Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Today Mondo is releasing the five Universal Monsters prints (as well as variant editions). They are really nice and include…
It is worth a click over to see them in a larger size to enjoy their beauty!
The Curse of the Werewolf wolfman played by Oliver Reed is my favorite of all the werewolf designs. Today we get to see a rare photo of Oliver Reed’s test makeup for Curse of the Werewolf thanks to a Tweet from Retro Horror!
Last week I shared the poster and trailer for Dreamland. At that time I said,
The poster shows some imagination and the trailer ain’t bad either.
I just received the following text message:
Hi, I saw you posted about the new Dreamland trailer on your site. The Dreamland poster was actually made by me and it’s just a fan-made poster! It’s not the official one, just thought you should know 😂 – @Nicole
How cool is that? Regular readers here know how often we complain about the lack of originality of new movie posters. Then we get one that shows a cool sense of design and breaks from the pack… and it turns out to be made by a fan! I hope the company putting out the movie gets a look at what Nicole Baroudi has done and perhaps uses (and pays her for) her version!
If you’d like to see more from Nicole, here’s her website.
Thanks Nicole for letting us know. Hopefully we’ll see more awesome poster designs from you in the future.
Here we have the poster and trailer for Zappa. I don’t really care for the poster, but the trailer has me interested in seeing the movie. I was never a big fan of Frank Zappa’s music, but then again, I never was exposed to much of it. I am interested in learning more, so this is one I’ll want to watch.
With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others.
Available everywhere Thanksgiving Week
Directed by Alex Winter
http://www.thezappamovie.com/
The trailer for Girl starring Bella Thorne, Mickey Rourke and Chad Faust definitely looks like a drive-in movie feature. As regular readers know, that’s not always a bad thing. I do think the trailer gives away the story but that doesn’t mean I won’t tune in.
A young woman (Bella Thorne) heads back to her hometown, intent on exacting revenge on her abusive father, only to discover someone beat her to it. She soon finds herself prey to a sinister sheriff (Mickey Rourke) and his wicked brother (Chad Faust) as she slowly uncovers a family legacy more disturbing than she ever could have imagined.
Here we have the poster and trailer for George Clooney’s Midnight Sky. Although the poster is just ok, the trailer is interesting. Sadly, I read in some online comments what may be the big twist to the story. I hate when that happens. Since Midnight Sky is on Netflix, I’ll definitely tune in.
Our humanity always endures.
This post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to Earth, where a mysterious global catastrophe has taken place. Clooney directs the adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight, co-starring David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Tiffany Boone. Coming to Netflix December 23rd.
As I was looking through the latest Previews catalog, I came across two new games that I think readers of this site may like. The first is…
Rambo: First Blood Board Game…
Next up we have…
(If you order the games using either of the links I provided through Amazon, I will get a small commission that will not increase your purchase price. – Craig)
Drew Struzan’s art, like the wolfman piece above, always makes the day a little better! So anytime you need a day brightener, head over to Drew Struzan’s Instagram!
Brian Okert at El Tech O posted the drawing above with these questions:
Why do ya think Clubber Lang never stepped up to fight Drago? And if they did fight… How do ya think that would have gone?
First question first: We don’t know that they never fought. Perhaps they did but the result never made it into the follow-up Rocky/Creed films.
I like to think that after Lang lost to Rocky, he was devastated. Lang had been destroying opponents and thought he was unbeatable. After Rocky knocked him out, Clubber went into a period of isolation and self-reflection. He met a woman who worked with troubled youth. She didn’t follow sports or know Clubber was a boxer. They developed a relationship and Clubber began to work with the kids in an effort to help turn their lives around. Lang had enough money from fighting to retire and he did so he could live a peaceful life with her. (Based somewhat on George Foreman’s life after boxing.)
Second question: If Lang and Drago had fought, how would it have gone? The outcome would, of course, depend on how Sly wanted to move the story forward. No matter who won, Clubber or Drago, then it makes sense he would have continued to fight and we would have heard more about him in the Balboa/Creed movies. Since there was no mention of either fighting again, I think it is safe to assume they never fought. But if they did fight, I’d give the edge to Drago… although Clubber would have always had a puncher’s chance.
Your thoughts?
Michele Debczak at Mental Floss posted the results of a survey to determine The 10 Horror Movies That Are Most Likely to Get Your Heart Racing. I thought this was an interesting angle to look at horror movies. Here’s how they got their list…
To compile their list of the most terrifying horror flicks, GIGACalculator.com showed movies to 150 first-time viewers while tracking their heart rates. The film selection was determined by a survey of 2500 self-proclaimed horror fanatics prior to the study.
Before you click over for the full story, here are the rankings of the top ten compared to how I would rate them.
|
Michele Debczak |
Craig |
|
1. Hereditary (2018) |
1. The Descent (2005) |
|
2. Saw (2004) |
2. A Quiet Place (2018) |
|
3. The Babadook (2014) |
3. Us (2019) |
|
4. Insidious (2010) |
4. Saw (2004) |
|
5. A Quiet Place (2018) |
5. The Exorcist (1973) |
|
6. The Descent (2005) |
6. Insidious (2010) |
|
7. Us (2019) |
7. The Conjuring 2 (2016) |
|
8. It (2017) |
8. It (2017) |
|
9. The Conjuring 2 (2016) |
9. The Babadook (2014) |
|
10. The Exorcist (1973) |
*. Hereditary (2018) |
* I haven’t seen Heredity so I didn’t include it in my list.
I’m surprised John Carpenter’s The Thing didn’t make the list.
Two days ago I shared the cover above for Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ next Reckless graphic novel: Friend of the Devil. It wasn’t available for pre-order, but I said I’d keep you posted.
It’s now available for pre-order and below is the synopsis…
The next book in the red-hot Reckless series is here!
Bestselling crime noir masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are back with another new original graphic novel featuring troublemaker-for-hire Ethan Reckless.
It’s 1985 and things in Ethan’s life are going pretty well… until a missing woman shows up in the background of an old B-movie, and Ethan is drawn into Hollywood’s secret occult underbelly as he hunts for her among the wreckage of the wild days of the ’70s.
“No one does crime fic like Brubaker and Phillips, and their collaboration has never felt more new. Explosive. Vital. And yes… reckless.” – Damon Lindelof (LOST, HBO’s WATCHMEN)
Another hit graphic novel from the award-winning creators of PULP, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, CRIMINAL, and KILL OR BE KILLED — a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips fans!
And look for the next standalone book in the Reckless series in October!
As you can imagine. I’m in.
Here are the poster and trailer for Dreamland. The poster shows some imagination and the trailer ain’t bad either. (Update – I just learned that the poster is not official and was made by a fan! What an awesome job she did. Her name is Nicole Baroudi and you can see more from her by clicking the link! – Craig 10/28/20)
Academy Award® nominee Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) “is fantastic” (Indiewire) in this “dazzling” (Hollywood Reporter) love story set amidst America’s struggle during the Great Depression. Eugene Evans (Finn Cole, “Peaky Blinders”) dreams of escaping his small Texas town when he discovers a wounded, fugitive bank robber Allison Wells (Robbie) hiding closer than he could ever imagine. Torn between claiming the bounty for her capture and his growing attraction to the seductive criminal, nothing is as it seems, and Eugene must make a decision that will forever affect the lives of everyone he’s ever loved. Travis Fimmel (Warcraft), Kerry Condon (Avengers: Infinity War) and Lola Kirke (American Made) also star in this “beautifully shot coming-of-age story” (Indiewire).
Featuring: Margot Robbie, Finn Cole, Garrett Hedlund, Travis Fimmel, Kerry Condon, Darby Camp, Lola Kirke
Photo by Gage Skidmore
Jake Rosen at Mental Floss presents 8 Fascinating Facts About Kurt Russell. Here are three of my favorites…
2. KURT RUSSELL PASSED UP A CHANCE TO BE IN STAR WARS TO DO A TELEVISION WESTERN. (Since he hadn’t been offered either of the Star Wars roles he was up for, he made the right decision. A bird in the hand… – Craig)
5. KURT RUSSELL WAS PAID TWICE HIS GOING RATE FOR STARGATE BECAUSE HE WAS CONSIDERED IMPOSSIBLE TO DISLIKE. (Who doesn’t like Kurt Russell? I went to see Stargate and didn’t particularly like it. I went because I like Russell, so it was money well-spent by the Stargate producers. – Craig)
6. KURT RUSSELL MAY HAVE STEALTH-DIRECTED TOMBSTONE. (Turns out that Russell may have directed Tombstone the way that Stallone directed Rambo, First Blood: Part Two! – Craig)
James Randi aka The Amazing Randi died on Tuesday at the age of 92. Mr. Randi began his career as a magician (that’s where the Amazing part of his name came from). He was a different kind of magician though.
Sure, he could perform mind-reading stunts, bend spoons just as those who claim to do so via mental powers, escape from padlocked chains and the like, but The Amazing Randi claimed no supernatural powers. In fact he offered his own money (eventually getting the amount to one million dollars) own money to anyone who could show scientific evidence of supernatural powers. No one ever collected.
James Randi became famous for debunking spiritualists, mind readers and the like who claimed supernatural powers to defraud people. He had his own radio show, television specials and was a popular guest on television shows. Randi was also the author of ten books. By all accounts he was a fun guy to be around.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Randi’s family, friends and fans.
Rob Hunter at Film School Rejects reminded me of a very good and very under-rated horror movie with his piece, 21 Things We Learned from ‘The Descent‘ Commentary. Before you click over, here are three of my favorites and my thoughts on each…
10. Claustrophobia is a big aspect of the film’s fear, but Marshall had no clue how many people were affected by it until he started showing the film to audiences. (My wife does have a bit of claustrophobia and it was getting to her. I don’t have any issues with closed in places and it was also getting to me! – Craig)
14. The sequence where the women see the crawler for the first time, via the night vision camera, was actually their first real glimpse of the creature. Marshall had kept the performers separate so the women wouldn’t see the costumed beasts beforehand. They had the lights off and brought the performer in, and then revealed him as the visibility returned — it went over well with screaming and running on the part of the cast. (The Descent has one of the best monster reveals! You’ll love it! – Craig)
19. The young performer playing the “child” crawler also plays a child zombie in 28 Days Later (2002). (That kid has two of the best films of the decade on his/her resume! – Craig)
