“Se7en” (1995) / Z-View

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Se7en (1995)

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Cassini, Peter Crombie, Reg E. Cathey, R. Lee Ermey, George Christy, Hawthorne James, Richard Roundtree, John C. McGinley, Mark Boone Junior, Leland Orser, Richard Schiff, Charles S. Dutton and Andrew Kevin Walker.

Tagline: Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.

The Plot…

Just one week from retirement, veteran detective William Somerset (Freeman) is teamed with young rookie detective,  David Mills (Pitt).  Their styles and personalities are at odds from the start.  Somerset is even-keeled, patient and methodical.  Mills is short-tempered, eager and prone to rush in.

Somerset and Mills are assigned a murder investigation where the killer mutilated the victim before slowly murdering him.  When another body turns up, Somerset and Mills realize that they’re dealing with a serial killer who is using the seven deadly sins to determine his victims and method of murder.  The killer is intelligent, but insane… and he knows that Somerset and Mills are on the case.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

What could have been a very generic and exploitive serial killer movie is anything but.  Andrew Kevin Walker created a story that is compelling and clever.  The old cop just a week from retirement teamed with a young hotshot is so played out.. but not in the hands of Walker.  The situation is what it is, and adds to the personalities of Somerset and Mills. The finale is one of the best ever.

David Fincher is an amazing director and Se7en is a masterpiece.  The film stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, but the supporting actors/actresses are just as amazing.  It’s cool seeing familiar faces before they were “known” popping up throughout the film.  Everything from the opening credits to the final shot are perfection.

Se7en (1995) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“Joe Pickett”: Season 1 (2021) / Z-View

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Joe Pickett: Season 1 (2021)

Written by: Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle (ep. 1 -2; 7; 10); Samir Mehta (ep. 3; 5); Stacy Chbosky (ep. 4; 8); Sarah Marie Masson (ep. 6); Jada Nation (ep. 9)

Directed by: John Erick Dowdle (ep. 1 – 2; 8 – 10); Everardo Gout (ep. 3 – 4); Drew Dowdle (ep. 5); Jennifer Morrison (ep. 6 – 7)

Stars: Michael Dorman, Julianna Guill, Sharon Lawrence, Paul Sparks, Mustafa Speaks, Skywalker Hughes, Kamryn Pilva, David Alan Grier, Chad Rook, Aadila Dosani, Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins, Patrick Gallagher and Firass Dirani

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Joe Pickett (Dorman) is a new game warden who has just moved his wife and daughters to the small town of  Saddlestring, Wyoming.  Right out of the gate Joe has a run-in with a local hunting out of season.  The situation escalates before Joe gets the upper hand.  The man later is later found dead on Joe’s property. Joe then finds himself at odds with the local police investigating the case.  Soon enough, the police have a suspect in custody and are ready to close the case… but Joe’s investigation reveals a corruption that runs deep and puts he and his family at risk.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Joe Pickett: Season One is surprisingly good.  I really like the relationship between Joe and his wife.  There are some great twists as the story unfolds.  It’s well acted and well directed.  I look forward to season 2.

Joe Pickett: Season 1 (2021) earns 4 of 5 stars.

RIP: Treat Williams

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Treat Williams died yesterday, the result of a motorcycle accident.  Mr. Williams was 71.

Treat Williams was an actor who performed on stage, television and in feature films.  Mr. Williams appeared in several off-Broadway and Broadway productions including Grease; Stephen Sondheim’s Follies (which won him a Drama League Award); The Pirates of Penzance and David Mamet’s Oleanna.

Treat Williams began his feature film career in 1975’s Deadly Hero.  Four years later Mr. Williams’ earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Hair.  Then two years later, Treat Williams was nominated for his second Golden Globe award for his starring role in Prince of the City.  In 1984, he earned his third Golden Globe nomination for the television production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Some of Treat Williams’ television appearances include: Dempsey; A Streetcar Named Desire; J. Edgar Hoover; Drug Wars: The Camarena Story; Eddie Dodd (6 episodes); Tales from the Crypt; Batman: The Animated Series (2 episodes); Good Advice (19 episodes); Journey to the Center of the Earth; UC Undercover; Everwood (89 episodes); Brothers & Sisters (4 episodes); Heartland (9 episodes); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; The Simpsons; Eve of Destruction (2 episodes); Hawaii 5-0 (2 episodes); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; American Odyssey (10 episodes); Confirmation; Chicago Fire (16 episodes); The Christmas House; The Christmas House 2; We Own This City (2 episodes); Chesapeake Shores (53 episodes) and Blue Bloods (6 episodes).

Some of Treat Williams’ feature film appearances include: Deadly Hero; Marathon Man; The Eagle Has Landed; Hair; 1941; The Empire Strikes Back; Prince of the City; The Pursuit of DB Cooper; Once Upon a Time in America; Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead; Mulholland Falls; The Phantom; Deep Rising; The Substitute 2; The Deep End of the Ocean; The Substitute 3 and Deadfall.

My favorite Treat Williams performance is in Prince of the City.  I recently watched him again in Mulholland Falls.  It is always a, uh treat, to see Treat Williams’ name in the credits.  I thought it was pretty daring when he played Stanley Kowalski in a television movie of A Streetcar Named Desire.  Not only was he following Marlon Brando, but to do it on television seemed risky at the time.  What a great actor and what a great career!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Treat Williams’ family, friends and fans.

“Mr. Inbetween”: Season 2 (2019) / Z-View

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Mr. Inbetween: Season 2 (2019)

Written by: Scott Ryan

Directed by: Nash Edgerton

Stars: Scott Ryan, Justin Rosniak, Brooke Satchwell, Nicholas Cassim, Chika Yasumura, Damon Herriman, Matt Nable and Firass Dirani

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Ray Shoesmith is a professional criminal/killer with an anger problem.  Ray’s also juggling his responsibilities as a divorced dad with a young daughter and is caretaker of his older brother who suffers from a degenerative neural disease.

In season two Ray…

  • takes a job to kill two junkies that botched a hit for his boss
  • decides to approach the family of a little girl bullying his daughter at school. Things escalate when the police become involved
  • and his girlfriend decide to take their relationship to the next level
  • is hired by a dying man.  The man’s daughter disappeared two and half decades ago and he wants Ray to make the man accused (but never charged) to admit the crime and give up the location of the girl’s body
  • has quit smoking and finds himself struggling to control his temper at his girlfriend’s family’s Christmas party
  • accepts a hit from a gang’s vice president to kill the gang’s president
  • is marked for murder by bikers

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Season 2 of Mr. Inbetween continues the streak of excellent shows featuring a great mix of drama and comedy. Each episode clocks in between 21 and 32 minutes which makes it perfect if time is short.

Mr. Inbetween: Season 2 (2019) earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Perry Mason: Season 2” (2023) / Z-View

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Perry Mason: Season 2 (2023)

Written by: Jack Amiel & Michael Begler (ep. 9 – 12); Niko Gutierrez-Kovner (ep. 13); Elizabeth Baxa (ep. 14); Mauricio Katz & Pedro Peirano (ep. 15); Michael Begler (ep. 16)

Directed by: Fernando Coimbra (ep. 9 – 10); Jessica Lowrey (ep. 11 – 12); Marialy Rivas  (ep. 13 – 14); Nina Lopez-Corrado (ep. 15 – 16)

Stars: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, Shea Whigham, Justin Kirk, Diarra Kilpatrick, Eric Lange, Katherine Waterston, Verónica Falcón, Gretchen Mol, Hope Davis, Tom Amandes  and Sean Astin. 

Tagline:  There’s Power in the Truth.

The Plot…

The year is 1933.  Perry Mason (Rhys) has been taking only civil cases since the baby murder trial of season one.  Mason gets pulled into a highly publicized murder case when he discovers evidence that the two brothers accused of the crime may have been railroaded.  The victim was the son of one of the richest men in LA and the accused murderers are poor Mexican immigrants.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Season two of Perry Mason brings back the central characters, expands on their backstory, while at the same time introducing a new mystery with an unexpected twist at the end.  The series continues to be one of the best on tv.

Perry Mason: Season 2 (2023) earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Agent Elvis”: Season 1 / Z-View

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Agent Elvis: Season 1 (2023)

Written by: Mike Arnold (ep. 1; 4; 6; 10); Casper Kelly (ep.2); Mark Ganek (ep.3); Matt Roller (ep.5; 9); Asha Wilson (ep. 7); John Eddie (ep. 8)

Directed by: Gary Ye

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Kaitlin Olson, Johnny Knoxville, Niecy Nash, Tom Kenny, Don Cheadle, Fred Armisen, Chris Elliott, Baz Luhrmann, Gary Cole, Ed Helms, Simon Pegg, Craig Robinson, Kieran Culkin and Priscilla Presley

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Elvis is recruited by The Commander to join a US government agency to become one of their secret agents.  Elvis, his best friend Ray and Elvis’ out of control monkey Scatter, are partnered with CeCe Ryder on various missions.

In season one Elvis…

  • is marked for death by Charles Manson and his cult
  • meets Howard Hughes on a nuclear plane while fighting enemy agents for control of the craft
  • has the filming of his movie with Mary Tyler Moore (Change of Habit) interrupted when Elvis goes rouge to stop a drug deal
  • attends the famous Altamonte Free Concert with The Rolling Stones bodyguarded by the Hell’s Angels
  • goes to Washington, DC to meet President Nixon and discovers enemy agents in the White House
  • goes to Viet Nam to entertain the troups and discovers the use of a weapon used for mind control
  • tracks down Timothy Leary to gain information on mind-control drugs
  • seeks information on “Project Tupelo”
  • learns that his satellite for “Aloha From Hawaii” concert is being prepped to use as a mind-control weapon

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I loved Agent Elvis.  The animation is perfect for the series.  Getting name actors to voice the characters is a plus and of course, having the participation of Priscilla Presley is the icing on the cake.  It’s cool how actual events and famous personalities are incorporated into the series.  It’s a bit over the top, but that’s part of the fun.

Agent Elvis: Season 1 (2023) earns 5 of 5 stars.

Mr. Inbetween: Season 1 (2018) / Z-View

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Mr. Inbetween: Season 1 (2018)

Written by: Scott Ryan

Directed by: Nash Edgerton

Stars: Scott Ryan, Justin Rosniak, Brooke Satchwell, Nicholas Cassim, Chika Yasumura, Damon Herriman, Matt Nable and Firass Dirani

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Ray Shoesmith is a professional criminal/killer with an anger problem.  Ray’s also juggling his responsibilities as a divorced dad with a young daughter and is caretaker of his older brother who suffers from a degenerative neural disease.

In season one Ray…

  • helps out a best friend whose wife found his “unusual” porn collection
  • meets a potential new girlfriend
  • deals with a punks who rude to his daughter
  • takes on a hit that goes sideways
  • has trouble keeping his cool at court-ordered anger management sessions
  • helps a friend with a corpse…
  • refuses to apologize to a crime boss he offended (and has to deal with the ramifications)
  • learns an undercover cop is on to him
  • has two hitman kidnap him (thankfully one is pretty dumb)

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Scott Ryan has created a likable character that does terrible things.  Mr. Inbetween has a great mix of drama and comedy.  The humor comes from the situations that Ray finds himself in.  There’s a scene so shocking, funny and outrageous in episode three that to give it away would be a sin.  The show is well written, acted and directed.  Each episode clocks in between 21 and 32 minutes which makes it perfect if time is short.

Mr. Inbetween: Season 1 (2018) earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Hot Stuff” (1956) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Hot Stuff (1956)

Director: Jules White

Writer: Felix Adler, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Philip Van Zandt, Vernon Dent, Jock Mahoney, Gene Roth and Emil Sitka.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Our boys are government agents assigned to protect a scientist developing a super rocket fuel.  When foreign spies mistake Larry for the scientist, they kidnap him, Moe and Shemp.  If Larry cannot come up with the formula for the super rocket fuel, it’s curtains for our guys.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hot Stuff (1956) is a reworking of the Stooges’ 1949 short Fuelin’ Around.  It makes use of quite a bit of footage from the original.

Hot Stuff is also the first short to use Joe Palma as a stand-in for Shemp since he had recently died.  Palma would usually have his back to the camera or as in the scene shown below would be wearing a fake beard or or something to obscure his face.  This gave rise to the term “Fake Shemp”.

Hot Stuff (1956) rates 4 of 5 stars.

“Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Rock Hudson was one of the biggest stars of his time.  Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed looks well done.  Since it’s on MAX, it’s a no-brainer to give it a shot.

A Hollywood icon. A legendary impact.

A new @HBO original documentary from Stephen Kijak examines the life and legacy of one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars. #RockHudson: All That Heaven Allowed premieres June 28 on @streamonmax.

“The League” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The League looks awesome.  Deal me in.

Opening exclusively in AMC Theatres the week of July 7
Available on digital July 14
http://theleaguedocumentary.com/

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI), executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Oscar-winning SUMMER OF SOUL), Tariq Trotter (DESCENDANT), and produced by RadicalMedia, THE LEAGUE celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball’s triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil – whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era – as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues. From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, THE LEAGUE explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration.

Directed by Sam Pollard
Executive Produced byAhmir “Questlove” Thompson, Tariq Trotter
Produced by RadicalMedia

“Special Ops: Lioness” starring Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Michael Kelly w/ Morgan Freeman & Nicole Kidman – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Special Ops: Lioness looks great.  Deal me in!

SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS, inspired by an actual US Military program, follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11.

The series stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Michael Kelly with Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman.

Stream the two-episode premiere of Special Ops: Lioness on Sunday, July 23, exclusively on Paramount+. Then stream all-new episodes on Sundays.

Special Ops: Lioness will also release globally on Paramount+ on July 23.

RIP: Pat Cooper

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Pat Cooper, the stand-up comedian and actor, died on June 6, 2023.  He was 93.

Pat Cooper, born Pasquale Caputo, began his career as stand-up comedian in the 1950s.  His big break came after an appearance on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1963.  Pat Cooper would go on to create comedy albums, provide the opening act for top stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr. and many others.  Pat Cooper would also headline shows in Vegas, Atlantic City and other entertainment locales.

Pat Cooper also appeared on television and in movies.

Some of Pat Cooper’s television appearances include: Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine (3 episodes); Vega$; Charlie’s Angles; LA Law and Seinfeld.

Some of Pat Cooper’s feature film appearances include: Silent Predator; Analyze This and Analyze That. 

In 1981, Pat Cooper went on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow where Mr. Cooper insulted many top celebrities while at the same time telling how great he was.  This would become his trademark act in later years when he would go on The Howard Stern Show (and other programs) and his short temper would ignite and he’d insult others while explaining that he was “A-List!”  Some times his grown children would phone in and he’d get into arguments with them.

I was driving on the highway to a friend’s house one day while listening to Howard Stern.  Pat Cooper wanted to come in, unannounced and have a segment on the show.  Howard eventually let Mr. Cooper in and Pat Cooper went ballistic.  He was ranting that he was a big star, that Howard said he could come any time he wanted, that he was A-List, etc.  I was laughing so hard, I truly had to pull off to the side of the road.  Pat Cooper was one of a kind.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Pat Cooper’s family, friends and fans.