Month: December 2016

Hell or High Water (2016)

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Hell or High Water (2016)

Director: David Mackenzie

Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan

Stars: Ben Foster, Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham and Gregory Cruz.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a modern day western.”

Tagline: Justice isn’t a crime.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Two brothers, one an ex-con and one recently divorced, have a plan to pay off the family ranch’s reverse mortgage before the foreclosure deadline.  Oil has been discovered on the ranch which will set them up for life, if the payment can be made to the Texas Midland Bank (which has a reputation of keeping people in debt until they can no longer pay and then taking their land).

Their plan involves robbing several Texas Midland Banks.  Nobody is supposed to get hurt or killed.  Of course we all know how such plans work out.  And the brothers didn’t count on Texas Ranger, Marcus Hamilton.

Rating:

Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 19: Toth, Adams, Buckler, Byrne and Much More!

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If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 19, Ken took a look at CPL 11 from 1974.  Edited and published by Robert Layton [aka Bob Layton of Iron Man fame].

CPL was a quarterly fanzine published by Bob Layton and it was one of the high water marks of comic fanzines.  CPL always had art from pros as well as soon to be pros and you could tell that the writers and artists for CPL loved comics.

CPL 11 featured a cover by Alex Toth, full page illos from Rich Buckler and spot illos from Neal Adams, John Byrne, Don Maitz, Jim Starlin, Gil Kane, Clyde Caldwell, and Dan Adkins.  Let’s not forget the writers of CPL 11: Steve Gerber, John Byrne, Roger Stern and CC Beck. Oh, and there’s a Rog 2000 strip by Stern and Byrne.

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

A Christmas Story (1983)

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A Christmas Story (1983)

Director: Bob Clark

Screenplay: Jean Shepherd & Leigh Brown & Bob Clark 

Stars: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin.


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a movie based on Jean Sheperd’s In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.”

Tagline: Sometimes Christmas is about getting what you really want.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

1940’s. Indiana.  Christmas is coming and all little Ralphie wants is a Red Ryder BB gun.  His mom is against it – “You’ll shoot your eye out.”  Even Santa says, “You’ll shoot your eye out kid.”  But Ralphie won’t give up on his wish.  Now if he can just survive school, the local bullies and living with his crazy little brother, he just may get his wish.

A Christmas classic!

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Some Tidbits Behind Jack Kirby’s Creation of Mr. Miracle

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My favorite Jack Kirby creation from his DC days is Mr. Miracle.  Above is Jack Kirby’s original presentation piece for the World’s Greatest Escape Artist.  Sure the colors of his costume are different but the thing that jumped out at me was the gun.

Mark Evanier [whose blog you should be reading daily!] has an explanation for both of the changes and more.  And Mr. Evanier should know.  He had at least a knuckle in Mr. Miracle’s creation.

“Escape from L.A.” (1996) / Z-View

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Escape from L.A. (1996)

Director: John Carpenter

Screenplay: John Carpenter & Debra Hill & Kurt Russell

Stars: Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Peter Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Valeria Golino, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier and Bruce Campbell

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s reteam Carpenter and Russell for a new Snake Plissken yarn.”

Tagline: Snake Is Back.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Snake Plissken (Russell) is sent to the island of LA to retrieve a government device that can shut down all electronics worldwide.  Snake has ten hours to get in, get the weapon and get out before he dies due to an injection of a lethal virus.

Sounds just like Escape from New York, right?  It is… almost every beat is the same only not as good.

Escape from LA suffers from bad special effects and scenes that don’t play as well as the original.  Remember when Snake had to fight Ox Baker with spiked baseball bats?  In Escape from LA he has to make 5 baskets in 10 seconds playing full court.  Remember in EFNY when Snake had to fight and escape from cannibals?  In EFLA he has to fight and escape from a doctor who overuses plastic surgery.  And don’t get me started about the surfing scene.

If you’re a fan of Snake Plissken and love EFNY, you might find Escape from LA tolerable.  I liked it… but I loved Escape from New York.

Escape from LA rates 3 of 5 stars.

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15 Intriguing Facts About Walt Disney

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Stacy Condradt and Mental_Floss present 15 Intriguing Facts About Walt Disney.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT.
Walt was just 16 when he left school to join the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, wanting to do his part in World War I—but because he was just shy of the minimum age requirement of 17, he forged a different date on his birth certificate. Disney didn’t see much action, however. He was sent to France in late 1918, not long after the armistice was signed that ended the fighting. He still helped where he could, driving Red Cross officials and performing other tasks, before he was discharged in 1919.

12. HIS HOUSEKEEPER WAS A VERY WEALTHY WOMAN.
Thelma Howard was the Disney family’s live-in housekeeper and cook for three decades. She was hired in 1951 and quickly became part of the family, even making sure the fridge was well-stocked with hot dogs—Walt liked to eat them cold as a snack when he got home from work. As part of her annual Christmas gift, the Disneys gave her stock in the company. She never did anything with them—and by the time she died in 1994, the woman was a multimillionaire because of them. She left nearly $4.5 million to poor and disabled children, and roughly the same amount to her disabled son.

14. ONE OF HIS LAST WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS WAS RATHER MYSTERIOUS—AND INVOLVED KURT RUSSELL.
Shortly before his death, Disney wrote “Kurt Russell” on a piece of paper. It was later found on his desk, and, according to Disney historian Dave Smith, the notes were among Disney’s last few written words. At the time of Disney’s death, Russell was a largely unknown child actor working for the studio. No one has any idea what Disney was referring to with his note—including Kurt Russell.

Conflict (1945)

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Conflict (1945)

Director: Curtis Bernhardt

Screenplay: Arthur T. Horman & Dwight Taylor

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, and Rose Hobart


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s reteam Bogie and Greensteet in a murder mystery.”

Tagline: SUSPENSE…SUSPICION…MAN-WOMAN DESIRES!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Richard Mason (Bogart) has fallen in love with his wife’s younger sister (Smith).  When the opportunity arises and he has the perfect alibi, Mason kills his wife so he can begin putting the moves on little sis.

Things go sideways when his wife’s body is not found and strange things begin to happen making it appear she is still alive.  Could she be or is Mason cracking up due to the strain of murder?

 

Rating:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) starring Lana Turner & John Garfield / Z-View

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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Director: Tay Garnett

Screenplay: Harry Ruskin Niven and Busch;  based on THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain

Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter and Alan Reed.

Tagline: Their Love was a Flame that Destroyed!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Frank Chambers, a drifter stops at a diner and is offered a job by the middle-aged owner, Nick Smith.  As Frank begins to turn down the work, he spots Cora, a very attractive waitress and changes his mind.

Soon enough Frank learns that Cora is Frank’s wife.  Frank would be ready to move on except that Cora seems interested in him.  Although both Frank and Cora attempt to fight the attraction, it’s strong and won’t be denied.  It doesn’t take long until Frank and Cora are planning Nick’s demise.

And we all know how those things work out, don’t we?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Garfield and Turner definitely had chemistry.  I love how each of them fights the attraction.  

James M. Cain, who wrote the novel that the movie was based on, was so impressed with Lana Turner that he gave her a leather-bound copy of the book inscribed, “For my dear Lana, thank you for giving a performance that was even finer than I expected.”

The Postman Always Rings Twice has a couple of great twists.  The cast and direction are top notch.

A classic.

Rating:

Double Indemnity (1944)

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Double Indemnity (1944)

Director: Billy Wilder

Screenplay: Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from the novel by James M. Cain

Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Walter Huston


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn James Cain’s Double Indemnity into a movie!”

Tagline: From the Moment they met it was Murder!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Walter Neff [MacMurray], an insurance salesman, meets and falls hard for the wife [Stanwyck] of one of his clients.  Before too long they’re plotting his murder to cash in on an insurance policy that Neff tricked him into buying.  Because Neff is in the business he believes they can pull off the murder and make it look like an accident so they can collect on the double indemnity clause.

The only thing between them and the cash is to commit the murder and pull it off without a hitch or Neff’s partner figuring out it wasn’t an accident.

If you like noir, you’ll love Double Indemnity.  Directed by Billy Wilder with snappy dialogue and mounting tension.  If you only know MacMurray from My Three Sons or Stanwyck from The Big Valley, prepare to be shocked!

A classic.

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George Michael – R.I.P.

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George Michael died yesterday.  He was 53.

Like most folks, I first became aware of George Michael when “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” hit the charts back in the 1980s.  At the time Michael was part of the duo Wham.  The song was an upbeat, fun tune and featured Michael dancing as he sang giving us no insight into the artist we were viewing.

It wasn’t until Michael left Wham and began recording on his own that we would see his true talents emerge.  Michael sold more than 100 million records worldwide, had seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Billboard ranks him the 40th-most successful artist to ever live.

Michael was a generous man performing in many concerts with the proceeds designated for charities,  donating all of the proceeds from the single “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” among ten different charities for children, AIDS and education. Michael also supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation and gave to other charities anonymously.

George Michael always seemed to me the perfect example of a troubled artist.  A good looking guy, who wanted to be seen as more than just another handsome face.  A man who appeared to have it all but struggled with private issues.  A generous man with talent and financial resources that he shared with the world.

Rest in Peace, George Michael.  Your music and memory will live on.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to George Michael’s family, friends and fans.