“Scheming Schemers” (1956) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Scheming Schemers (1956)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Jules White, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Christine McIntyre, Emil Sitka, Kenneth MacDonald, Dudley Dickerson, Symona Boniface and Al Thompson

Tagline: The Three Stooges turn plumbers in Scheming Schemers.

The Plot…

The boys are plumbers trying to retrieve a valuable ring that fell down a drain.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Scheming Scheamers is a remake of A Plumbing We Will Go with Shemp replacing Curly.  It is also the only Stooges short to re-use scenes from three previous Stooges films,  It is also one of four Stooges shorts filmed after Shemp’s death.  A stand-in was used in some of his scenes.

Scheming Schemers earns 3 of 5 stars.

THINGS GET UGLY: THE BEST CRIME STORIES of Joe R. Lansdale is Coming!

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Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Stories of Joe R. Lansdale will be available August 15, 2023!  352 pages of Lansdale goodness.  Here’s the preview…

Edgar Award winner and bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale (the Hap and Leonard series), one of America’s most essential crime writers, heads back to the dangerous woods of East Texas. In his first crime career-retrospective, including previously uncollected work, Lansdale shows exactly why critics continue to compare him to Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner.

“Pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable, and somehow both wildly surreal and down-to-earth. Lansdale is a national fucking treasure.”
―Christa Faust, author of Money Shot

In the 1950s, a young small-town projectionist mixes it up with a violent gang. When Mr. Bear is not alerting us to the dangers of forest fires, he lives a life of debauchery and murder. A brother and sister travel to Oklahoma to recover the dead body of their uncle. A lonely man engages in dubious acts while pining for his rubber duckie.

In this collection of nineteen unforgettable crime tales, Joe R. Lansdale brings his legendary mojo and gritty, dark humor to harrowing heists, revenge, homicide, and mayhem. No matter how they begin, things are bound to get ugly―and fast.

Pre-orders are available now.

“I’m a Monkey’s Uncle” (1948) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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I’m a Monkey’s Uncle (1948)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Zion Myers

Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Heinie Conklin and Cy Schindell

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys are cavemen dealing with day to day living… until rival cavemen try to steal their girls!  Then it’s war!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle is pretty generic.  Still any Three Stooges short is fun.

I’m a Monkey’s Uncle earns 3 of 5 stars.

BLACKULA: RETURN OF THE KING by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander is Coming Soon!

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Blacula: Return of the King by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander will be released later this month.  Here’s the lowdown…

Los Angeles – the City of Angels. Two souls, one is looking for vengeance and one is looking for the truth. They share one thing in common, they are both searching for the legendary vampire Blacula. Tina Thomas is a reporter for the blog Dark Knights, which chronicles all things unnatural, uneasy, and undead. She meets a young man named Kross whose family was forever changed by the vampire. Kross asks Tina to help him kill Blacula.

Blacula too is on a mission, he is searching for the one who forever changed his life centuries ago. His name is Count Dracula.

“Unstoppable” (2018) starring Don Lee / Z-View

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Unstoppable (2018)

Director:  Kim Min-Ho

Screenplay:  Kim Min-Ho

Stars: Ma Dong-seok (Dong Lee), Song Ji-Hyo, Kim Sung-oh

Tagline: Don’t Mess With Me

The Plot…

Dong-Chul (Lee) is a soft mannered seafood salesman, trying to take his small business to the next level.  Coming home from a dinner date with his wife, Ji-Soo (Ji-Hyo), they’re involved in a fender-bender.  In the car that hit them is  Ki-Tae. Ki-Tae is a psychotic gangster who kidnaps and sells young women to sex-trafficers.

Ka-Tie is taken with Ji-Soo. He finds out where she lives and kidnaps her.  Big mistake.  Dong-Chul is a former gang enforcer.  He’ll do whatever it takes to get his wife back.  He’ll be unstoppable.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee should be a bigger celebrity in the United States.  Lee doesn’t have traditional movie star good looks.  He’s a big guy, but not overly muscular.  Yet, he has charisma and the camera loves him.  Check him out in Train to Busan or The Gangster, the Cop the Devil and you’ll see what I mean.  We get glimpses of that superstar in Unstoppable but not to the same level.

Kim Sung-oh plays the villain.  At times Sung-oh, in his purple suit, reminded me of The Joker.  He’s good at playing crazy.

Unstoppable has a bit too much comedy for me.  I was hoping for a gritty thriller.  Still, Unstoppable isn’t bad and Don Lee is always good.

Unstoppable earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Three Dumb Clucks” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Three Dumb Clucks (1937)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Charles Dorety, Cy Schindell and Al Thompson

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys get word that their dad has struck it rich, left their mother and is about to marry a woman out for his money!  They decide it is up to them to stop the marriage.    What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Curly plays a double role in this one.  In addition to being one of the boys, he plays his/their father!  Double Curly is a bonus.

In the scene where Curly is thrown down the elevator shaft, he received a cut that required stitches!

Three Dumb Clucks earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Marlowe” starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger & Jessica Lange – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Liam Neeson as Marlowe.  This looks like it could work.

MARLOWE, a gripping noir crime thriller set in late 1930’s Los Angeles, centers around a street-wise, down on his luck detective; Philip Marlowe, played by Liam Neeson, who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance unearths a web of lies, and soon Marlowe is involved in a dangerous, deadly investigation where everyone involved has something to hide.

“The Invitation” (2022) starring Nathalie Emmanuel & Thomas Doherty / Z-View

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The Invitation (2022)

Director:  Jessica M. Thompson

Screenplay:  Blair Butler

Stars: Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Sean Pertwee, Hugh Skinner and Scott Alexander Young

Tagline: You are cordially invited to a nightmare generations in the making.

The Plot…

“Evie” Jackson (Emmanuel) is a struggling artist who, after a DNA test, learns she has relatives in England.  One of them, Oliver (Skinner) reaches out to Evie.  They meet and hit it off. Oliver informs Evie that her great-grandmother had a secret child with one of the family’s African-American servants.  It was quite the scandal at the time!  Oliver invites Evie to attend an up-coming wedding in England – all expenses paid.  Although hesitant at first, Evie accepts.

When Evie arrives at New Carfax Abbey, she meets Walter De Ville (Doherty) lord of the manor, and host of the wedding.  Evie is shocked at the opulence on display, but has to admit she’s attracted to De Ville.  It’s obvious he feels the same towards her.  But something isn’t right.  Everything feels a bit off.  Evie will find out too late why.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I liked the slow buildup to the reveal the wedding.  It’s not much of a spoiler to say that there are quite a few Dracula Easter eggs throughout the film – everything from character names to locations.  If you’re not a Dracula fan and miss them, it won’t take away from the film.  If you do recognize them, they should enhance your viewing.

Nathalie Emmanuel is best known for her role in Game of Thrones.  I first saw her in Furious 7 and thought she had star power then.  She’s excellent as Evie.  I look forward to her future projects. Thomas Doherty is well cast as De Ville.  I’d never see Doherty before.  He has charisma and at times reminded me of a young Sean Connery.  Perhaps he could be the next 007.

The Invitation begins with the feel of a love story, then morphs into psychological horror and ends as a pedal to the floor vampire flick.  I liked it better than most so your mileage may vary.  For me…

The Invitation earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Playing the Ponies” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Playing the Ponies (1937)

Director:  Charles Lamont

Screenplay:  Al Giebler, Elwood Ullman, Charlie Melson from a story by Irv Frisch, Will Harr

Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Charles Dorety, William Irving and Sam Lufkin

Tagline: THEY’RE OFF…THEIR NUTS!

The Plot…

The boys think they’re taking advantage of a couple of chumps when they trade their diner for a racehorse named Thunderbolt.  Sadly, Thunderbolt isn’t the winner they were hoping for.  When Curly accidentally feeds Thunderbolt some chili pepperinos, the horse runs like the wind!  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Curly working in the kitchen is my favorite part of this one.

Playing the Ponies earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Emily the Criminal” (2022) starring Aubrey Plaza / Z-View

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Emily the Criminal (2022)

Director:  John Patton Ford

Screenplay:  John Patton Ford

Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Bernardo Badillo, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jonathan Avigdori, Victor Manso and Roman Arabia

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Emily cannot catch a break.  She works for a food catering company and barely makes enough money to stay afloat.  Emily’s saddled with student debt for a degree she never completed.  An aggravated assault and a DUI conviction keep her from getting better paying jobs.  So when Emily gets the opportunity to make $200 for an hour’s work, she jumps at it.

The job is illegal.  Using a fake credit card to purchase a big ticket item will get her a $200 kickback.  Emily does the job and is good at it.  So she takes another riskier gig.  Before long Emily is into a relationship with Youcef (Rossi) as she learns more about this illegal business.  She learns too late that Youcef’s boss, Javier (Badillo) isn’t happy with Emily’s quick advancement or her relationship with his partner.  Javier has plans of his own that don’t bode well for Youcef or Emily…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

What an impressive debut for John Ford Patton who wrote and directed Emily the Criminal.   He was fortunate to get Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi to star.  They have chemistry.  The pair also make people who do unlikeable things likeable.  I wish that Emily didn’t create so many of her own problems.  The things that hold her back are all because of her bad decisions in the past.  Then she compounds them with an attitude that prevents her from even getting through interviews for better positions.

I look forward to John Ford Patton’s next feature.  He’s shown here that he knows how to write a crime film with a flawed (anti)hero.

Emily the Criminal earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Hold That Lion” (1947) starring The Three Stooges with a Cameo by Curly! / Z-View

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Hold That Lion (1947)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Curly Howard, Kenneth MacDonald, Emil Sitka, Dudley Dickerson, Heinie Conklin and Blackie Whiteford

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys are after a crooked lawyer who is on the run with their inheritance.  Add in a loose lion and what could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hold That Lion marks the only time that four Stooges appeared together on screen.  It was also the only time that the three Howard brothers appeared on screen together.  The scene takes place when the boys come upon a sleeping man in the train.  The sleeping man is Curly!

Curly had since retired due to the problems caused by his multiple strokes.  Curly came to visit the set.  Director, Jules White had no idea Curly was coming.  White spotted a man on set reading a newspaper.  The man slowly lowered the paper and waved.  The man was Curly!  White was inspired and asked Curly if he’d like a cameo.  The rest is history.

For me, the funniest scenes are when Larry, Moe and Shemp individually enter Icabod Slipp’s office to confront him. Slipp (MacDonald) acts as if he just entered the office and accuses each Stooge of being Slipp!  He then attacks them for stealing his money.

Hold That Lion earns 4 of 5 stars.

“A Lot of Nothing” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I like the looks of A Lot of Nothing.  Check out the poster and trailer and see what you think.

A Lot of Nothing Playing in Theaters, On Demand, and Digital February 3rd.

Starring Y’lan Noel, Cleopatra Coleman, Justin Hartley, Shamier Anderson, and Lex Scott Davis

Directed by Mo McRae

James and Vanessa seem to be the perfect couple – happily married, successful, and comfortable. One night, their lives are rocked to the core when, after watching a tragedy play out on the evening news, they realize their neighbor was involved. In a state of shock, and with opposing viewpoints on how to address the issue, they decide to seek justice against a neighbor.