“Point Blank” (2019) / Z-View

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.

The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott / Z-View

The Far Empty by J. Todd Scott

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

First sentence…

My father has killed three men.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

J. Todd Scott pulls us in from the first sentence and proceeds to unfold his story from the perspective of believable characters with a slow burn to a dramatic conclusion that leaves us satisfied and yet hoping for more. (Rest easy, more stories are coming about those who survive.)

The Far Empty is a modern day western-noir wrapped around a mystery (mysteries) with enough action and suspense to satisfy the most critical reader.

 When Chris Cherry, a new deputy in Murfee, Texas, finds the handcuffed, skeletal remains of a body in a remote area not far from the Mexico/Texas border, he starts an investigation.  It’s an investigation that will uncover secrets best left hidden and may cost him his life.

The Far Empty hooked me from the first sentence.  I loved every page and give it my highest recommendation.  J. Todd Scott is the real deal.

Rating:

RIP – Stephen Verona

Stephen Verona died on Saturday after a year and a half long battle with lung cancer.  Readers of this site probably know Verona best as the Producer, Co-Writer and Director of Lords of Flatbush, but Verona was much more than that.

Verona got his start creating commercials.  He met and became friends with John Lennon which led to Verona getting to animate the Beatles song I Feel Fine.  Next came a music short with Barbara Streisand.  He went on to work with Natalie Cole, Chicago, Simon & Garfunkel and many others.

Verona was a screenwriter, an award-winning  director of feature films, television episodes and specials, an  an award-winning painter and photographer.  A renaissance man, indeed.

The Hollywood Reporter posted that “When Stallone learned that Verona was ill, he sent him an email saying that his career would not have been the same without him.”  The same could be said for many other celebrities.

Had Stephen Verona only been known as the talent behind Lords of Flatbush, it would have been worth noting here, but I hope fans know he was so much more.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stephen Verona’s family, friends and fans.

The Best (and Worst) States for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse!

If a zombie apocalypse breaks out, are you living in a state that provides a good chance of survival?  If you want to find out, CableTV.com has the answers.  They looked at each “state’s agriculture, weapon ownership, solar energy, and climate.”  They then ranked states from 1 (most likely to survive) to 4 (least likely to survive).

Since I live in Florida (ranked a 2), my odds are pretty good.  If I went back to my birth state of Indiana (ranked a 1), they’d be even better.

 If you click over to The 10 Best States for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse at Mental Floss, you’ll get even more info.

“The King’s Man” Trailer is Here!

Here’s the trailer to The King’s Man.

In 2020, they will become kings. Watch the new teaser trailer for The King’s Man now. See the film in theatres February 14, 2020.

As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Based on the Comic Book “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons
Produced by: Matthew Vaughn, David Reid, Adam Bohling
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, with Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance

50 Facts About the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

In honor of the mission to put the first man on the moon’s 50th anniversary, Mental Floss posted 50 Facts About the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. THE APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUTS WERE ODDLY CALM DURING LIFTOFF.
The average resting heart rate of an adult human is somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm), depending on the individual’s age, size, heart conditions, and other factors. Throw a little excitement into the mix and one’s heart is likely to beat much faster. Yet the Apollo 11 astronauts, whose heart rates were monitored throughout the expedition, remained surprisingly normal. At liftoff, Armstrong was the most excited of the bunch with a rate of 110 bpm. Collins, meanwhile, was clocked at 99, while a clearly calm Aldrin logged a rate of just 88 bpm.

32. ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO LOCK THEMSELVES OUT OF THE MODULE.
If their heart rates were any indication, Armstrong and Aldrin were pretty calm, cool, and collected when they landed on the Moon. And it’s a good thing: Had they been overwhelmed by the cosmic wonder of it all, they could have easily locked themselves out of their lunar module, as Eagle’s door had no outer handle.

45. ARMSTRONG, ALDRIN, AND COLLINS WERE QUARANTINED FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS UPON THEIR RETURN TO EARTH.
On July 24, the Apollo 11 crew reentered Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after more than a week in space. In order to ensure the men hadn’t brought back any sort of weird Moon diseases or other microbes, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were quickly placed into a mobile quarantine unit, which was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. They were released from quarantine on August 10, 1969.