Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I’ve been a fan Evan Bryce Cranston aka artgantuan’s art for years. I call this piece Just the Boatman… What a great scene with Stallone playing one of his signature characters in 2008’s Rambo.
I’ve been a fan Evan Bryce Cranston aka artgantuan’s art for years. This is one of his sketchbook pages. I don’t own it, but I wanted to share it. We have Ghost Rider, Batman, Blue Beetle and Rambo!
I’ve been a fan Evan Bryce Cranston aka artgantuan’s art for years. Way back in 2008, Evan posted the art above on his blog. I really liked it — little did I know I would someday own it.
The HIT: COMPLETE COLLECTION by Bryce Carlson (Author), Vanesa Del Rey (Illustrator) will appeal to crime fiction fans. Here’s the downlow…
To combat the organized crime rings threatening to overwhelm 1950s Los Angeles, the LAPD sends in Harvey Slater, a detective authorized off-the-books to take care of “untouchable” criminal problems…
Los Angeles in the 1950s is a place of contrast. It’s home to the bright lights and movie stars of Hollywood’s golden age… and a hotbed of organized crime muscling in on Mickey Cohen’s turf. But LAPD has a plan—Harvey Slater, a detective authorized off-the-books to take care of “untouchable” criminal problems.
The criminals aren’t the only untouchable thing Slater’s going after, though. When his captain’s absent daughter returns, Slater quickly finds himself entangled in the trouble she brings with her… and her ties to his other cases!
From writer Bryce Carlson (Zombie Tales) and artist Vanesa Del Rey (The Creeping Below), experience the entire dark, violent, and sensual look into corruption on both sides of the law, inspired by the true history of LA and collected into one volume for the first time!
Collects Hit: 1955 #1-4 and Hit: 1957 #1-4.
HIT: COMPLETE COLLECTION drops May 20, 2025.
If you’re reading Hit by Bryce Carlson and Vanesa R. Del Rey [and if you’re not you should be] then you’ll want to check out this interview with them at Rhymes With Geek.
This week we have the return of Evan Bryce Cranston with an unexpected addition to my Stallone Sketch Collection. To help celebrate Valentine’s Day and to have some fun for those that follow Evan’s Art Blog, Evan decided to have a random drawing and the winner would receive a specially created piece of art for a Valentine’s Day card.
The random number generator pushed out my number and I ended up winning this awesome Rocky piece. It’s a, uh, knockout!
Check out Evan’s site and say, “Hi.” He’s not only a talented artist but a great guy.
Thanks Evan!
I’m a big Evan Bryce fan. I’ve been following his work for a several years and we’ve become friends via the internet. Evan recently posted that he was taking on commissions, so if you collect sketches, why not check out his art. If you’re already a fan, now is the time to put in an order for a sketch or three.
My buddy, Evan Bryce, was featured in an article at iFanboy earlier this week. Regular readers know I’ve been singing Evan’s praises for a while now. It’s nice when people who deserve some recognition, get it.
Today we have the return of Evan Bryce and his riff on Sly as Cobra. I’ve been a fan of Evan’s art for a few years now and we’ve become friends via the internet. We’d met just once at Heroes Con in 2009 and I got a cool Sly from The Expendables sketch.
Evan didn’t make it back to Heroes in 2010 and he wasn’t supposed to be there this year. However he surprised everyone and made the trip. I asked for a Stallone character sketch of his choice and he went with Cobra and threw in the car and cityscape background as a bonus.
Evan is an exciting artist and one to keep an eye on. You can see more of his work at his blog or his Deviant Art site. Plan to spend a while.
I’m a big Evan Bryce fan. I’ve been following his work for a few years now and we’ve become friends via the internet.
When I saw that Evan was going to be at this year’s Heroes Convention, I knew that I’d want to get a sketch from him to go with my other two. We talked and Evan asked what character I wanted. I told him it was his choice and handed him the reference photos. I had high expectations for what Evan would come up with. He exceeded them all.
Evan is an exciting artist and one to keep an eye on. You can see more of his work at his blog or his Deviant Art site. Plan to spend a while.
Evan Bryce is one of the good guys. He’s started a new webcomic over at his blog that features his character Rick Dangerous. Expect a lot of action and a lot of fun. Check it out and tell him I sent ya!
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Robert Rodat
Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Max Martini, Nathan Fillion, Ryan Hurst, Dale Dye, Bryan Cranston, David Wohl and Vin Diesel.
Tagline: The mission is a man.
The Plot…
June 6, 1944. D Day. Operation Overlord is underway. American forces storm the German fortified beaches of Normandy. The coastline has been divided into five sections. At Omaha Beach the American forces face the most resistance.
Omaha Beach is heavily fortified with German machine gun nests, artillery, as well as mines and barbed wire. The US soldiers coming ashore have a wide-open beach with no cover making them easy targets. The Germans hold the high ground. Yet the US soldiers, despite heavy losses ultimately prevail.
Immediately following the Battle of Omaha Beach, Captain Miller is given an assignment. The US Department of War has learned that the Ryan family has four sons in the service. Against all odds, three of the four Ryan men have been killed in action. The fourth, Private James Ryan is behind enemy lines with the 101st Airborne. Captain Miller’s mission is to put together a team, penetrate into enemy territory, find Private Ryan and get him safely out. Ryan will be given a ticket home.
Captain Miller enlists six battle-tested soldiers and an interpreter with no combat experience to accompany him. No all will survive. Private Ryan may already be dead.
The man is the mission.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Saving Private Ryan was nominated for eleven 1999 Academy Awards. It won five…
Frank Darabont and Scott Frank did uncredited rewrites on Robert Rodat’s screenplay. John Milius also made suggestions.
Saving Private Ryan opens with the storming of Omaha Beach. It runs over 20 minutes and sets the tone for all to follow. It is one of the most amazing and realistic depictions of battle put on film. There were up to 1,000 extras and cost $11 million to film.
During his research Steven Spielberg spoke with many World War II veterans. They asked that Spielberg not make a typical Hollywood war movie. They wanted the audience to understand the brutality and terror of war. Spielberg was surprised that Saving Private Ryan became a hit, despite the realism of the opening scene. Spielberg further said that he would have refused to cut the film even if it had to be released with an NC-17 rating.
The Department of Veterans Affairs set up a special 800 number for past and current soldiers traumatized from the film. There were reportedly 100s of calls to the line.
Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon as Private Ryan because he wanted an unknown actor with All-American good looks. Before Saving Private Ryan was released, Damon was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, both for Good Will Hunting. By the time Saving Private Ryan was released Damon was a star.
Vin Diesel wasn’t a star when hired for Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg saw Diesel’s self-directed short films, Multi-Facial (1995) and Strays (1997). He recognized Diesel’s talent.
Nathan Fillion, Ryan Hurst and Bryon Cranston appear in small roles.
Saving Private Ryan is a classic.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) rates 5 of 5 stars
Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943)
Director: Wilhelm Thiele
Screenplay: Edward T. Lowe Jr. based on a story by Carroll Young based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Nancy Kelly, Johnny Sheffield, Otto Kruger, Joe Sawyer, Lloyd Corrigan, Philip Van Zandt, Bobby Barber, Frank Faylen, Nestor Paiva and John Dehner
Tagline: THRILL AFTER AMAZING THRILL…as savage hordes…inflamed by crafty foes…hunt down TARZAN and the lovely maiden he is guarding!
The Plot…
Tarzan (Weissmuller), along with Boy and Cheetah, is on a mercy mission to deliver a serum that will save service members wounded in the war. His errand will take him across the desert. Along the way, Tarzan meets Connie Bryce (Kelly). Connie is a performer who has been entertaining the troops. Connie has a secret message she is to deliver to an Arab king. When foreign agents attempt to kill Connie, Tarzan comes to the rescue… along with Boy and Cheetah.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Tarzan’s Desert Mystery is Johnny Weissmuller’s 8th outing as the Lord of the Jungle. He would make at total of 12 Tarzan movies.
Ben Johnson, who would become a star himself and an Academy Award winner (1972 – Best Supporting Actor in The Last Picture Show), was Johnny Weissmuller’s stunt double for the horse sequences.
I have fond memories of watching Tarzan movies, especially this one, with my grandpa. He particularly got a kick out of the last scene when Nazis finally get someone on the radio. They think they are talking to Hitler and get up to salute. It’s actually Cheetah they’re talking to.
Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943) earns 3 of 5 stars.
Night Swim
Coming Soon to Theaters
No running. No diving. No lifeguard on duty. No swimming after dark.
Atomic Monster and Blumhouse, the producers of M3GAN, high dive into the deep end of horror with the new supernatural thriller, Night Swim.
Based on the acclaimed 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, the film stars Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Oscar® nominee Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle, this fall’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren, Fear the Walking Dead).
Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.
Night Swim is written and directed by Bryce McGuire (writer of the upcoming film Baghead) and is produced by James Wan, the filmmaker behind the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises, and Jason Blum, the producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man. The film is executive produced by Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Wan’s Atomic Monster and by Ryan Turek for Blum’s Blumhouse.
Deal me in!
Don’t let the cat out of the bag. #ArgylleMovie, in theaters February 2, 2024.
Argylle Only In Theaters February 2 https://www.argyllemovie.com/
— The greater the spy, the bigger the lie.
From the twisted mind of Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman franchise, Kick-Ass) comes Argylle, a razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller.
Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise) is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past.
Accompanied by Aiden (Oscar® winner Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.
The top-flight ensemble cast features Henry Cavill (The Witcher), John Cena (Fast X), Oscar® winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Grammy winning pop superstar Dua Lipa (Barbie), Emmy winner and Oscar® nominee Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Emmy winner and comedy icon Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), and the legendary Samuel L. Jackson. Alfie is played by Chip, the real-life cat of supermodel Claudia Vaughn (née Schiffer).
Argylle is directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn, from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman). The film is produced by Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling (Kingsman franchise), Jason Fuchs, and David Reid (Kingsman franchise). The executive producers are Adam Fishbach, Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres and Claudia Vaughn.
Apple Original Films presents, in association with MARV, a Cloudy production. Argylle is distributed by Universal Pictures.
