Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Sly Stallone as Rambo is one of the pieces I got from Dean Beattie when he opened up a commission list. I jumped on board, got this headsketch, a Rocky piece, a Jack Carter & John Wick piece and two of his sketchbooks. If you’d like to see more of Dean’s art you can at his webpage or his Instagram.
aka Charlie Sheen (2025)
Director: Andrew Renzi
Stars: Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Jon Cryer, Denise Richards, Chris Tucker and Heidi Fleiss.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Charlie Sheen bares all in a two-part documentary that covers his life from a small child to now. Sheen discusses his childhood, movie career, being the highest paid actor on television ($2 million per episode) as well as repeatedly bottoming out several times along the way due to drug and alcohol abuse.
Sheen along with Sean Penn (childhood friend), Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men co-star), Chris Tucker (movie co-star), Denise Richards (ex-wife), Heidi Fleiss (famous Hollywood Madam to the Stars) and others tell of Sheen’s highs and lows. Nothing is off limits and Charlie discusses many topics for the first time.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Charlie Sheen had it all. And lost it several times due to his self-destructive and addictive personality. It is amazing that Sheen was able to come back so many times. He seems to be in a good place now and perhaps it is due to his willingness to open up about his life. Sheen has been clean for seven years at this point. Hopefully he won’t relapse.
aka Charlie Sheen (2025) rates 5 of 5 stars.
Charlie Griak watched First Blood for the first time. Here’s part of what he said about the film…
Just watched “First Blood” for the first time and was really surprised by how much deeper and emotionally complex it was than I expected—a great movie and a great performance by Sylvester Stallone!
Click on the link and see Charlie’s complete statement and more of his amazing art.
Crom! That is a great Conan by Aaron Lopresti!
BLUE MOON by Lee Child
First sentence…
The city looked small on a map of America.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
The Greyhound bus was about to pull into town. Reacher, sitting several seats behind, notices an old man with a thick bank envelope sticking out of his pocket. A seat ahead of Reacher, a greasy haired man was also eyeing the packet. It wouldn’t take a crystal ball to see what was going to happen when the senior citizen exited the bus. So Reacher decided to get off as well.
Sure enough, when the time was right (or so he thought) the greaser made his move. Reacher ended the robbery but not before the old timer was knocked to the ground. Reacher made sure the would-be thief went down too. The creep would wake up with bruisers and maybe a little more respect for his elders.
As Reacher handed the envelope back to the old man, he realized the geezer was carrying $15,000 or maybe more. It turns out the old guy was in debt to some very bad people. The old guy’s daughter had cancer. Insurance was slow to pay and the cancer was fast-moving. So the old man borrowed from Albanian gangsters. The excessive interest was causing finanacial ruin to the old man and his wife. They’d soon lose their house.
Reacher decides to intervene. He’s pretty sure he can square things with the loansharks. That’s before he learns that the Ukranian gangsters have an uneasy true with a Albanian gang. That gives Reacher an idea. If it works, the old couple will be out of debt and a lot of gangsters will be dead. If his plan fails, the old couple might be killed. Worse still, Reacher would suffer a slow torturous death.
But once in a Blue Moon… everything goes just right. Perhaps this will be one of those times.
+++
BLUE MOON is the 24th in the Jack Reacher series. All the Reacher novels are fun rides. BLUE Moon is one of the best.
Rating:
California King (2025)
Director: Eli Stern
Screenplay: Eli Stern
Stars: Travis Bennett, Jimmy Tatro, Victoria Justice, Joel McHale, Melanie Haynes and Kevin Changaris.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Perry is excited to learn that Lynette, his high school girlfriend, the love of his life has broken up with her boyfriend. Perry wants to win her back.
But how?
With the help of his buddy and Lynette’s brother a scheme is born. Perry will save Lynette’s brother from kidnappers. That’s right. Kidnappers. Perry, his friend and Lynette’s brother will fake the kidnapping and rescue.
What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
California King is tries too hard to be hip. I usually give movies at least 30 minutes before I give up. With California King I lasted 21 minutes. Your mileage may vary.
California King (2025) rates 1 of 5 stars.
Whoa! Check out the teaser for The Rip starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck & Directed by Joe Carnahan.
Deal me in!
Upon discovering millions in cash in a derelict stash house, trust among a team of Miami cops begins to fray. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.
Starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck & Directed by Joe Carnahan.
The Rip is only on Netflix, January 16.
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
Director: Eugene Forde
Screenplay: Charles Belden. Jerome Cady story by Art Arthur Robert Ellis, Helen Logan
Stars: Warner Oland, Keye Luke, J. Edward Bromberg, Leon Ames, Marc Lawrence, Douglas Fowley and Lon Chaney Jr..
Tagline: DEATH STRIKES TWICE IN MANHATTAN’S GAYEST SPOTS!
The Plot…
Charlie Chan (Oland) and his son Lee (Luke) are in pulled into the murder investigation of a woman who knew political secrets and had threatened to tell all.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Lon Chaney Jr, appears uncredited in one of his first roles.
This was Warner Oland’s 15th and second-t0-last outing as Charlie Chan.
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937) rates 2 of 5 stars.
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have a Marv by Dave Fowler.
HATCHET GIRLS: A HAP AND LEONARD NOVEL by Joe R. Lansdale
First sentences…
“Wait a minute, now. You’re saying you want us to deal with a pig problem?” Leonard said.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Hap and Leonard agree to help a poor single mother raising several children. She has a pig problem. When Hap and Leonard say they’ll take care of it, they got much more than imagined. Turns out the hog was attacking the woman and her kids every chance it got. When Hap and Leonard arrived, the porker attacked them too.
Never ones to back down from a challenge, Hap and Leonard finally trap the hog. In doing so they discover the woman’s neighbors are making meth and the piggie knows how to access the stash. No wonder the oinker was so hyped-up all the time.
The cops are called. An investigation finds no only the make-shift meth lab, but bodies buried in the back yard. This brings Hap and Leonard smack dab in the middle of drug dealers, crooked cops, a mysterious crime boss who is called the Benefactor and worse still, a gang of women looking to take over the area’s drug trade. The women, are smart, tough and ruthless. Every one of them is a cold-blooded killer, who uses a hatchet to finish the job.
Unfortunately for Hap and Leonard, they’ve become targets for all involved.
+++
HATCHET GIRLS is the fourteenth in the series. If you like crime stories with the perfect mix of humor, action and mystery, then HATCHET GIRLS (and all of the Hap and Leonard tales) are for you!
Rating:
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – The poster and trailer are Here!
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus.
Starring Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
When you think film noir, Out of the Past has to be on the short list. This cool alt poster was created by Erik J. Kreffel. You can see more of Kreffel’s art at his website or by following his Twitter stream.
J. Todd Scott’s SCAR IN THE SKY drops this coming Friday. Here’s the lowdown…
Lightning never strikes twice —until it does.
A killer is hunting down survivors of lightning strikes in this dark and twisting thriller, perfect for fans of J. H. Markert and Richard Chizmar.
Everything changed for Andi Ellis when she was struck by lightning and her heart stopped. Andi was resuscitated, but she was never the same—electronics strangely malfunction in her presence: clocks can’t keep time; batteries swiftly die. And while many lightning strike victims are left with temporary “lightning tree” markings, on her they are permanent scars.
Years later Andi, her eight-year-old daughter, and a fellow lightning strike survivor have fled Texas and Andi’s dangerous ex to go off the grid in a strange and secluded desert community.
Meanwhile, two private investigators pursue a US senator’s missing daughter who they find too late. When searching for information on the strange lightning scars on the girl’s body, they find themselves pulled into an FBI investigation—people who have been struck by lightning are being murdered.
As the death toll mounts, the task force traces the killer farther west—closer and closer to Andi Ellis and her daughter, and the haven she’s carefully created.
Thriller and horror readers will be enthralled by the dark turns in SCAR IN THE SKY.
SCAR IN THE SKY paperback
SCAR IN THE SKY hardback
