Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD Trivia!

Posted on by

In Cold Blood was the book that made Truman Capote famous.  Upon publication it quickly rose to best-seller status and is still one of the all-time best-selling true crime books.  A year after the book was released an award-winning movie adaptation premiered which only added to Capote’s stardom.  

I’ve seen the film In Cold Blood.  It’s an excellent movie which gets better with each new viewing.  I’ve had the In Cold Blood novel sitting on one of my many to-be-read book shelves for years.  After reading April Snellings’  7 Chilling Facts About Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood posted at Mental Floss, I’ve decided to finally read Capote’s book.  Before you click over to Snellings’ piece, here are my three favorite facts from her piece and my thoughts on each.

HARPER LEE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN RESEARCHING IN COLD BLOOD.  (That’s right, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird traveled with Truman Capote to Holcomb, Kansas and assisted Capote in getting access to people with for background info for the book! Harper Lee was Capote’s assistant! – Craig)

A FIGHT OVER THE FILM RIGHTS TO IN COLD BLOOD GOT TRUMAN CAPOTE’S AGENT ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT. (Capote’s agent was Irving “Swifty” Lazar!  Lazar also represented Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant, Ernest Hemmingway, Cher and Richard Nixon to name just a few.  When Otto Preminger learned that Lazar had sold the rights to someone else, they got into a heated argument.  Preminger ended up with a busted head and a trip to the hospital.  Lazar ended up with charges for felony assault!  Read Snellings’ account for full details! – Craig)

THE MEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDERS DETAILED IN IN COLD BLOOD ARE SUSPECTED OF KILLING A FLORIDA FAMILY AFTER THEY FLED KANSAS.  (I had never heard this fact before.  Sounds like there could be another book in the making! – Craig)

 

“Attica” – The Trailer is Here!

Posted on by

The Attica prison riot/takeover lasted for 4 days beginning on September 9, 1971.  Over 1,000 of the 2,000 prisoners rioted and took over the prison.  When the siege ended 43 people were dead (10 correctional officers and 33 inmates).  I was 12 years old at the time and remember being shocked at how long the takeover lasted.  I’d be interested in seeing this Attica documentary.

Attica details the five-day prison rebellion that transpired in the fall of 1971 in upstate New York and still stands as the largest and deadliest the country has ever witnessed. More than a simple recounting of the five days of rebellion, ATTICA will also offer a broader understanding of the Attica tragedy in the crosscurrents of politics, race, power and punishment during the early 1970s. Through expert voices and archival images of urban and suburban life, the film explores the tensions between a young, radicalized population of mostly Black and Latino inmates, and correctional officers from a predominately white company town, where the Attica prison was the primary employer for generations of families. ATTICA examines inmates’ demands for recognition of their humanity at the culmination of a moment where racial justice activists embraced prisoner rights as an extension of their fight for civil rights. Premieres November 6 only on SHOWTIME.

James Cameron’s Best Films Ranked

Posted on by

Dalin Rowell at /Film posted Every James Cameron Film Ranked From Worst To Best.  Before you click over, here are my rankings for top 7 Cameron films…

  1.  Aliens – I love how Cameron took the Alien franchise in a different direction.  While Alien was a haunted house in outer space, Cameron turned Aliens into a war movie.  
  2. Terminator 2:  Judgment Day – Making the Terminator into the hero AND figuring out a way to make the unstoppable machine an underdog against a more advanced Terminator was such a smart move.
  3. The Terminator – It’s hard to believe at one point there was talk of OJ Simpson playing the Terminator and Arnold playing Reese. It was a clever idea to make Arnold the bad guy (or should I say, “Machine”).  
  4. True Lies – This is one of Arnold’s most under-rated films and perhaps it is one of Cameron’s as well.
  5. The Abyss – is perhaps James Cameron’s most under-rated film. 
  6. Titanic – Before it was released a lot of folks thought Titanic would end James Cameron’s career.  Once released Titanic just kept owning the box office week after week. 
  7. Avatar – Some of the same folks who thought Titanic would sink at the box office predicted Avatar would do the same… and it went on to surpass Titanic!  Never count James Cameron out. 

Sly Stallone Interviewed on the Unwaxed Podcast by Sophia and Sistine Stallone!

Posted on by

Sly is interviewed by Sophia and Sistine on their Unwaxed podcast!

The moment you’ve all waited for… To celebrate our 50th episode, we decided to bring our most requested guest. For the first time ever, Sophia and Sistine interview their dad Sylvester Stallone. From his childhood, career, raising daughters- the girls cover it all. This episode shows a different, funnier, softer side of Sly and untold stories from the man himself.

HOLE by Gerry Brown with Eduardo Risso – A Novella of Crime and Mayhem!

Posted on by

Hole by Gerry Brown with illustrations by Eduardo Risso is something that I’ve got to get my hands on!  Hole is a crime novella. The fact that it has art by Risso is what got me first interested  Then I read the synopsis…

It was the perfect shakedown.

Moundsville State Prison was rotten to the core. The guards were almost as crooked as the cons. Gangs ruled the jail, and Davie Ingram ruled the gangs.

The way it worked was Davie and his boys would isolate an inmate with no one to back him up. Hurt him, hurt him bad, on camera. Then send the video to the inmate’s loved ones.

They wouldn’t ask for much. Five, maybe ten thousand.

The first time.

Because if you didn’t want your son, your nephew, your brother to play punching bag for the meanest motherfuckers in Moundsville, you had to pay again and again and again.

But this time Davie’s crew picked the wrong man to shake down.

He’s a man who won’t take kindly to seeing a video of his brother being stomped by half a dozen vicious goons. A man who’s a professional in the art of making people pay. Not with money, but with blood.

A man named…HOLE.

I’d be interested in the novella based on just the synopsis, but the fact that Risso did illustrations has me sold! 

You can see some of Risso’s art for the story here.  

Risso also did a brief interview about Hole with Joe Gruenwald at ComicsBeat.

It looks like Hole is only available on Kindle and you can order a copy here.

“The Harder They Fall” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

Posted on by

I love the poster and trailer for The Harder They Fall.  I’ll take the plunge when it premieres on November 3rd!

This ain’t your grandaddy’s Western! Check out Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, Edi Gathegi, Danielle Deadwyler and Deon Cole in this action-packed thrill ride that injects New Blood into the Old West. The Harder They Fall is directed by Jeymes Samuel and produced by Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter James Lassiter, Jeymes Samuel and Lawrence Bender.

“Cowboy Bebop” Starring John Cho, Mustafa Shakir & Daniella Pineda – The Teaser is Here!

Posted on by

I love this opening sequence for Cowboy Bebop.  I’m not familiar with the anime series, but I will be checking out the live action Cowboy Bebop when it premieres on Netflix on November 19th.

It’s time to blow this scene. Who’s in? Cowboy Bebop arrives Nov. 19.

COWBOY BEBOP is an action-packed space Western about three bounty hunters, aka “cowboys,” all trying to outrun the past. As different as they are deadly, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.

Based on the beloved anime series, COWBOY BEBOP is executive produced by André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Makoto Asanuma, Shin Sasaki and Masayuki Ozaki of Sunrise Inc., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost. Nemec serves as showrunner. Original anime series director Shinichirō Watanabe is a consultant on the series, and original composer Yoko Kanno returns for the live-action adaptation. The series also stars Alex Hassell and Elena Satine.

Watch Cowboy Bebop, a live-action series, only on Netflix.

“Army of Thieves” – The Trailer is Here!

Posted on by

The Army of Thieves trailer is here and it looks like fun.  I will admit I wouldn’t be so excited for Army of Thieves if it wasn’t in the Army of the Dead universe.

In this prequel to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, small-town bank teller Dieter gets drawn into the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious woman recruits him to join a crew of Interpol’s most wanted criminals, attempting to heist a sequence of legendary, impossible-to-crack safes across Europe.

Watch Army of Thieves on Netflix globally October 29

Alfred Hitchcock’s Most Iconic Scenes!

Posted on by

Nick Bartlett at /Film came up with an interesting list of The 14 Most Iconic Alfred Hitchcock Scenes Of All Time.  Bartlett’s list is a good one.  It includes my top five which are below…

The shower scene — Psycho (1960).  I was pretty sure that this would be Bartlett’s number one Hitchcock iconic scene (and it is). It is my #1 as well.  Bartlett goes on to say:  “Not only is this the most iconic scene of Hitchcock’s career, but arguably the most impactful single scene in cinema history.”  I’m not sure I would go that far, but maybe that scene is the most iconic in cinema history.  (Sounds like another list for Bartlett to post!)

Crop dusting — North by Northwest (1959).  When people talk about North by Northwest, this is the scene that gets the most attention.  And rightly so.

Crows on the playground — The Birds (1963).  This scene is so frightening thanks to Hitchcock.  The first thing he did was compress time.  There is no way that many birds could get to the playground in so short a time.  Also his non use of sound of the birds arriving, makes the sound of their wings flapping all that scarier when they begin their attack.

The diner scene — The Birds (1963).  The birds-eye view of the town below is ALWAYS a scene that people mention when they talk about The Birds.

Lisa gets caught — Rear Window (1954).  This scene is chilling.  A wheelchair bound Jimmy Stewart is watching from across the courtyard when his girlfriend is caught in the apartment of a man who killed and cut up his wife!  Not only is Stewart helpless to do anything, but when his girlfriend secretly signals to Stewart she is caught by the killer… who then realizes he is being watched by Stewart.  Hitchcock breaks an unwritten rule of directing: actors are not to look straight into the camera.  When the killer does it appears he is looking directly at us.  Chills every time!