Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
If you’re not following Sly Stallone’s Official Instagram, you’re missing out on cool updates like this behind-the-scenes video from The Expendables movie that’s filming now.
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Mathew Jackson at Mental Floss came up with 45 Fascinating Facts About James Bond. Here are three that I didn’t know and my thoughts for each…
MANY ACTORS WERE ALMOST JAMES BOND. (Jackson lists: Cary Grant, Richard Burton, Michael Gambon, Burt Reynolds, James Brolin, Sam Neill, and Ewan McGregor as actors who almost played 007. Cary Grant would have worked as a Roger Moore type Bond. I can’t see Richard Burton Sam Neill or Ewan McGregor as 007. I’m not familiar with Michael Gambon. Burt Reynolds would have been an interesting choice. How would they have played Reynolds’ Bond? Ladies man, yes. More comedy? I’d hope not. James Brolin would have made a great looking Bond, but I’ve never heard him do an English accent. ; ) – Craig)
GEORGE LAZENBY SNUCK HIS WAY INTO PLAYING JAMES BOND. (Lazenby was known as more of a model than actor at the time. I love how he went after the part. Lazenby got the 007 clothes and accessories and then snuck into the producers’ office. The only thing to make the story better was if instead of saying, “I heard you’re looking for James Bond,” he had said, “I heard you were looking for me.” – Craig)
IAN FLEMING DIDN’T WANT SEAN CONNERY AS BOND. (Connery was perfect the role and I wonder if they had went with someone else, if the franchise would have taken off. – Craig)
The Bride of Frankenstein by the legendary Basil Gogos.
Anna Swanson at Film School Rejects posted her list of the 10 Best Vampire Movies That Don’t Star Dracula. Her list is a good one. As I thought about my choices for the top 5 (using just her list) I realized that if you ask me again tomorrow the order might change.
As of today, here are my top five and a three others that didn’t make Swanson’s top ten but would have made mine…
30 Days of Night (2007) is an under-rated horror film. I love the slow burn set-up. Strange things happen but no one knows what is coming. When the vampire attacks begin, the overhead shot of the town in chaos is worth the price of admission.
Interview with the Vampire (1994) has grown on me with each new viewing. I still haven’t read the novel but if it is as good as the movie, I shouldn’t put it off. Oh, and has there ever been another vampire movie with the star power of Interview with a Vampire?
Near Dark (1987). A modern western/horror/love story? Yep and it works.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014). A mockumentary about vampire roommates and their day to day (un)life. Sounds terrible, but is truly funny.
Fright Night (1985) walks the line as a horror movie that is funny or a comedy that is scary. Either way it works.
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Here are three movies that didn’t make Swanson’s list but would have made mine…
Salem’s Lot (1979). A tv movie that still works.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Any time you can have a crime and horror film mash-up, count me in.
Blade II (2002). Man, I love this film so much I would have put it in the #1 spot. (Which is even more surprising since I didn’t care for Blade!)
Seek is an award-winning horror short written by Eric Vespe & Aaron Morgan (who also directed it). Keep your eye out for these guys. I can’t wait to see what they could do with a feature!
Heidi and Jordan have been driving all night, and the two estranged sisters aren’t getting along. Amidst this tense atmosphere, they make a stop at a dilapidated roadside park, where Heidi takes a bathroom break. But inside the filthy room, a mischievous inhabitant demands to play a terrifying game.
Directed by Aaron Morgan from a script co-written with Eric Vespe, this short, shivery horror delivers highly effective chills and thrills in its compact runtime, elevated by superb cinematic craftsmanship and a surefire build-up of suspense, tension and ultimately terror.
I like the poster and trailer for Ragdoll. This one looks like a winner.
RAGDOLL Official Trailer
PLOT: Upcoming internationally co-produced thriller series based upon the novel of the same name by Daniel Cole. The series follows the murder of six people who have been dismembered and sewn into the shape of a grotesque body, “The Ragdoll”. As detectives begin to investigate, the killer begins to taunt them.
CAST: Lucy Hale, Ali Cook, Lee Byford
The 355 has a great cast, interesting plot and .cool trailer. Deal me in.
A dream team of formidable female stars come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre in The 355.
When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.
As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the opulent auction houses of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.
The film also stars Édgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train) and Sebastian Stan (Avengers: Endgame).
The 355 is directed by genre-defying filmmaker Simon Kinberg (writer-director-producer of Dark Phoenix, producer of Deadpool and The Martian and writer-producer of the X-Men films). The screenplay is by Theresa Rebeck (NBC’s Smash, Trouble) and Kinberg, from a story by Rebeck. The 355, presented by Universal Pictures in association with FilmNation Entertainment, is produced by Chastain and Kelly Carmichael for Chastain’s Freckle Films and by Kinberg for his Kinberg Genre Films. The film is executive produced by Richard Hewitt (Bohemian Rhapsody), Esmond Ren (Chinese Zodiac) and Wang Rui Huan.
Audrey Fox at /Film came up with her list of The 15 Best Spielberg Protagonists Ranked. You know me and lists. So before you click over, here are my choices for the top 5 and two others that would have made my list, but didn’t make hers.
Indiana Jones — The Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is one of those casting decisions that seems like a no-brainer until we remember that Ford only got the part because Tom Selleck couldn’t make Raiders of the Lost Ark due to his Magnum P.I. commitment.
Quint — Jaws. Robert Shaw had the gravitas and acting chops to ensure that Quint wasn’t a one-dimensional character. We felt safe with Quint running the shark hunt until…
Hooper — Jaws. This was the part that made Richard Dreyfuss a household name. The role required Dreyfuss to be intelligent (but not too much a nerd), humorous (but not off-putting) and a foil for Quint (without alienating the audience). Dreyfuss succeeds on all levels.
John Miller — Saving Private Ryan. Tom Hanks is great at playing an “every man” put in an unusual situation who then rises to the challenge. This role required that and so much more. Hanks has to come off as a strong, thoughtful, brave leader who has the respect of his men but must deal with his own nerves and fears in private.
Oskar Schindler — Schindler’s List. Liam Neeson received a well earned an Oscar nomination for this role.
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Columbo – Murder by the Book. Sure, it is a television episode. I’d say it qualifies as a tv movie. Either way, are we going to leave one of the all-time great protagonists off this list?
Sergeant Horvath – Saving Private Ryan. This could be Tom Sizemore’s best role. He plays the dedicated Sgt. who has his Captain’s back even when he doesn’t agree with him.
Today is Howard Chaykin’s birthday, I’ve been a Chaykin fan for decades. His work on Cody Starbuck in Star*Reach won me over. Everything that Howard Chaykin writes or draws entertains. I hope his birthday is a great one.
The poster for Red Stone is pretty generic, but the trailer has me sold. Deal me in.
In Red Stone, a dangerous hitman is tasked with hunting down a teenager who witnessed the murder of his older brother at the hands of a ruthless Southern crime lord. The hired gun must track down the boy before either the rival henchmen or the F.B.I. find him first. As the hours tick down, the hitman begins to question his deadly ways and must choose which side he belongs to. Starring Neal McDonough and Michael Cudlitz, the movie will release on December 3.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City doesn’t look bad.
Returning to the origins of the massively popular RESIDENT EVIL franchise, fan and filmmaker Johannes Roberts brings the games to life for a whole new generation of fans. In RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY, once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland…with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.
Written & Directed by: Johannes Roberts
Bill Sienkiewicz’s riff on The Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of the best I’ve seen. Bill makes the creature his own with subtle changes which make the monster more menacing. Look at those claws on his webbed hands. Sometimes artists make the creature’s face look a bit funny with the fish lips. Not Bill. I would love to see a Creature from the Black Lagoon story drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz!
You can see more of Bill Sienkiewicz’s art at his website or on his Twitter.
Kagen, the Damned doesn’t sound like something I’d normally read, let alone promote, but here I am talking it up. That’s because Jonathan Maberry is the writer.
Normally I’m a crime fiction, action/adventure reader with short journeys into horror. Maberry has taken me on trips through all of these genres as well as many I usually avoid. I trust Maberry to tell a good tale because he always does. So let’s see what Kagen the Damned is about…
Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard charged with protection of the royal children. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins.
Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, taking down as many of this enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper –the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him magic – long banished from the world―returns in strange and terrifying ways.
Kagen hears a rumor that the royal twins are still alive, and being raised for dark sacrificial purposes. Kagen makes it his mission to hunt for the royal children, fulfill his oath to protect them, and train them to begin a campaign to reclaim the throne. Kagen’s quest takes him to strange lands where he encounters the supernatural in all its many bizarre and terrifying aspects.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, you can pre-order Kagen the Damed here. I’m willing to take the journey and perhaps you’ll join me.
Rocky and Sly Stallone fans will want to keep an eye out for the November issue of Ringside Seat magazine. Rocky‘s 45 anniversary gets the cover and a feature story. For more information here is Ringside Seat’s website and Ringside Seat’s Twitter.
Joe Lansdale fans, especially fans of his Hap & Leonard series are excited to learn that all three will be back on March 21, 2022 with Born for Trouble. Here’s the synopsis…
When you meet him, Hap Collins seems just like a good ol’ boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal was Leonard Pine: black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Together, they have sort of found their way as partners in crime-solving―and at least as often, as hired muscle.
As Hap wrestles with his new identity as a husband and father, and Leonard finds love in a long-term relationship, the boys continue their crime-solving shenanigans. They grapple with a stolen stuffed dog, uncover the sordid secret of a missing bookmobile, compete in a warped version of the Most Dangerous Game, regroup after Hap’s visit to the psychologist goes terribly awry, and much more.
So sit yourself back and settle in―Born for Trouble is East Texas mayhem as only the master mojo storyteller Lansdale could possibly tell.
Joe Landale will provide the intro: “The Boys” and then we will get the following short stories: Coco Butternut, Hoodoo Harry, Sad Onions, The Briar Patch Boogie and Cold Cotton.
Deal me in. Born for Trouble is available for pre-order now.
