The Punisher

Okay the week has gone by. I have been away as I was tending to errands on foot so yeah a bit damn exhausted. Moving on, the following write-up will be deemed spoiler country for those that have not seen Season 2 of Daredevil. So for those of you that have not experienced this, scram. Seriously, you don't want to be drenched in spoilers. For those of you that are aware of Season 2, the highlights was Wilson Fisk in prison, the Hand making its play for New York, an old flame Elektra putting her moves on Daredevil and oh yeah, the scene stealer of that season, Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher got started up on his one man war. This is The Punisher.

You sayin' you didn't like The Walking Dead?

Out of the ashes of Season 2 of Daredevil, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal of The Class, Day Zero, Eastwick, The Walking Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street, Daredevil and Robot Chicken) is presumed dead after the explosion on the docks sinking a tanker. Yeah that old chestnut. When in fact, he's...well he's working demolition.   Eating lunch, swinging a big ass hammer (sledge not Mjolnir, that's Thor) and trying to burn through his day without remembering he has no home, wife and kids to go to.

With the help of his old Marine recon buddy, Curtis (Jason R. Moore of Kings, The Unusuals, A Lonely Place for Dying, Wed Locked and The Punisher) Frank is under an alias and trying to piece his life back until...he gets tracked or stalked if you will. Turns out Castle has a fan or accurate to say, an admirer in a similar boat. Going by the name Micro, David Lieberman (Ebon Moss-Bachrach of Damages, Higher Ground, Come Out and Play, The Last Ship, Girls, The Punisher and The Big Take) is a NSA analyst that found something he shouldn't have and faked his death to spare his family. With a wife, son and daughter to protect, Micro has kept his distance from them for their very lives.

With ranking government officials trying to keep a lid of an illegal black ops funded by the selling of heroin, this all reeks of bad.   Mind you, a CIA black ops ran on heroin shipments sounds a bit Vietnam?  Yeah, I did make that connection easily.

What? I'm an equal character and not just eye candy?

Homeland Security Special Agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah of From Paris with Love, Everywhere and Nowhere, The Bible, What Remains, Son of God, Silent Witness, Emerald City and The Punisher) lost a partner in the Middle East where this ops was happening and has yet to find any new information. While this is occurring, people are getting shot and killed or quietly removed, as someone in a position of authority is covering his ass from a massive FUBAR of mission that blew up in his face.

Micro finds Castle, threatens to leak to the world he is still alive if he doesn't play ball with him and get back on his war on crime. Yeah kids, unlike our government, Frank's war is bloody and wipes out cartels, gangs, drug kingpins and a myriad of other such criminals.  Micro is showing him how to do this a bit smarter.   Less leveling a city block with a LAW rocket and more stealth and cunning that he is completely capable doing. They are trying to piece together this Middle East mess by finding clues and people connected to it before our man in the shadows gets them.

That may trump boomstick?

Now I know the hard core Punisher fans will not fully agree with me but yeah I think Jon has done an amazing job with the character. Any built guy that can look menacing can play the badass antihero but Bernthal gets to play the grieving widower, the survivor, the badass and the complex man this being is.

Yes, yes they did away with the Vietnam era storyline because honestly a six tour vet would be in his late 70s now and yes Micro isn't a CIA analyst like in the comics. Get over it or don't.

Now we get to some spoilers. Personally I absolutely love that Billy Russo isn't some mob thug pretty boy but actually a fellow soldier that bled and fought alongside Frank. It really makes a greater impact than one mob guy in on the shoot Frank's wife and kids story-line. Instead, we have two soldiers, brothers-in-arms trying to get back to normal life after their tours. Both realize they will never be the men they were and have to be the men that were molded into.

FYI parents, this is bloody, violent and yes there will be colorful metaphors. Or swearing like sailors if you prefer. It's your judgement call on sharing this with the kiddies.

Once again, this series follows its Netflix predecessors in the same MCU timeline and series but as we all knew it was going to be guns blazing, skulls cracking and blades gutting. C'mon, it's the fricking Punisher for crying out loud!

Seeing some familar faces like Deborah Ann Woll reprising Karen Page, C. Thomas Howell, Mary Elizabeth Mastranto and Rob Morgan coming back as Turk. Seriously, I almost feel bad for Turk. Daredevil has smacked him around, Cage has bounced him like a tennis ball but Castle? Yeesh, Castle will probably feed him his own balls.

After seeing the series all the way through, I honestly hope for a continuation, but does Frank have that great of luck? We'll just have to wait and see. 

Next time on Taxi Cab Confessionals...

Blade: The Animated Series.

Sorry for the delay with this review, folks. Off day when you haven't slept in 30 hours. Insomnia is not for the faint of heart or mind. Today I wanted to gander at an interesting trend. Marvel's Anime project was to give more of an adult theme to the series as violence cannot be shown on cartoons to the magnitude it can in anime. Part of a four anime shows set in Asia in the southeast this projects include: X-Men, Wolverine and Iron Man. This is Blade.

Hey, that's not Wesley Snipes!

The daywalker himself resembles in both story, comic and even film and TV Erik Brooks a.k.a. Blade the damphir was created after his mother was attacked by Deacon Frost, giving Blade (voice actor Harold Perrineau of Romeo + Juilet, Lost, 28 Weeks Later and Zero Dark Thirty) superhuman reflexes, speed and strength to match that of a vampire and none of their weaknesses...except the thirst for blood. Operating out of Asia, Blade searches for Deacon Frost to repay him for all the kindness Frost has shown his mother and he. Probably a full tang titanium disemboweling or beheading would be my guess.

In his search, he comes across a hit going down by a collective of vampire hunters taking out baddie at a night club (Yes, the cliche' nightclub scene) when the young girl Motoko (Kim Mai Guest of TMNT, Dead Rising, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide) loses her father and compatriots to the vamp bite. Blade dispatches Motoko's father to spare her doing it herself. The two have a love/hate relationship for the start of the series, Blade tries to remain cold and uncaring to spare himself the potential loss of yet another comrade.

Yup, the streetwalkers got really ugly.

We also meet another teacher in Blade's life as we are introduced to Noah Van Helsing (Troy Baker of Naruto: Shippuden, Batman: Arkham City, Saints Row: The Third, Prototype 2 and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) a bit warmer of a man than say Whistler was, his background is closer tied to the Tomb of Dracula comic series at it is he who took in Erik as a young boy. Consumed by his hatred of what the vampires did to him and his family, Noah also recognizes that Erik too, is a victim and hones the boy into a warrior.

Will Blade find Frost, dispatch him and get back to more vampire hunting? Will Motoko allow herself to care for the daywalker? Is there a happy ending for any of the mentioned?

This series rounds Blade out better rather than his stereotypical bad ass portrayal in the films. Similar to Sticky Jones' take on him in the TV series, Blade is shown to be a tragic character rather than this cold, killing machine. With the tattooed appearance, body armor and weapons of both TV and movie versions, Blade is equally driven to end vampires but it shows he has dimensions beyond that in letting Motoko travel with him. He sees her capabilities as a hunter but more than that, he sees another victim of vampires and offers tutelage. Interestingly enough several of the vampires species Blade encounters in this series are based on folklore of several Asian legends ranging from Japan to the Phillippines.

This succession of the character shows his accomplishments as a sword master, his appearance is similar to Sticky's bald edgy look and the depths of his power. So Blade fans I do recommend this one and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. FYI, there is a guest appearance of a popular X-men. No, I am not telling who. Go watch and find out.

Yeah he is that bad ass.

Blade: The Series

Hiyas folks.  Back again and I sense you missed me.  I'm touched.  So we looked at current running series and today I thought I would feast my eyes on a series that was and could have been so much more.  Yes one of my favorites, the cancelled shows.  Truthfully I should have included it in the Season 1 week but alas I goofed.  So here it is, a brain child of David Goyer.  This is Blade: The Series.

Hell yes I am mugging for the camera.

 




 Based on writer Marv Wolfman's creation as far back as Tomb of Dracula comics , Blade has had three theatrical releases, a series of comics, an anime and finally a live-action TV adaptation.  But who could attempt to fill the shoes of Wesley Snipes' portrayal?  None other than rap star/actor Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones (Clockers, Next Friday, Flight of the Phoenix, House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim, Over There, The Shield, Speed Demons and Blue Bloods) stalking the undead hiding in plain sight with their legion of vampires of pure blood and turned and their many human followers or familiars.  After the film Blade Trinity we see Blade NOT assisted by the Night Stalkers and apparently the virus Daystar did not wipe out all the vampires...just those lot in that particular town it would appear.   Of course that is never explained and this particular plot hole or plot chasm is brought us by David Goyer, writer of all three Blade films so, kudos there.  

No comrade, I cannot get that quality trenchcoat in Russia.

Assisting in his crusade against the vampires is his new weapon specialist, tech guru and resident smart ass Shen (Nelson Lee of The Warriors (video game), Cold Play, Ring of Death, Vacancy 2: The First Cut, About Cherry and I'm the Same) in which they rely on tech, street contacts and even an inside man until... lead vampire Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson of Alexander, Quantum of Solace, Push, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Lightfields and House of Secrets) was trying to find out what the young man's end game was only to find that his loyalty is to Blade and has him killed looking like a drug addict getting off and case closed.  Of course you need a cop handling the case in your pocket and Detective Boone (Billy Mondy of The Dead Zone, I Spy, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Case 39, EDGE of War, Johnny Test and Supernoobs) fits the bill.  From his habits, easily swayed by money and the promise of being made of a vampire keeps him in check for the most part.  

Sadden by the news, Ma and her brother believe that boy Zack was a kid caught up in mischief but sister/Iraq war hero Krista (Jill Wagner of Shifted, Blade: The Series, Stargate: Atlantis, Splinter, Teen Wolf and Autumn Dreams) thinks otherwise and decides the cops aren't doing anything with her brother's death, plots to poke around and find out what bumps in the night.    She encounters Blade as well as several vampires when Blade tells her that her brother was working with him to bring down the House of Chthlon, a vampire designated clan or scourge.

When the two join forces, Krista is thrust into a world of darkness she had no idea existed and still uncertain where to go from here.   Will the House of Chthlon be brought crumbling down brick by brick?  Can Blade put the hurt on the lot of them?   Will the vampires finally bring down the daywalker that has haunted their nightmares so?

 

Well folks the skinny is due to the antiquated notion of Neilsen ratings, this show fell on its ass.  No fault to the writing, production and introduction to lesser known characters in Blade's world.   Showtime was developing a story arc that would have encompassed several characters of the existing title when Blade: Trinity was in post production but due to the lawsuit against New Line Cinema at the behest of Wesley Snipes, Showtime walked away.   The project was picked up later but Snipes declined to reprise his movie character.

So 12 episodes of plenty of sub stories, main plot and drive which ends on a cliff hanger that was never answered but many a fan speculated at.  So if you want to see the day walker hand out some ass wipings, break some bones and dust some vamps, you are in luck.   If you want to see how all these loose threads tie together...well you are boned.

The shades and the coat.  Gimme. Chop chop.

Back in Blaxploitation: Hit Man

Hey folks welcome back for Day 3 of Back in Blaxploitation. Had a desktop error that was driving me crackers so I walked away from it before I got a medium-sized fire ax and gave it a reprogramming it would not forget. Today's film is about a hit-man out in Oakland that comes back to Southern California to pay respects for his dead brother. His late brother has an estranged daughter, his brother's death may have been linked to ties with the organization or mob if you will and a slathering of pornography as well. No I am not watching Get Carter but good guess. This is Hit Man.

You better run pizza boy!!!

Devised in 1972, written and directed by George Armitage (Vigilante Force, Hot Rod, Miami Blues, Gross Pointe Blank) tells the tale of one of the baddest muthas out there. Tyrone Tackett (Bernie Casey of Cornbread, Earl and Me, Love Is Not Enough, Harris and Company, Sharky's Machine, Never Say Never Again, Revenge of the Nerds, Spies Like Us, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and Hammer, Slammer & Slade) starts looking into his brother's business arrangements and sees all kinds of prositution, drug trafficking and linked to the pornography industry. Wait, Ron Jeremy is the Godfather?? That could work.

Move, title card!!

Moving right along, Tackett looks up his brother's former business partner Sherwood Epps (Sam Laws of Truck Turner, White Line Fever, The Fury, The Lord of the Rings and Project X) to get a lay of the land if you will. Not foxier a lay than Gozelda (Pam Grier of Women in Cages, The Big Bird Cage, Black Mama White Mama, Coffy, Scream Blacula Scream, Foxy Brown, Bucktown, Miami Vice and Escape from L.A.) the diva of the industry and pretty easy on the eyes for Tackett. All Tackett's nosing around is getting a few folks in the mob pissed at an outsider meddling in their affairs. Tackett is not above taking out the trash.

While this feels like an exact duplicate of Get Carter, there are several differences. One, Get Carter was a study in a man prone to emotions he preferred bottled up and away and he was also prone to severe violence when he deemed it necessary. With Hit Man, Casey almost seems devoid of grief and just wants to lash out at the mob, maybe it is a defense or coping mechanism. I can't truly say. Two, there are enough N bombs to make white viewers very very uncomfortable. Yes, you have been warned. And finally three, there is a vast collection of nudity to easily rival Get Carter, jiggly girls galore and our boy Tackett is definitely getting his share, your share and my share all in one flick. James Bond called him to say, "Well done, old chap."

This movie is more fun and less broody than Get Carter. There's a scene of two guys got drunk and walk through a car wash sputtering and cursing. That being said, the blood and gore has gone up several notches, this film earned its R rating and thankfully they managed to get under an X. Also a dog fight scene is underway with pit bulls so any dog lovers out there, yeah it looks really enough with timed cut scenes that you will probably want to skip the flick. Overall, the film has a good cast, plenty of corruption and behind the scenes conspiracy to offer up a solid film. Some of the content is rough to view but exploitation movies are an acquired taste for many and yes guys, Pam flashes the camera more than a few times. You can just hear those jackals in the background thinking Coffy and Foxy Brown.

Die you muthas!!!

Grindhouse Flicks: Dolemite

Welcome back folks to Day 2 of Grindhouse Flicks. We tackle some blaxploitation this time around and well... it isn't what you would call genius but I am certain there is some entertainment value in there... somewhere. We follow the feats and talent of a fellow trying to make his way as an urban hero who has dealt with corrupt cops, pimps and street thugs. This is Dolemite.

Huggy Bear ain't got sh*t on me!

Our "hero" is a pimp that was set up by a rival pimp name of Willie Greene (D'Urville Martin of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Rosemary's Baby, Boss, Disco 9000 and Black Samurai) and two cops in his pocket that plant enough kilos of drugs, stolen furs and guns in the man's trunk it screams set-up but the frame holds and our boy Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore of Dolemite, The Human Tornado, Disco Godfather, Shaolin Dolemite, Prank and Big Money Hustlas) is up the pokey thanks to the smokeys.

Looking down the barrel of 20 years, Dolemite get called out from his cell to visit the warden. Our first bit of dialogue from our protagonist is "What does that rat soup eating motherf**ker want now?" Charming, I know. The warden tells him that the evidence that Dolemite's madam Queen B (Lady Reed of Dolemite, The Human Tornado, Petey Wheatstraw and Disco Godfather) put together clearly shows that Dolemite is the victim in all of this and this being the 70s and no need to research how laws operate, the warden is letting him out to seek vengeance on the cops and Willie Greene. Yeah, you read that right. Apparently not only is Dolemite pardoned but allowed to operate a sting operation of his own.

Run hoes!! I cover you!!

No sooner is Dolemite out of his prison garb and in his own threads a couple of Willie Greene's boys try to smoke him and he turns the tables on them and guns them down. Out for less than an hour and two homicides. Queen B has had all the hoes in the stable learn Karate or Taekownfaux because the fight choreography is so shoddy you can clearly see the kicks and punches are missing.

Dolemite's biggest problem is the cop Mitchell (No, not Joe Don Baker!) and he is out to make sure " The Man" is constantly on Dolemite's neck, keeping him in his place and every other racist white stereotypical crap he can pull. Dolemite's main source of info on the street keeps him in the loop and is trying to place Mitchell (John Kerry of The Fall Guy, Running Hot, Murder, She Wrote, Pink Lightning and Paid to Kill) and Willie Greene in the same place. Catch them in the act and then take care of them. Our snitch "Creeper" (Vainus Rackstraw of Dolemite) is not Rondo Hatton but a jive talking, hamburger loving, leering perv that got deemed worthy of his own theme music. His information is always good and well worth the price to pay.

Can Dolemite bring down Willie Greene, Mitchell and stick it to the Mayor for allowing the frame to go down? Will his own choreography look cheesier than the girls? How many pimp outfits does one man need?

A few bits of interest on the film. I saw the damn boom mic so many times in this flick it deserves top billing. Rudy Ray Moore's comedy apparently had an impact on the following people: Quentin Tarantino, Snoop Dogg and Eddie Murphy. Eddie, keep that crap on the down low.

The New York Times found the phenomena of this film's cult following dubbing it the Citizen Kane of Blaxploitation. Instead of Shaft, Coffy, Foxy Brown, The Fix and about a dozen other titles I can think of more worthy.

Snoop was so moved and molded by Rudy Ray Moore that he asked him to star in his video Murder Was the Case as Dolemite. Rudy up to the day he died has carried this character in his act as it has been beneficial and emotionally rewarding.

Yeah he had to buy and pay for everyone of them... Poor sod.

Anti-Hero Week: Dredd

Hello all and welcome to Day 4 of Anti-Hero Week.  Today we view a man of the law in a hostile environment.   The Atomic Wars of 2070 causing the United States to be made a radioactive wasteland.  With only three Mega Cities left in the country but the lands outside of them is now known as Cursed Earth, a radiated infested badlands filled with hideous mutations forbidden to live in the cities.  With populations in the excess of 800 million people tallying 17,000 crimes daily, a new police force is created.  The Street Judges act as judge, jury and executioner.  This is Dredd.

That kid is on the escalator again!

Judge Dredd: I was wondering when you'd remember you forget your helmet.
Anderson: Sir, a spoiler can interfere with my psychic abilities.
Judge Dredd: Think a bullet in the head might interfere with them more.


A highly addictive drug called "Slo-Mo" has been on the scene altering the user's perceptions of time to 1% the norm causing...  bad things to happen.  I guess any rate.  The Judges are in full swing to break the back of this drug peddling when Dredd (Karl Urban of Xena: Princess Warrior, Ghost Ship, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Chronicles of Riddick, Doom, Star Trek, RED, Star Trek Into Darkness and Almost Human) is informed by Chief Justice (Rakie Ayola of Scarlett, Waking the Dead, EastEnders, Being April, Sahara and Doctor Who) that he is breaking in and evaluating a new recruit to the Judges, Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby of Juno, The Secret, The Answer Man, Uncertainty and No Strings Attached).    Three rival drug dealers caught dealing on Ma Ma's turf. Ma Ma (Lena Headey of Band of Gold, Merlin, Gossip, Laid to Rest, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 300 and The Purge) has her boys skinned and doped up on Slo Mo, then hurled to the ground from the top floor.

I feel pretty... psycho!

Dredd backed up by Anderson are sent in to investigate and arrest if possible.  After a little observation the pair are soon hip to a drug den in the works which they hit hard in a two person raid, grabbing a thug name of Kay (Wood Harris of Committed, Remember the Titans, The Gold Cup, Joy Road, Dirty, Southland Tales and The Wire).  With a quick mind probe Anderson learns that that Kay does Ma Ma's executions and grunt work.  Dredd goes to take Kay in for a more detailed line of questioning but Ma Ma, wired into the surveillance of the building initiates a lock down procedure sealing the building from the outside,  Its blast shields completely cut our judges off from the outside.

With no help in sight our two judges have to rely on each other to see it through to the next day with limited resources, no back up and less than sympathetic civilians caught in the middle.   Will they make it and end up bloody and strewn all over the tower's floor?

Quick couple of comments about the film now.  To keep true to the comic book character, Urban stated he would not remove the helmet and emote purely by tone of voice and scowl.  Urban also insisted on riding the Lawmaster motorcycle himself.   The graffiti tagging through the Peach Trees complex is the names of two characters from the comic called Chopper and Kenny Who?   Our total run time of the movie is 96 minutes which is the exact same amount of minutes Judge Dredd tallied at.   Finally our balance of fictitious body count rounds out to 102.    Man, sounds like an entire suburb open for new occupancy.

Had to hide behind the barrels of midgets, dammit!

Anti-Hero Week: Barb Wire

Greetings readers and welcome to Day 3 of Anti-Hero Week.  Normally I do not warn folks ahead of time of what they will be reading but yes today we are reviewing what most folks deem a turkey.   It is less than savory and has lifted a gorgeous story of many decades ago and as a whole the "writers" Ilene Chaiken and Chuck Pfarrer should be water boarded for, but again this is my humble opinion. Two talented writers think swapping genders in this time honored story Casablanca for a series of fist and gun fights isn't  a tremendous insult to Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch that brought that flick the love it got.   With that in mind, this is Barb Wire.

Tee hee!

Alexander Willis: Add it to my tab, Miss Kopetski. Boom boom boom!
Barb Wire: Barbara Kopetski died in the war. I'm Barb Spoiler.





In 2017,  the United States is undergoing a second civil war, a state of emergency has been declared allowing a fascist regime to happen and civil liberties has been thrown to the four winds.  One city still neutral territory is Steel Harbor, home of Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson of Baywatch, Raw Justice, Naked Souls, V.I.P.,  Scary Movie 3, Stripperella, Stacked and Blonde and Blonder) owner of the bar Hammerhead and moonlights as a mercenary and bounty hunter which keeps her club flush and her staff in the greenbacks..  sorry Canadian is the coin of the realm.

Her only real friend is corrupt Chief of Police Willis (character actor Xander Berkeley of Terminator 2, Apollo 13, Heat, Apollo 11, Gattaca, Universal Soldier: The Return and CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation)  who enjoys her top shelf booze and company.  A defector of the American Congress, a Doctor Corrina Devonshire (Victoria Rowell of The Young and the Restless, Diagnosis Murder, The Distinguished Gentleman and Dumb & Dumber) developed a bio-weapon of untold destruction, burned her notes and destroyed the prototype virus but Congress can still get what is in her head.  She has to flee into Canada to avoid this ever happening again.

See anything you like

Her steadfast protector resistance fighter and former lover to Barb, Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison of Adventurer, Mauri, Once Were Warriors, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones, The Beautiful Country and Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith) has his deal blown and he and "Cora D" are on the run in search of safe harbor until they can get her to Canada.  Will Barb once again take sides, sell out her former love or simply not care?

Now to the nitty gritty of this movie.  We open our film with a wet and wild dance number as our lead actress is topless and sprayed with hoses.  Yeah starting it off really classy.   When your sci-fi comic book hero starts off with a watery striptease, maybe the production has gone downhill.  Yes, we get it movie.  Pam is busty.   To be fair to Pam, her fight choreography was fair and damn did she learn firearms to the point she didn't even flinch when firing them but the character is over the top cheesecake for 12 year olds and even Anderson would state that Barb Wire is no role model.

Of course I could sit here comfortably dissecting every facet and nuance of the film but I would rather poke a little fun and talk about the goofs on film.   Saw the boom mic in Barb's bike helmet during her chatter with Big Fatso.   The crappy wooden table Barb is hiding behind for cover in gun play, the bullet marks made in the table switch sides in between shots.  Continuity no no!!!   Drinks keep refilling themselves between shots of Barb and her brother Charlie in different scenes more than four times.  Back to the hosing scene I swear there are shots during that sequence she is actually dry.   So like it or not, Barb Wire is an anti-hero.   Just needed an original script for the material.

Barb and her two besties... the guns, you pervs.

Anti-Hero Week: The Punisher

Howdy readers of mine and welcome to Day 2 of Anti-Hero Week.  Quick question though, have you ever had a bad day?  Tire go flat?  Celtics lose on you or you know, have your entire family massacred in front of you?   Probably not the last for most of us but Frank Castle sure had a bad day and now he is venting his frustration out on the criminal scumbags.  This is The Punisher.

Hey, that's not Green Arrow!!  Rip!!!

The Punisher: Those who do evil to spoilers- the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists- you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead.  Call me...  The Punisher.




Special Agent FBI undercover Frank Castle (Thomas Jane of Deep Blue Sea, Magnolia. Eden, Dreamcatcher Hung and The Mist) is wrapping up his last assignment on a major arms deal covering Europe and the States when the deal goes sour and more than a few guys get shot.   Castle is moving out to London with his family within a week and gotten his farewell from the department and heads out to Puerto Rico for a family get together.  One of the aforementioned men that got shot was Robert/Bobby Saint (James Carpinello of The Great Raid, So Notorious, The Good Wife, Holiday Road, Body of Proof, The Mob Doctor and Gangster Squad) son of alleged money launderer Howard Saint (John Travolta of Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Welcome Back, Kotter, Pulp Fiction, Broken Arrow, The General's Daughter, Swordfish and From Paris with Love) who wants blood for blood but his wife Livia (Laura Harring of Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!, General Hospital, Sunset Beach, Mulholland Drive, John Q, Loco Love, Walkout and The Shield) wants Castle's whole bloodline wiped out.

I told you to NEVER bring up Wild Hogs again!

During the daylight's celebration six gunmen proceed to wipe out the extended family with Castle and his father Frank Senior (Roy Scheider of The French Connection, The Outside Man, Jaws, All That Jazz, Blue Thunder, 2010, The Russia House, Romeo Is Bleeding and SeaQuest 2032) manage to give as well as get but all for not as the Castles seem to be gone...  all but Frank Jr.

Allowed to heal and re-cooperate, Frank proceeds to arm up and go hunting for those men responsible for his family's annihilation.  Making his way to a cruddy apartment in Tampa of the ask me no questions just pay the rent variety he prepares for his one man war on the Saints.  Inhabiting the complex is Spacker Dave (Ben Foster of Flash Forward, Bang Bang You're Dead, Six Feet Under, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Mechanic and 360) Bumpo (The late comedian/actor John Pinette of Vinnie & Bobby, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, John Pinette: I Say Nay Nay, Just for Laughs and John Pinette: Still Hungry) and waitress Joan (Rebecca Romijn of Just Shoot Me!, X-Men, Rollerball, Femme Fatale,  X-2, Ugly Betty, King & Maxwell and The Pro) all curious about their broody new neighbor but mind their own business overall.

Castle abducts a low ranking member of the Saints organization who spills all the pertinent details about them.  Their habits, hobbies and lifestyles.  Castle proceeds to weedwack his way to the top putting Saint on edge with his business deals and home.

A few bits of trivia about the film now.  Thomas Jane trained 7 months with the Navy SEALS and gained about 20 pounds of muscle in the process.   With the supervision of a trainer Jane worked out two hours a day weight lifting and doing cardio training, more health shakes than he ever wanted and then had to learn multiple firearms, blades and even a bow.

The earrings Howard Saint gave his wife were not props but actual Harry Winston diamonds valued at $1 million dollars.  Hell of a product placement.    This is one of the first Marvel Comics movies to recieve an R rating since Blade.  C'mon people, they're dark characters for crying out loud.  Don't let the little ones watch it unless you think they can handle it.

Think the curls have been helping my arms out.

Anti-Hero Week: V for Vendetta

Good day and hello readers!  Welcome to Day 1 of Anti-Hero Week.  To start us off right how about a dystopian timeline under a white supremacist (No I don't mean Ron Paul won the elections) regime?  With anarchy in the streets of the United States, a pandemic called St. Mary's Virus raving the better portion of the known Europe, The UK is about the only still stable country ruled by fear and oppression.   Anything deemed unsavory by Norsefire was removed to concentration camps including homosexuals, racial minorities, free thinking leftists are all taken away within the first year of power.  This is V for Vendetta.

Now you have erred!

V: I told you, only truth.  For 20 years, I spoiled only this day. Nothing else existed...  until I saw you.  Then everything changed. I fell in love with you Evey.  And to think I no longer believed I could.


With oppression made to look like order, the tyrant leaders of Norsefire have a new problem to worry about.  On November 5th, a man in a outlandish black outfit wearing a Guy Fawkes (member of the Gunpowder Plot attempting to blow up House of Lords in 1605) mask calling himself V (Hugo Weaving of Sky Pirates, ...Almost, Proof, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Transformers and Captain America: The First Avenger) saves a young girl Evey (Natalie Portman of  Beautiful Girls, Garden State, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, Free Zone, No Strings Attached, Thor and Thor: The Dark World) from the Fingermen planning to violate her for being out after curfew .  Making his way into a private broadcast, he announces to the viewers of said channel that are watching to meet him in one year, on November 5, outside the Houses of Parliament of which he decrees he will destroy,  Norsefire's "Fingermen" secret police attempt to capture V but ultimately fail.

Is my nostril hair apparent???

Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea of  The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, The Last of the High Kings, The Musketeer, On the Edge, Bloom and Tara Road) has been assigned the dubious task of capturing and unmasking the vigilante known as V but must dig deep into investigation to find who this man is or was to have been made such a public enemy of the land.  As his investigations go further and more deaths attributed to V he finds his country is a much darker place than he could have imagined.

All hangs on the impending year as defacto dictator Adam Sutler (John Hurt of Alien, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aria, Spaceballs, Wild Bill, Hellboy, The Oxford Murders and Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor) demanding order and that this masked social deviant will cause the downfall of their utopia.    Will the people rise up against this totalitarian state and have their freedom or will V's words fall on deaf ears?

A few points of difference from the source material vs the movie.
Graphic novelist Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, The Watchmen, V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) wrote this as he view the 1990's would become under the extreme views of Margret Thatcher's conservative being down on what she deemed subversive behavior.  in the graphic novel, the Norsefire was freely elected and bio-weapons were not plot based.  Fascism seems almost neutered in the film with the exception of the note by Valerie Page an actress incarcerated for being a lesbian.  Racial purity is not covered and is actually seems almost it was completely avoided.
 
The domino scene where V tips the black and red dominoes to for the large V involved 22,000 dominoes and took 4 professional assemblers 200 hours to set up.   During the fight sequence in Victoria Station, the stunt-men are moving in actual slow motion while Hugo Weaving's stunt double (David Leitch) moved in real time.  Shooting the whole scene in 60 frames per second gives the illusion V was a whirlwind among the grass.

This is not the masquerade ball?  

Anti-hero Week

Welcome faithful readers.  We have had a few losses this last week that were met and hope we can progress further.  This week we take a different look at Comic Book Heroes.

Don't mock the wig, it's paid for.

They walk the line that other heroes dare not.  They take risks and lives for the greater good.  Their saga is inked in blood and all their enemies are six feet under.  They are the heroes that are as close to the darkness they fight but they don't worry about their souls in the process, so long as their crusades are met.  This week is all about the anti-hero.   The classic definition states anti-heroes are the center character in a story, movie or drama that lacks the conventional heroic attributes.
 
To me, it has always meant the realist character without a code versus killing.  Men and women scarred both physically and mentally, beyond repair feel they will make certain there will be no more victims and the guilty are punished with a blade or bullet.   So join me as we find some gems and evade a few turds.

I am not gaining weight to play Volstagg!

Wild West TV Week: Wanted: Dead or Alive

Welcome pardners to Day 1 of Wild West TV Week and I hope to have a slew of heroes and desperadoes at the ready for you.  This write-up is about a bounty hunter that with his charm, wit and million dollar smile is to this day one of the most popular actors even after his untimely death.  A man that looks like he could handle himself in a bar fight as easy as picking up a lady.   This is Wanted: Dead or Alive.

Itchy shoulder can set off an itchy trigger, see?

Josh Randal: You want your friend here to keep spoiling, don't step out of line.







Civil War veteran Josh Randall (Steve McQueen of The Blob, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, Never So Few, The Great Escape, Nevada Smith, The Thomas Crowne Affair, The Getaway, Papillon, The Towering Inferno and The Hunter) is a bounty hunter by trade and brings the horse thieves and back shooters in dead or alive.  A lone operator in a sea of despicable men he roams the countryside on horseback looking for profitable outlaws.  The pilot episode has him visiting the local US Marshall Jeff Wilcox (John Cliff of Riverboat, Bat Masterson, Oklahoma Territory, Maverick, Perry Mason and That Darn Cat!) looking for one Andy Martin's bounty when he is ambushed but Andy's younger brother who cold cocks him with a pistol and then drills the Marshall.

It's NOT ALRIGHT since I picked that fight!!!

Randall wakes up with a headache and a plethora of accusations and he probably sprung this outlaw and got double-crossed.  Vengeance isn't so much swift in this town but they put an express land in it.  Randall clocks the two loud mouths, rides out of town and goes after the Martin boys to clear his name and avenge his friend Wilcox.  What treachery will be waiting for him along the way?  Will the Martin brothers have a gang to match Randall?  Interesting trivia in this, prior to being Little Joe via Bonanza, Michael Landon is a back shooter in the pilot episode and doesn't look a day over I Was a Teenage Werewolf era.

With influences like John Wayne of the big screen totting a 30.30 carbine rifle with longer barrel, custom action to chamber rounds faster or a maple wood stock to make it lighter.  This show took a different spin on this old thing that has armchair historians crapping themselves in anger.  It's just poor research, people.  Randall's Mare is a sawed off 1892 Winchester 94 which is his primary firearm giving him more rounds in a gun fight.   Now the Weekend Gunslingers got their spurs in a knot about the show being set in 1870's and therefore Randall's weapon does not exist yet and then they go on endlessly about the practicality of that chopped down rifle used like a club and blah blah blah.  Sorry McQueen is prettier than you, fellas but you really need a hobby.

The theme of the anti-hero was not uncommon for the latter 50's and early 60's with TV and Movies but this is possibly the first truly likable anti-hero.  Josh has been pinned down in some box canyon giving away the better chunk of his earned money to the families of the victims or just to see the victim gets a proper burial.  Helping folks under siege from an Indian attack (I will be hard pressed to find a true Native American in the lot), bandits holding up banks or even a good old fashion train robbery, Randall has the uncanny ability to be the right guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Could have something to do with the writing of course.

Take it, Phil. I'm inbred and illiterate, remember?

Wild West TV Week

Hey there! Now before you roll your eyes and groan, "Jake, you have already done a Western TV spot before."  I would point out that the 50's and the 60's produced a slew of Western TV shows and I covered some of the most popular but I did not cover every Western I wanted to.   I also made mention that I would eventually get back to it and give it some life to the readers that are not familiar with these particular shows.

Heeeeeeere's..... Steve McQueen?

The basis of the week is to touch (not bad touch) on a few that were beloved but some barely reside in DVD land and are still relegated to piss poor VHS copies that have had anything from being in the direct sun too long or the VCR chew the tape something fierce and cannot be replaced.  Most of the series I will be reviewing this week can be found on the Encore channel so set the DVR up and record those bad boys.

Chuck Connors for the NRA.

So relax in the easy chair or couch and try to take in some of these classics and don't spoil it by counting how many rounds from each six shooter or rifle have been fired.  Just accept they are on God Mode and they have Infinite ammo.

Blaxploitation Week

Hello again readers!  This week I wanted to focus on some amazing pieces of film that falls under a genre that tends to get the nose turned up to it because of where the term hails from.  Blaxploitation films were created in the 1970s and are predominately a black cast including lead and most secondary characters.  Blaxploitation or Black Cinema was an attempt to reach more urban audiences by developing heroes, anti-heroes and situation that not every white person would get, understand or comprehend.   These films were the first of its kind to introduce soul and funk soundtracks to movies.  Primarily these movies were based around gang violence, cops working the streets and mobsters making their mark in the world.

Snap kick, Sucka!!

What these film did was to bridge the gap and cultural understandings between different ethnic backgrounds and try to tell a good story.  Like with all exploitation films there are some that just stand out from an amazing cast to a terrific story.  Others like Dolemite, tend to be shot in the South were apparently every other white guy is a racist in a position of power trying to bring the brothers down.   Some examples of this black empowerment like Shaft and Coffy gave creditable performances, great story line and a kick ass soundtrack.

Racist vampires??? Say it ain't so!

Many organizations felt this cinema genre would cause race riots, uprises and a surge of crime waves and cast white people as horrendous people hell bent on being slavers, heartless oppressors and in general; scumbags.  For those in that disgruntlement bracket, I suggest you read a little history prior to the Civil War and GET OVER IT.    The irony of this genre is that the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and The Urban League that are all African American foundations felt these movies were base, crass and had no moral value which consequently ended this genre for a time.

This movie concept was to break free of the shackles of stereotypical writing for black actors getting foisted into criminal, war mongers and bad guys of the week and show people that hatred had been around a long time and here is another side of it.

So some of these films will blow you away like they did me and some will be like Dolemite, so buckle up kids cause we are going for a ride.

Craigslist romance goes horribly wrong.

Exploitation Week: Shaft

Welcome back babies to Day 4 of Exploitation Week and I thought we could to with a little mystery, some blackmail and maybe even a dead lead here and there.  For that we will need a suave, cagey mutha that don’t speak no jive but straight up.  So grab your flair bell bottoms, get those platform shoes ready and do that funky chicken.  This is Shaft.  You dig?

Shaft's customer service is second to none!

John Shaft:  I got to feeling like a spoiler and that’s no way to feel.

In New York City, you need some muscle, maybe someone to send a warning or help you out of a tight squeeze, then John Shaft (Richard Roundtree of Embassy, Shaft’s Big Score!, Roots, Day of the Assassin, Maniac Cop, Se7en and Rescue 77) is the man you see.  That Shaft is a bad mother…um shutting my mouth.   

Shaft is approached by a couple of thugs of a crime boss and one didn’t handle his exit well.  A 5 story fall that is.  With the cops having to investigate into what was clearly self-defense some of his former associates on the police force are questioning if he took the law in his own hands.  Lieutenant Androzzi (Charles Cioffi of Klute, The Thief Who Came to Dinner, Assignment Vienna, Tail Gunner Joe and The Other Side of Midnight) is pulling all the strings he can to keep Shaft from losing his license as a P.I. but at the same time needs answers.  He gives Shaft some operating room and to see what is what. 

No dirty white boy, I do NOT want candy!

 Later on he encounters the same thug and his boss Bumpy (Moses Gunn of Wild Rovers, Shaft’s Big Score!, The Cowboys, Rollerball, Good Times and Vega$) at his office with a dire situation.  Bumpy’s daughter has been kidnapped and he needs Shaft to find who took her.  Shaft hits the streets, rolls a few informants and beats down some doors to find the girl.  Chats up with a old buddy of his that went Black Militant Ben Buford (Christopher St. John of The Love of Ivy, Top of the Heap, The Retrievers and The Atlanta Child Murders) only to find out that an Italian syndicate is in town and moving in on Bumpy’s territory.  An armored assault is the call for the night but they need plenty of men and guns for this gig.

Now I just have a few comments to add about the film overall.  Shot in 35 mm Spherical, this is one of MGM’s little gems that got more love from audiences of all color because the performances were solid, the writing was fair and the flow of the story did not drag at all.   It plays out at a good steady pace and does not let up for nothing or nobody!  You may have noticed I am a fan.  

What? You're not girl scouts and that means no cookies! Hustlers!!!

Yes fellas, there is some nudity in case the action and story wasn't enough.   This film is hailed as not only one of the best exploitation films but also one of the best films of the 70’s because it does not feel forced and an amazing soundtrack by none other than Isaac Hayes!!!  So enjoy this piece of funk and get your groovin’ on babies.  Shaft is one of the more memorable films of this era and deserves its hails.

Tomorrow is my 200th Blog people so keep sending me suggestions on my Facebook page or on the blog itself.  Comments, questions and critiques are all welcome!!!  Later babies!!