Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I was really happy with the two wins yesterday. No, not the Bucs and the Raiders [although I was pulling for both of them]. I’m talking about “The Shield” winning a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Series and for MICHAEL CHIKLIS picking up one for Best Dramatic Actor.“The Shield” has been in my “Must See TV” category since it’s premiere. I usually tell people that it’s one of the two best shows going, but with yesterday’s win, I’ll drop the two.
MICHAEL JACKSON‘s face has made the news again. Or at least it will when it is the subject of a special edition of NBC‘s “Dateline” set to air at 10 p.m. EST Feb. 17th. When I first heard about this, it struck me as funny that a “news” program would seriously cover such a silly subject… but I have to admit I was kind of intrigued. No one can dispute that MICHAEL JACKSON is an extremely talented individual. But it would also be hard to argue that he’s not getting more and more bizarre as the years go by. Thinking about the changes that have occurred in his behavior and his face, one could almost argue that as his actions get stranger his nose gets smaller. After MJ holding his baby over a fourth floor balcony, I might just have to tune to see if he still has one.
RICHARD CRENNA, the Emmy award-winning actor has died. He was 76. Mr. CRENNA, whose credits included all three “Rambo” films, “Body Heat,” the classic suspense film “Wait Until Dark,” as well as many other roles, died of pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
RICHARD CRENNA is survived by wife and three adult children. A public service is to be held Jan. 25.
The movie is “Basic.” Ok, then.
FRANK MILLER is a genius. Although he’s worked in both movies and comics, it is in the latter that he has really made his mark. In the early ’80s, MILLER re-invented Daredevil taking him from a thrid rate hero to one of the most popular comics hitting the stands. After Daredevil came Ronin, and then Dark Knight Returns, the series that woke up mainstream America to the fact that comics were still around. MILLER went on to create Batman: Year One, Sin City and the groundbreaking 300. But it is MILLER’s SIN CITY series that remains my favorite. All of the stories are set in the same corrupt big city and quite often feature overlapping characters. Every tale is well worth the price of admission and now MILLER even has released a book dedicated to The Art of Sin City. My copy hasn’t made it to the bookshelf yet, as I keep looking through and admiring the genius that is FRANK MILLER.
JOHN RIDLEY is best known for his “noir” novels. He wrote Stray Dogs which was turned into the cult classic movie “U-Turn” which starred SEAN PENN, JENNIFER LOPEZ [before she hit it big], and BILLY BOB THORTON. His other books have for the most part been in the same vein…The Drift is unlike anything that RIDLEY has written before. Well, that’s not exactly true. You see, RIDLEY‘s other book s have all been very good and The Drift is no exception. In fact The Drift may be RIDLEY‘s best book yet.
The Drift is the story of a man[Charles Hanson] who seems to have it all… a good job, a loving wife and a child on the way. Charles sees it differently. He sees his life becoming more and more repetitive. He feels confined… until he decides to leave it all behind for a life on the rails. That’s right, he decides to become a modern day hobo. He meets many strange characters [most who wish to do him harm] and has many adventures in his effort to save a young girl from the life he has chosen for himself. The problem is, he has to find her before she is murdered. To say more would be to say too much.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s because the Kill Bill trailer rocked so hard.
Maybe it because TOM CRUISE has had such a great run in selecting projects. [OK… I do remember “Eyes Wide Shut”… but I didn’t say perfect run, just a great one.]
At any rate I just saw this pic from CRUISE‘s “The Last Samurai” and after reading the synopsis, I have to say that it looks like it could be a winner.
MAURICE GIBB of the Bee Gees has died. He suffered cardiac arrest before abdominal surgery last week and had been listed in critical but stable condition. He was 53. I’ve always been a Bee Gees fan. I liked their music before the disco craze hit, loved the stuff that they did during it, and continued to enjoy their work even after it was no longer cool to do so. 53 is way to young to die.
We’ve lost another talent, but as cliche as it sounds, the music will live on. Our prayers go out to MAURICE GIBB‘s family, friends and fans.
VIN DIESEL‘s next film, A Man Apart, has Diesel playing a narcotics cop whose wife is murdered when when drug dealers attempt to kill him. Man, if they think he was after them before…Although the advance word has been mixed, the trailer looks pretty good and with Diesel in the lead, ya gotta imagine that it’ll do well.
Personally, I can’t wait until DIESEL returns in “Pitch Black II: The Riddick Chronicles” but this will help get me through the wait.
Dreamfield Entertainment announced today that it has reached a licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures to market action figures and accessories based on WALTER HILL‘s 1979 classic “The Warriors.” The toys are expected to be released this summer. I remember seeing “The Warriors” during it’s initial theatrical release. I’m somewhat surprised that they’re making aciton figures of it twenty years after its premiere. But then again, it is considered a cult classic and it does have characters that will make cool looking action figures.
Can you dig it? I knew you could.
GREG RUCKA is one of my favorite writers. Best known for his Atticus Kodiac novels, RUCKA has also written quite a few comics [including the very popular “White Out” series].It has been announced that RUCKA is going to be the writer when Marvel unleashes a new Wolverine series next May. DARRICK ROBERTSON is going to provide the artwork and has this to say about RUCKA’s take on Logan: “You will be getting a very, very different Wolverine… I think some fans aren’t going to like it all. Greg sees Logan like the Hulk in that he shouldn’t just go berserk all the time, but when he does, it’s a big deal and there will be so much building up to his explosion, that we he does cut loose, it will be momentous.”
The series seems to have a lot of potential. I know that I will be watching for the first issue.
There’s been a lot of talk about “Joe Millionaire” the reality show on Fox. It scored high ratings with tons of people tuning in to see twenty single women competing for the attention of a bachelor that they are led to believe is a millionaire. The catch is that he isn’t. He’s a normal guy who brings down about $20,000 a year. First of all, why anyone would care a bit about women fighting to “win” the attention of any guy is beyond me. I guess I’m alone in that respect though. There have been a bunch of shows just like it… “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire”...”The Bachelor”… “The Bachelorette”… and now this… and I’m sure others to come.
Anyone here like BRUCE WILLIS? Ok, hands down. Anyone here enjoy “Training Day?” Good, good.
Anyone want to see BRUCE WILLIS team up with the director of “Training Day” for an action – adventure movie? I thought so.
Well then, click below to see the trailer and HERE to visit the official site. Class dismissed. See you tomorrow!
This weekend JOHN “Big” BEATTY and I will be attending the FX Collector’s Toy, Comic and Fantasy Convention at Orlando’s Orange County Convention center. As if this weren’t reason enough to go, other guests scheduled to appear include LINDA [“The Exorcist”] BLAIR, DOUG [“Hellraiser”] BRADLEY, The Insane Clown Posse, and a whole bunch of comic book artists such as MARTIN NODELL, ALEX SAVIUK, and BILL BLACK.
