Marv by Marc Lapierre!
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 Marv by Marc Lapierre.
“The Outlaw Josey Wales” Alt Poster by Yan Quinet
I’m diggin’ Yan Quinet’s alt poster for The Outlaw Josey Wales starring Clint Eastwood. Quinet is selling two variants in a very limited edition. You know what to do if you want one.
“Rolling Thunder” (1977) starring William Devane & Tommy Lee Jones / Z-View
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Director: John Flynn
Screenplay: Paul Schrader, Heywood Gould; story by Paul Schrader
Stars: William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes, James Best, Lisa Blake Richards, Luke Askew, James Victor, Cassie Yates and Dabney Coleman.
Tagline: CHARLES RANE: EXECUTIONER! The war had turned him into a machine for murder. He had nothing to live for…except revenge
The Plot…
After seven years in a prisoner of war camp, Major Charles Rane (Devane) returns home. The years a prisoner were brutal. Rane was repeatedly tortured. Adjustment to his new freedom will be difficult. Making it worse, his son, who was a baby when Rane was captured, doesn’t remember him. His wife now loves another man,
Although his hometown considers him a hero, Rane doesn’t feel like one. At a ceremony honoring his return, Rane is presented with a new Cadillac and 2,555 silver dollars – one for every day he was captive, plus one for luck. Later three lowlifes break into Rane’s house to steal the money. They torture Rane but he refuses to tell them where he hid the cash. Even when they force Rane’s hand into a garbage disposal, he won’t talk.
When Rane’s wife and son enter the house, the thugs threaten them. Rane’s son tells where the silver dollars are hidden. The thieves then shoot Rane, his wife and son.
Only Rane survives. He awakens in a hospital, His mangled hand had to be removed, replaced by a hook. Rane reaches out to Johnny Vohden (Jones), another soldier from his unit that also was a POW with him. Rane plans to get revenge on three murderers who killed his son, wife and left him for dead. Johnny doesn’t hesitate to join him.
Major Charles Rane has come home to war.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I’m not a fan of the movie’s poster shown above. It makes Rolling Thunder look like a cheap horror film.
Paul Schrader who co-wrote the film originally had Rane written as a “white-trash racist”. He wanted Rane’s killing spree to be metaphor for Vietnam. The rewritten screenplay takes out that aspect and makes Rane a hero.
James Best known as the bumbling Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard plays one of the three murderers. If you only know him from The Dukes, it’s odd seeing him play a tough guy thug. In Rolling Thunder, Best’s character always seems to be sweating. He achieved his effect by placing ice cubes under his hat.
Rolling Thunder (1977) earns 3 of 5 stars.
4 Pieces of Concept Art for “King Kong” (1933)!
Here are 4 pieces of concept art for King Kong (1933). Looks like the big ape and a few bare breasts helped sell the concept. If you’d like to see bigger versions of each piece click on the source below.
Source: @realwackyguy
“The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” (1973) / Z-View
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)
Director: Nathan Juran
Screenplay: Bob Homel
Stars: Kerwin Mathews, Robert J. Wilke, George Gaynes, David S. Cass Sr., Tim Haldeman
Tagline: Possible in this day and age? Those who didn’t believe… are dead!
The Plot…
It’s Ritchie’s weekend with his dad. They decide to camp out. That night while walking back to the cabin, they are attacked by a werewolf. Dad is bitten, but manages to impale the creature. When police arrive they find a dead man on the fence. Later when Dad starts acting strange, Ritchie knows his dad is becoming a werewolf. Even worse no one believes him.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Like a bad 1970s tv movie, but we don’t even get the benefit of commercials.
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973) earns 1 of 5 stars.
“The Equalizer 3” (2023) directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Denzel Washington & Dakota Fanning / Z-View
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay: Richard Wenk based on The Equalizer by Michael Sloan, Richard Lindheim
Stars: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning
Tagline: Justice knows no borders.
The Plot…
Robert McCall (Washington) finds himself in the small Italian town of Altamonte while he recovers from a gunshot wound, McCall’s road to recovery is a slow one. As time passes, McCall is accepted and treated with kindness by the locals. He begins to think that Altamonte may become his new home. McCall loves the pace and peacefulness.
When a crime boss and his gang begin to move in on the town businesses, McCall decides to get involved.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Equalizer 3 is the fifth teaming of Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua. Their other collaborations are Training Day (2001), The Equalizer (2014), The Magnificent Seven (2016) and The Equalizer 2 (2018).
The Equalizer 3 is the second teaming of Denzel Washington and his co-star Dakota Fanning. They first appeared together in Man on Fire (2004).
The Equalizer 3 is a worthy follow-up to the first two films.
The Equalizer 3 (2023) earns 4 of 5 stars.
“Bad Hombres” starring Hemky Madera, Thomas Jane, Luke Hemsworth, Tyrese Gibson, Nick Cassavettes and Diego Tinoco – Two Posters & a Trailer are Here!
Here we have two poster and a trailer for Bad Hombres starring Hemky Madera, Thomas Jane, Luke Hemsworth, Tyrese Gibson, Nick Cassavettes and Diego Tinoco. It premieres January 26th!
RIP: Lynne Marta
It has been announced that Lynn Marta died January 11, 2024, from cancer. Ms. Marta was 78.
Lynn Marta began her professional acting career with a guest spot on the television show, Gidget starring Sally Field. Throughout the rest of her nearly 40 year career, Ms. Marta appeared on television and in feature films.
Some of Lynn Marta’s television appearances include: Gidget; The Monkees; Then Came Bronson; Love American Style (18 episodes); Dan August; Cannon (tv movie); Mod Squad; The Roookies; Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law; The F.B.I. (4 episodes); Gunsmoke; Assignment: Vienna; Cannon (2 episodes); Genesis II; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Insight (2 episodes); Kojak; Adams of Eagle Lake (2 episodes); Medical Center (4 episodes); The Streets of San Francisco (2 episodes); Barnaby Jones (4 episodes); Starsky and Hutch (4 episodes); The Rockford Files; CHiPs; The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo; Charlie’s Angels (3 episodes); Vega$ (2 episodes); Trapper John, M.D. (2 episodes); Matt Houston; Knight Rider; Designing Women (2 episodes); Law & Order; The Young and the Restless; ER; Days of Our Lives (24 episodes) and American Dreams.
Some of Lynn Marta’s feature film appearances include: Red Sky at Morning; Joe Kidd; 43: The Richard Petty Story; Footloose and The First Power.
I’m not sure when I first saw Lynn Marta. It was probably in her appearance on The Monkees. She sure did act in many of the shows I regularly watched. What a career she had!
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Joyce Randolph’s family, friends and fans.
FRONT SIGHT: THREE SWAGGER NOVELLAS by Stephen Hunter is Coming!
FRONT SIGHT: THREE SWAGGER NOVELLAS by Stephen Hunter will drop on January 23, 2024. Here’s the lowdown…
This collection of three interconnected novellas follows each generation of the iconic Swagger family—grandfather Charles, father Earl, and fan favorite hero Bob Lee—from New York Times bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and “true master at the pinnacle of his craft” (Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Stephen Hunter.
In The Night Train, Charles Swagger is on the hunt for notorious bank robber Baby Face Nelson when he traces a tip to the Chicago stock yards. While there, he’s brutally assaulted and discovers that the madman who attacked him is involved in a nearby narcotics ring with plans to spread its new drug to the residents of the disenfranchised 7th District of Chicago. Worse, this is no ordinary drug—it makes some users happy, drives others insane, and kills many of the rest. Will Charles be able to stop the ring before it’s too late? Or is he in over his head among the dark streets of Chicago?
Earl Swagger investigates a violent bank robbery in Johnny Tuesday that left two dead and a fortune missing in small-town Maryland. At every turn, however, he’s met with silence and hostility from the townsfolk, which makes sense when he uncovers municipal corruption, working-class exploitation, gang politics, jaded aristocrats, scheming gamblers, a hitman, a femme fatale. And a whole bunch of men with guns. Luckily, Earl has brought his own guns in this unputdownable noir mystery.
Finally, in Five Dolls for the Gut Hook, a thirty-two-year-old Bob Lee Swagger is back from Vietnam nearly broken over good men lost for nothing. He’s turned hard down that whiskey road to hell. But one afternoon he’s wakened from his nightmares by two men with a problem. As nearby Hot Springs tries to retool its image from gambling paradise to family resort, a butcher has begun to prey on the city’s young women, a figure straight out of a horror movie. Hot Springs Homicide is baffled. “I’m a sniper,” says Bob, “not a detective.”
“But,” comes the reply, “you are the son and grandson of two of the greatest detectives this state has ever produced.” On that premise alone, Bob takes up the hunt for a killer who not only kills but desecrates. Using his sniper’s mind, Swagger is able to see things others have missed, drawing ever closer to a showdown. But equally, we understand, Bob Lee Swagger is hunting his own salvation.
Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only (2023) / Z-View
Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only (2023)
Director: Rashidi Natara Harper
Stars: Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Cedric The Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, Keith Robinson, Tony Rock and Wanda Sykes.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Kevin Hart and Chris Rock take us behind the scenes and back to their humble starts in comedy as they prepare for a series of New York shows.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I was expecting to see some of the show highlights featuring the comedy of Kevin Hart and Chris Rock. That’s not the focus of this documentary which instead features each comedian (and others) talking about the rise to the top.
Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only (2023) earns 3 of 5 stars.
THE CHOSEN – NEW ART RELEASE From Official MGM ROCKY Artist John Rivoli www.iconsinart.com
The moment Rocky is CHOSEN to make that enlightening journey.
HOUSES OF THE UNHOLY by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is Coming!
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips next collaboration has been announced. HOUSES OF THE UNHOLY will drop on August 13, 2024. Here’s the lowdown…
HOUSES OF THE UNHOLY is a riveting horror thrill-ride from bestselling creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the award-winning team behind CRIMINAL (soon to be a TV series on Amazon Prime), RECKLESS, NIGHT FEVER and WHERE THE BODY WAS.
An FBI agent from the cult crime beat and a woman with a past linked to the Satanic Panic are drawn into a terrifying hunt for an insane killer hiding in the shadows of the underworld. Can you ever escape your past, or are all your bad decisions just more ghosts to haunt you, wherever you go?
“Asteroid City” (2023) written and directed by Wes Anderson / Z-View
Asteroid City (2023)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenplay: Wes Anderson; story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Liev Schreiber, Steve Carell, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Rita Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie and Matt Dillon.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Set up as a television documentary of a play written by a famous playwright, Asteroid City follows the story of the play as well as the making of it. The play is in color and widescreen. Set in an imagined 1950s where futuristic and retro designs are merged. The behind the scenes “making of” is in black and white, television ratio.
The play concerns the happenings at a Science convention for children being held in Asteroid City. When a UFO appears, the military gets involved.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I was attracted to Asteroid City because of it’s amazing cast and the look of the trailer. It is interesting at the start, but when the movie was over I felt like I’d seen an experimental play that fell short. It’s not terrible and it held my attention, but left me feeling flat. Your mileage may vary.
Asteroid City (2023) earns 2 of 5 stars.
“The Gentlemen” – A New Series from Guy Ritchie. The Official Teaser is Here!
The Gentlemen. A new series from Guy Ritchie. The Official Teaser is Here!
Crime meets caviar!
Meet our new class of criminals in The Gentlemen. A new drama series from Guy Ritchie, inspired by the original film.
The Gentlemen arrives this March only on Netflix
