“Batman: Caped Crusader” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Batman: Caped Crusader looks like fun.

Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.

Starring Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and featuring a star-studded ensemble cast including: Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Minnie Driver, Mckenna Grace, Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Tom Kenny, Jason Watkins, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment and Toby Stephens.

From the minds of executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm, season one of Batman: Caped Crusader arrives August 1.

“War Game” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I want to see this.

In Theaters Starting 8/2 – A Submarine Deluxe Release.

A real-life political thriller set on January 6, 2025, War Game imagines a nation-wide insurrection in which members of the US military defect to support the losing Presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his advisors—played by an all-star roster of senior officials from the last five administrations—war games the crisis in the White House situation room. They have 6 hours to save democracy as the country teeters on the brink of civil war.

Visit https://www.WarGameFilm.com for more info.

QT8: The First Eight (2019) / Z-View

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QT8: The First Eight (2019)

Director: Tara Wood

Screenplay: Tara Wood

Stars: Quentin Tarantino, Zoë Bell, Louis Black, Bruce Dern, Robert Forster, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Kruger, Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Eli Roth, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, Stacey Sher, Scott Spiegel, Christoph Waltz and Steve Buscemi

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

QT8: The First 8 features behind-the-scenes stories from those that were there about the making of Quentin Tarantino’s first eight films.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If you’re a Tarantino or movie fan, you should enjoy this.  I did.

QT8: The First Eight (2019) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Demolition Man” (1993) starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes / Z-View

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Demolition Man (1993)

Director: Marco Brambilla

Screenplay: Daniel Waters, Robert Reneau, Peter M. Lenkov, story by Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau

Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Gunton, Glenn Shadix, Grand L. Bush, Pat Skipper, Steve Kahan, Mark Colson, Andre Gregory, Troy Evans, Don Charles McGovern, Bill Cobbs, Dan Cortese, Jack Black, Adrienne Barbeau (voice), Rob Schneider, Jesse Ventura and Denis Leary

Tagline: The world’s most dangerous cop. The world’s most ruthless criminal. The 21st Century isn’t big enough for both of them.

The Plot…

In the near future, a maniac named Simon Phoenix (Snipes) kidnaps a busload of people.  Phoenix then fortifies himself in an abandoned warehouse protected by his gang.  A thermal reading shows no signs of the hostages.  The clock is ticking to keep the captives alive.  As the police prepare an assault, LAPD Detective John Spartan (Stallone) goes in alone.  Spartan works his way to Phoenix and they battle.  When Spartan gains the upper hand, Phoenix ignites an accelerate to blow up the building.

Spartan makes it out with Phoenix under arrest.  He then learns that the hostages were in the building.  All killed by the blast.  Because Spartan didn’t wait for authorization to go in, he is made a scapegoat.  Both Phoenix and Spartan are sentenced to the California Cryo-Penitentiary.  They will be placed in suspended animation for the length of their sentences.

Thirty-six years pass.

Simon Phoenix is revived from cryofreeze for his parole hearing.  Phoenix escapes his cuffs.  He kills the warden and guards.  Phoenix makes his escape into a world where violence is a thing of the past.  Phoenix is easily tracked. Officers are sent to arrest him. Phoenix kills them all.  It is then decided, they will revive John Spartan.  Spartan arrested Phoenix before.  He can do it again… they hope.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

In the original script the entire movie takes place in the future.  Fred Dekker, who did uncredited rewrites, suggested the movie open in the past to show Spartan and Phoenix’s clash.  Dekker’s rationale, “If you don’t show Kansas, Oz isn’t all that special.”

When Demolition Man was released overseas, references to Taco Bell (dubbing and digitally) where changed to Pizza Hut.  Taco Bell wasn’t known in many overseas countries.

Lori Petty was originally cast as Lenina Huxley.  After a few days of filming, Petty left and Sandra Bullock got the role. Creative differences and/or lack of chemistry with Sly Stallone have been given as reasons for the change.

Jack Black appears as one of the Wasteland Scraps.  Adrienne Barbeau is heard (uncredited) as the mainframe computer’s voice.  Rob Schneider appears uncredited.

A scene where Sly Stallone fights Jesse Ventura was cut before the film’s release.

The Demolition Man song was written by Sting for Grace Jones and appeared on her album Nightclubbing, released in 1981.  It was re-recorded by Sting for use in Demolition Man‘s end credits.  Sting then released Demolition Man featuring the song and other live tracks.

The opening sequence of Demolition Man (with the helicopter under attack, bungee jump to the roof, gunfights with gang and fight with Simon Phoenix) is one of Sly’s best.  It has a John Woo feel to it.

When I first saw Demolition Man I thought it had too much comedy/satire.  The film has grown on me over the years.

Demolition Man (1993) rates 4 of 5 stars.

Burt Reynolds’ Best Movies!

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Recently I posted my choices for John Wayne’s Ten Westerns.  Next I turned my sights to Burt Reynolds’ Test Best Movies…

01.  Sharky’s Machine (1981): Burt Reynolds plays Tom Sharky, an Atlanta Narcotics Sargeant.  Burt Reynolds directs.  Co-starring Rachael Ward, Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey, Richard Libertini and Henry Silva.

When an undercover narcotics sting led by Sharky goes sideways, civilians on a crowded bus are wounded and a drug dealer killed.  Sharky is demoted to the vice squad. There Sharky discovers a prostitution ring that involves a powerful politician and a crime cartel.  What Sharky doesn’t realize is that they are on to him and he’s marked for death.

Sharky’s Machine is a great showcase for Reynolds’ acting and directing.  This movie deserved a sequel.  Sadly, it never happened.  Great cast, great soundtrack and it’s the film that launched Rachael Ward to stardom.

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02. Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Burt Reynolds plays Bo “Bandit” Darville. Hal Needham directs.  Co-starring Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick and Jackie Gleason.

The Bandit is hired to drive a truckload of bootleg beer from Texarkana to Atlanta in just 28 hours.  Along the way the Bandit picks up a runaway bride and the ire of Sheriff Bufford T. Justice.  Sheriff Justice is determined to catch and arrest the Bandit even if he has to chase him all the way to Atlanta!

Smokey and the Bandit was nominated for one Academy Award…

  • nominee Best Film Editing – Walter Hannemann, Angelo Ross

Smokey and the Bandit is a fun movie.  The actors have as much fun as the audience.  Bufford T. Justice as played by Jackie Gleason is an icon.  Burt Reynolds and Sally Field met and fell in love making this movie.  Had Reynolds not enjoyed the role and working with his co-stars/director so much and had the movie not been so successful, Reynolds’ choices for films that followed may have been very different.

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03.  The Longest Yard (1974): Burt Reynolds plays Paul Crewe.  Robert Aldrich directs.  Co-starring Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, James Hampton, Mike Henry, Richard Kiel and Bernadette Peters.

Former pro football star, Paul Crewe, led police on a high speed chase in a former girlfriend’s car and then resisted arrest.  Now Crewe has an 18 month sentence at Citrus State Prison.  It’s going to be tough going for the former NFL star since the warden wants Crewe to put together a team of convicts to play his semi-pro team made up of prison guards.  The thing is… the warden is demanding that if it comes to it, Crewe must throw the game.

The Longest Yard was nominated for one Academy Award...

  • Best Film Editing – Michael Luciano

The Longest Yard came out when I was in tenth grade playing JV football.  Our coach made arrangements for us to see the film as a team.  We even called ourselves the Mean Machine after seeing The Longest Yard. (We became county champs that year.  Ah, great memories.)

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04.  The Last Movie Star (2017).  Burt Reynolds plays Vic Edwards.  Adam Rifkin directs.  Co-starring Ariel Winter, Clark Duke and Chevy Chase.

Vic Edwards is an aging movie star.  His glory days are well behind him.  When Edwards gets notification that he is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from a film festival in Nashville, he reluctantly decides to go.  Once there Edwards realizes that the festival is just a local film fan get-together.  What he doesn’t know is how positively impactful this weekend will become.

Every Burt Reynolds fan should see this film.

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05. Hooper (1948).  Burt Reynolds plays Sonny Hooper.  Hal Needham directs.  Co-starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Sally Field, Brian Keith, John Marley, Robert Klein, James Best, Adam West and Robert Tessier.

Sonny Hooper is an aging stunt man.  Years of hard falls, too much booze and pain killers have taken a toll.  When a hot shot young stuntman shows up, Hooper feels he still has something to prove.

Hooper was nominated for one Academy Award...

  • nominee for Best Sound – Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall, Jack Solomon

I loved Hooper when it first came out.  Great idea for a Burt Reynolds movie.  Wonderful supporting cast.  I saw it more than once at a theater.  It’s funny to think my buddy and I both bought jackets because they looked like one worn by Reynolds in Hooper.

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06.  Driven (2001).  Burt Reynolds plays Carl Henry.  Renny Harlin directs.  Co-starring Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue and Til Schweiger.

Carl Henry is the owner of a Formula One racing team.  His star driver, Jimmy Bly, has won five races.  Lately Bly’s driving has suffered.  Henry convinces his former driver and Formula One champion, Joe Tanto to come out of retirement, join the team and mentor Bly.  

This is the first film on the list to not star Burt Reynolds.  Being a fan of both Burt and Sly Stallone, I had always hoped that they’d work together.  Driven made that happen.

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07.  The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973).  Burt Reynolds plays Jay Grobart.  Directed by Richard C. Sarafian.  Co-starring Sarah Miles, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden and George Hamilton.

Jay Grobart and his outlaw partners are on the run.  They robbed a train and a posse is after them. Grobart allows Catherine, a woman who is fleeing her rich, abusive husband to join them.  What Grobart doesn’t know is that Catherine’s husband has hired a posse of his own.  Now he has two posses that would like to see him dead.

This is Reynold’s best western.  I wish he had made more.

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08.  Deliverance (1972). Burt Reynolds Lewis.  Directed by John Boorman.  Co-starring Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty and Bill McKinney.

Four friends, Lewis Medlock, Ed Gentry, Bobby Trippe, and Drew Ballinger, decide to take a canoe trip down a dangerous, remote river.  The trip is Lewis’ idea.  Lewis sees himself as an outdoorsman and survivalist.  His friends a middle-aged business men.  None of them, including Lewis are prepared for the misadventure that follows. 

Deliverance was nominated for three Academy Awards…

  • nominee Best Picture – John Boorman
  • nominee Best Director – John Boorman
  • nominee Best Film Editing – Tom Priestley

Burt Reynolds was getting great buzz for his acting in Deliverance.  Then the issue of Cosmopolitan came out that featured Reynolds in a semi-nude centerfold.  Suddenly he was no longer seen as a serious actor.  

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09.  Heat (1986).  Burt Reynolds plays Nick Escalante.  Directed by Dick Richards, Jerry Jameson.  Co-starring Karen Young, Peter MacNicol, Howard Hesseman and Diana Scarwid.

Nick Escalante is a Vegas bodyguard.  When a female escort is brutalized by a mobster’s son named Danny DeMarco, Escalante agrees to help her get revenge.  Things go sideways when the DeMarco calls in hitters to take out Escalante.

Heat was a troubled production.  Burt Reynolds and director, Dick Richards didn’t get along.  At one point Reynolds punched Richards, who then left the production.  Jerry Jamison was brought in to direct until Richards eventually returned.  Richards sued and won $500,000 from Reynold for the assault.

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10.  Malone (1987).  Burt Reynolds plays Richard Malone.  Directed by Harley Cokeliss.  Co-starring Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson and Lauren Hutton.

Malone, a retired C.I.A. assassin, while driving across country, becomes stranded in a small town. Paul Barlow, the owner of the only gas station for miles allows Malone to stay at his house while they wait for the car part to arrive.  Malone learns that a rich man named Delaney is buying up all the property in the area and is putting a squeeze on Barlow.  When thugs are sent to convince Barlow to sell, Malone steps in.  Soon Malone finds himself going against Delaney and his former allies at the C.I.A..

Does it get any more mid-80s than Burt Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson and Lauren Hutton?

“The Patriot” (2000) directed by Roland Emmerich, starring Mel Gibson & Heath Ledger / Z-View

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The Patriot (2000)

Director: Roland Emmerich

Screenplay: Robert Rodat

Stars: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper, Tchéky Karyo, Rene Auberjonois, Tom Wilkinson, Donal Logue, Leon Rippy, Jay Arlen Jones, Joey D. Vieira and Trevor Morgan.

Tagline: Some things are worth fighting for.

The Plot…

Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a veteran of the French and Indian War.  He was a hero and his exploits were legendary.  But that was years ago.  Benjamin is older and a widower with seven children.  As many colonists enlist in the Continental Army, Benjamin refuses.  He fears for his children if he were to be killed.

Despite his father’s wishes, Gabriel Martin (Ledger) enlists.  Gabriel becomes a dispatcher for the Continental Army.  When a battle spills over onto the Martin farm, Benjamin Martin tends to wounded soldiers of both armies.  Gabriel is one of them.

Colonel William Tavington (Isaacs) and his British Dragoons arrive.  Tavington thanks Benajamin Martin for tending to the British soldiers.  He orders all of the wounded rebel soldiers to be killed.  Tavington then orders Benjamin Martin’s house burned and his son, Gabriel to be hung as a spy.  Benjamin pleads for his son’s life, arguing that Gabriel was wearing a uniform and carrying dispatches in an official bag.  Rules of War specify that properly uniformed dispatchers are not spies.  Tavington doesn’t care.  When Gabriel’s younger brother attempts to free Gabe, Tavington shoots and kills the child.

As Tavington, his Dragoons ride off, a separate contingent of British soldiers take Gabriel to be hung.  Benjamin races into his burning house and from a chest grabs weapons he used in the French and Indian War.  Benjamin Martin hoped to keep his family safe. But his young son has been killed and the war brought to him…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Patriot was nominated for three Academy Awards…

  • nominee Best Cinematography – Caleb Deschanel
  • nominee Best Music, Original Score – John Williams
  • nominee Best Sound – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Lee Orloff

For the first time ever, the the Smithsonian Institution worked with producers to ensure the accuracy of the films costumes and settings.

Benjamin Martin is based on two real people: Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox and militia leader General Andrew Pickens who lost a son and had his estate burned before he returned to war.

The Patriot (2000) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Get Shorty” (1995) starring John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo & Danny DeVito / Z-View

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Get Shorty (1995)

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Screenplay: Scott Frank based on GET SHORTY by Elmore Leonard

Stars: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Jon Gries, Renee Props, Martin Ferrero, Miguel Sandoval, Jacob Vargas, Linda Hart, Bobby Slayton, Ron Karabatsos, Barry Sonnenfeld, Bette Midler, Harvey Keitel, Penny Marshall and David Paymer.

Tagline: Drug smuggling. Racketeering. Loan sharking. Welcome to Hollywood!

The Plot…

Ernesto “Chili” Palmer (Travolta) is a Miami loan shark who loves movies.  When a collection sends Chili to L.A., Chili meets some low level folks in the film world.  Chili has an idea for a movie and decides to work his way up in the industry.

How hard could it be?

What Chili doesn’t know is that his Brooklyn boss has died.  Now Ray “Bones” Baroni (Farina) has the greenlight to kill Chili.  And Bones is headed for LA.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Although John Travolta is perfect as Chili Palmer (he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the role), he initially turned down the role.  Quentin Tarantino convinced him to take the part.

Bette Midler, Harvey Keitel and Penny Marshall have uncredited appearances.

James Gandolfini is four years away from starring in The Sopranos.  He’s younger, thinner and sports a full beard, but once you hear his voice, you know it’s him.

Get Shorty (1995) rates 4 of 5 stars.