Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe

 What's going on kiddies? We're back with the day of June 22^nd is the birthday of actor/writer/producer Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead, Moontrap, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Tornado!, Escape from L.A., Ellen, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Bubba Ho-Tep and Burn Notice). From the humble Super 8 beginnings to three novels, this actor boy has been a Three Stooges fan as a lad and got the acting bug roughly about the same time. Today's movie gives us a glimpse into Burn Notice character, Sam Axe and what brought about his mustering out of rank and military clearance. This is Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.

 

Ash and the Mandalorian side-by-side

 

 

 

 

 

 As our film opens, Sam (Bruce Campbell, in case you missed that.) is in his dress uniform and being brought before a military hearing for his conduct of his last "fact finding" mission in Columbia 3 years prior to the series. The fact this hearing is even happening means everything went pear shaped or SNAFU. Admiral Lawrence (John Diehl of Stripes, Miami Vice, Fail Safe, Lost Souls, The Zeros, Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park III, The Shield, Land of Plenty, Point Pleasant, Gary's Walk and Gabe the Cupid Dog) wants Sam to walk him through all these events that lead up to the flaming dumpster fire of a mission.

 

What do you mean "sidekicks"?

 

 

 

 

 

As Sam re-accounts his actions bringing him to his mission, he was doing a bit of reconnaissance... or spot the submarine with a rather dishy blonde, Donna (Chandra West of Universal Soldier II: Brother in Arms, Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business, NYPD Blue, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, The Gates, Z and Spiral). The downside to this lover connection? She happens to be the wife of his superior officer, Admiral Maitland (Alex Fernandez of F.E.A.R. 3, Driver: San Francisco, NCIS, Dallas, Killer Women, Devious Maids, True Detective, Stevie D, Lucifer and Christmas Crime Story). Talk about not taking in your surroundings.

 

Can't help you, Sam. I'm just a cameo.

 

 

 

 

 

A near miss with Maitland, Sam leans on his buddy, Michael Westen (Jeffery Donovan of Bait, The Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows, Touching Evil, Hitch, Crossing Jordan, Burn Notice, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Sicario, Shut Eye and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines) back between missions in Afghanistan, takes in Axe's blunder and gives him the advice to lay low and avoid the whole mess.

  No sooner does Sam leave the bar hopping, he is picked up by the SP (Shore Patrol) and delivered to Maitland. Rather than hanging Sam from a yard arm, Axe is given a mission to Columbia to observe the accounts of a rebel movement, Espada Adriente (Flaming Sword, gringos) and work with army liaison Comandante Veracruz (Pedro Pascal of The Good Wife, Lights Out, The Adjustment Bureau, Sweet Little Lies, Red Widow, Game of Thrones, Graceland, The Mentalist and The Mandalorian) then report back their findings. As time passes, Sam feels this is no milk run and uncovers the Colombian army under Veracruz seems to be heavily involved in cocaine trafficking. Ho boy. 

 

Okay, kid. Look. I just like Boba Fett more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting with a relief aid worker, Amanda Maples(Kiele Sanchez of Married to the Kellys, Related, Lost, Football Wives, Samantha Who?, Insanitarium, A Perfect Getaway, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, The Glades, The Purge: Anarchy and Kingdom) and only doctor in the region, Ben Delaney (RonReaco Lee of Man of Your Dreams, Madea Goes to Jail, Worst Week, In the Motherhood, The Good Guys, Let's Stay Together, Complications, We Are Family, The Quad and Running Out of Time), along with seemingly lost orphan Beatriz (Ilza Ponko of La Teacher de Ingles, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Burn Notice, Lynch, The Darkness, Hands of Stone, La Piloto, Ruta Madre and La Reina Soy Yo). The Colombian army is coming down on Sam's head and all the people he may have interacted with. Armed with peasants, farmers and locals, Axe is feeling the hurt and running out of ideas and gas. All must be made silent.  Kinda getting the vibe they have mass burial sites at the ready for such an occasion.

Beatriz wants to fight along side Sam but he wants her to do something to give them an edge instead. Sam has to get the good guys on his side against Veracruz, who is claiming anything he chooses to discredit Sam and then go mop them up. 

 

With directorial by Jeffery Donovan, he and Matt Nix (writer and creator of Burn Notice) got Bruce's speech patterns and dropped a bit of dialogue that worked well with him. A few spoilers is Bruce getting the use of a chainsaw and yes Deadites, we do get a groovy in there. A few goofs I noticed and only because I am a military brat, I give you the following: Naval officers wear white shoes not black ones with dress uniform and he wasn't wearing his SEAL trident.

As far as film goofs of continuity, I couldn't help but notice Sam had his sidearm the whole time, including being kidnapped prior. Overall, the Campbell fans and Burn Notice fans will appreciate this TV movie. I think Matt Nix might have been a Get Smart fan as the opening sequence was similar to the hallway walk through.

Happy 63^rd birthday, El Jefe!

 

Soooo...no beer then?

 

Sean Bean Week: Sharpe's Rifles

Welcome fine readers to Day 1 of Sean Bean Week and I hope we get off to a great start by viewing one of Bean's first ground and back breaking series based of the Bernard Cornwell novels (a novelization based on Peninsular War campaigns Sharpe's Rifles, the prequels Sharpe's Tigers, Sharpe's Triumph, Sharpe's Fortress, Sharpe's Trafalgar and Sharpe's Prey)  a young sergeant promoted to lieutenant commanding a handful of sharpshooters.  This is Sharpe's Rifles.

Hope those guns are loaded with blanks... this time.

Richard Sharpe: So... the Chosen Spoilers, eh?  Well, I didn't choose you. But I know you, you and your kind all my life.  All I know is how to fight. So if there's any man among you expecting a quick ramble through this war, now's the time.

Sir Arthur Wellesley (David Troughton of Bonjour la Classe, Sharpe's Eagle, A Few Short Journeys of the Heart, Underworld, Captain Jack and The Cafe) is the commander of the British infantry being pursued by the French when he is saved by a shavetail sergeant Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean of Patriot Games, Scarlett, Goldeneye, Airborne, Ronin, Equilibrium, The Lord of the RIngs: The Fellowship of the Ring and Troy).  Impressed with this young wily sergeant, Wellesley offers Sharpe a field promotion to Lieutenant and command of the "Chosen Men" some of the best sharpshooters formerly lead by Rifleman Patrick Harper (Daragh O' Malley of Texas, Sharpe's Seige, Sharpe's Justice, Grim Fandango and Cleopatra) and they both immediately loathe one another. Stuck in Portugal with no monthly payment, Wellesley has arranged a loan from the Rothschild household that was sent from Vienna but is overdue.  James Rothschild was said to have been traveling with this notice and has not been heard from in some time.

I'm telling you, that is the guy from Goldeneye.

Wellesley, Sharpe, his men and company commanded by Major Dunnett (Julian Fellowes of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, The Bunker, Angels, Damage, Tomorrow Never Dies and Monarch of the Glen) follows Rothschild's last known whereabouts and set out to find him.    The company is exhausted as Sharpe and his men are on recon trying to make heads or tails of this missing member of noble house.  Will they encounter heavy resistance?  Is there a trap lying in waits for them all?  Will they ever escape this accursed war?   Well give it a view and find out.  Rather good periodical work.

Just a few comments about the TV movie now.  Paul McGann (Doctor Who, Downtime, Fish, Queen of the Damned, Doctor Who: Shada, Collison, Luther and Art Is...) was chosen for the role of Sharpe but due to a football (Soccer for us yankees) injury, Sean Bean was given the role and McGann is a shorter fellow and the outfit was tailored to fit him so that is why it looks snug and open for Bean.

Author Bernard Cornwell was blown away by Sean Bean's performance as Sharpe that he changed the physical description of his own character to closely resemble the man in question.   Sharpe's 95th Regiment and the green jackets are factual and the direct ancestor of the Royal Green Jackets better known as The Rifles Regiment.

God's sake man, put a bra on.

Impending Podcast!!! Rotten Ramble On.

Hey folks!  Don't worry I am going to finish up the week's topic but right now I want to discuss the new podcast my friend Shawn and I will be on.  It's called Rotten Ramble On and basically we will be tackling interests of film, TV, adaptations from books made into TV and film and of course video games.  Yes we will do our homework, provide varied opinions on popular media culture, go completely off topic, rant, whine, bitch and possibly even moan (not in a erotic way though... depends on the guest star).   This will be an adult themed podcast which includes: Adult language, adult situations and NSWF, so do NOT let the kiddies sit in and hear what is about to play out.  We will do our level best to comport ourselves in a dignified manner as soon as we learn what comport means.

I am in the works to find folks of these different film, TV and video game genre and see if we can't set them down for an interview or two.  These are all future concepts right now but steps are being made to bring you an enjoyable, informative and squirrelly shows.  We will take requests on topics but right now we are shooting for once a month until our schedules sync up better or each of us has more free time.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for this soon-to-be audio extravaganza!!!!

Larson 80s TV Week

Howdy kiddies and this week I thought we would tackle shows of yesteryear again.  The 1970s to 1990s series with the development of multiple titles and pilots by Glen A. Larson (writer and producer of It Takes a Thief, Alias Smith and Jones, McCloud, Battlestar Galactica, Switch and Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century) in order to bring quality shows…of course he did try to subject us to Automan (an AI creation that created constructs i.e. vehicles and physical presence to fight crime with) and Manimal (a professor able to transform into any kind of animal in order to fight crime alongside a cop and his Vietnam war buddy) so I cannot guarantee you will love every series Larson produced and written but dammit we will take a peek!  

Enjoy the beefcake, ladies.

From such memorial TV shows such as: Magnum P.I. to more obscure shows you may have forgotten like Cover Up and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. 

Ranging series from Westerns, Action and Science Fiction to offer a stimulus to the imagination to what was marketable for children and adults.  

22 TV movies had Larson at the helm producing it with what funds were allotted or what he brought to the table.  He has amazed us as equally baffled us so let us take time to review a smattering of series this week via the 1980s collection. 

I hope as always it informs and entertains.

William Shatner Week: The Horror at 37,000 Feet

Hidey ho Shatner fans and welcome to Day 4 of William Shatner Week.  We start off with a film from the far away time of 1973…my mom hates when I do that.   This film involves demons, Christian faith and a steadfast plane.  Sounds like a hybrid of Incubus and Snakes on a Plane I know but fasten your safety belts, keep your tray table in the upright position and place your oxygen mask on first before assisting others.  This is The Horror at 37,000 Feet.

Dammit Trekkies, I said no autographs right now!

I don’t understand. Why did spoiler do it? For those people? You talked to him last. Why?

Similar to the themes of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Salem’s Lot, this TV movie comes to us as a telefilm that was described to me as The Exorcist meets Airport.  A disturbing concept altogether; our plane bound for hell leaves Heathrow Airport commanded by Captain Slade (Chuck Connors of The Rifleman, Branded, Soylent Green and Airplane II: The Sequel) and his copilot Frank Driscoll (H.M. Wynant of Perry Mason, Branded, The Search for the Evil One, Gunsmoke and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes) as they embark their way back to L.A. with ten whole passengers and 11,000 lbs of an almost reliquary in the cargo hold.  This would explain the lack of extras on the plane. 

SLEEEEEEEEP!

Architect Alan O’ Neil (Roy Thinnes of The Invaders, Black Noon, The Manhunter, From Here to Eternity, Falcon Crest, Mind Benders, Dark Shadows and Spectropia) and easily irksome wife Shelia (Jane Merrow of The Girl-Getters, The Lion in Winter, Hands of the Ripper, Airwolf and Lovejoy) have returned from Shelia’s ancestral home to wit they faced baseless lawsuits, back breaking labor disputes and finally removed a sizeable chunk of the home to add to their existing home in L.A.   I believe this woman has either a sugar imbalance or does not suffer fools lightly.  Along for the ride is spokesperson of the lawsuit impending mob Mrs. Pinder (Tammy Grimes of Can’t Stop the Music, The Last Unicorn, Loving and High Art) grumbling from coach and causing more migraines than bleach.  A slightly inebriated and cynical former priest Paul Kovalik (William Shatner of Barbary Coast, Perilous Voyage, A Whale of a Tale, T.J. Hooker, TekWar, 3^rd Rock from The Sun and Osmosis Jones), a cantankerous millionaire Glen Faree (Buddy Ebsen of Northwest Passage, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones), a fashion model Annalik (France Nuyen of South Pacific, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, St. Elsewhere, Knots Landing and The Joy Luck Club) and a philosophical physician Dr. Enkalla (Paul Winfield of Blue City, The Terminator, 227, L.A. Law, Babylon 5 and Dead of Night) are all accounted for the flight from/to Hell. 

This film does not even wait for the plane to take off as Shelia hears a Gregorian chant with her name through her headphones, a freezing wind travels through the cockpits chilling our captain and pilots and one of the stewardesses is trapped between floors in the automated dumb waiter.  What will happen next and to whom?

 

Hmm the script says you an ungrateful cow.

A few notes about the film I thought you might find particularly interesting.  This film has a Lovecraft feel to it from the foley sound effects from Forbidden Planet, the cut scene frost effects against the windows and the amazing music score of Morton Stevens (The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, A Man Called Horse and Police Woman).  The tension is properly ratcheted, the characters are on edge and the story develops nicely.   The cast was very impressive and each performance was rather good.

175th Blog!!!! TekWar

 This is my 175^th blog and I welcome you all back kiddies to Day 2 of William Shatner Week and I thought we would tackle some Sci-Fi this time.  No I said we are not commenting about Star Trek or Star Trek themed projects.  Instead I thought we would discuss Shatner’s written work Tek War.  A series of the year 2120 when humanity has turned to cyberspace as a drug called Tek.  It accesses the fantasy portion of your brain, making all dreams come true and spares you the pain of life.  The downside is it will eventually kill you.  So grab your net gear to jack in the matrix, have your credstick and keep your wits about.   This is TekWar.

 

Sweetie, it happens to every man eventually.

Spoilers can surf the matrix like a knife through butter.

After four years of his fifteen year incarceration former cop Jake Cardigan (Greg Evigan of DeepStar Six, My Two Dads, P.S.I. Luv U, House of the Damned, Pacific Palisades, Family Rules and Cerebus) is released from his deep freeze capsule and moved of the prison complex escorted by an android name of Winger (Maurice Dean Wint of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Swordsman, Earth: Final Conflict, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Robocop: Prime Directives, Blue Murder and Cube) and sent back to his home with his wife and son had left, a time elapsed message was left waiting for him saying the embarrassment of his imprisonment was too much for them both to handle so out on parole he goes to a Tek dealer to get Tek to numb the pain.

Takes...a brave man...to wear... a teal trenchcoat.

 

Cardigan wants justice for his wrongful confinement, his partners were killed and he was framed.  His former partner Sid Gomez (Eugene Clark of 3 Men and a Baby, Night Heat, Sweating Bullets, Knight Rider 2000, Side Effects, Turn It Up and Land of the Dead) yanks him out of the Tek and tells him to get cleaned up and he had a job for his ex-con buddy.   A private investigation firm Cosmos Security is headed up by a man Walter Bascom (William Shatner of Incubus, The Third Walker, Disaster on the Coastline, The Kidnapping of the President, Broken Angel, Free Enterprise and $#*! My Dad Says) who hates Tek as much as Cardigan.

That's Cowgirl, not Call girl.

His methods and motives are his own but Cardigan takes it is stride just to have a shot at Tek Lord Sonny Hokori (Von Flores of Eclipse, Johnny Mnemonic, The Assignment and Earth: Final Conflict)  and finally clear his name and record of all the slime it has been drug through.

Now I would also like to point out the various Canadian actors that made their bones with TekWar.  The following is thus: Lexa Doig (TekWar, CI5: The New Professionals, Jason X and Andromeda), Torri Higginson (TekWar, Memory Run, Storm of the Century, Deep in the City, Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis) and Catherine Blythe (TekWar, Terminal Justice, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Papertrail, Shapeshifter and A Taste of Life).  This phenomenal 9 novel series spawned 4 TV Movies, a TV series and helped provoke the imagination of future times in the same fashion novelist William Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive) made for the cyberpunk genre. 

Thanks for reading and again feel free to drop messages on my Facebook page and the blog for some suggestions.