Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” [Season 5, Episode 32] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” [Season 5, Episode 32]
Original Air Date: May 8, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Mike Korologos

Starring: John Dehner, Stanley Adams, J. Pat O’Malley.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Mr. Garrity [Dehner] arrives in the western town of Happiness promising to raise beloved dead family and friends from their local graveyard.  Folks think Garrity is  con man until he revives a dead dog.

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15 Facts About Clint Eastwood That Will Make Your Day

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Facts About Clint Eastwood That Will Make Your Day.  Here are three of my favorites…

5. HE HAS JAMES COBURN AND CHARLES BRONSON TO THANK FOR GETTING THE LEAD IN A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.
James Coburn (The Great Escape) wanted $25,000 to star in the movie, which was more than the producers could afford. Charles Bronson might have taken the role if he didn’t think the script was “just about the worst I’d ever seen.” Eastwood agreed to star for $15,000.

7. THE NAME OF HIS PRODUCTION COMPANY COMES FROM HIS AGENT’S BAD ADVICE.
Eastwood’s agent told him that appearing in Leone’s trilogy would be a “bad step” for his career. “Bad step” in Spanish is Malpaso. Since Malpaso Creek is also a body of water located south of Carmel-of-the-Sea, California, where Eastwood makes his home, he named his company Malpaso Productions.

12. HE TURNED DOWN PLAYING JAMES BOND, SUPERMAN, AND JOHN MCCLANE.
After Sean Connery left the 007 franchise, Eastwood was offered the iconic role, but he declined. The president of Warner Bros. asked him to play Superman, but he declined that, too. “I was like, ‘Superman? Nah, nah, that’s not for me,’” Eastwood explained. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s for somebody, but not me.” Francis Ford Coppola asked him to play Martin Sheen’s character in Apocalypse Now (1979), but he didn’t want to go the Philippines for 16 weeks. Eastwood owned the movie rights to Nothing Lasts Forever, the bookDie Hard (1988) was based on, with the intent to star in the film version.

Twilight Zone: “The Encounter” [Season 5, Episode 31] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Encounter” [Season 5, Episode 31]
Original Air Date: May 1, 1964

Director: Robert Butler

Writer: Martin Goldsmith

Starring: Neville Brand and George Takei.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A veteran [Brand] of the war in the Pacific and a Japanese-American [Takei] find themselves at odds when they are locked together in an attic.

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Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town” [Season 5, Episode 30] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town” [Season 5, Episode 30]
Original Air Date: April 24, 1964

Director: Ron Winston

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Barry Nelson, Nancy Malone and Denise Lynn.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

After a night of too much to drink, Bob [Nelson] and Millie Frazier [Malone] wake up in a strange bed, in a strange house in a deserted town.

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12 Facts About “The Outsiders” That Will Stay Gold

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Jake Rose and Mental_Floss present 12 Facts About The Outsiders That Will Stay Gold.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN BY A TEENAGER.
S.E. Hinton was Susan Eloise Hinton, a 15-year-old high school student in Tulsa who had grown bored with the trite plots of books targeted to her demographic. “Mary Jane wants to go to the prom with the football hero … didn’t ring true to my life,” Hinton told The New Yorkerin 2014. So she decided to write a more authentic look at teenage struggles. When she finished, she handed the manuscript to a friend’s mother, who had contacts at a book agent in New York. Editors suggested she go by “S.E.” so readers could infer a male author was responsible for the testosterone-heavy characters. It has sold more than 14 million copies.

4. COPPOLA KEPT THE “GREASERS” AWAY FROM THE “SOCS.”
In The Outsiders, the Curtis boys are part of a clique of “Greasers,” lower-income Tulsa residents in perpetual conflict with the socials, or “Socs,” the sweater-sporting affluent kids. To perpetuate that rift, Coppola divided the actors in Tulsa according to their fictional social status: the Socs got better rooms, more spending money, free room service, and leather-bound scripts.

8. HINTON HAS A CAMEO.
Although Coppola’s production company, Zoetrope, was so low on funds at the time of optioning The Outsiders that they could pay Hinton only $500 of her $5000 rights fee, the author was friendly with the director and agreed to shoot a cameo. Hinton appears in the scene where Dallas (Matt Dillon) is being looked after by a nurse. Hinton also had cameos in other adaptations of her work, including 1983’s Rumble Fish (which Coppola also directed) and 1982’s Tex.

Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room” [Season 5, Episode 29] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room” [Season 5, Episode 29]
Original Air Date: April 17, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Martin Landau, John Van Dreelen and Bob Kelljan.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Major Ivan Kuchenko [Landau] recently escaped from a Communist prison and plans to defect to the United States.  All he has to do is catch a flight and he will be free.

Unfortunately, Comissar Vassiloff and his assassin assistant have caught up to Kuchenko in his flop house room.  The sadistic Vassiloff has planted a bomb in the room and his assassin has the exits covered with a high-powered rifle.  As the clock ticks down, Kuchenko must figure out his escape.

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13 Fast Facts About “Smokey and the Bandit”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 13 Fast Facts About Smokey and the Bandit.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. IT WAS BASED ON A REAL COORS BANQUET BEER PROBLEM.
While Needham was in Georgia working as Reynolds’ stunt double in Gator (1976), the driver captain on the set brought some Coors beer from California and brought a couple of cases to Needham’s hotel room. After he noticed that the maid kept stealing the beers from the fridge, he remembered a TIME magazine article from 1974 about how Coors was unavailable east of the Mississippi River, because the beer was not pasteurized and needed constant refrigeration, and couldn’t legally be sold outside of 11 western and southwestern U.S. states. Which made him realize that, “bootlegging Coors would make a good plotline for a movie.”

10. GLEASON ENJOYED “HAMBURGERS” ON SET.
Gleason would often ask his assistant Mal for a “hamburger,” which was code for a glass of bourbon.|

13. ALFRED HITCHCOCK WAS A BIG FAN OF THE FILM.
His daughter Patricia revealed that every Wednesday her father would screen films on the lot in his office. The last one he ever screened was Smokey and the Bandit, his favorite film of his last few years.

Guillermo del Toro’s Top 5 Horror Movies & His 1 Real-Life Ghost Experience

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In the video below Guillermo del Toro ranks his top five horror films aka the films “that actually scare you.”

What’s interesting to me isn’t the films that Guillermo selected, but the fact that a movie that didn’t scare him as a kid (The Exorcist) is terribly frightening to him as an adult… and Guillermo’s one true life ghost experience in a haunted hotel room.

Twilight Zone: “Caesar and Me” [Season 5, Episode 28] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Caesar and Me” [Season 5, Episode 28]
Original Air Date: April 10, 1964

Director: Robert Butler

Writer: Adele T. Strassfield

Starring: Jackie Cooper, Morgan Brittany and Sarah Selby.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Jonathon West [Cooper] is an out-of-work ventriloquist with bills coming due.  When his dummy suggests they start robbing places, things start to fall in place.  Of course when the brains of the outfit is a dummy…

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The Art of Jock

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Art and comic fans will be all over The Art of Jock set for release on September 20, 2016.  From the Amazon summary…

The Art of Jock delves into the proli­fic artist’s catalog, showcasing not only the best of his extensive sketches and published images, but also personal notes from Jock himself that provide insight into the often philosophical inner workings of his creative process. Featuring interviews and quotes from colleagues and long-time collaborators, including Scott Snyder, Alex Garland, and Stephen King…

Want to see more preview art from the book?  Check out A Look Inside The Art of Jock Book Release at Mondotees.

Twilight Zone: “Sounds and Silences” [Season 5, Episode 27] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Sounds and Silences” [Season 5, Episode 27]
Original Air Date: April 3, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: John McGiver, Michael Fox and Renee Aubry.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Rosswell G. Flemington [McGiver] loves loud noises.  He yells at his employees rather than speak.  He blasts rather than play his records [of jet engines and war sounds]!  Of course this is The Twilight Zone so it doesn’t end well for Mr. Flemington.

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Saturday at MegaCon Report

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Saturday I spent the day hanging out with my best bud, John Beatty at MegaCon.  John was a guest of the show along with Mike Zeck and a gazillion big name comic artists, animators, actors (sci-fi, horror, anime,tv, movie), tattoo artists, cosplay folks, gaming people, crafts people, and fans of all of the above. Thousands and thousands of fans were in attendance.

Because I was there for just one day and knew I wouldn’t have time to commission any artists, my goal was to touch base with friends I seldom see, check out artist alley and hang out with Big Beatty.  All three goals were accomplished.

I was able to at least say “hi” to Mike Zeck, Michael Golden, Hoyt Silva, Manny Aguilera, Gene Gonzalez, Jason Walker, Jason Solbol, “The” James Howell, John Higashi, Steve “Born to Be Alive” Martinez (who we hadn’t seen in over 25 years), Mike Kott and I’m sure a few others I’ve forgotten to mention.

That’s Mike Zeck getting a photo with a fan and getting photo-bombed by John Beatty.

Neal Adams came over to say “Hi” to Zeck and Beatty.  I looked up and suddenly Neal Adams was there.  For those that don’t know, Neal Adams is one of the living legends of comics.  Over the years, because of all the shows I have attended, I’ve met a lot of famous artists but I’d never met Neal Adams.

Anyway, I was sitting behind the table next to Beatty and as Neal spoke to Zeck and Beatty he would look over at me.  I know Neal was thinking, “Who is this guy?  I guess I should know him.”  As Neal got ready to leave I stood up with the intent to just say that I was a fan of his art, but truth be told I became tongue-tied as Neal reached out to shake my hand.  What I hoped to be, “Nice to meet you Mr. Adams” turned into something like, “I’m not an artist – I’m just a friend of John’s – I’m a big fan of your work, Mr. Adams.”  Definitely a fanboy moment.

The guy above was making the rounds and looked so much like The Beast I had to snap a photo.  He said the only thing not real was the “blue” and his choppers.  Yikes!

I did pick up a few things at the show… Manny Aguilera was set up in artist alley and he did a cool sketch of a scene with Sly from Lords of Flatbush that he surprised me with.  Josh Hood was sketching for fans and had copies of We Can Never Go Home.  I picked up a copy.  (Check it out and maybe you will as well.)  I also bought two prints: Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed fight poster by Brian Hoang (for me) and a Predator print for my nephew.  I also got to check out some of the Frank Miller originals that were on display.  The rest of the time was spent hanging with Big Beatty who had Zeck on one side and J. O’Barr (from The Crow fame) on the other.

All in all, it was a fun day… and I’m glad it was just one day.

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Notebook

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I can’t imagine a book that movie fans will want more than Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Notebook.

When Coppola realized that he would direct The Godfather, he re-read Mario Puzo’s novel and made important notations right on the book’s pages. Check out the example below or better yet, click here, to see a full-size version.

The notations would be Coppola’s road map to make The Godfather and he considered them as important as the screenplay.  Coppola explains his process and importance of making his Godfather Notebook in the video below.

The Godfather Notebook will reprint Francis Ford Coppola’s notes and annotations on The Godfather novel by Mario Puzo.  I can’t wait to get my mits on a copy.  “Leave the gun, and take the cannoli… and The Godfather Notebook.”