Scott Mendleson, at Forbes, posted Every ‘Rocky’ Movie Ranked From Worst To Best. Before you click over, I decided to revisit my rankings and compare Mendelson’s with mine. So without further adieu, here we go…
The Shattered poster is generic but the trailer has twists and a cast that makes me interested in seeing it.
In the tradition of Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct comes this dazzling action thriller starring Academy Award Nominee John Malkovich (RED) and Frank Grillo (Avengers: Endgame). As lonely tech millionaire Chris (Cameron Monaghan, “Shameless”) encounters charming, sexy Sky (Lilly Krug), passion grows between them. And when he’s injured, she quickly steps in as his nurse. But Sky’s odd behavior makes Chris suspect that she has more sinister intentions, especially when Sky’s roommate is found dead from mysterious causes.
I’m a Phillip Marlowe fan. I’ve read the original novels by Raymond Chandler. I read Robert B. Parker’s Marlowe novels. In movies, I’ve seen Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Elliott Gould and Robert Mitchum.
What I haven’t read is the Phillip Marlowe novel TheGoodbyeCoast by Joe Ide. Of course it won’t be released until February 1, 2022. Here’s the synopsis…
Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective, Philip Marlowe, gets a dramatic and colorful reinvention at the hands of award-winning novelist Joe Ide
The seductive and relentless figure of Raymond Chandler’s detective, Philip Marlowe, is vividly re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses, ruthless gang members, virulent inequality, and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet, lonely, and remarkably capable and confident private detective, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother.
Marlowe, against his better judgement, accepts two missing person cases, the first a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet, and the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father. At the center of TheGoodbyeCoast is Marlowe’s troubled and confounding relationship with his father, a son who despises yet respects his dad, and a dad who’s unable to hide his bitter disappointment with his grown boy.
Steeped in the richly detailed ethnic neighborhoods of modern LA, Ide’s TheGoodbyeCoast is a bold recreation that is viciously funny, ingeniously plotted, and surprisingly tender.
I like the sound of The Goodbye Coast. I even like the fact that they’re putting Marlowe in current times, which surprises me. Joe Ide is a writer of note. I think I’m going to have to give this one a go.
On November 17th, Art LaFleur, the actor best known for his role as Babe Ruth in the movie The Sandlot, died after a decade long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Mr. LaFleur was 78.
Art LaFleur served as a sports broadcaster for both CBS and ESPN, but it was his nearly 170 acting roles that made him famous. He alternated between movie and television in a career that lasted nearly 40 years!
I always enjoyed whenever Art LaFleur showed up on screen. He appeared twice in Sly Stallone films (Cobra and Oscar). He also worked with Clint Eastwood, Nick Nolte, James Garner, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr. and others making their movies even better.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Art LaFleur’s family, friends and fans.
Spider Rico vs The Italian Stallion at the Resurrection Gym is a painting by Joel Tesch. I love the painting and have become a fan of Joel’s art. You can see more of it at his website, Twitter and Instagram. If you click over you’ll find several more Rocky paintings!
The poster and trailer for Mother/Android are here. The poster is okay, but I like the looks of the trailer. I’ll give Mother/Android a shot.
A young woman and her boyfriend go on a treacherous journey of escape as their country is caught in an unexpected war with artificial intelligence. Days away from the arrival of their first child, they must cross a stronghold of the android uprising, in hopes of reaching safety before giving birth. Stream starting December 17, only on Hulu.
JOHNNY DEPP AND CHRISTIAN SLATER WERE ALMOST JONATHAN HARKER. (Although there are critics of Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, I’m not one. I could see Johnny Depp in the role but I don’t think Christian Slater would have been right for it. – Craig)
VIRTUALLY EVERY VISUAL EFFECT WAS DONE IN-CAMERA.Coppola wanted Bram Stoker’s Dracula to be full of classical cinema trickery, and not lean so heavily on the modern digital visual effects of the 1990s. (I think the film is better for this decision. – Craig)
THE FILM SAVED THE COPPOLA FAMILY’S HOME. (You’d think that the creative force behind The Godfather and The Godfather II would be set for life, but Coppola has always taken creative risks and used his own money. – Craig)
Here we have the final trailer for Nightmare Alley. I’m looking forward to this one!
PLOT: In NIGHTMARE ALLEY, an ambitious carny (Bradley Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is.
Only in Theaters December 17
CAST: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn
Death Valley would probably be the second feature at a drive-in, but I have a feeling I would enjoy it. Unfortunately I don’t get Shudder otherwise I’d check it out.
Two hired guns, commissioned to rescue an imprisoned scientist from a secret facility, are hunted down by a terrifying creature of unknown origin.
I like the look of Encounter and since it is on Prime, I’ll be sure to check it out.
A decorated Marine goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from an unhuman threat. As their journey takes them in increasingly dangerous directions, the boys will need to leave their childhoods behind.
Directed by: Michael Pearce
Written by: Joe Barton, Michael Pearce
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Rory Cochrane, Lucian-River Chauhan and Aditya Geddada
In theaters December 3rd, 2021 and on Prime Video December 10th, 2021
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Ritu Arya.
Tagline: Pros and Cons.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
FBI agent, John Hartley (Johnson) is on the trail of Nolan Booth (Reynolds), one of the world’s top art thieves. What looks like a slam dunk arrest of Booth goes sideways and Hartley is left holding the bag. In this case the bag is one of three priceless eggs created for Cleopatra. In order to clear his name, Hartley becomes an reluctant partner to Booth. They will have to steal back the original egg as well as the other two that are in different exotic locations around the world. Complicating matters is The Bishop (Gadot), an art thief, also after the priceless relics.
Red Notice is a fast, fun action/caper that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is filled with tons of stunts and funny (well, mostly funny) repartee performed by likeable stars. There are homages to James Bond, the Bourne films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, True Lies and more. Our heroes fight with each other, Russian prisoners, each other, Interpol agents, each other, a crime lord’s guards, each other and a bull. They fall off a building, escape from a Russian gulag, are knocked unconscious, have a bridge blown out from under them, suffer electric shock to the groin, survive multiple car crashes, fall off a gigantic waterfall, are shot at with pistols, machine guns, rocket launchers and are never even winged. In fact thousands of rounds of ammo are spent and NOBODY gets hit. Even our heroes are terrible shots.
And that is my biggest problem with the film. Our heroes are put in dangerous situations, but very quickly we get the sense that nothing bad is going to happen to them. The stakes don’t seem real.
If that doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably enjoy Red Notice even more than I did and I liked it. There are some scenes/lines that made me laugh and even more that made me smile (far outnumbering the few that fell flat). I appreciated the fast pace, action and stars. There’s a fun plot twist that I didn’t see coming. Red Notice has the potential for a sequel and I’d be up for that.
Ethan Pro is a young artist based in LA. He is also created the very cool Rocky painting above. You can check out more of Pro’s art on his Twitter or his Instagram pages.
Life has put out a Rocky tribute magazine that is not to be missed! I just got mine and can’t wait to dig in.
Rocky Balboa, the underdog palooka who boxed his way to box office super-success, burst into popular culture in 1976. Now 45 years later, “Yo, Adrian” has joined the very short list of very short quotes that are instantly identifiable with a classic character from a classic film. Tourists still run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Marching bands play “Gonna Fly Now” as halftime entertainment. High school football teams get crazy-eyed to “Eye of the Tiger.” LIFE: Rocky looks back the story conceived by actor and writer Sylvester Stallone – and the iconic 8-film franchise it has become – and celebrates Rocky’s friends, his foes, his fights and the songs and scenes that endure today. Please note that this product is an authorized edition published by the Meredith Corporation and sold by Amazon. This edition is printed using a high quality matte interior paper and printed on demand for immediate fulfillment.
One-Hit Wonder by writer Fabrice Sapolsky and artists Ariel Olivetti, Stephen Thompson, Ivan Fiorelli, Dennis Calero and Joe Suitor looks interesting.
Richie Reese was a (terrible) child actor. He was the worst. Seriously, he couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag. His heart filled with anger, he found solace in violence and everything Mafia related. Until he joins the mob for real.
That’s where we meet Richie. He’s at the top of his game. He’s internalized every bit of crazy that Hollywood has thrown at him over his decades living in Tinseltown, but he’s become very efficient hitman in the process.
When, one of the only people tethering him to the last shreds of his humanity is murdered, Richie starts looking for answers. But what he finds is more terrifying than he could ever have imagined…
If One-Hit Wonder sounds like something you’d like, you can pre-order it here or ask your local comic shop to reserve you a copy!
