Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Power (2024)
Director: Yance Ford
Screenplay: Yance Ford, Ian Olds
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Power explores the history of police in the United States.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
It’s crazy to think that the idea of a city police force didn’t start in the United States until 1838.
The focus of this documentary reminds me of the saying that when the only tool you have is a hammer, you begin to see everything as a nail.
Howl (2015)
Director: Paul Hyett
Screenplay: Mark Huckerby, Nick Ostler
Stars: Elliot Cowan, Rosie Day, Sam Gittins, Ross Mullan, Robert Strange, Sean Pertwee, Ed Speleers and Shauna Macdonald.
Tagline: Last train. Full moon. All change.
The Plot…
A late night train traveling through a remote wilderness comes to an unexpected stop. When the conductor get off to check on things, he is killed by a werewolf. Soon the few passengers on the train realize that they must work together to survive. The creature that killed the conductor isn’t alone.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Director Paul Hyett is known for his special effects in Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday and The Centurion. Shauna (The Descent) Macdonald and Sean (Dog Soldiers) Pertwee worked with Hyett previously.
The acting is better than expected for a low budget horror film.
This could be fun!
Global superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt team up 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.
Written and Directed by: Jon Watts
Take Aim at the Police Van (1960)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Screenplay: Shinichi Sekizawa story by Kazuo Shimada
Stars: Michitarô Mizushima, Misako Watanabe.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
A van transporting prisoners is ambushed. A sniper kills two prisoners and escapes. The guard in charge of the transport, Daijirô Tamon (Mizushima) is suspended. Tamon decides to use his time off to track down the killer. As he gets closer to the truth, Tamon learns human traffickers may be involved. What chance does one man have against an criminal organization?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Take Aim at the Police Van‘s subject matter could have been ripped from today’s headlines. Despite being filmed in 1960, the movie has a few scenes that couldn’t get a “G” rating.
Take Aim at the Police Van (1960) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Julio Carvalho nailed the look and attitude of Sly Stallone as Dwight Manfredi in Tulsa King. Bravo! You can see more of Carvalho’s art here.
Anyone looking forward to Robert Eggers new film Nosferatu? Ben McLeod is and he made an iconic alt poster for it. You can see more of McLeod’s art here.
I like the retro feel to Jade‘s poster and trailer. It definitely would qualify as a “drive-in” movie that I would look forward to seeing.
Follows a woman who comes between a powerful businessman and a gang leader in their search for a hard drive that could damage the operations of Interpol. The woman is required to use her unique set of skills to retrieve the drive.
I’m a big fan of Jonathan Maberry’s novels. My favorite is his JOE LEDGER series, but everything I’ve ever read by Maberry has been worthy.
MYSTIC: THE MONK ADDISON CASE FILES is on my “must-buy” list. (How about that cover by Lynne Hansen!)
MYSTIC: THE MONK ADDISON CASE FILES drops December 3rd, 2024. Below is the synopsis…
Gerald “Monk” Addison used to be a soldier. Sometimes he’s a bounty hunter. Mostly, he’s a killer of killers.
His body is covered with the faces of victims of serial killers, human traffickers, and other monsters. Their blood is mixed with holy water and then inked onto his skin, allowing him to relive their deaths. To feel what they felt, and to see what they saw. The faces of the killers.And then Monk goes hunting.
He is forever haunted by the ghosts who hire him. A madman mystic. A man driven to darkness and acts of shocking violence. Monk is a good man on a dark and dangerous road in search of personal redemption. In search of red justice.
MYSTIC collects the Monk Addison case files, pitting him against the most dangerous kinds of human monsters. These are stories of a complex and driven hunter of men. They are tales of a mystic hunting the nightmare streets and back alleys.
For full details click here.
Fallout: Season 1 (2024)
Created by: Graham Wagner, Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Based on Fallout by Bethesda Softworks
Director: Jonathan Nolan (Eps. 1-3); Daniel Gray Longino (Ep. 4); Clare Kilner (Ep. 5); Frederick E.O. Toye (Ep. 6); Frederick E.O. Toye, Clare Kilner (Ep. 7); Wayne Yip (Ep. 8)
Teleplay: Geneva Robertson-Dworet & Graham Wagner (Eps. 1-3); Kieran Fitzgerald (Ep. 4); Carson Mell (Ep. 5); Karey Dornetto (Ep. 6); Chaz Hawkins (Ep. 7); Gursimran Sandhu (Ep. 8)
Stars: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Walton Goggins, Sarita Choudhury, Leslie Uggams, Michael Cristofer, Mykelti Williamson, Matt Berry, Zach Cherry, Rodrigo Luzzi, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Michael Emerson, Michael Rapaport, Dale Dickey, Jake Garber, Frances Turner, Glenn Fleshler, Angel Desai, Harry Sutton Jr., Fred Armisen.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
As World War III began, wealthy people who had connections made their way to underground “vaults”. These fallout shelters were prepped so that the inhabitants could stay underground until it was safe to return to the surface.
200 years have passed. The vault people have led a sheltered life. Everyone is polite and kind. When members of another vault are invited over, it turns out that they are surface dwellers who brutally attack the vault folks. One of the vault leaders, Overseer Hank MacLean (MacLachlan) is kidnapped.
Lucy MacLean (Purnell), Hank’s young adult daughter ventures to the surface to rescue her dad. Totally unprepared for the savages, monsters and ghouls living on the surface, Lucy is determined to find her father or die trying.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I went into season one of Fallout having never played the game or knowing much about it. My main reasons for watching were Walter (Justified) Goggins and Ella (Army of the Dead) Purnell. They did not disappoint.
Fallout is an odd mix of futuristic retro, Mad Max-type characters, gore and silliness. It all comes together pretty well.
I enjoyed Fallout season 1 enough that I’ll tune in if there is a follow-up.
Fallout: Season 1 (2024) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have an amazing Marv by Daniel Acuña Perez.
A TROLL WALKS INTO A BAR: A Noir Urban Fantasy Novel by Douglas Lumsden
Publisher: Independently published (November 17, 2019)
First sentence…
If I had failed to notice that he was packing a quarter of a ton of rock-hard muscle into his seven-and-a-half foot frame, or if I hadn’t observed the loose grayish skin that made his face look as if it were made of wet clay, the large close-set ears that rose to a point next to his hairless skull, his blood-red sunken eyes glowing like half-hidden warning lights beneath a stony brow ridge, his predator teeth behind oversized dark ruddy lips, and his large knobby hands with clawed fingers that extended like eight thorny tendrils, I wouldn’t have known he was a troll.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Our story takes place in a world where trolls, gnomes, were-rats, ocean nymphs, adaro, Dragon Lords, elves and other mystical creatures live along side humans. Alexander Southerland is a human private detective. He’s getting by (barely), by knowing the players and using his smarts.
One night Southerland is enjoying a quiet drink in a bar. His peaceful evening is ruined when a seven-and-a-half-foot tall troll pulls up a chair. The beast is a cop. Detective Stonehammer provides his credentials and a warning. He tells Southerland that a sexy dame is going to come to him wanting help. Southerland is to turn her down. Southerland asks how much she’s paying. Stonehammer says it doesn’t matter since Southerland ain’t takin’ the job. And with that fair warning, the troll leaves.
Against his better judgment, Southerland meets with the woman. Although he initially turns her down, curiosity gets the best of him. She may be playing him, but it doesn’t matter once you’re in too deep. Southerland finds himself in the middle of a gang war, on the run from crooked cops and corrupt politicians… and those are just the humans! Discovering what is in the locked box will either kill or save him. The smart money ain’t on him livin’.
+++++
A TROLL WALKS INTO A BAR is my first book by Douglas Lumsden. Normally, I don’t read fantasy. If you’re story has elves and mystical creatures, I’m not you’re audience. Yet something about the opening pages of Lumsden’s story drew me in. (Oh, and let’s not forget the cool cover!)
I love crime, noir and detective stories. Add the right mix of humor and violence and I’m on board. I don’t normally read stories with elves, gnomes and fantasy aspects. Still, I kept thinking about the tale Lumsden set up. I decided to give A TROLL WALKS INTO A BAR a try.
I’m glad I did. Alexander Southerland is the type of hero I like in a detective yarn. Smart, tough and with enough attitude to get him in tight jams as he tries to (mostly) do the right thing. I even enjoyed the trolls and other creatures. While I’m not ready for a constant diet of this genre, when I do want another taste, I know Douglas Lumsden is open for business with other tales.
Rating:
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Screenplay: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, story by Barney Slater, Jr.
Stars: John Wayne, George Kennedy, Gary Grimes, Neville Brand, Clay O’Brien, Marie Windsor, Morgan Paull, Dan Vadis, Royal Dano, Denver Pyle, Jackie Coogan, Rayford Barnes, Harry Carey Jr., Walter Barnes, Paul Fix, Vance Davis, Hank Worden and Pepper Martin.
Tagline: Break the law and he’s the last man you want to see. And the last you ever will.
The Plot…
United State Marshal and widower, J.D. Cahill (Wayne) is often away from home tracking down robbers and killers. While Cahill is gone, his two sons are left in the care of an old man. Abe Fraser (Kennedy) sees an opportunity to con the boys into helping him and his gang rob the bank. He promises no one will get hurt.
Sadly, during the robbery the town’s sheriff and another man are killed. Cahill’s youngest son hides the loot and refuses to tell where. Fraser tells the brothers that he will return in a short time and will get the cash or kill them. When Marshal Cahill returns the boys are afraid to tell their father what happened.
As Marshal Cahill tracks the robbers, he begins to suspect there’s more to the story. If he doesn’t figure it out, more will die… including his sons.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Director Andrew McLaglen directed John Wayne in five films. Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) was the last.
John Wayne wasn’t a fan of the way the film turned out. He was quoted as saying, “It just wasn’t a well done picture. It needed better writing, it needed a little better care in making.”
Part of the problem may have been the fact that Wayne’s mentor, director John Ford died from cancer during filming. Wayne, himself had to have a cancerous lung removed 9 years earlier. Wayne also suffered from emphysema. Ford’s death and Wayne’s declining health made for a rough shooting schedule.
John Wayne’s co-stars in Cahill U.S. Marshal often appeared with Wayne in other films: George Kennedy (3), Clay O’Brien (2); Marie Windsor (3); Royal Dano (2); Denver Pyle (5); Rayford Barnes (3); Harry Carey Jr. (15); Walter Barnes (2); Hank Worden (17) and Paul Fix (26).
Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink also were screenwriters for Big Jake (John Wayne); Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, and The Dead Pool (all starring Clint Eastwood).
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Max Allan Collins’ QUARRY’S RETURN is scheduled to drop on November 5, 2024. Here’s the scoop…
The hitman hero of the acclaimed Cinemax series comes out of retirement when his daughter, a true-crime writer, is abducted by the subject of one of her books. A nail-biting suspense thriller from the author of ROAD TO PERDITION.
MWA Grand Master Max Allan Collins’ longest-running series, which inspired the show on Cinemax, makes a ferocious return following the Edgar Award-nominated QUARRY’S BLOOD as aging hitman Quarry is forced to come out of retirement when his true-crime-author daughter is abducted by one of the killers she’s written about. Perfect for fans of Liam Neeson thrillers and authors such as Lee Child.
