Category: Movies

Alexis Arguello & Karl Malden – R.I.P.

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Alexis Arguello and Karl Malden passed on today.

Alexis Arguello, who was a champion in three weight divisions, died at the age of 57 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Arguello, was a charismatic champion who compiled an amazing 82 – 8 record before finally retiring in 1995.  Although Arguello never lost a fight 130 pounds he is best known for his first brutal and controversial war against Aaron Pryor in 1982.   Arguello moved up in weight with the hope of being the first champion in four weight divisions.  Pryor won the fight by knocking out Arguello in the 14th round of the epic fight which had seen both fighters taking and giving as good as they were getting.  Arguello seemed to be gaining the advantage, but in the respite before the 14th round, Pryor’s trainer, Panama Lewis, called for a specific water bottle — “the one I mixed” — the mysterious drink seemed to revive Pryor who went on to win.  The fight against Pryor was voted Fight of the Year and Fight of the Decade by Ring magazine.  Arguello fought for 13 more years and remained a popular figure after leaving the squared circle.  He appeared in commercials, carried his country’s flag in the Olympics and was currently the mayor of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

Karl Malden, 97, died today from natural causes.  An Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor in 1951 for his role in “A Streetcar Named Desire” which starred Marlon Brando.   Malden also appeared with Brando in “On the Waterfront” and “One-Eyed Jacks” as well as several dozen movies without him.  Malden had a five year run with Michael Douglas in the popular “Streets of San Francisco” tv series which ran from 1972 – 1977.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and fans of Alexis Arguello and Karl Malden.

Farrah Fawcett – R.I.P.

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Farrah Fawcett passed away today at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer.

Although best known as a 70’s sex symbol, Farrah actually started working in commercials and bit parts in television in the late 60’s.  Anyone besides me old enough to remember her 1973 commercial with Joe Namath?  Then in September of 1976, and the premiere of Charlie’s Angels, Farrah shot to superstardom.  The show was a hit and Farrah was the fan favorite angel.  Her poster sold millions of copies and became a 70’s icon.  Farrah stayed with the series for just one year before leaving to try her hand at movies.  Although her theatrical movies didn’t do well [I do remember liking “Saturn 3” with Kirk Douglas], she continued to be a fan favorite.

In 1984, Farrah earned an Emmy nomination for “The Burning Bed”.  She would earn two more before her career was over [“Small Sacrifices” and “The Guardian”].  In 1995, at the age of 48, Farrah posed nude for Playboy.  It became the best selling issue of the decade.

The last few years had been tough ones for Farrah as she struggled to beat the cancer that ultimately took her life.  Farrah has passed on, but her icon status will be outlive most of us.  Growing up in the late 60’s and 70’s, Farrah Fawcett was our Marilyn Monroe.

Our thoughts go out to her family, friends and fans.

Daybreakers Follow Undead

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AICN scored the first look at “Daybreakers” –  the Spierig brothers’ follow-up to “Undead”.   Quint describes the film by saying it’s a:

futuristic vampire tale starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill. It’s about a plague that turns the vast majority of the Earth’s population into vampires. The remaining humans have to be rounded up and farmed as the supply of fresh blood grows smaller and smaller and the demand grows larger and larger. The vampires must figure out a way to replicate the blood or save the human race or they, too, will die out.

Sounds pretty cool.  Check out the AICN post here and see the poster in it’s ginormous glory.

Andrew Charipar’s Cobra

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Here’s Andrew Charipar’s take on Stallone as “Cobra” and a humorous story that goes with it.  I got this sketch from Andrew at the 2009 FX con.  Although I regularly visit Andrew’s blog, I’d never met him.  A few weeks before FX, Andrew posted that he’d take requests for sketches to have ready for anyone attending the show.  I put in for the Stallone character of his choice.  A few days later, Andrew posted the Stallone piece you see here and said I could pick it up at FX.

The weekend of the show arrived and I found Andrew’s table.  He had art available for sale, his sketchbook, and comics spread out.  A small group of folks were around his table ordering or picking up sketches.   I waited my turn, stepped up and said, “Hi.  I think you have a Cobra for me.”  A puzzled look crossed Andrew’s face and he replied, “I don’t think so.”  Now I was the one looking confused.  Andrew asked, “Are you sure you requested a Cobra from me?”

Now I know that he’s drawn the piece — I’ve seen it on his website, but I can tell by the look on his face that he has no idea why I would think that he’s drawn me a Cobra sketch.  I go on, “My name is Craig Zablo.  I requested the sketch through your website and you decided to do Stallone as Cobra.”  It’s like a light went on and Andrew replied, “Oh, a Stallone Cobra!  My buddy and I were just talking about GI Joe and we thought you were referring to ‘that’ Cobra.”  Andrew then proceeded to pull out the piece you see above.

Andrew’s a cool guy with very reasonable prices for his sketchbook and originals.  Check out his blog and give him some props.

Mills’ SpyFi Channel

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Hey, if you’ve got some time to kill [and you must or you wouldn’t be here], then you might want to check out Chris Mills‘ latest blog, which he calls the SpyFi Channel.  I don’t know which I like best, the name or the header that Chris created.

At the SpyFi Channel,  Chris will cover the world of spies — movies, books, tv — the whole enchalada.  Be advised that Chris won’t update regularly, but when he does, it will definitely be worth a view.  He’s started off with a look at Robert Conrad’s spy series [no, not The Wild, Wild West – one of my all-time favorite shows] A Man Called Sloane.

It’s cool that Chris has another blog going… as long as it doesn’t take away from getting the next Gravedigger story out.  And I still think a Gravedigger novel could really work! Until then, you’ll find me at the SpyFi Channel!

Insignares’ “Expendable”

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Miguel Insignares gifted me with this cool shot of Sly from “The Expendables”.  Miguel said that once I send him a high-res copy, he’ll color it and add Sly’s tats.  Miguel always has several irons in the fire and he’s currently developing a very cool concept for a comic/movie.  I can’t say any more about it at this time, but believe me, I’ll keep you posted as it develops.

Big thanks to Miguel for hooking me up!