Jason Copland Goes “Full Tilt”

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The tough looking mug above is Massimo Miller.  I guess you already picked up on that though, right?  Well here’s the lowdown on Massimo…

Massimo is the Consigliere for the Chessa Family, a position bestowed upon him by the syndicate’s boss, Russo Chessa. As Consigliere, Massimo acts as advisor and liaison in all matters that pertain to the family business giving him meaningful influence over syndicate affairs. Holding this position of power is all the more remarkable due to the fact that most of Massimo’s life was spent as a slave of a rival crime organization. Chosen for his loyalty and integrity, Massimo is no yes man. He is a heavy smoker, however, much to Russo’s chagrin. Massimo’s preferred brand is Marlboro XXV Kings.

Massimo is just one of the characters from Jason Copland’s Full Tilt.  Want to know more?  Then may I suggest you follow Jason on Twitter or for even more info get on board Jason’s Newsletter.

10 Things That Will Shock You About King Henry VIII

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Rob Hunter and Listverse present 10 Things That Will Shock You About King Henry VIII.  Here are three of my favorites…

8.  Henry Ate A Shocking 5,000 Calories Every Day Before He Died
While we know that Henry VIII was overweight in his later years, it’s hard to imagine just how big he was. However, a quick look at his daily diet makes it easy to see just why the king was so big. Every single day, he would eat about 13 different courses, mainly made up of meats like chicken, lamb, pork, rabbit, swans, peacocks, and venison. Not only did he eat excessively, but he also drank as many as 70 pints of ale every week, together with sweetened red wine. The total amounts to about 5,000 calories per day, twice today’s recommended allowance for an active man.[3] It’s no wonder that one of his surviving suits of armor, which is displayed at the Tower of London, has a waist size of 132 centimeters (52 in)!

6.  Henry Was The Very First English Monarch To Write A Book
There is no doubt whatsoever that Henry VIII was an extremely intelligent and well-educated man. The fact that he was fluent in at least three languages is well-known, and he had an impressive knowledge that spanned everything from theology to medicine. Yet most people are completely unaware that he was the first king of England to write and publish his own book. In 1521, Henry VIII published the rather confusingly titled Defense of the Seven Sacraments, or, to give it its Latin title, Assertio Septem Sacramentorum, as a response to Martin Luther’s challenge to the pope’s authority in publishing the Ninety-five Theses. At 30,000 words long, Henry’s book became a top seller in its day, and he was actually awarded the title of “Defender of the Faith” by the pope as a reward for his efforts.[5]

1.   Henry Turned Beards Into A Status Symbol
Portraits of England’s best-known monarch usually depict him wearing an impressive set of whiskers. However, it isn’t widely known that Henry introduced a tax which was levied on the wearing of beards and which turned facial hair into a status symbol overnight.[10] There have been some seriously bizarre taxes over the years, but Henry’s beard tax has to be one of the strangest. In 1535, the king demanded that taxes be paid by any man who chose to wear a beard, and the amount charged varied depending on the social status of its wearer, meaning that every man who wanted to be viewed as high-status immediately decided to grow their facial hair.So, there you have it—ten amazing things that you never knew about England’s not-so merry monarch. The next time you see a movie or TV show featuring this Tudor king, you’ll know a little more about what made him tick!

“Kept” by Jaime D. González

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“Kept” by Jaime D. González

Scientists have discovered a way to record dreams, and those with ulterior motives waste no time exploiting those whose dreams are the most powerful.

I could easily see this developed into a full-length feature!

Dracula by Roy Thomas and Mike Mignola Rises Again!

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Most folks know Mike Mignola as the creator of Hellboy.  Because of Hellboy’s success and Mignola’s popularity, many if not most of his previous stories have been collected and reprinted over the years.  One that never got that treatment was the adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula that Mignola created with writer Roy Thomas.

Until now.

On September 18th, Bram Stoker’s Dracula adapted by Roy Thomas and Mike Mignola will become available once again!

The comics adaptation created by Mike Mignola and based on the film from Columbia Pictures (Sony) and Zoetrope Studios returns to print after a decades-long absence.

Mike Mignola is one of the most popular comic book artists of the past thirty years, known for such important works as Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Cosmic Odyssey, and, of course, Hellboy. Considered to be among Mignola’s greatest works, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was his last project before Hellboy launched and was originally released as a full-color four issue adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 movie released by Columbia Pictures (Sony). Unavailable for nearly 25 years, and collected here in gorgeous black and white, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a book fans have long been clamoring for… and the wait is finally over.

I’m looking forward to Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Thomas and Mignola especially because it’s being released in black and white!

31 Things We Learned from Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 31 Things We Learned from Michael Mann’s Manhunter Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

9. Brian Dennehy “very much wanted to play Hannibal Lecktor,” but told Mann that despite his own interest in the role there was someone who would actually be better for it. He then directed Mann to go see a play in NYC called Rat in the Skull featuring a British actor named… Brian Cox.

5. One of the key things that drew him to Thomas Harris‘ novel Red Dragon was Graham’s path of self-destruction in the service of catching and stopping the killer. “It fascinated me so much it made this, to me, a totally unique detective story and one that had dynamics and complexities that I had never seen before.”

8. Mann says there was an impulse during production to increase Hannibal Lecktor’s (Brian Cox) screen-time, but he resisted the urge. “I wanted the audience to almost not quite get enough of him.” The first meeting between Graham and Lecktor is extended for the director’s cut.

The 25 Best Twist Endings in Movies We Never Saw Coming

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Gem Seddon and GamesRadar present The 25 Best Twist Endings in Movies We Never Saw Coming.  Here are three of my favorites with some commentary at the end… Beware of spoilers!

16. Shutter Island (2010)
The movie: US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is despatched along with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to Ashcliffe, an isolated psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. The pair are tasked with investigating a murderer who has seemingly vanished without a trace from within its walls…

What’s the twist? Surprise! Teddy’s not an agent – he’s actually Andrew Laeddis – a convicted killer who murdered his wife after she murdered their three children. Yeah, not a happy twist, this one.

14. Primal Fear (1996)
The movie: In the dock for a grisly murder, altar boy Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton in his first-ever role) pleads diminished responsibility on account of his split personality, a condition that causes him to veer between stammering innocent and twisted killer. That’s alright though, he’s got defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) to help him achieve justice…

What’s the twist? Once his lawyer has got him off the hook, Stampler reveals that the innocent side of his personality was mere performance. There is no “Roy”: he’s a killer to the core.

9. Planet Of The Apes (1968)
The movie: Having crash-landed on a foreign planet, gruff astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his crew discover a strange society in which a group of apes has evolved into humanoid creatures with the power of speech.

What’s the twist? This strange planet is none other than Earth itself, turned into a post-apocalyptic nightmare by the greed and foolishness of mankind. The half-submerged Statue of Liberty in the last shot is what tips him off. Since then that iconic shot has made its way onto the DVD cover, so not much of a twist anymore…

Gem’s list is a good one.  There were several on it that didn’t make my list that I absolutely loved. Here’s why a few of them didn’t make my top three and why one did:

  • The Usual Suspects didn’t make my top three because it’s #1 on Gem’s list and I figured everyone knows about it.
  • The Sixth Sense is in the same ballpark as The Usual Suspects, but another reason I didn’t pick it is because I figured out the twist very early in the movie.  It was cool watching it all play out and to see I was right.
  • Se7en is a favorite of mine.  The ending was as shocking as some of the others but I love the brilliance of it.
  • Psycho is like the grandfather of twist endings.  Most everyone knows the twist before they see Psycho because of its fame.
  • I’m not a big Star Wars fan so I wasn’t shocked to find out who the baby’s daddy was.
  • I was 9 or 10 years old when I saw Planet of the Apes on its initial release.  I love the movie and the ending shocked this kid!

The Different Covers for David Morrell’s First Blood

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Tony Stella recently posted larger versions of these different covers for David Morrell’s First Blood.

  • The first cover looks like the artist pictured Richard Chamberlain as Rambo.
  • The second cover was on the version of the book I first read back in the summer (of 1973) before I went into 9th grade.  I immediately became a life-long David Morrell fan.
  • The third cover reminds me of a teaser if First Blood had been made into a graphic novel and Rambo was based on Burt Reynolds.
  • The fourth cover reminds me of a corpse who refused to give up his weapon until it was pried from his cold, dead hand.
  • The fifth cover looks like the cover to a horror novel.

The great thing is no matter what the cover looks like the novel is always great!  Highest reccommendation!

The 25 Greatest Movie Villains of All Time

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Gem Seddon and GamesRadar.com present The 25 Greatest Movie Villains of All Time. Here are three of my favorites and some after thoughts…

17. The Terminator
As played by: Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator (1984)

The villain: Sure, the T-1000 might be deadlier, but there’s no doubting the intimidation factor of Skynet’s original robot enforcer. Opting to shoot first and ask questions later, he’s a robust killing machine that won’t stop until you are dead.

Meanest moment: When he blazes a trail through the local police station, turning his weapons on anything that moves.

Nicest quality: If he’s on your side, he’s lovely! See Terminator 2 for details.

15. Hans Gruber
As played by: Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988)

The villain: One of the first of a new breed of urbane, continental terrorists, the unflappable Gruber is the perfect counterpoint to rough and ready cop John McClane. He isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty – he’d just rather not rumple his suit unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Meanest moment: “You know my name but who are you?” sneers Gruber. “Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he’s John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?”

Nicest quality: He’s a bright boy. “And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer,” he quotes.

4. Anton Chigurh
As played by: Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men (2007)

The villain: A psychotic gun-for-hire with a slavish devotion to the laws of chance. There’s nothing more terrifying than a nutcase with a code and an obsession for murdering people with a cattle bolt gun. It’s as horrible as it sounds.

Meanest moment: The way he taunts the store owner is pretty bad (you don’t know what you’re talking about) but there’s nothing to top the unyielding bloody-mindedness that leads him to kill Carla Jean.

Nicest quality: He’s good with kids. He doesn’t kill those two boys, does he?

The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Adrenaline Pumping.

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Gem Seddon and GamesRadar.com present The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Adrenaline Pumping.  Here are three of my favorites and some after thoughts…

8. John Wick (2014)
Action hero: John Wick
The film: Director Chad Stahelski overcomes first-time jitters in his filmmaking debut, largely due to his experiences as a martial arts stunt co-ordinator. This revenge actioner throws in some dark motivating factors for Keanu Reeves leading man. His vendetta kill mission is the most dazzling work Reeves has accomplished since his first time tackling Neo.

Most action-packed scene: Wick enters a club wherein he punches, kicks, headbutts and shoots anyone who crosses his path. Each strike hits with an eerie precision.

6. First Blood (1982)
Action hero: John Rambo
The film: The first Rambo movie is part-action, part-thriller, a far darker movie than its sequels would have you remember. Sly Stallone plays the former Green Beret back from Vietnam, who is targeted by a nasty small-town sheriff. All Rambo wants is to live a normal life, all the cops want is to take him down. Guess who wins?

Most action-packed scene: Overthrowing the local PD coppers, Rambo escapes into the nearby woods, where the lawmen scatter to try and recapture him. Their attempts fail miserably as he sets up a series of brutal traps to prevent them from finding him.

2. Die Hard (1988)
Action hero: John McClane
The film: New York cop John McClane picks the first of many wrong places and wrong times to visit his wife at work, but for star Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan, the timing couldn’t have been better. Putting an ordinary Joe in the middle of a firefight, confining a terrorist takeover to a single, claustrophobic building, and balancing quip-smart dialogue with hard and heavy action set-pieces, Die Hard set the mold and broke it at the same time.

Most action-packed scene: A rooftop bomb. A short fire hose. A plate glass window. The rest is history.

Atomic Blonde almost made my top three.  I’m surprised that Enter the Dragon didn’t make the list. C’mon, Gem!

“The Maltese Falcon” Got the Cinephilia and Beyond Treatment!

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The Maltese Falcon Got the Cinephilia and Beyond Treatment!

Click on the link and you’ll find…

  • John Huston’s original script for The Maltese Falcon
  • A rare interview with Huston
  • Huston’s approach to storytelling
  • A Screen Guild Theater radio production of The Maltese Falcon, featuring Peter Lorre, Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet. Original air date: 9/20/1943.
  • Rare behind-the-scenes photos
  • and much more!