Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Believe it or not, Daytona Beach is in the direct path of the third hurricane in just over a month! [It would have been four but the last one turned.]
I’ll be assisting in getting a shelter open on Saturday morning and hoping that Jeanne takes a sharp turn to the right!
If the SZ is late with an update this weekend, you’ll know why.
On Saturday, October 9th, the 2nd annual Cavalcade of Comics‘ benefit to support the Tourette Syndrome Association will be held in Jacksonville, Florida. I had a blast last year and am looking forward to more fun this time around.
Dick Giordano (DC Comics), Bob Layton (Marvel, Acclaim & Future Comics), Don Perlin (Marvel & Acclaim Comics), Alex Saviuk (Marvel), Howard Perlin (artist, caricatures & storyboards), Tom Armstrong (creator & artist, MARVIN), Don Edwing (MAD Magazine) , Ed Hall (political cartoonist), Robert Smith, Jr. (political cartoonist and caricatures) and Jason Sobol (comics artist & writer) are just a few of the artists who will be on hand sketching for fans.
There will be an auction of original rare comic and cartoon art, live music, entertainment, raffles, door prizes, and many other exciting events. Heck, Big John Beatty may even be there sketching and kickin things up a notch! Click HERE for full details.
And if you can make it, be sure and look me up. I’ll be the guy in the StalloneZone shirt looking to score more art for my Stallone Gallery!
I saw Sky Captain today.If you’re a fan of Fleischer Superman cartoons, old sci-fi, cliffhangers, or “B Movies,” then give it a go.
Some people believe that the dead can speak to us and their voices and images are sometimes captured in pictures and recordings.There’s even an organization dedicated to the study of the phenomena. And whether you believe it’s possible or not, I’ll bet that you spend a bit more time than expected if you visit their site.
I always try to keep an open mind to things and love the idea that it may be true. But true or not, the concept does make a great springboard for a movie.
I didn’t care for Blade but loved Blade 2. 
That’s right, Mike Grell’s Sable will be back in a story written and drawn by Grell himself.
And to make it even better some of the original stories will be released in trade paperbacks.
One of my favorite movie surprises of the last few years was Jason Statham and the movie “The Transporter.”If you feel the same, you’re probably happy that “The Transporter 2” is currently filming in Miami.
It looks great.
I mean really, really great.
WWE‘s pay-per-vue, Unforgiven, was held last night. My sons, nephew and I were able to watch it from the comfort of the local wing house, and we had a blast. It’s suprising that although everyone knows that wrestling matches are pre-determined the sport is as popular as ever.
Rick Flair, the guy in the pic to the left, is currently my favorite wrestler. Flair‘s 56 years old and still puts on a great show. The highlight for me is when he does his patented “front fall.” If you’ve ever seen Flair wrestle, then you know what I’m talking about. The Flair “front fall” alone is worth the price of admission.
If you’re a wrestling or Rick Flair fan, then you might want to check out his autobiography, To Be the Man. It, too, is worth the price of admission.
Randy Orton is the young guy next to Flair in the picture. The kid is a third generation wrestler [I used to watch his dad wrestle when I was a kid]. Although he lost his title tonight, he has a bright future.
I could give you a rundown of the matches, but if you’re that interested, you’ll probably watch RAW tonight and I don’t want to spoil it for you. And wrestling isn’t really about who wins or loses anymore… instead it’s about how good the performance was.
And as I said, we had a blast.
A couple of days ago I posted some pics from “Sin City” and links to more. At that time I told you that I couldn’t wait to see “Sin City.” JoBlo reports an April 1, 2005 release date for Sin City. I hope they are not foolin’.
I like Kiefer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon, Dan Hedaya, and Michael T. Weiss. So when I saw that they all starred in a movie called “Freeway“ [along with Brooke Shields, Amanda Plummer and Brittany Murphy], I decided to give it a look. And although I’m glad that I watched it, it’s not a movie I can easily recommend. It was well done. I have no complaints with the acting, directing, or editing. In fact I would commend most of the actors for taking on roles which allowed them to stretch.
It’s such a dark, dark comedy and at the same time a modern day take on “Little Red Riding Hood.” Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs up, so maybe my recommendation isn’t needed.
Let me just say, that if this is the sort of thing that you like, then you’ll like it. And if you don’t like it, hey, blame Siskel and Ebert!
“Freeway” rates a C
Today is the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks which took down the twin towers, destroyed part of the Pentagon and took the lives of thousands of citizens from around the world. It was the most shocking day of my life.
The History Channel is running a very interesting documentary called “The Twin Towers: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon.” It’s extremely well done and worth a look.
The picture above is of family members of victims who have returned to the site to pay their respects. And because the day had such an impact me, I felt it appropriate to pay my respects as well.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lost someone on that terrible day.
I can’t wait to see Frank Miller’s Sin City on the big screen. It’s still hard for me to believe that it’s being made. Especially when you add Robert Rodriguez [one of my favorite directors] to the mix.
When the topic of comic adaptations to movies would come up, my first choice was always Sin City.
But the fly in the ointment was that Sin City creator, Frank Miller, had said that Sin City would never be made into a movie. Frank didn’t want to turn over his creation to a studio that would Hollywoodize it and turn it into something else.
But that was before Robert Rodriguez showed Frank exactly how he would adapt Sin City to make it faithful to the comics. Robert even brought Frank on board to serve as co-director! When it was announced that Rodriguez and Miller were teaming to create Sin City, I thought, “How can it get any better?”
Then the cast began to form… Mickey Rourke… Bruce Willis… Jessica Alba… Rosario Dawson… Benicio Del Toro… Michael Clarke Duncan… Josh Hartnett… Michael Madsen… Clive Owen… Nick Stahl… Elijah Wood.
Ain’t It Cool News just posted some screencaps from Sin City. You can see them by clicking HERE. Cool aren’t they?
Now if we could just get a release date for the movie!
ABC has announced that The Happy Day 30th Anniversary Reunion, will air later this season. All major cast members [Ron Howard (Richie), Henry Winkler (“Fonzie”), Tom Bosley (Howard Cunningham), Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham), Erin Moran (Joanie), Scott Baio (Chachi) Anson Williams (Potsie), Don Most (Ralph Malph)] and even the two cast members who played Riche‘s older brother in the first season [but then quietly disappeared in the second season] are set to appear.
Happy Days was on my MUST-SEE TV list for a few seasons. It was funny, Fonzie was cool, and the series was fun. A lot of people say the show went down-hill when Fonzie [literally] jumped the shark, but I think it was when Chachi came on board.
Still, I’ll probably tune in to the special if only to see if a short, skinny guy who says, “Ayyyy!” was as cool as I remember.
Two hurricanes hit us in three weeks. The odds against this are astronomical. But it happened.
We had plenty of warning. We knew that Frances was coming.
The crazy thing is, hurricanes quite often change their paths. And Frances was so big if you planned to leave, where could you go to be safe?
I worked at a shelter on Thursday and Friday and then came home to ride out the worst with the wife and kids. It had been raining a little bit each day since Hurricane Charley hit three weeks ago, and on Saturday, it really started coming down… and down… and down.
We lost power on Saturday morning. Then the winds picked up. From about 10 AM until well after midnight the rain fell and strong winds blew. On Sunday the winds finally began to die down but the rain just kept coming.
Monday came and so did more rain. The entire county went under a curfew. Most people were without electricity and parts of the city [and many homes] were flooded. Hurricane force winds had destroyed homes and businesses. And many streets were under so much water that they were impassible. You can imagine what that much water did to homes. Luckily no fatalities have been reported.
We finally got our electricity back on today. Our house had very minor damage and just a bit of water came in. We had to cut down some trees, but other than that we were spared. I have friends who weren’t so lucky, but each of them has said it could have been so much worse.
And they’re right.
It’s amazing how spoiled we’ve become and how lucky we are. After four or five days of being trapped in a house without electricity… no AC, no phones, no internet, no hot meals or hot showers, you begin to suddenly appreciate the small things.
Believe it or not, there’s another hurricane out there brewing. The odds of it hitting the same part of Florida again so soon after the last hurricane are astronomical…
… but unfortunately not impossible.
