Presenting Sly Stallone’s Balboa Productions

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Matt Donnelly at Variety checks in with Sylvester Stallone’s Production Company Wants to Be the Blumhouse of Action Films and it is well worth a read.  The piece talks about the goal of Sly creating Balboa Productions…

“My goal is for us to be the go-to place for action,” says Aftergood. He wants Balboa to follow the specialty model of Blumhouse, the company behind “Get Out” and “The Purge.” “I appreciate that statement is grandiose, but Blumhouse has done an extraordinary job owning the horror space,” says Aftergood. “There is no reason why we can’t own the action space in a similar way.”

The rationale  behind Sly creating Balboa Productions…

“At one of our first meetings, I asked him why he wanted to do this,” Aftergood recalls. “Starting and running a company is a pain in the ass. I don’t care who you are or how many people are underneath you — at some point you have to answer a question about payroll, about office decor. In Stallone’s case, he seemed to have graduated past all of that.” Stallone answered with one word: legacy.

Balboa Productions that are in the pipeline…

  • Arcane, a monster movie from director Corin Hardy
  • The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil  remake co-starring Sly
  • The Bellhop, starring Iko Uwais star of The Raid: Redemption
  • Samaritan starring Sly
  • Biopic of black boxing legend Jack Johnson produced by Sly
  • Nighthawks reboot for USA network based on Sly’s 1981 film
  • The Tenderloin, a cop drama for History.

For all the details click over to Sylvester Stallone’s Production Company Wants to Be the Blumhouse of Action Films.

(The only thing missing is Sly’s adaptation of Hunter by James Byron Huggins.  Cannot wait to see what Sly does with this great action/horror novel.  It is a natural for him and Balboa Productions! – Craig)

RIP – Rutger Hauer

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It was announced that Rutger Hauer died on July 19th at his home in Beetsterzwaag  in the Netherlands after a short undisclosed illness. Hauer was 75.

Hauer has well over 150 acting credits.  He got his start co-starring in Nighthawks, playing a terrorist opposite Sylvester Stallone.  Hauer is best known for his role as the android hunted by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner.  Rutger also had memorable roles in Ladyhawke, The Hitcher, Sin City and so many other films/tv series.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ruger Hauer’s family, friends and fans. 

Bob Burden’s Hitman for the Dead!

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Hitman for the Dead.

Even without the cool Andrew Robinson art, the title would have brought me in for a closer look.

And it did.

ANTHONY HARKEN is a drifter, a detective of sorts, and a killer. While he kills the most evil kind of people – the unpunished murderers of the innocent – he knows he’s still a murderer, taking human life and operating totally outside the law.

 In the world of good and evil, Harken has chosen sides, but in the world of normal, everyday life, he has chosen an extreme and dangerous path. He carries a gun, he does drugs (Yage), he kills, and lives detached from a society that has no idea that people like him are even among us.

  To be sure, he fills in where the law fails: he is a vigilante. He is judge, jury and executioner. And there is no guarantee that he is always right or that he, himself will not make a mistake someday and dispatch someone who was totally innocent.

Anthony is not the only “hit-man for the dead” out there. There are others.

If this sounds like something you’d like, you’re going to love this!

Bob Burden, the creative genius of Hitman for the Dead has created a website for the property.  The site has all of the background info you could ask for, art and more.  Oh, and the more includes a 25K word Hitman for the Dead novella that you can download for free!

I hope Burden runs with.  I’d love to see more Hitman for the Dead prose stories and graphic novels.  Fire up the Kickstarter now!

Dark Duet by Eric Beetner / Z-View

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Dark Duet by Eric Beetner

TPB: 224 pages
Publisher: Down and Out Books

Dark Duet  consists of two crime novellas, White Hot Pistol and Blood on Their Hands.  You get two Eric Beetner yarns for the price of one!

First sentence of White Hot Pistol…

Nash remembered the first time he escaped this town.

The Overview of White Hot Pistol:  Beware of Spoilers…

Nash had a plan.  He was going to sneak back into the town that he’d left years before.  He’d then get his sister, Jacy, out and away from her abusive step-father.  It was supposed to be easy…

It should have been easy despite the fact that Nash was wanted for questioning in a homicide and her step-father was the town sheriff.

It could have been easy had Nash and Jacy not stumbled onto a drug deal gone bad.

On the run from the cops and the drug dealer’s crew, with bodies piling up and no hope for help, now nothing would be easy.

—

First sentence of Blood on Their Hands…

Garrett had no idea breaking and entering would be so easy.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Garrett, against his better judgment, joins his two high school buddies when they break into the Smart Mart late one night.  The plan is to scarf some beers, grab some snacks and slip back out.

Things go sideways when the men who own the store show up with the body of the guy they just killed.  As the killers discuss how to dispose of the stiff, the boys make a run for it.  Unfortunately, they’re seen and the chase is on.

What chance do high school kids have against grown killers?  Not much.  Blood on Their Hands takes place in the same town as White Hot Pistol and features a few of the same characters.  Bravo to Beetner for a couple of twists that were logical but totally surprising.

If you like pulp, noir and stories that move, then Dark Duet is for you.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars.

“Point Blank” (2019) / Z-View

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Point Blank (2019)

Director: Joe Lynch

Screenplay: Adam G. Simon based on characters created by Fred Cavayé

Stars: Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie, Christian Cooke, Teyonah Parris and Marcia Gay Harden.

The Pitch: Let’s do an old-fashioned action-buddy movie where the buddies are thrown together and don’t get along.

Tagline: A Hell of a Day. A Hell of a Pair.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Let me say from the start I liked Point Blank more than I thought I would and way more than most folks probably do.

An emergency room nurse (Mackie) finds himself teamed with an on-the-run thug (Grillo) in an effort to save the nurse’s kidnapped wife.   If you enjoy movies like 48hrs, Lethal Weapon and Tango & Cash, then you should be good to go.   I loved Point Blank and look forward to viewing it again.


Rating: 4 of 5 stars.