Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I hadn’t heard anything about Iron Sky until just a few minutes ago. Looks like a fun concept. I hope that the movie turns out to be as good as the teaser.
There’s no movie coming out this summer that I want to see more than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Check out 
Longtime ZONErs know how much I enjoyed watching horror/monster movies as a kid growing up in Indiana… especially those shown by late night horror host Sammy Terry. For years I’ve been saying that someone needs to find a horror host and run a double feature of scary movies late on Saturday night. Although, no major network has stepped up to the plate, my buddy Bill Black has released a series of dvds that fits the bill [as in black].
Last night I watched “M is for Madman” the third in Bill’s Crypt of Horror series. It’s a double feature of “The Man Who Turned to Stone” and “The Brute Man” hosted by Lon Madnight. Madnight [whose name is a play on “London After Midnight” – the lost, silent horror film starring Lon Chaney] maintains the perfect balance of insightful trivia about the movie to be seen and bad puns. He’s just what the doctor [or at least I] ordered. The production values on the dvd are top notch. The films are crisp and clear with excellent sound. The movies can be seen without the Lon Madnight openings and closings, but they’re so much fun, who’d want to miss them? Priced at less than twenty bucks for two remastered movies and Lon Midnight — you’d be hard pressed to find a cheaper evening of family fun.
So let’s take a look at “The Man Who Turned to Stone”…The Pitch: Mad scientists run a woman’s reformatory and drain the “bio-electrical” life force from inmates in order to prolong their unnatural lives.
The Good: The special effects are surprisingly well done for a low-budget film of this era. You’re slowly made to realize that the people in charge of the reformatory aren’t just bad, they’re…
The Bad: This isn’t a classic horror movie — it’s bad in all the right ways. The hero kind of looks like Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Ugly: What happens when Eric doesn’t get enough “bio-electrical” life force.
The Summary: “The Man Who Turned to Stone” isn’t a classic, but it’s better than you’d expect given it’s lack of budget and notoriety. It’s exactly the kind of movie that works when you’re in the mood for an old time horror movie that you haven’t watched a million times. I can’t wait to watch it with friends/family who love scary movies.
I really, really wanted to like “Harsh Times.” David Ayer directed it. Ayer also wrote it. Okay, you ask, “so who is David Ayer?” He’s the talented writer of such films as “Training Day,” “Dark Blue,” and “The Fast and the Furious” among others. Ayer also directed “Street Kings” which I really enjoyed. So even though “Harsh Times” starred Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria and Terry Crews [in a small role], it was Ayer who was the major selling point for me.
The Pitch: “Training Day” meets “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” without the comedy and where Ferris is an over-the-edge ex-marine.
The Good: The scene when Bale & Rodriguez attempt to sell a handgun in a Tex-Mex bar. The tension throughout the movie — who’s going to die?
The Bad: There’s a lack of redeeming characters. The movie is dark, dark, dark.
The Ugly: How disappointed I am, that I didn’t like the movie more.
The Summary: “Harsh Times” was too bleak for me. Good director, good cast, but without characters that I could really get behind.
I’ve updated my blog and artist links sections with a bunch of really cool sites. I’m sure that you’ll find at least a couple that you’ll bookmark for return visits. [Hopefully not at the expense of visits here.]
This morning I headed over to the the Daytona Beach Comic and Toy Show. My buddy, Steve Myers, runs it and I knew that several other friends were going to be there as well. The plan was we’d all meet up at the show and then some of us would cut out for lunch. It was great seeing Bill and Reb Black, Nick Northey, Tim Gordon, Mark Gmuer, and Chris Hanson. I’d hoped to meet Jerry DeCaire, but he was running late and arrived just as I was leaving. John Beatty and Bella were also running late, and decided to just meet us at Uno’s for lunch. When we left the show there had already been over 100 people through the doors, so it looked to be a success.
On May 15th at 7:30 p.m. at select theaters nationwide, Stallone fans will be able to see a special showing of “First Blood.” Then, following the film, the alternate ending (where Rambo dies) will be shown for the first time ever in theatres. Then to top off this one night event an exclusive, never-before-seen interview with Sylvester Stallone [who will discuss all of the Rambo films] will be screened. – Craig
Today I swung by the April Sketch Society meeting for a couple of hours. The meeting is always held on the last Saturday of the month at the Java Junction in Holly Hill. One of the great things about Sketch Society is that you never know who’s going to show up. Two guys, O’Serimi and Owen joined the festivities for the first time. John Beatty [who started the Sketch Society], Rob Smith and Mark Dail were also in attendance. John worked on some Upper Deck Sketch Cards [sorry, but no pictures allowed]. O’Serimi, Mark and Owen worked on figure studies while Beatty and I did our best to keep up with Rob’s tales of his travels [and to NOT call him BOB].
Since I had to leave early I don’t have any photos of completed sketches, but promise to do better in May!
The art above is just a small sample of why I love Dave Johnson’s art. Click HERE for a bigger sample.
If you’re anywhere near Daytona Beach, Florida this Sunday, you may want to check out the Daytona Beach Comic and Toy Show. Jerry DeCaire who created the cool Punisher art for today’s header will be there. So will author Frank Feschino and a roomful of dealers. I’ll be there. Who knows, maybe I’ll come home with a new Stallone sketch for my gallery.
Saturday is the next meeting of Sketch Society. The festivities will be at Java Junction Donut and Coffee. I plan to arrive between 12:30 and 1 and hope to see you there!
Yesterday, my wife and I joined Jim Ivey and several of his friends to celebrate Jim’s 83rd birthday. Long time readers know that Jim Ivey is one of my oldest [as in been a friend the longest], oldest [as in age] and dearest friends. I first met Jim in the mid 1970’s when he was running The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida. At the same time Jim was working as a syndicated cartoonist [The Thoughts of Man], a political cartoonist [The Orlando Sentinel], a publisher [CartooNews], teacher [UCF cartooning class] and even a comic book convention organizer [OrlandoCon]. At the time, I was into collecting comic books and later original art. Jim’s shop was like heaven.
Going to The Cartoon Museum became a weekly trip [almost always accompanied by my best friend, John Beatty]. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, my trips to Jim’s became even more frequent. We’d spend the day shooting the breeze and playing cards [blackjack, gin, hearts] and would occasionally stop for lunch or Jim to make a sale. Jim hated it when business got in the way of fun!
You never knew who would come through the store. Sometimes it was other buddies like Bill Black [pictured in the photo above with Jim and I], Mike Kott, Rafael Kayanan, or Robert Smith. Sometimes it was established artists like Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Bruce Stark or so many others.
As the years have gone by and we’ve all gone in different directions, I’m happy to say that most of us are still in touch fairly regularly. Many of us correspond via e-mail, but Jim doesn’t mess with computers. So it’s snail mail correspondence for us. I love getting my letters from Jim. Just like when we’d go to his shop and you’d never know what would be waiting; it’s the same experience opening an envelope from Jim.
But, I digress… back to the party.
Jim was happy to see the number of folks who made it to his party. Jim opened the festivities with a speech in which he talked about everything from the state of political cartoons today to the origins of Aborigines in Australia. We ordered our meals and while we were waiting Jim opened the gifts that had been brought to celebrate his 83rd. He received cigars, lottery tickets, and money — three of his favorite items — and more! The meals arrived and as we ate we shared stories… and more stories… and even more stories. Three and a half hours passed in what seemed less than an hour. There was enough laughter and fellowship packed into the short time, that it made me really wish that we could go back to the days of The Cartoon Museum with Jim running the show.
Oh well, if nothing else, we have Jim’s 84th to look forward to.
Hot on the heels of The Spirit teaser poster is The Spirit teaser trailer. 
Right now, THIS may be the coolest thing on the net.
Rotten Tomatoes has posted their picks for the 20 Greatest Fight Scenes Ever. They picked Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed as their #1 choice. Can’t say that I disagree.Although I think that they’ve left off some great fight scenes [Emperor of the North: Lee Marvin vs Ernest Borgnine; Hard Times: Charles Bronson vs Robert Tessier; etc], I’ll play along. Using just their choices, here are my top ten:
10. From Russia with Love: Sean Connery vs. Robert Shaw
09. The Karate Kid: Daniel-san vs. Johnny
08. Road House: Patrick Swayze vs. Ben Gazzara’s thugs
07. Charlie’s Angels: The Angels vs. Crispin Glover
06. Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones vs. the big, bald Nazi
05. They Live: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Keith David
04. The Matrix: Neo vs. Agent Smith
03. Game of Death: Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
02. The Transporter: Jason Statham vs. everybody in the bus depot
01. Rocky: Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed
