful 60-page section of articles, artwork and photo. For anyone interested in Jack, it’s a must-get…
And you can get it for free. Click over to Evanier’s post for the link and I’ll bet you enjoy all the other stuff he posts.
23 Things We Learned from Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien Covenant’ Commentary
Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 23 Things We Learned from Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant Commentary. Here are three of my favorites…
9. At 24:26 he acknowledges this is the “same plot as the original Alien, there’s a transmission, they go and find out.”
11. Astronauts and NASA scientists have told him that they sometimes get ideas from science fiction films because filmmakers have thought their way around problems in ways that they themselves don’t.
14. More than once Scott says he’s going to hold back from saying something so as not to spoil it for listeners — as if people are listening to the commentary for their first watch of the film.
Gargoyles (1972) / Z-View
Gargoyles (1972)
Director: Bill Norton (as B.W.L. Norton)
Screenplay: Steven Karpf (as Stephen Karpf) and Elinor Karpf
Stars: Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Grayson Hall, Bernie Casey and Scott Glenn.
The Pitch: “Let’s make a monster movie!”
Tagline: Watch Out! The Gargoyles Are Here.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When a best-selling anthropologist/paleontologist (Wilde) gets word of a mysterious skeleton found in the desert, he decides to drive out for a look. He takes his photographer daughter with him even though he believes the skeleton will turn out to be a hoax. Shortly after arriving he and the small town find themselves under attack by Gargoyles!
Scott Glenn and Bernie Casey in early roles plus a young Stan Winston provides the Gargoyles!
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16 Unbelievable “The Walking Dead” Fan Theories
Gem Seddon and GamesRadar present 16 Unbelievable The Walking Dead Fan Theories. Below are three of my favorites with my comments to follow…
14. The show is being told by Old Man Carl
What it means: Rick’s a troubled hero. He’s more beards than a hipster convention, and dodged a gajillion bullets, wire-wrapped baseball bats and the hungry, gnashing teeth of thousands of walkers. Why is he the centre of attention? What makes Mr. Grimes so darn special? Simple: because Carl idolises his father and it’s Carl who’s telling the entire story of the show.The series will end with a major time skip where we see a much older Carl, with an eyepatch, recanting the story of how he grew up in the zombie apocalypse to someone offscreen. As he wraps up his tale, a walker shuffles nearby. “It’s time go Judith,” he says, as the camera pulls to back to reveal the young woman he’s been talking to – his teenage sister wearing Rick’s old Sheriff hat. She slays the zombie and the pair trot off into the distance.
12. Eugene is responsible for the outbreak
What it means: Eugene is actually who he says he is. Sort of.Way back when we first met Eugene, we learned that he worked on the Human Genome Project and knew of a virus cure. The mulletted oaf told a massive lie to keep himself safe. Then the truth emerges in season 5. He confesses, revealing that he’s not a scientists. BUT he does say that he “knows things.”
This makes sense when you consider the fact that he also admits to being a “very good liar.” If that’s true then it’s impossible to tell when he’s telling the truth and when he’s making stuff up. The reason this theory has gained momentum is down to what Eugene told Negan this past season: the same damn thing. He worked at the Human Genome Project weaponizing diseases as a way to fight other military forces.
Eugene acts like he’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. But when you think about it, what he’s accomplished reeks of a science background – he made bullets and a poison pill. The way he talks about his “fake backstory” has a ring of authenticity to it. It’s detailed and in-depth. So what if he really was involved with the creation of the virus and it’s his fault that it was unleashed? While he was telling the truth that he doesn’t know of a cure, he’s not coughed up the biggest truth yet: that everything that’s happening is completely his fault.
11. The US is quarantined – because the virus is a botched military weapon
What it means: The USA is the only country to have fallen under the zombie regime, according to this theory. The reason? A military experiment that went horribly, horribly wrong. Fans suggest that a biological weapon was either intentionally or accidentally released, it infected the public, and the US had no way of controlling the subsequent outbreak of flesh-eating groaners. North America is quarantined to prevent the spread to other continents.
That would make for a killer ending of the show: to discover that the entire time the remainder of the world has been happily ticking along, letting North America fall. Sonequa Martin-Green, aka Sasha, even has a concept for how that would play out in the series finale: “How about last shot, last everything, whoever’s there, we get to the coast, you pan out, and you see all this ships blockading, in which you find out that it’s just America.”
Military shenanigans a la the X-Files? This shimmers with a hint of truth. Especially as sister show Fear the Walking Dead kicks off with a bold military presence, as if to imply that the government knew what was happening all along…
My favorite fan theory is that we discover that Carl is the one telling the story of the zombie apocalypse. It makes a lot of sense, would give a fitting ending to the series and we get to see a hero develop from a small child to full-blown apocalyptic leader.
It would be a surprise to find out Eugene was behind the accidental release of the cause of the zombie apocalypse and that could even be tied in with the idea that the zombie outbreak is confined to the US. (Although I find the second part hard to believe.)
Small Crimes (2017) / Z-View
Small Crimes (2017)
Director: Evan Katz
Screenplay: Macon Blair and Evan Katz based on a novel by David Zeltserman
Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Robert Forster, Jacki Weaver and Gary Cole.
The Pitch: “Let’s turn David Zeltserman’s novel into a movie!”
Tagline: None.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When ex-cop, ex-con, Joe Denton is released from prison he finds himself still entangled with the crooks and crooked cop who got him sent up. Each step Joes makes takes him deeper into a life of crime where his chances of survival are knife-blade thin.
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Custom Made “Alien” Pez Dispenser
I don’t collect Pez dispensers, but if I did, an Alien dispenser would be a Must-Have. Sadly for those that do collect ’em, this Pez dispenser is a custom made piece by Peter “Rat D” Davidson, so getting one may be difficult.
The pic to the left was photoshopped with the one on the right showing the actual Pez action. Still cool enough to get Hudson to yell, “Game over, man. Game over.”
Source: Geeks Are Sexy.
Tarzan and His Mate (1934) / Z-View
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Director: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Conway (uncredited) and James C. McKay (uncredited)
Screenplay: James Kevin McGuinness based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan and Neil Hamilton
The Pitch: “Let’s make a sequel to ‘Tarzan the Ape Man’!”
Tagline: Johnny Weismuller is back again!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Hunters from England come to Africa in order to bring Jane back to civilization along with a fortune in elephant tusks. This doesn’t sit well with Tarzan.
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The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Blood Pumping
Gem Seddon and GamesRadar present The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Blood Pumping. Seddon has come up with a great list. It was hard to pick just three, so depending on my mood, my choices could change. But for now, here they are (with some thoughts to follow)…
5. Aliens (1986)
Action hero: Ellen RipleyThe film: Ridley Scott’s atmospheric opener saw Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) trapped on a spaceship with a single Xenomorph, so it made sense for James Cameron’s sequel to try and up the ante: an abandoned space colony, a unit of gung-ho marines and an entire hive of acid bleeding bugs.
Most action-packed scene: Confronting the queen in the bowels of the industrial complex, Ripley has a few nice mother-to-mother moments before later strapping into the power loader and fighting her claw to claw.
2. Die Hard (1988)
Action hero: John McClane
The film: New York cop John McClane picks the first of many wrong places and wrong times to visit his wife at work, but for star Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan, the timing couldn’t have been better. Putting an ordinary Joe in the middle of a firefight, confining a terrorist takeover to a single, claustrophobic building, and balancing quip-smart dialogue with hard and heavy action set-pieces, Die Hard set the mold and broke it at the same time.Most action-packed scene: A rooftop bomb. A short fire hose. A plate glass window. The rest is history.
8. John Wick (2014)
Action hero: John WickThe film: Director Chad Stahelski overcomes first-time jitters in his filmmaking debut, largely due to his experiences as a martial arts stunt co-ordinator. This revenge actioner throws in some dark motivating factors for Keanu Reeves leading man. His vendetta kill mission is the most dazzling work Reeves has accomplished since his first time tackling Neo.
Most action-packed scene: Wick enters a club wherein he punches, kicks, headbutts and shoots anyone who crosses his path. Each strike hits with an eerie precision.
I was glad to see Stallone made the top 25 with First Blood. I was also happy to see both John Wick films made the cut. If it was my list I would have found room for Rambo and Enter the Dragon.
Shield for Murder (1954) / Z-View
Shield for Murder (1954)
Director: Howard W. Koch and Edmond O’Brien
Screenplay: Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins from a novel by William P. McGivern
Stars: Edmond O’Brien, John Agar, Marla English, John Agar, Caroline Jones and Claude Akins.
The Pitch: “Let’s turn William McGivern’s best-seller into a movie!”
Tagline: The Story Of A Killer-Cop Who Used His “SHIELD FOR MURDER”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When tough cop Detective Nolan (O’Brien) kills a bookie for the 25 grand the bookie is carrying, he thinks there are no witness. Nolan then learns a deaf/mute man saw the murder. This leads Nolan down a path of no-return full of murder and mayhem.
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50+ Years of Hollywood’s Coolest Cars
History.com presents 50+ Years of Hollywood’s Coolest Cars. Here are three of my favorites and some thoughts at the end…
1963 ASTON MARTIN DB5
Goldfinger (1964)James Bond’s bespoke British grand tourer wasn’t just suave. It was also menacing, which likely had something to do with all that supercool spyware: pop-out machine guns and tire slashers, rotating license plates, and a smoke screen and oil-slick sprayer that (temporarily) foiled the baddies in hot pursuit.
Most memorable? Its fully functional passenger-side ejector seat, activated by a button hidden on the gear-shift knob—an audience favorite despite the fact that the villain flung from it barely cleared the top of the car. In 1964, Corgi made a toy die-cast model complete with machine guns and ejector seat and a little toy bad guy to launch from it.
The DB5 went on to appear in Thunderball, Casino Royale and many other Bond films, becoming synonymous with 007. Of the two DB5s actually used in the film (two others were used for promotion), the one originally kitted out with all the gadgetry has disappeared, stolen from a Florida airplane hangar in 1997. The other, used in road scenes and later retrofitted with the spy goodies, sold at auction in 2010 for $4.6 million.
1967 SHELBY MUSTANG GT500 FASTBACK ‘ELEANOR II’
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)When it comes to leading cops on a chase, few scenes can match the climactic one in Nicolas Cage’s star vehicle Gone in 60 Seconds. Eleven cars were custom-made for the film, only three of which were driveable. One of those three, the “beauty car” Cage drove in that infamous chase (sporting a not-too-shabby 400 horsepower Ford V-B engine and its much copied “Go-Baby-Go” shifter knob), sold for $1.07 million at auction in 2013. A few years earlier, the other two fetched roughly $200,000 and $100,000 respectively. A cottage industry has emerged selling replicas.
1976 LOTUS ESPRIT
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)James Bond’s Aston Martin may have helped him defend Queen and country with an impressive collection of spy gear, but could it … swim? The 10th Bond film featured a funky disco soundtrack, a leggy Russian spy and a villain with mouthful of metal. And if that wasn’t enough, it showcased “Wet Nellie,” a futuristic, wedge-shaped Lotus best remembered for the shocking moment when it dove into the water, sprouted fins and retracted its wheels—essentially transforming into a submarine. (Reportedly, the bubbles it left in its wake were created with a cache of Alka-Seltzer tablets.) When it motored back up on the beach, it morphed back into a proper car.
The Lotus earned its spot in the 007 sports-car pantheon in a distinctly sneaky way: Lotus’s PR manager, on hearing of a new Bond film in the making, strategically parked the striking vehicle outside the office of franchise producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, hoping to catch his attention. Apparently, it worked.
Two of the three coolest cars were James Bond vehicles. Not much is cooler than cars with weapons, ejector seats and that can go underwater. The Shelby Mustang is also a favorite. I had a Mustang in high school and my uncle owned a Shelby Cobra. Gotta love those muscle cars.
Two cars that didn’t make the list that would have made mine –
- The original Batmobile from the 1960’s Batman tv series
- Stallone’s ’50 Ford Merc from Cobra
