Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Bet you can’t wait to see Oliver Stone’s The Murder of Martin Luther King starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Jodie Foster. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to. Maybe forever, because there is no such movie.
This poster comes from a site called Movies They Should Make. Talk about a cool idea. I hope this site takes off because it has so much potential.
It’s been a while since we heard from my buddy, Bill Black. Bill is a comic writer, artist, and publisher. He’s also a film-maker. Bill wrote in to say that he’s working to get his films carried by Amazon.com. If that happens it’d be a great thing for Bill and his fans. Until then Bill’s films can be purchased through his CultRetro site.
Jon Riggle is back, this time with his take on Sly from The Expendables. Jon is an illustrator and photographer. He also created the Sci-Fi comic strip Sonic Jack and is available for commissions. You can see more of Jon’s art here and here.
Thanks to Jon and John Beatty for the gift.
Here are my predictions for tomorrow night’s UFC Live on Versus:
You’ve heard me singing the praises of Victor Gischler many times before. It’s no secret that I’m really looking forward to his soon-to-be-released crime/noir novel, The Deputy.
If you’re feelin’ lucky [said in my best Clint Eastwood voice], then you might want to enter a contest that Keith Rawson is running over at his Bloody Knuckles, Callused Fingers site. If you win you’ll get an advanced reading copy of, you guessed it, Gischler’s The Deputy.
Of course you can also order The Deputy from the publisher and use the promo code “twitter” to get three bucks off and free shipping! And if you prefer Amazon, here’s a link for that as well. The cool thing about ordering the book is that you’re a guaranteed winner!
No, that isn’t me when I first wake up. It’s actually a card that my buddy, Rafael Kayanan did for a Lord of the Rings trading card set. You can see that card and others when you check out this interview with Raf over at the Sketch Card Art Blog.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back! And by “back” I mean in the action genre that propelled him to fame. Johnson will play an ex-con out to avenge his brother’s murder. The film, called Faster, will be directed by George Notorious Tillman and co-star Billy Bob Thorton and Carla Gugino.
Oh, and how do we know it’s not a kid’s film? Let me quote from USAToday’s First Look article:
How do you know this isn’t the Johnson of kid-friendly The Game Plan and Return to Witch Mountain? For starters, Johnson gets shot in the head.
Faster is set to premiere in November. We’ll keep an eye out for more news as it becomes available.
Steve ‘Frosty’ Weintraub posted a larger image at Collider.com of this Expendables standee that he photographed at ShoWest.
Fess Parker, best known for playing Davy Crockett in the 50’s and Daniel Boone in the 60’s died today at age 85.
Parker first gained fame playing Davy Crockett for Disney. Although he’d played supporting characters [many uncredited] prior to getting the starring role as Crockett, it was almost a fluke that he ended up in the lead. Disney execs were screening “Them!” to get a look at James Arness, who was being considered for the role of Davy Crockett, but they were so impressed with Fess Parker’s turn in a bit part that he ended up with the role that was make him known to millions.
After his run as Davy Crockett, Fess Parker appeared in several movies [perhaps the most famous being Old Yeller and guest appearances on tv. In 1964, he again put on a coonskin cap and hit the big time. Daniel Boone ran for 159 episodes from 1964 to 1970. Not long after, Mr. Parker left show business to concentrate on real estate, and a winery.
I was a fan of the Daniel Boone series as a kid and spent many hours playing “Daniel Boone” with my friends. I also had the Daniel Boone playset as a kid and spent even more hours playing with it. I can still remember getting to see Old Yeller when it was re-released in the 60’s. And of course watching Mr. Parker many, many times in his small but important role in the classic Them!
Mr. Parker is survived by his wife of fifty years, a son and daughter and many grandchildren. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.
From Entertainment Weekly’s The Must List for March 19, 2010:
“SouthLAnd on TNT:
It’s been more than nine months since we last saw new episodes of this blood-and-grit cop series, but now it’s back and we couldn’t be happier. It’s the best drama since the NBC fiasco that led to its cancellation.”
I’d just add two things: 1] I totally agree and 2] Thank you TNT for bringing SouthLAnd back!
If you’re a fan of art, movie posters and/or Alfred Hitchcock, then you may want to check out Laz Marquez’s cool redesigns of classic Hitchcock movie posters. That’s a partial view of his Rear Window redo. The full version as well as the other classics can be found at Marquez’s site.
[Thanks to Neatorama.com for the post.]
I’ve been a fan of 24 since uh, the first day… okay, the first show of the first season. In fact I’ve never missed an episode. So you can imagine my frustration at the recent talk that this could be the last season of 24, especially since this season is so good!
There’s been speculation that there will be a 24 movie [or series of movies] for years. Now there’s talk that NBC might be interested in picking up the series should Fox decide to let it go. If, FOX pulls the plug on 24, I’d rather see it stay alive as a tv series, so this is especially great news.
I have mixed feelings about this poster for Predators. I like the idea and the black and white photography. I guess the two things that bug me most are: 1] The Predator’s arm seems pretty small and not near long enough and 2] The movie is called Predators — at least hint that there is more than one.
Maybe I’m just being too picky, because I think this movie is going to be a winner.
Want to see a huge version of the poster above? Then click over to IMPAwards and check it out!
Last August I posted about a tv show called Lawman that would premiere in 2010. At that time I said that it looked interesting enough to make me want to tune in. Well, tomorrow night that will happen. Although the title of the show has been changed, my feelings about it haven’t.
The series is now called Justified and is based on an Elmore Leonard novella called Fire in the Hole. So at 10pm, I’ll tune in to FX hoping that my feelings are, uh, justified.
