Casablanca (1942) / Z-View

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Casablanca (1942)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch and Casey Robinson (uncredited) from the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson.

The Pitch: “Hey, why don’t we make a romance picture with Bogie?”

Tagline:  “They had a date with fate in Casablanca!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Casablanca in 1941 is a popular last stop to escape Nazi Germany which is taking over countries throughout Europe.  Rick Blaine [Bogart] runs the most popular nightclub in Casablanca and has let it be known he “risks his neck for nobody”.  Everyone is welcome in his “Cafe Americana” club so it is not unusual to find escaping refugees (hoping to secure letters of transit), those preying on the refugees, Nazis, partisans, pickpockets, and gamblers there.

Rick’s life is complicated when Lazlo [Henried] a world renowned Nazi resistance fighter shows up in Casablanca one step ahead of the Nazis.  Lazlo is accompanied by his wife, Ilsa [Bergman] who we discover was Rick’s love in pre-war Paris.  On the day they were to leave Paris (before the Nazis takeover), Ilsa mysteriously left Rick.  She was the love of his life and now she’s back… but with another man.  And not just any man.

Rick has two letters of transit which could be used to save Ilsa and Lazlo at great risk to his own life… but Rick “risks his neck for nobody”.  Rick is bitter over Ilsa leaving without a word but he still loves her.  Perhaps Rick could save Ilsa and himself…

It’s rare to find a movie as perfect as Casablanca.  Every scene sings.  It’s perfectly cast, expertly directed and improves with each new viewing.

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10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Wolverine

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Wolverine art by Dan Panosian

ComicBookMovie.com presents 10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Wolverine.  Here are three of my favorites…

10. His Claws Weren’t Originally Part Of Him
Wolverine has a lot of cool powers, including enhanced senses and the ability to heal from pretty much any injury. However, the pièce de résistance is obviously his six deadly claws. Creator Len Wein originally had some very different ideas for those though, and among his earliest ideas was that Logan would be a wolverine who had somehow mutated into a humanoid creature, similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As if that wasn’t already weird enough, the now iconic claws would have been revealed as gloves with the claws attached to them, robbing Wolverine of arguably his most recognisable feature (and that classic “Snikt!” sound). It wasn’t until years later that we would learn those those claws were actually part of his skeleton before being coated in Adamantium.

7. Hugh Jackman Wasn’t Bryan Singer’s First Choice
After seeing Hugh Jackman play Wolverine almost countless times, it’s now hard to picture anyone else in the role (and with his final appearance as Logan set for next year, replacing him will be a huge challenge for 20th Century Fox). However, while this may now be hard to believe, Jackman wasn’t actually X-Men director Bryan Singer’s first choice to play the character.

It was Russell Crowe who both the filmmaker and the studio really wanted in the role, but he had no interest in joining the comic book adaptation. It was then that Dougray Scott was chosen to play Wolverine, but when scheduling conflicts forced him to drop out just weeks before the cameras started rolling, the unknown Jackman was chosen at the last minute, a decision Singer wasn’t initially that pleased with. Needless to say, it all worked out for the best!

4. Later Versions Were Modeled After Clint Eastwood
As you’ve now no doubt already realised, Wolverine was very much a work in progress when he was first introduced. Having decided against making the hero an angry teenager with clawed gloves, Marvel portrayed Logan as being a little rougher around the edges after he joined the X-Men. However, while his appearance had already been settled on, it’s Chris Claremont and Frank Miller who deserve the lion’s share of credit for the version of Wolverine we all know and love today.

Just like he did with Daredevil, Miller played a huge role in redefining how readers viewed Logan by taking inspiration from Clint Eastwood. That’s something which we’ve also been able to see on the big screen with Hugh Jackman, while Miller can also be credited with dreaming up the iconic line, “I’m the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn’t very nice.”

The Jungle Captive (1945) / Z-View

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The Jungle Captive (1945)

Director: Harold Young

Screenplay: Dwight V. Babcock and M. Coates Webster

Stars: Otto Kruger, Vicky Lane, Amelita Ward and Rondo Hatton

The Pitch: “Isn’t it time to make another Ape Woman movie?”

No Tagline:

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The third in the Paula DuPree, Ape Woman trilogy.  Seems there were a lot of mad scientist doctors back in the 40’s and their life goal was to turn a gorilla into a woman.  Pretty sick, huh?

In this outing Dr. Stendahl (Kruger) has his minion, Molach the Brute (Hatton) steal the Ape Woman’s body from the morgue.  Of course Molach isn’t called the Brute because of his brainpower and he kills the morgue attendant in the process.  This puts the cops on the trail of the murderer.

Once Stendahl has the body, he’s ready to perform his experiment to bring her back to life.  Of course he needs the blood of a woman.  Naturally he decides to kidnap and use the blood of his female lab assistant (Ward) rather than a woman with no connections to him.

As the cops close in on him, Stendahl must face off against Molach (who has fallen in love with the lab assistant), the lab assistant’s fiance, the cops and the Ape Woman.  It’s like the Mexican standoff at the end of Reservoir Dogs if the Reservoir Dogs standoff wasn’t suspenseful.

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“The Bandit” (2016) / Z-View

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The Bandit (2016)

Director: Jesse Moss

Screenplay: N/A

Stars: Mike Henry, Robert L. Levy Robert L. Levy, David Needham, Hal Needham, Burt Reynolds and Paul Williams.

The Pitch: “We could make a documentary about the making of ‘Smokey & the Bandit’… or a documentary about Hal Needham… or we could do both!”

Tagline: “Old Legends Never Die”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bandit is a well done documentary that takes us behind-the-scenes on the making of Smokey and the Bandit with a focus on Hal Needham the stuntman turned director who came up with the idea and got his best buddy, Burt Reynolds to star in the film.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars.

King of the Underworld (1939) / Z-View

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King of the Underworld (1939)

Director: Lewis Seiler

Screenplay: George Bricker and Vincent Sherman from a story by W.R. Burnett

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis and James Stephenson.

The Pitch: “We could put Bogart in that crime story by WR Burnett…”

Tagline: “Ruthless Killer vs. Lady Doctor ! It’s red-blooded action all the way!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Carol Nelson (Francis) is a doctor as is her husband.  Things are going well until her husband accidentally gets involved with gangsters led by the notorious Joe Gurney (Bogart).  When her husband is killed in a police shootout, they believe that Carol is also involved with the gangsters.

In order to clear her name Carol comes up with a dangerous plan to take down the entire gang.

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10 Cool Things About “Body Heat”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 10 Cool Things About Body Heat.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. CHRISTOPHER REEVE TURNED DOWN THE ROLE OF NED.
“I put myself down too much,” Reeve told The Washington Post of the missed opportunity. “I didn’t think I’d be convincing as a seedy lawyer.” Reeve later regretted the decision, but was happy that his friend, William Hurt, was cast in the role instead.

5. IT WAS SHOT IN FLORIDA—AND IT WAS VERY, VERY COLD.
The film was shot during a cold Florida winter. Turner and Hurt had to put ice cubes in their mouths before each take so their breath wouldn’t show. Their sweat was sprayed on. When the two shot their sex scene, the crew was dressed in duffel coats and scarves.

8. IT WAS MICKEY ROURKE’S BIG BREAK.
Mickey Rourke had already appeared in 1941 (1979) and Heaven’s Gate (1980), but told Larry King that his breakthrough came from playing Teddy Lewis in Body Heat. When Rourke got the one-day gig, he was able to quit his job as a bouncer at a transvestite nightclub.

Mean Business on North Ganson Street by S. Craig Zahler / Z-View

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Mean Business on North Ganson Street by S. Craig Zahler (2014)

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

First sentence…

The dead pigeon flew through the night, slapped Doggie in the face, and bounced to the ground, where its cold talons clicked across the pavement as it rolled east.

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Detective Jules Bettinger, after mishandling a case is given the choice: resign, be fired or accept a transfer to one of the most understaffed and highest crime ridden cities in the country.  Reluctantly Bettinger accepts that transfer and moves his wife and child to his new job.

Once there Bettinger finds things worse than he could imagine.  There’s no trust between Bettinger and his new partner who may be involved in illegal activities with other cops.  When Bettinger uncovers a conspiracy to kill police officers, he and his family become targets leading to a bloody ending.

Mean Business on North Ganson Street isn’t for the faint hearted.  The violence is brutal, and often hard to stomach.  Sometimes Zahler seemed to be showing how smart he was with his word choices, but getting into the book I began to think that instead it was to highlight what a fish out of water Bettinger was.   Mean Business on North Ganson Street wont’ be everyone’s cup o’ joe, but I liked it a lot.

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Omerta: A Novel (The Godfather Book 3) by Mario Puzo / Z-View

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Omerta: A Novel (The Godfather Book 3) by Mario Puzo (2000)

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Random House

First sentence…

In the stone-filled village of Castellammare del Golfo, facing the dark Sicilian Mediterranean, a great Mafia Don lay dying.

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Don Raymonde Aprile is the last of the mafia Dons.  A widower with three successful children and an adopted nephew, all in legitimate businesses and doing well, Aprile is ready to retire to a simpler life.  Yet he knows that once he steps down as Don, he puts his life and his children’s in danger.

Retiring will be seen as a sign of weakness and opportunity for those wishing to assume his position.  Aprile’s impending retirement is also forcing an FBI agent who has worked for years to bring down April to cut some corners.

An unexpected murder will set in motion the Aprile family, forces of the mafia and the FBI into one last battle.

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48 Things We Learned from David Fincher’s Zodiac Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 48 Things We Learned from David Fincher’s Zodiac Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

13. Fincher thinks the reason why the Zodiac still haunts people is due as much to his letters as to anything else. The idea of an ongoing correspondence with someone who was in the process of killing fascinates him.

15. All of the blood in the film is digital because it saved the production enormous amounts of time by not having to wait for wardrobe changes and cleaning.

18. Dermot Mulroney is in great shape, but Fincher was having none of it. “I wanted him to have a waistline like mine so we made up a little fat suit for him.”

Angel in Black: A Nathan Heller Novel by Max Allan Collins / Z-View

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Angel in Black: A Nathan Heller Novel by Max Allan Collins  (2001)

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: NAL

First sentence…

The two pieces of her lay porcelain-white in the ankle-high grass and weeds of a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue, like the upper and lower sections of a discarded marionette.

 

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

I’m a sucker for the Nate Heller series by Max Allan Collins.  Heller is a detective who finds himself involved in famous murder cases.  Collins is a stickler for historical accuracy and has created a timeline and plausible setting that allows Heller to find himself (over the course of the series) mixed up in everything from the Lindbergh baby murder to the assassination of JFK!

This time out Heller ends up at the scene of the Black Dahlia murder and discovers that he had dated her in Chicago just months before her murder.  She had told him she was pregnant and he was the father… then disappeared.  Since Heller had since married her murder could ruin his marriage, his career and makes him the number one suspect in her death.  Heller must stay a step ahead of the reporters and the law and find out who killed the Black Dahlia before he ends up taking the fall.

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