“Nighthawks” – Best Movie You Never Saw by Chris Bumbray

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Chris Bumbray at JoBlo.com has put together a cool video overview of Nighthawks starring Sly Stallone, Rutgar Hauer and Billy Dee Williams.  It’s more than worth a look!

Here’s their intro and the video…

Welcome to The Best Movie You NEVER Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine.

The history behind NIGHTHAWKS is compelling stuff. Originally conceived as a third FRENCH CONNECTION sequel, which would have pitted Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle up against a terrorist modeled on the infamous Carlos the Jackal, while also pairing him with a partner that producers hoped would be played by Richard Pryor, the project went kaput when Hackman decided he had enough of the role. The script made its way to Universal, where it was redeveloped into a project for Sylvester Stallone, then coming off the first two ROCKY movies, meaning he was a star, but not quite the icon he would become. In this episode we look at the movie’s reception, as well as it’s place in Stallone’s filmography.

The History of Our Universe in 13,799 Dominoes

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Kurtis Baute makes videos about science and about the environment.  The one below explains in understandable terms the age and history of the universe.  Watching Baute telling us what is happening each step of the way and realizing that each domino (of the 13,799) equals one million years is mind-blowing.  And wait until you see the representation of how long humans have been around.

Well done, Mr. Baute.

“John Wick” Trivia

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Jake Rosen at Mental Floss presents 8 Fully-Loaded Facts About John Wick. Before you click over, here are three of my favorites and my thoughts on each.

1. JOHN WICK WAS ORIGINALLY TITLED SCORN.
Screenwriter Derek Kolstad wrote a revenge thriller titled Scorn that first circulated back in 2012. Kolstad said he was inspired by films like 2008’s Taken and 2004’s Man on Fire, which both featured determined men with special skills out for revenge. By the time the movie was released in 2014, it had become John Wick. The reason, Kolstad explained, was that Keanu Reeves kept referring to the script by the character’s name and distributor Lionsgate believed it would be too much free publicity to lose.

(I did not know this.  Scorn is nowhere near as good a title as John Wick.  Thank you Keanu! – Craig)

7. JOHN WICK HAS A HOBBY THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE FINAL CUT.
While John Wick’s interests in life seem to be mostly restricted to killing people in creative ways, he’s apparently able to express himself through less violent means, too. According to Reeves, the script for John Wick included a scene in which Wick works on restoring old leather-bound books. It was filmed but didn’t make the final edit.

(I understand why the scene didn’t make the movie, but what a cool choice for a hobby for Wick.  – Craig)

8. A JOHN WICK TELEVISION SERIES—MINUS JOHN WICK—IS IN THE WORKS.
Each John Wick film reveals more about the professional code of conduct governing the assassin’s trade. Their common ground is the Continental, a hotel designed to cater to killers without fear of being attacked. (This sometimes doesn’t work, as people try to kill John Wick there anyway.) Lionsgate is pursuing a television series, The Continental, based on the hotel, that’s expected to premiere sometime following the release of John Wick 4, which is currently scheduled for May 2022.

(I love the idea of a tv series set in John Wick’s world as long as it doesn’t become “the hit <as in execution assignment> of the week.  – Craig)

“The Doorman” Starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Here are the poster and trailer to The Doorman.  The poster is basically a cool logo and I’d rather see that than another poster of Photoshopped star heads.  The trailer pretty much tells the story — nothing groundbreaking here, but it does look like fun.  I want in.

US Release Date: October 9, 2020
Starring: Ruby Rose, Jean Reno, Louis Mandylor
Directed By: Ryûhei Kitamura
Synopsis: A woman returns from combat and befriends a family in NYC, a gang of thieves plot to take the family’s valuables, she is all that stands between them and their lives.

“Alone” – The Poster & 1st Trailer are Here!

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Here are the poster and first trailer to Alone.  Looks very similar to Alive, the Korean zombie movie coming out soon.

US Release Date: October 16, 2020
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tyler Posey, Robert Ri’chard
Directed By: Johnny Martin
Synopsis: When an outbreak hits, Aidan barricades himself inside his apartment and starts rationing food. His complex is overrun by infected Screamers, and with the world falling apart into chaos, he is left completely alone fighting for his life.

“Deliverance” Trivia!

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Rob Hunter at Film School Rejects posted 31 Things We Learned from John Boorman’s ‘Deliverance’ Commentary.  Before you click over, here are three of my favorites…

9. Dickey took Boorman aside, made him promise not to repeat this, and said, “I’m going to tell you something I never told a living soul, everything in that book happened to me.” The director later learned that he did the same with other members of the cast and crew. “When I got into a canoe with James Dickey and he capsized it, I realized that nothing in this book had happened to him.”

(Dickey was not well liked on the set — there’s another quote in the piece that talked about Dickey’s drinking and interfering with the movie and Burt Reynolds has a funny response. – Craig)

15. “I had no doubles, no stuntmen,” says Boorman. “I don’t like the idea of stuntmen because if a shot is dangerous enough that you need a stunt man then you shouldn’t be doing it.” He acknowledges that there are exceptions including one instance where Voight was doubled (while Reynolds insisted on doing his part himself), but in general he prefers doing the scenes with the actual actors.

(Reynolds, as most folks know always wanted to do his own stunts and respected the stunt crew.  But stunts were not the only differences between Voight and Reynolds are you’ll see in the next quote. – Craig)

26. While Reynolds preferred to move quickly through every scene, Voight challenged almost every decision in need of explanation and reason which dragged things out. Voight would also require three minutes before shooting scenes where he’s meant to seem exhausted because he would run around the area to tire himself out. Reynolds, by contrast, would spritz his face to simulate sweat and then breath hard. Boorman found the two to be good influences on each other.

(They have two different schools of thoughts in preparing for a scene.  Some like to prepare, research and stay in character and others are able to just do it.  I can’t remember the actor and I’m paraphrasing but when asked how he was able to just jump into a scene and take on whatever emotion without first preparing, his response was, “I act.” – Craig)

“Enola Holmes” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Here are the poster and trailer for Enola Holmes starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin and Helena Bonham Carter.  The poster is okay, but I like the trailer.  In fact I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed the preview. Hope you do as well.

When Enola Holmes—Sherlock’s teen sister—discovers her mother missing, she sets off to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy around a mysterious young Lord. Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Sam Claflin, with Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham-Carter. Directed by Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag).

“The Unholy Wife” / Z-View

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The Unholy Wife (1957)

Director: John Farrow

Screenplay:  Jonathan Latimer (based on a story by William Durkee)

Stars:  Diana Dors, Rod Steiger and Tom Tryon.

The Pitch: “We’ve got Diana Dors, let’s star her as a femm fatale in a film noir!”

Tagline: HALF-ANGEL……HALF-DEVIL, she made him HALF-A-MAN! …she flaunted his hopes, taunted his dreams, turned his peaceful valley into a volcano of seething passions that even murder could not stem!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Unholy Wife is a little known, under-rated film noir released in 1957 staring Diana Dors and Rod Steiger.  Steiger plays Paul, a war vet who runs the gigantic family vineyard.  A chance encounter with a beautiful woman leads Paul to fall in love with her.  And that love sends him down the path to death and ruin.

Sound familiar?  It should because its the outline for all great film noirs.  Double Indemnity?  Check.  The Postman Always Rings Twice?  Check.  Now, I’m not saying that The Unholy Wife meets the gold standard of those two classics, but it’s definitely coming from the same mine.

Dors plays Phyllis a bleach-bottle blonde bombshell (say that three times fast) that steals Paul Hochen’s heart.  Despite the warning signs (some from Phyllis herself), Paul marries her. He then brings Phyllis and her young son home to live on his huge vineyard estate.  It isn’t long before Phyllis is having an affair and plotting to set her husband up for murder.

The Unholy Wife reminds me of a lesser known Gold Medal book you’d find on the paperback racks back in the 50s.  I say that as a good thing.  Even The Unholy Wife movie poster looks like it could have served as a Gold Medal cover!

I like everything about The Unholy Wife.  Dors is excellent as the beautiful, heartless seductress.  Steiger is convincing (and doesn’t overact) as the nice guy led astray.  Tom Tryon doesn’t have much to do, but is just right as Dors’ lover.  The movie was made in Technicolor and the process and colors make it look like a lurid paperback cover come to life.

If you’re a fan of film noir then you should really enjoy The Unholy Wife. I did.

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“The Batman” Trailer and Craig’s Thoughts…

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Warner Bros. dropped the trailer for The Batman and it is rightfully getting a lot of positive buzz.

Truth be told, I hadn’t much interest in The Batman until seeing this trailer.  While Batman is my favorite DC comic character and I’ve enjoyed all of the Batman movies to some extent, the change of director, star and focus of the new film left me with a wait and see attitude.  Now that I’ve seen the trailer let’s talk…

  • Pattison as Batman looks good.  Because of the way the modern films have designed the suit, anyone (within reason) could be Batman.  I like that this suit isn’t as flashy as previous ones.
  • Zoë Kravitz is an excellent choice for Catwoman.
  • Take out the Batman and Catwoman and the movie still looks like something I’d want to see.
  • The supporting cast is excellent.
  • I like that Matt Reeves co-wrote and is directing.
  • I like the title The Batman and that Batman is working with the police.  The whole film has a Batman: Year One vibe and that is a great thing.
  • The only thing that I question at this point, is Batman says, “I am vengeance” when I always felt that Batman was more about “justice”.
  • The Batman is now on my must-see list and I can’t wait to see more.

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes The Batman, with director Matt Reeves (the Planet of the Apes films) at the helm and with Robert Pattinson (Tenet, The Lighthouse, Good Time) starring as Gotham City’s vigilante detective, Batman, and billionaire Bruce Wayne.

Also in the star-studded ensemble as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the Hunger Games films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the Transformers films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (The Magnificent Seven, Black Mass) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (Farewell Amor) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (Planet of the Apes films, Black Panther) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dumbo) as Oswald Cobblepot…

Based on characters from DC. Batman was created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. The Batman is set to open in theaters October 1, 2021 in select 3D and 2D and IMAX theaters and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

“Frankenstein” by Paul Mann!

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This morning I saw the beautiful Frankenstein poster above created by Paul Mann.  I then followed a link to Mann’s website and went down a rabbit-hole admiring the beautiful art in his portfolio.  There are movie posters, book covers, original preliminary pieces for sale and more.  If you love art then you owe it to yourself to check out Paul Mann’s portfolio.

Source: JoBlo – Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net.

Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard: The Early Years by Joe R. Lansdale / Z-View

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Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard: The Early Years by Joe R. Lansdale

Trade Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Tachyon Publications

First sentence…

I must have been six or seven at the time, and it was an event that went on for years, this gathering of relatives.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard: The Early Years contains five short stories about Hap and Leonard during their, you guessed it, early years.  As an added bonus, there’s a section titled Good Eats: The Recipes of Hap and Leonard by Kasey Lansdale (Joe’s daughter).  Let’s take a quick look at each…

The Kitchen is, as Lansdale says in the intro to the book, more of a vignette than short story.   Reading it you get a sense of where Hap got his moral foundation and why family is important to him.  If you’re lucky it will also bring back memories of another time when things moved slower and family get-togethers were special events.

Of Mice and Minestrone is divided into two parts.  In part one, Hap (a 16 year old high school student) has a run-in with a thugish man at a gas station.  Hap apologizes for his part, but the bully wants a fight.  When the thug’s wife tries to calm her husband by saying, “He’s just a kid.  He didn’t mean nothing -” it’s obvious she has overstepped.  The gas station owner comes out and the man and his wife leave.

Later, when Hap unexpectedly sees the woman in town he can tell that she’s been beaten up.  Hap wants to help her, but she’s afraid and Hap is just a kid.  Together they devise a plan to save her.  Part II Of Mice and Minestrone deals with the fallout from their plan and as you can guess things don’t end up all sunshine and roses.

The Watering Shed was a dive bar located a ways from town.  It was a rough place where you could get a drink even if you were under-age, if you had the cash.  Hap and Leonard had some coin and a hankering for a beer.  Had Leonard not been black, there wouldn’t have been a problem.  But he was and there was and it led to two murders.

In The Sparring Partner Hap and Leonard are offered some easy money to assist a promoter in getting his new fighter ready for his next match. Unfortunately the promoter isn’t on the level and his fighter is in waaay over his head.  Hap and Leonard could take their sparring partner money and walk away but we know that won’t happen.

The Sabine was High takes place when Leonard arrives home from Viet Nam and Hap has recently gotten out of prison (for refusing to be drafted). They go on an overnight fishing trip and share stories about the hell each of them has been through.

Good Eats: The Recipes of Hap and Leonard is exactly what you’d imagine, recipes for preparing food from the stories.

Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard: The Early Years provides a look at events that shaped Hap and Leonard into the men they would become. You don’t have to be a H&L fan to enjoy the book, but if you are you’ll enjoy it all the more.  My favorite story gave the book it’s title.  Lansdale sets up a classic situation and then throws in twists along the way (doesn’t he always) that will leave you smiling at his storytelling ability and sad at the situations the characters are in.  There’s not a weak story in the book and even though I’m not much of a cook, I think I’ll give a recipe or two a shot.

Rating:

“Let Him Go” Starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner – The Poster and Trailer are Here.

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Today we have the poster and first trailer for Let Him Go starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner.  The poster is okay, but the trailer is solid.   Deal me in.

Academy Award nominee Diane Lane and Academy Award winner Kevin Costner star in #LetHimGo. In theaters this November.

Following the loss of their son, retired sheriff George Blackledge (Costner) and his wife Margaret (Lane) leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas, headed by matriarch Blanche Weboy. When they discover the Weboys have no intention of letting the child go, George and Margaret are left with no choice but to fight for their family.