Tagged: movie

Spider-Man: Threat, Menace, or Bank Robber?

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  • December 9, 2011

s-spider_man-large-5157909Hat tip to Peter David, who sent this out with the note, “Holy crap. J. Jonah Jameson was right all along.”

Prince George’s County Police Department is looking for an armed man they suspect robbed a BB&T bank in Fort Washington, Md., on Wednesday afternoon. According to the police department’s blog, the man robbed the bank while wearing a Spider-Man mask and matching Spider-Man sweater:

The suspect is described as an unknown race male in his 20’s, around 5’5”-5’7” tall, and weighing between 150-170lbs. He was last seen wearing a black and gray “North Face” jacket, a black hooded “Spider Man” sweater with a spider on the chest, a “Spider Man” mask with a white web design, black shoes with white soles, gloves, a blue canvass bag, and armed with a silver handgun.

This is, of course, not the first time that Spider-Man’s visage has been employed in a bank robbery. In 2010, a Utah bank was robbed by a man in a Spider-Man mask. Earlier this year, a credit union was robbed by a man in a Spider-Man mask (the same man may also have robbed a Waffle House). The blog Consumerist says Spider Man masks for robbers are so common they’re a veritable trend.

via Spider-Man Robs Bank In Maryland (PHOTOS).

Maybe the new movie is going over budget, and Marc Webb needs to make up the shortfall?

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO THE BEST NEW PULP NOVEL EVER!

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  • December 6, 2011

Tippin’ Hancock’s Hat-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

FUN & GAMES
by Duane Swierczynski
Mulholland Books
287 Pages
Published June 2011

The debate is settled.  The argument is over.   The conundrum has been solved.

There can be New Pulp that satisfies all sides of the ‘Classic Feel versus Modern Relevance’ discussion that some of us have been involved with for a tentful of Sundays.  Yes, the perfect expression of New Pulp does exist in between two covers, Virginia.

Duane Swierczynski, noted author and comic scribe, released “the first of three explosive Pulp thrillers” this past June under the title FUN & GAMES.  And I’ll tell you, it’s definitely both.   Swierczynski hits all the points that Pulp has to hit to be Pulp.  Even with that, though, he presents us not with a perfect hero, but one replete with flaws, weaknesses, and scars.   Charlie Hardie’s inherent goodness, however, is the perfect part of him, the piece that even when he himself doubts it, does not crumble and break away.  This gives him the steel and nerve he needs to be the perfect Pulp hero.

Hardie, as he’s introduced, is a Housesitter on his way to sit the house of a major player in the movie business.   A few years prior, he’d been a ‘consultant’ of sorts for the Philadelphia Police Department and used various skills to help his best friend end some of the crime and corruption in the city.   Tragically, Charlie’s best friend and family are killed when Charlie is basically set up to birddog them for the bad guys.  Nearly killed himself (he earns the nickname Unkillable Chuck because it seems like he’s almost impossible to kill.  He earns that nickname time and again in this book), Charlie makes sure his own wife and child are protected and dives headfirst into a bottle and the life of a housesitting gypsy, which is how he ends up in LA in FUN & GAMES.

The book opens with a B movie actress with quite a history of wild times and drug use racing in her car around the twisted back roads of LA, another car in hot pursuit.   She’s sure they are trying to kill her, but it simply might be coincidence.  Until she’s rear ended and someone approaches her and sticks a syringe in her arm.  She stumbles off the road and out of sight.

Hardie gets to his current assignment, has issues getting in as the key left for him is gone, and is stabbed almost immediately in the chest by a mike stand being projected at him from a somewhat high, beaten up, dirty but beautiful lady hiding in the house.  As she rambles about a group of people trying to kill her and make it look like an accident and how she barely escaped after they rear ended her and drugged her with something, Hardie has to decide rather quickly how to handle all of this.  Why?  Because the people who are trying to kill the actress are already outside the house and determined to get in.

Much of FUN & GAMES takes place IN the house.   It feels very much like a compact version of Die Hard as Hardie and his new charge fight with each other, then the baddies just to stay alive.  Once the action moves beyond the domicile, it amps up even more.  The pacing of this book is frenetic, but well focused and controlled.  Swierczynski knows each and every character inside and out and this allows him to inject them into this breakneck, high octane ride that he’s concocted around one of the coolest concepts I’ve seen in fiction lately.

That concept?  The bad guys.  Good Pulp needs Great Villains and Swierczynski gives Hardie the best.  An organization nicknamed ‘the Accident People’ by the actress they’re pursuing is actually a well peopled, extremely connected group that essentially deals with people, especially celebrities, when they become a problem for someone with enough funds to pay the Accident People.   Overdoses, suicides, car accidents, all the tragic things that befall people in the limelight are basically due to the manipulations and machinations of the Accident People.  Filled with mostly directors, actors, and others from the film industry, this group approaches each job like a movie, insuring the narrative goes the destructive way they want it to.  At every turn, Hardie finds victory only to get handed more defeat by the director of the narrative he fell into, a lady by the name of Mann.  The Accident People are clearly a great template for what Pulp Villains should be.

Equally, Hardie is a perfect example of a New Pulp Hero.  An angel by no means, Hardie wars with himself as much as he does the villains after him.  He’s definitely in a pit of despair and destruction and doesn’t really climb out of it before the book ends.  But he is clearly heroic.  He will not admit he’s an expert in anything, but he does have what he refers to as his ‘lizard brain’, something that he relies on when he simply cannot easily get out of a situation.   This innate primal instinct turns Charlie into a juggernaut of terror against any who stand in his way.

FUN & GAMES simply is the best example of New Pulp at its best I have ever read.  The beginning of the book will jar you, the ending will blow you away…and force you to go out and get the second one.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-Oh yeah.

Harlan Ellison releases four new books

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  • December 5, 2011

harlan-books-all-4-covers12-6164149 Harlan Ellison, once called “the 20th century Lewis Carroll” by the Los Angeles Times, invites you to explore his 56-year career in four new books.

These four volumes, designed to bring Ellison’s writing to a new generation of readers while collecting rare works for his long-time fans, gather classic stories, entertaining essays, unpublished teleplays, and the author’s never-before-reprinted second novel from 1960.

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Conan The Barbarian (1982) Movie Review

  • News
  • November 26, 2011
conan_the_barbarian-4149648

1982
Universal Pictures
Directed by John Milius
Produced by Buzz Feitshans and Raffaella De Laurentiis
Written by John Milius and Oliver Stone
Based on the character/stories created and written by Robert E. Howard
I knew that director John Milius and his screenplay co-writer Oliver Stone got the character of Conan five minutes into the movie.  During the opening credits we see Conan’s father (William Smith) forging a mighty sword.  He then takes the young Conan (Jorge Sanz) to the top of a mountain.  He explains how The Riddle of Steel was stolen from Crom, the god of Cimmeria and that Conan must learn The Riddle of Steel for himself because as his dad succinctly sums up: “For no one in the world can you trust.  Not men, not women, not beasts.  But this-“ and he holds up the gleaming sword.  “-this you can trust.”
It’s not long after this that Conan’s parents, along with all the other adults in his village are slaughtered by the servants of Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) a powerful sorcerer who is also the leader of a cult that worships the snake god Set.  Conan, along with other children are taken as slaves and chained to The Wheel of Pain, a gigantic mill which they push night and day, through weather fair and foul.  It’s torturous work but it has its benefits.  The young Conan grows up into Arnold Schwarzenegger as pushing that damn thing has built up muscles of Herculean proportions.  He’s bought by The Hyborian Age’s version of a fight promoter and wins fame as a gladiator.  He’s freed by his master and after meeting up with the master thief and archer Subotai (Gerry Lopez) takes up a career as a thief himself.
It’s during their attempt to infiltrate The Tower of The Serpent and steal The Eye of The Serpent that Conan meets swordswoman and thief Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) who will become the great love of his life.  It’s their successful and daring theft that brings them to the attention of King Osric (Max von Sydow) who hires the trio to rescue his daughter from The Cult of Set.  While Valeria and Subotai see this as a chance for a really big payday, Conan has his sights on taking the head of Thulsa Doom.
Now, you can say whatever you want about CONAN THE BARBARIAN but it won’t faze me because if nothing else, John Milius and Oliver Stone respected Robert E. Howard’s enough that they obviously not only read his stories but incorporated elements of some of those stories into the movie including what is probably the most famous scene in any Conan story; his crucifixion and his killing of a vulture pecking at his flesh with nothing but his bare teeth. 
This movie, along with “The Terminator” launched Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career and it’s easy to see why.  Schwarzenegger at that time looked like he was designed by Frank Frazetta and he inhabits the role as well as Sean Connery did with James Bond or Michael Keaton did with Batman.  For those who claim that Schwarzenegger can’t act, I point out a terrific scene where Conan, Valeria and Subotai plan their assault on Doom’s stronghold.  While Bergman and Lopez have all the dialog, Schwarzenegger says far more than they do in the way he’s sharpening his sword.  And even though Schwarzenegger gets a lot of mocking for his dialog and accent in this movie, I like it.  I mean, the guy does sound like a barbarian from pre-history.   In fact, I like it that 90% of the characters have accents in this movie as they do sound as if they come from another age rather than modern day Californians playing dress up.
The supporting cast is outstanding.  James Earl Jones infuses Thulsa Doom with enormous presence and a true sense of not being entirely human.  His henchmen, played by Sven-Ole Thorson and Ben Davison are suitably impressive.   Bergman and Lopez back up Schwarzenegger well and create their own characters in some really wonderful intimate moments such as the one where Subotai tells the wizard Akiro (Mako) that since Conan, as a Cimmerian will not cry to show grief, Subotai must do it for him.  Mako contributes comedy relief without being buffoonish or degrading his own character.  But that’s to be expected because Mako is epic in everything he does.
And speaking of epic, the musical score by Basil Poledouris has become respected as one of the finest musical scores ever and rightly so.  A large part of the enjoyment of watching CONAN THE BARBARIAN comes from the sheer power of the score.  Poledouris also has done the scores for “Quigley Down Under” and “Lonesome Dove” that are easily as epic as the one for this movie.
So should you see CONAN THE BARBARIAN? No doubt you already have.  It’s one of those movies that everybody and their mother has seen, it seems.  Even chicks who normally shun this type of movie like it was the Ebola virus have seen CONAN THE BARBARIAN.  It’s violent, it’s raw, it’s sexy, and it’s fun.   There’s an excellent reason why CONAN THE BARBARIAN is rightly regarded as a classic.  It truly is inspired by the spirit of Robert E. Howard in a way that the recent remake never even comes close to.  If you’ve seen it, what the hell…watch it again.  And if you haven’t, I envy you discovering it for the first time.  Enjoy.
129 minutes
Rated R

PULP ADVENTURECON-THE ADVENTURE STARTS IN TWO WEEKS!

  • News
  • October 18, 2011
Pulp AdventureCon
November 5th, 2011
Ramada Inn, Bordentown, NJ
Thousands of rare PULP MAGAZINES, vintage paperbacks and movie collectibles on display in this pleasant one-day show that attracts collectors and exhibitors from as far as New Hampshire and Virginia. Held the first Saturday of November from 10AM until 5PM.

Time: 10 am to 5 pm
Admission: $5
Email us for information — boldventurepress@aol.com
__________________________________________

Update — October 17, 2011
LORD OF THE TREES
ALEX SIMMONS and ERIC BATTLE will be joining us as special guests. As the writer and illustrator team of the syndicated TARZAN newspaper strip, between the years of 2000 and 2002, they provided Lord Greystoke with plenty of challenges of hair-raising thrills.
These strips appeared as part of the story-arc “Day of the Hunter”, which appeared in newspapers across the country from January 6, 2002 – May 19, 2002.
Follow the link to the Official ERB, Inc. and Tarzan® Webzine Site, Bill & Sue-On Hillman’s ERBzine, to read “Day of the Hunter” and more of the Tarzan newspaper strips.
Update — October 18, 2011
As of October 18, 36 tables are spoken for. That leave approximately eight tables remaining. Now is the best time to jump in, if you’ve been stalling. Our erstwhile vendors include Paul Herman, Rich Harvey, Rick Hall, Gary Lovisi, Darrell Schweitzer, Henry Greenbaum, Bruce Tinkel, Gale Heimbach, Ed Hulse, Martin Grams, Rich Greene, Bill Parisho, Brendan Faulkner, John Gunnison, Mike Chomko, Chuck Miller, Eric Battles, Rodger Lowenthal, Nick Certo, Cowboy Tony, Walker Martin, and Mark Halegua.
CLICK HERE … to read about past shows. Walker Martin provides a pretty comprehensive overview of the stuff you missed in 2008.
 
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Joe Kubert’s Pulpy Poster For Lucasfilm’s Red Tails

  • News
  • October 15, 2011

Red Tails Poster Art: Joe Kubert

At this weekend’s New York Comic Con Lucasfilm debuted am exclusive poster for its upcoming Red Tails movie created by legendary comic book artist Joe Kubert. The movie, directed by Anthony Hemingway from a script by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder, the film is inspired by the World War II exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American combat aerial unit in the U.S. armed forces. Executive produced by George Lucas, Red Tails stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston and Nate Parker.

Red Tails will be released January 20, 2012 by 20th Century Fox.

About Red Tails:
A crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard.

The official movie trailer:

red_tails-5441291
In theaters January 20, 2012

Tree of Life

tree-of-life-300x358-4860061The story goes that in Stamford CT, so many people walked out of Tree of Life and demanded their money back that the management had to post a sign explaining the movie was not your traditional story and that no more refunds would be issued. On the one hand, it says people pick movies indiscriminately and it also says without being prepared, more thoughtful works can be poorly received.

Director Terrence Malick is an artist with film, turning the moving picture into portraiture. Since his first film, Badlands, the cinematography alone is a reason to seek out his films. There’s usually a long wait between his movies because he takes his time conceiving, making and editing each one, building up anticipation from his fans and the actors who love to work with him. Few get to do it twice although the current movie does feature Sean Penn for a second effort. Recently, though, he has bad mouthed the film, wondering what he was doing in it and yes, Tree of Life can be a real headscratching experience.

But, Malick gets credit for tackling the big issues of life, the universe, and everything. He focuses on a single nuclear family, seemingly set in the 1950s, but all the themes are large ones. So large, in fact, that when there’s a fissure, everything cracks apart. And when that occurs, Malick takes us back to the beginning, and I mean the beginning. We’re talking the Big Bang, a cooling planet and the beginning of life. The lush origins of our world through the early days of the dinosaur is a wonder to watch and it transfers brilliantly to the home screen in the Blu-ray edition coming this Tuesday from 20th Century Home Entertainment.

Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain are a happily married couple, raising three boys in an idyllic American suburb. Most of the film follows their development through those pivotal childhood years and like a work of literature, says more through what is not spoken than is conveyed in dialogue.By setting this in the past, it automatically evokes a sense of longing in the audience. Curiously, this is a past without much in the way of technology: no radio or television, just a phonograph. (more…)

The Lion King

The second age of Disney greatness made raising children in the 1990s a real treat. Taking youngsters to an animated film recreated some of the magic the parents experience when they were first brought to the theater. To its credit, Disney continued to carefully curate its collection of classic films, filling in the gaps left by the far more mediocre fare that marked the 1970s and 1980s. Interestingly, one of those final films was where one of the current age’s greatest was born.

I still remember sitting in the theater with the kids and saw the trailer for The Lion King, which consisted of the opening song, a gutsy move but a brilliant one. Everything you needed to know was present; the sheer majesty of the animal kingdom, the quality of the animation and color palette, and the amazing score.

The fourth film from the Jeffrey Katzenberg/Michael Eisner regime, The Lion King felt special from the outset and has remained that way despite repeated viewings. Now finally out on Blu-ray today, the movie looks and sounds better than ever.

One of the reasons, the movie works is that it deals with universal themes, notably those of coming of age and the relationship between father and son. While the notion of the “Circle of Life” may have been beaten to death since it was reinforced here, respecting the life cycle is a good lesson for audiences young and old alike.

In the best of the Disney tradition, the film also nicely blends action, drama, and humor so it has a rhythm of its own. The littlest viewers can giggle at Timon and Pumba’s antics while others can feel the adrenaline pump during the battles, but there is certainly something for everyone, done with style and panache.

What’s interesting is that once the film’s concept was put into active development, it had to compete for animators with Pocahontas, which most saw as the next slam dunk film. Freed from the same level of scrutiny, the younger animators who signed on rose to the challenge and then some. It was inspired to blend Tim Rice and Elton John for the songs while Hans Zimmer delivered one of his finest scores.

The usual array of extras for a Diamond Edition film are all on display, and actually had me ready for more. The package contains Blu-ray and a standard DVD discs and comes with a fine user interface. New to this collection is a 39 minute “Pride of the Lion King” featurette that reunites former Chairman Katzenberg, Zimmer, producer Don Hahn, and co-directors Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff. This is followed with an additional 21 minutes of memories, “The Lion King: A Memoir”, hosted by Han. The co-directors introduce five previously unseen Deleted Scenes, explaining how these did not make the final cut. Also represented is the missing song, “Morning Report”, which was restored for the Broadway adaptation. The affection for the movie is demonstrated with the freshly animated Gag Reel with outtakes produced specifically for the disc.

The extras from the previously released Platinum edition return here so you get the audio commentary, Art Gallery, and the Sing-Along Mode.

If you have an iPad, the film comes with the new Disney Second Screen app stuffed with production art and interactive games. For those who use the BD-Live function, this one comes with  the “Virtual Vault” access which will show you “The Making of ‘The Morning Report'”, three additional Deleted Scenes, “Stage, Film, Story and Musical Journey” featurettes, Elton John’s “Circle of Life” music video, a Film-to-Storyboard Comparison, two short Demo Sequences and an Unfinished Scene.

One thing I wish they addressed head on was an acknowledgement in some way that the film owed a debt to Osama Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion. The parallels are too striking for it to have been sheer coincidence.

As we enter the holiday season, this goes on your Must Have list.

FORTIER TAKES ON SPILLANE AND COLLINS’ LATEST!

  • News
  • September 24, 2011

ALL PULP REVIEWS-Book Reviews by Ron Fortier
THE CONSUMMATA
By Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins
Hard Case Crime
247 pages
Release date 4 Oct 2011
In 1967 popular mystery writer, Mickey Spillane, sought to cash in the James Bond spy craze sweeping the world of literary fiction.  He created a Florida based government agent named Morgan the Raider; obviously referencing the famous pirate with the same name.  The book was titled THE DELTA FACTOR and the plot revolved around Morgan and a beautiful female agent, Kim Stacy, going to a South American island to rescue a scientist being held by terrorists.  Spillane had begun work on a sequel when THE DELTA FACTOR was made into a rather bland, lackluster movie in 1971 and disheartened by that film; he shelved the new book and never completed it.
Forty-four years later, thanks to Spillane’s good friend and protégé, crime novelist, Max Allan Collins, fans can now enjoy that sequel, THE CONSUMMATA.  The story takes places only a few months after the events in the first book, with Morgan now a felon having been framed for an armored car hold up that netted the thieves forty million dollars.  Although innocent, the only way he can prove his innocent is to find the stolen loot and return it, all the while eluding both local and government agents.
As if that isn’t trouble enough, he finds himself entangled with a group of Cuban exile patriots living in Miami who have become victims of a lowlife named Jamie Halaquez;  a spy for dictator, Fidel Castro.  Halaquez has stolen the rebels’ war chest containing seventy-five thousand dollars; money intended to fund the group’s activities and help other refugees flee Cuba.  Owing them a debt of honor, Morgan volunteers to find Halaquez and return their money. 
Less than twenty four hours later, a bomb destroys the hotel room in which Morgan was to have set up his base of operations.  Only through a sixth sense honed through years of espionage work does Morgan avoid being killed but at the same time is made aware that there is another spy in his new circle of friends.  Now things are really complicated, in a very deadly way.  At the same time he is playing detective in the seamy world of Miami’s sex clubs, unknown killers are dogging his trail.
THE CONSUMMATA is a typical pedal-to-metal Spillane thriller that zips along at a fast, gut tightening pace filled with lots of sexy and dangerous women and a true exotic mix of colorful supporting characters from both sides of the law.  There are always a few critics who will claim they can discern where Spillane left off and where Collins took over the yarn. This reviewer is happy to say he is not one of those.  This is a seamless adventure that moves smoothly from chapter to chapter with one clear and exciting voice, echoing the bullet-blasting tales of a true Mystery Grandmaster.

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

phineas-and-feb-300x418-1938719When Peter and Kathleen David rave about something, I tend to pay attention. In this case, it was the Disney animated series, Phineas and Ferb, which they explained, featured two boys — Phineas Flynn (Vincent Martella) and Ferb Fletcher (Thomas Sangster) — on summer vacation. Every episode has them do some over-the-top activity that catches the attention of Phineas’ older sister Candace (Ashley Tisdale), left to babysit them, and she tries to bust them ala Ferris Bueller. Each episode ends with her failing. But wait, there’s more! Apparently, the boys have a pet platypus, Petey, who is secretly an espionage agent who devises ways to perform his missions without being discovered by the boys. Invariably, the boys’ activity and that of Agent P dovetail in imaginative ways.

Since 2007, this tightly template show has been enchanting adults and children alike, bringing in high ratings and tons of merchandise dollars. While the name was familiar to me, I had no idea it would be so fresh, cool, and original. When the opportunity to review this week’s release of Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension arrived, I couldn’t resist. The 77 minute movie takes the normal 12-minute premise and blows it up, letting everything that can’t happen on a typical episode occur. For example, not only is Petey’s secret revealed to the boys, but Candace finally learns the truth and catches the boys in the act.

Some act. The evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) has completed work on a device that accesses a parallel world despite Agent P’s efforts. And you know what happens when parallel worlds meet – chaos ensues. A chaotic show in short snippets becomes a sprawling, chaotic story that has doubles meeting, worlds crossed over, secrets revealed, flaws exposed, and regardless of world, oblivious parents.

The entertaining and at times hilarious story does overstay its welcome. The concept is stretched just beyond its limits with songs and action sequences and grew tedious towards the end. I gather the telefilm, which first aired this summer to astonishing ratings, has visual and verbal cues to armloads of previous episodes, although that did not diminish the charm of the adventure. There are many hilarious bits for the adults and plenty of slapstick hijinks for the young at heart. It’s chock full of music, too, with many many songs, about half of which are on the commercial CD and ten more can be found on a Walmart exclusive version. (more…)

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