Month: March 2015

Furious 7: Fun Facts & Trivia You Need To Know

Posted on by

Coming Soon posted Furious 7: Fun Facts & Trivia You Need To Know.

All of the trivia is interesting, but these are my two favorite facts from the list:

Denzel Washington turned the film down.
It’s rumored that Denzel Washington was originally asked to take part in the flick, but the Academy Award winning actor declined the role. Instead he was replaced with Kurt Russell who reportedly plays the role of Brian O’Conner’s father figure. Some speculation paints him as Dominic Toretto’s father figure instead.

Furious 7 is the sequel to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
According to the storyline, the franchise’s fourth, fifth, and sixth releases were actually prequels to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The storyline for Furious 7 reportedly picks up after “Tokyo Drift” and continues the storyline.

Schwarzenegger in “King Lear” & Robin Williams in “Jack and the Beanstalk”

Posted on by

The screen-grab above is from The Last World: Jurassic Park  and features two fake movie posters.  Arnold Schwarzenegger in William Shakespeare’s King Lear and Robin Williams in Jack and the Beanstalk.

If you want to know more about these two particular Easter eggs, you can get the full story on them and others here.  I love stuff like this.

Source: JoBlo.com.

Z-View: The Expendables #1 by Dixon and Polls

Posted on by

The Expendables #1 is part of a four-issue mini-series published by Dynamite Comics.

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Esteve Polls
Colorist: Marc Rueda
Cover Artist: Lucio Parrillo

After years of corruption, murder of American hostages, and betrayal of foreign policies, the US – with the help of other Nations who secretly put together a squad of their most highly trained military personal – will finally attempt to overthrow the dictator who has caused devastation in South America for over 20 years.
This is the story before the story…
Featuring the skillful scripting of Chuck Dixon, the masterful art of Esteve Pols and an incredible painted cover by Lucio Parrillo, Dynamite’s all-original Expendables comic features a story you won’t see on the big screen, serving as a prequel to the hottest action film of 2010!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • The Expendables in a comic prequel.
  • Barney: “Now I’m going to show how strong my kung fu is Yin.”   Yin: “Laying semtex is not a martial art.”  Barney: “It is the way I do it…”
  • How Barney deals with the gangbanger with a gun.
  • Cliffhanger on the last page — who wants to hire The Expendables and what is the nature of the secret assignment?

The Bad:

  • Gunar: “Everybody with a piece is out of bed and looking this way…”
  • When someone steals Barney’s 1956 Ford F-100.

The Ugly:

  • Gunar: “…and everybody has a piece.”
  • When Barney catches up to the folks who stole his 1956 Ford F-100.

 

The Expendables #1  would get a two star rating if I wasn’t such a Stallone/Expendables fan, but since I am…

Rating:

Z-View: Punisher Annual (2009) #1 by Remender and Pearson

Posted on by

Punisher Annual (2009) #1  is a one-shot published by Marvel.

Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Jason Pearson
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Jason Pearson

“REMOTE CONTROL”  The Punisher faces his greatest challenge yet: Trapped in the throes of a hypnotic spell, Spider-Man’s gone psycho and he wants to grind Frank Castle’s bones to paste! And since Spidey’s not really to blame for his actions, Castle faces a dilemma: Fight (the only way he knows how) or die. Can the Punisher survive a bloodthirsty Wall-Crawler long enough to disconnect him from the control of the Dirty Dozen’s leaders, Letha and Lascivious? Super-star artist Jason Pearson joins regular series writer Rick Remender. Parental Advisory

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Remender and Pearson!
  • I like Pearson’s take on Spider-Man.

The Bad:

  • “I told you that goatee was ridiculous.”  Indeed.
  • This is not the Punisher that I prefer.  His motorcycle has a skull face on the front — is it his version of the Batcycle?
  • The Punisher with pumpkin grenades.
  • When Spidey is mind-controlled to kill the Punisher.
  • Spidey throwing the Punisher over a building.

The Ugly:

  • Mind-control mayhem at the wounded vets meeting.
  • The Punisher pushing a pinless pumkin grenade into a villain’s mouth.
  • When Spidey is mind-controlled that he is in love with the Punisher.

 

Punisher Annual (2009) #1

I’m a fan of both Rick Remender’s writing and Jason Pearson’s art but the Punisher Annual wouldn’t be the example I’d use of their best work.  Your mileage my differ.

Rating:

Z-View: “The Prince” – Mercy is for the Weak

Posted on by

The Pitch:  “Hey, let’s do a riff on ‘Taken’ with Bruce Willis!”
“Are you nuts?  We can’t afford Bruce Willis.”
“Sure we can if we don’t make him the star.  We put him in a scene or two at the start and end of the movie.  Glorified cameo, but list him first in the credits and put him first and biggest on the poster!”
“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline: “Mercy is for the weak.”

The Overview: When an auto mechanic’s [Jason Patrick] daughter gets caught up with bad men, the mechanic goes to get her.  Oh, and get this, the auto mechanic was once the most feared hit man in the city.

The Good:

  • Way back in 2008, when I first read the synopsis of The Prince and John Carpenter was trying to get it off the ground, I was excited.  Sadly it didn’t pan out with Carpenter.
  • It has a classic set-up: dad goes to rescue daughter and isn’t who/what he seems.
  • I enjoyed the scene in the bar where a guy starts to crack wise with Jason Patrick and the guy’s uncle comes over to set his nephew straight because he recognized Patrick.  Patrick’s response as to why he didn’t kill the uncle years ago is also good.
  • Rain.

The Bad:

  • When the star of the movie is the smallest star featured on the movie poster.
  • The aim of everyone trying to shoot Jason Patrick.

The Ugly:

  • The two guys below featured prominently on the poster have glorified cameos.  Same for 50 Cent and John Cusack.

Rating:  2 of 5 stars

36 Things We Learned from John McTiernan’s “Predator” Commentary

Posted on by

Film School Rejects posted  36 Things We Learned from John McTiernan’s Predator Commentary by Rob Hunter.

Here are five of my favorites from the list…

2. Producer John Davis developed the script with the idea that it was “Rocky meets Alien, I guess,” but McTiernan liked the idea of it feeling closer to King Kong. “Bunch of guys go to an island, and go deeper and deeper in, and shazam the thing they’re chasing turns out to be a lot bigger than they thought, and they have to turn around and run away!”

5. He points out that this was his first studio film, and it’s actually only his second feature period after the moody horror thriller, Nomads. “Terrifying in a lot of ways, and a learning experience in a lot of other ways.”

7. Carl Weathers came onboard because McTiernan wanted an actual actor to work against Schwarzenegger. The director had to fight to get a quality actor in the role. It’s unclear if Weathers was a first choice.

9. Shane Black was cast because McTiernan and producer Joel Silver wanted a writer on the set. “And he has a great wise-ass manner.”

14. Before they could cast Sonny Landham the insurance company insisted that the production provide a bodyguard, “not to protect Sonny, but to protect other people from Sonny.”

The piece is definitely worth a read if you get a kick out of behind-the-scenes information.

Z-View – Criminal Special Edition by Brubaker and Phillips

Posted on by

Criminal Special Edition is a one-shot published by Image.

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Colorist: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover Artist: Sean Phillips

CRIMINAL COMES TO IMAGE! To celebrate the return of CRIMINAL to print, BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS return to their awardwinning title for the first time in years for a 48-page special sure to thrill their readers, old and new alike! It’s 1976, and Teeg Lawless is doing 30 days in county jail with a price on his head, his only safe company from the savagery a beat-up old comic magazine his dead cellmate left behind. It’s CRIMINAL like you’ve never seen it before, with a comic within the comic and all those slick ‘70s thrills!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Brubaker and Phillips!
  • Criminal is back with a new story!
  • “I wasn’t done reading that yet.”
  • “It’s ****** jail, Wilson.  Just assume everything in here is bad.”
  • Cameo by Tracy Lawless.

The Bad:

  • Teeg Lawless.
  • When Mr. G wants to talk to you and you find out he doesn’t.
  • “So you understand you don’t have that protection? … You’re on your own Lawless.”
  • I could have done with less Savage Sword of Criminal and more Teeg Lawless.

The Ugly:

  • Magazine-Fu to the eye.
  • Nightsticks to the head and body topped off with a stomp to the wrist.
  • Meal tray-fu.  Cast-fu.  Thumb to the eye-fu.  Three on one with a cast in the shower-fu.  Bloody-beat down hanging on the jail cell followed by acid trip attack.

 

Criminal Special Edition

Rating:

Antonios Papantoniou Takes on Brian DePalma’s Union Station Scene

Posted on by

Antonios Papantoniou breaks down Brian DePalma’s Union Station gunfight scene from The Untouchables where he pays homage to Eisenstein’s “Odessa Steps” scene from Potemkin.

If that sounds confusing, just sit back and enjoy classic film-making and tell me you’re not smiling ear-to-ear when Andy Garcia says, “I got him.” and shortly after “Two.”

BRIAN DE PALMA Shot by Shot from Antonios Papantoniou on Vimeo.

Z-View – Conan Red Sonja: The Age of Adventure #2 by Simone & Zub and Panosian

Posted on by

Conan Red Sonja: The Age of Adventure is a mini-series published by Dark Horse.

Writer: Gail Simone, Jim Zub
Artist: Dan Panosian
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Dan Panosian

Conan and Red Sonja unite to stop a sorcerer-priest from creating a new age in Hyborian warfare! Exposed to a deadly toxin, barbarian and she-devil race against time to save themselves!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • The art by Dan Panosian!
  • Pages 2 & 3 = Double page splash!
  • “She’s my sister, Conan.  You wouldn’t understand.”
  • “A world at peace.”  “Yes.”
  • “He’s quite good, you see.  And he tagged you, first try.”  “To be fair, you were busy looking at her at the time.”
  • Preview of the next cover by Panosian!

The Bad:

  • How Belit and Dark Annisia feel when Conan and Red Sonja become reunite.
  • Thoth-Amon!
  • “With you as its Lord and Master.”  “Yes.”

The Ugly:

  • “Go Bak Only Deth Lies Heer”

 

Conan Red Sonja #2

Rating:

15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”

Posted on by

Mental_Floss posted 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines by Sean Hutchinson.  Here are three of my favorites from the list…

1. ARNOLD CAME BACK—BUT AT A PRICE …

Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid $29.25 million to star in T3.

11. THE PRODUCTION CREATED AN ENTIRE STREET FOR ONE SCENE …

Several city blocks used during the crane chase sequence were created because the production needed a level of destruction that wouldn’t be possible on a real street.

12. … AND SCHWARZENEGGER FOOTED PART OF THE BILL.

During the crane chase sequence, The Terminator—hanging from the crane—swings through an entire building façade. The studio didn’t want to foot the bill for the sequence, so Arnold Schwarzenegger put up his own money to complete the scene.

Z-View: Escape From New York #3 by Sebela and Barreto

Posted on by

Escape From New York is an on-going series published by Boom Studios.

Writer: Christopher Sebela

Artist: Diego Barreto

Colorist: Marissa Louise

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Are you ready for…General Plissken? The independent state of Florida has forced Snake to train their troops for the inevitable war with the United States. But you know Snake, he’s not exactly “Employee of the Year.” He’s just trying to find his freedom, and may anger two warring factions in the process!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • The Snake Plissken character is what keeps me buying this book.  I’m starting to wonder if I’m not part of the audience they’re looking for.

The Bad:

  • I’m not a fan of the Declan Shalvey cover shown above.
  • The story isn’t working, at least for me.  Neither is the art.  Perhaps it’s because I want a grittier more mature Snake Plissken story.
  • Being unable to suspend by disbelief that any adults would follow Romulus and Remus.
  • Snake can break in and out of the compound easier than Hogan and his heroes.

The Ugly:

  • Trying to escape in broad daylight by climbing a high fence topped with barbwire and in direct line of sight to a guard tower.  Ugly and stupid.

Escape from New York #3 

Rating: 2 out of 5