THE GIRL WITH A CLOCK FOR A HEART by Peter Swanson / Z-View

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The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson

First sentence…

It was dusk, but as he turned onto the rutted driveway he could make out the perimeter of yellow tape that still circled the property.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

George Foss is having a drink in his favorite tavern with his on-again off-again girlfriend when he sees a beautiful woman seated at the bar.  The woman looks like an older version of George’s first love from his freshman year in college twenty years ago. The first love who suddenly disappeared without a trace.  The first love who may have been a murderer.

It turns out that the woman is truly George’s first love, Liana Dector.  Liana says she’s back because she needs a favor. Liana stole money, a lot of money, from a rich man. The man hired some terrible people to get it back and to teach her a lesson.  Liana wants George to return the cash she has left and ask the man to call off the dogs.  Despite everything, including that Liana could be a cold blooded murderer, George feels compelled to help her.  Maybe he’ll learn why she left all those years ago, if she truly loved him… and if she still does.

George’s decision to help Liana, puts him in way over his head.  Some very bad people now have their sights on George and the police want him for questioning in a murder.  Did Liana set him up or are they both victims?

Peter Swanson has created a roller-coaster ride in the tradition of Double Indemnity or Body Heat.  Swanson has created a page-turner that should satisfy both the mystery lover and noir fan.  The Girl with a Clock for a Heart easily earns 4 of 5 stars.

The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Hardcover
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Paperback
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart Kindle

“Last Seen Alive” (2022) Starring Gerard Butler / Z-View

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Last Seen Alive (2022)

Directors:  Brian Goodman

Screenplay:  Marc Frydman

Stars:  Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby, Ethan Embry, Michael Irby, Bruce Altman, Dani Deetté, Brian Scannell, David Kallaway, Alphonso A’Qen-Aten Jackson, Brice Anthony Heller and Robert Walker Branchaud 

Tagline:  He’ll stop at nothing to get her back.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Will Spann (Butler) is driving his wife, Lisa (Alexander) to her parents’ house.  Will and Lisa are going through a rough patch.  Although Lisa cheated on Will, he still wants the marriage to work. She wants time to think things through.  When Will stops for gas, Lisa goes in to get some water.

When Lisa doesn’t return, Will looks in and around the gas station, but Lisa is no where to be found.  The man at the register doesn’t remember seeing her.  Will phones the police, but a woman missing for less than an hour isn’t a priority.  When Will discovers that the man at the register lied about security cameras not working, he discovers that Lisa was kidnapped!  But by who?  And why?  What’s worse is that she was last seen alive with Will!

Last Seen Alive has a few things going for it.  Gerald Butler can carry a film and is believable as a desperate husband willing to do whatever it takes to get his wife back.  Russell Hornsby is a welcome addition, as a cop who may not have Will’s best interests at heart. Jaimie Alexander doesn’t have much to do, but she’s good in her role.  The problem is her character’s not real likable.  It’s hard to see why Will is working so hard to keep the marriage together.

Last Seen Alive runs just 96 minutes, but seems longer.  Part 0f that comes from the scenes with Will driving to/from and at Lisa’s parents’ house.  Then there’s a repeat of a scene with Hornsby that plays at the start of the film and again near the end.  Plus the reason Lisa was kidnapped, and set up to be killed gets intermingled with knuckleheads running a meth lab out in the woods and seems overly complicated.

Last Seen Alive isn’t a bad film.  I liked it, but was expecting better.

Last Seen Alive earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Lodger” (1927) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock / Z-View

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The Lodger (1927)

Directors:  Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay:  Eliot Stannard based on The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Stars:  Ivor Novello and Alfred Hitchcock

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

A serial killer who calls himself The Avenger has killed seven blonde haired women.  He strikes late at night and police have few clues.

When a tall handsome stranger rents a room from Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, they think nothing of it… until he begins to display some strange habits.  He asks that the pictures of blonde women in his room be removed.  He quietly leaves his room at night and returns before morning.  And what is in the satchel that he keeps locked in a cabinet?  Could their lodger be The Avenger?

Alfred Hitchcock wanted The Lodger to be his first full sound film, but it ended up being his last silent feature.  The Lodger is also the first film to contain one of Hitchcock’s famous cameos!  The Lodger features some animated title cards and inventive shots (the Lodger pacing the floor seen from below as if the floor became invisible; the Lodger descending a spiral staircase and the only thing we see of him is his hand on the banister as he goes down, etc.).  Hitchcock considers The Lodger his first suspense film.

The Lodger earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Bunker” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The Bunker looks like it could be a winner.

Trapped in a bunker during World War I, a group of soldiers are faced with an ungodly presence that slowly turns them against each other. As paranoia and fear grow between them, the men experience the true hell of war.

Directed by: Adrian Langley
Written by: Michael Huntsman
Produced by: James Huntsman, Patrick Rizotti
Cast: Luke Baines (UNDER THE SILVER LAKE), Sean Cullen (Netfilx’s Mindhunter), Roger Clark (Red Dead Redemption II), Julian Feder (A BOY CALLED PO), Kayla Radomski (ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD), and Eddie Ramos (TNT’s Animal Kingdom), with theater veteran Patrick Moltane as the volatile “Lieutenant Turner.”

“Is That Black Enough for You?” – The Poster and Trailer Are Here! 

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Is That Black Enough for You? – The poster and trailer are here.  Netflix continues to kill it with documentaries.  I’m looking forward to this one.

How did one decade change American cinema – and culture – forever? Elvis Mitchell explores the history of Black representation and the cultural impact of witnessing unapologetic Blackness. #IsThatBlackEnoughForYou

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“Stand by Me” (1986) / Z-View

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Stand by Me (1986)

Directors:  Rob Reiner

Screenplay:  Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon based on The Body by Stephen King

Stars:  Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Casey Siemaszko, Gary Riley, Bradley Gregg, Marshall Bell, Frances Lee McCain, Bruce Kirby, Richard Dreyfuss and John Cusack

Tagline:  For some, it’s the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life. But for everyone, it’s the time that memories are made of.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

It’s Labor Day Weekend 1959 and four young friends learn the location of the dead body of a missing boy.  Telling their parents that they’re going to a sleepover, the boys plan to secretly walk the 20 or 30 miles to “find” the body and then notify the police.  They believe they’ll be seen as heroes.  What they don’t know is that a group of older thugish boys have the same plan…

Stand by Me is lighting in a bottle — a great adapted screenplay with the right director and a perfect cast.  There’s an old saying, “It’s not the destination, but the journey.”  Stand by Me is proof of that pearl of wisdom.  As the boys travel to see the body, we learn about their lives through emotional incidents of drama, comedy, fear and tension.  Stand by Me should resonate with the 12 year old in all of us.  It’s a classic.

Stand by Me earns 5 of 5 stars.

“The Lair” Directed by Neil Marshall – The Trailer is Here!

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The Lair, based on the the trailer below just jumped on my must-see list!  Deal me in!

THE LAIR In Theaters, On Demand, and Digital October 28th, 2022

Starring Charlotte Kirk, Jonathan Howard, Jamie Bamber

Directed by Neil Marshall

When Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair is shot down over Afghanistan, she finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made biological weapons – half human, half alien – are awakened.

THERE AND BACK by Eric Beetner is Coming!

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Eric Beetner’s new book, There and Back, has been announced for a November 1, 2022 release.  Here’s the lowdown…

A WILDERNESS RETREAT GONE WRONG.

When a junior executive retreat at a tech company ends in horror, only five of the eight who went out come back. As the survivors try to adjust to life back home, they also grapple with a powerful secret. What really happened out there can never see the light of day.

Told in alternating timelines, the harrowing events of those weeks in the woods come to life. And while it’s clear that returning to life as they knew it will be impossible, these survivors of tragedy begin to suspect that they might not make it much longer.

Is it true what they say… Does the truth really set you free?

Eric Beetner is required reading.  Pre-orders are available now.

There and Back Paperback

There and Back Kindle

“Tales of the Walking Dead” Season 1 (2022) / Z-View

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Tales of the Walking Dead Season 1 (2022)

Directors:  Ron Underwood (Ep. 1);Michael E. Satrazemis (Eps. 2 – 5);Haifaa al-Mansour (Ep. 4); Deborah Kampmeier (Ep.6)

Writers:  Maya Goldsmith & Ben Sokolowski (Ep.1);Kari Drake (Ep.2); Channing Powell (Eps.3, 5); Ahmadu Garba (Ep. 4); Lindsey Villarreal (Ep.6)

Stars:  Anthony Edwards, Parker Posey, Terry Crews, Danny Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Poppy Liu, Lauren Glazier, Kevin L. Johnson  and Embeth Davidtz

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Tales of the Walking Dead is an anthology series that takes place in the world of The Walking Dead.  Each episode is a self-contained story with no continuing characters.  This series sometimes ventures into different horror subgenres (time-loop, a haunted house/witch, etc.) which is refreshing.  I enjoyed all the episodes, but even if you find one lacking, the next is something different.

My favorites were:

1. “Evie / Joe” starring Olivia Munn and Terry Crews

4 “Amy / Dr. Everett” starring Poppy Liu and Anthony Edwards

5 “Davon” starring Jessie T. Usher

I hope we get a season 2.

Tales of the Walking Dead, Season 1 earns 4 of 5 stars.

“King for a Day” (1934) Starring Bill Robinson / Z-View

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King for a Day (1934)

Director:  Roy Mack

Writer:  A. Dorian Otvos, Eddie Moran

Stars:  Bill Robinson, Ernest Whitman and Limehouse Brown

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Bill Green (Robinson) is a talented tap dancer, but Mr. Brown (Whitman) won’t give him an audition.  Green comes up with a plan when he learns that Brown loves to play craps.  It’s a gamble that could make him King for a Day.

King for a Day is a short that has comedy, dancing, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

King for a Day earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The System” Starring Tyrese Gibson & Terrence Howard – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I like the poster and trailer for The System starring Tyrese Gibson, the always good Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven and Lil Yachty.

When a young soldier (Tyrese Gibson), newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison to investigate what is really going on behind the scenes. When he discovers an underground prisoner fighting ring, the warden forces him to compete. In order to win his freedom, he must fight to stay alive as well as take down the warden’s corrupt system.

CAST: Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Jeremy Piven, Lil Yachty

DIRECTOR: Dallas Jackson

WRITER: Dallas Jackson

RUNTIME: 97 Minutes

RATING: R for violence, language throughout and some drug material.

“A Gasoline Wedding” (1918) Starring Harold Lloyd / Z-View

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A Gasoline Wedding (1918)

Director:  Alfred J. Goulding

Writer:  H.M. Walker

Stars:  Harold Lloyd, ‘Snub’ Pollard and Bebe Daniels

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Harold and a rich man’s daughter are in love and wish to be married, but her father wants her to marry Angus McCheapskate.  A plan is in place and it’s a race to the preacher where there will be two weddings!

A Gasoline Wedding is a Harold Lloyd short.

A Gasoline Wedding earns 2 of 5 stars.