Anyone Home

Hey folks. Sorry for the lapsed writing. Long rounds of working and a few freelance gigs. We won't go into it. Instead I got a written review request of Rotten Reelz's old friend, Joe Williamson from the Williamson Management Co. Today's movie is a hybrid mystery thriller horror film. Already I am intrigued. As many of you know, I don't get garbage to view from this man. With first time director/writer Patrick Cunningham and starring Emmy and Golden Globe winner Kathy Baker and Nolly Hollywood winner Jasper Cole, this is Anyone Home? a.k.a. Model Home.

Yes happy pills are a bonus!

Again, I get another alternative titled film. Thankfully it isn't Bruno Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead and its 15 alternative titles.

Our movie opens with an infomercial describing a no rent or mortgage down place to live with slight eerie musical intro as we cut back and forth to title credits. This to me, says we are setting the tone and it promises to be all evil. What sounds like a Faustian pact, Brenda (Kathy Baker of Street Smart, Mister Frost, Edward Scissorhands, Picket Fences,Chicago Hope, Boston Public, Cold Mountain, Fathers and Sons, All the King's Men and Medium) is showing off the new potential home that Camila (Monique Gabriela Curnen of Lie to Me, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation The Mentalist, Dystopia, Hawaii Five-0, The Following and Matters of the Heart) signs on this contract to live her new home as a sort of caretaker position. Three houses are complete, street lights are there and the roads are finished. Several empty plots are to be found but overall a modern day ghost town. BRING THE KIDS!

Being a single mother to young Jaime (Luke Ganalon of Bless Me, Ultima, Grey's Anatomy, Shake It Up, Out of the Blue, King John and Doc McStuffins), I have to say Camila there's got to be a better place to start. I'm getting Poltergeist vibes off this cul-de-sac of a community. Not even kids around his age in this place, a lot of construction equipment, supplies and regions a kid will explore and probably end up hurting himself on or with. Jaime finds his remote control spider caught in an inhumane coyote or small game trap (yes sadly I know what they look like). Again all these tools, equipment and building supplies just screams mangled boy!

Leatherface's cousin, Ceramic Head.

Jaime finds he and his mother's clothes strewn on the ground when he was away, proving there is someone else around these premises. An ill omen, perhaps? Camila is still been knocked over of the sheer size of this house. That being said, I think the plumbing, electrical and foundation need checking. Also might want to see if any ancient Native American burial grounds have been disturbed, Satanic rites have happened and the odd human sacrifice or two. Again, just precautions.

That being said, the highway is a quick turn up and go back into the areas of strip malls, fast food and probably the near amounts of grocery stores, possibly a good vet hospital. You know these in-fills can be like. Camila has a pill regiment of an 80 year old woman, looks like some are anti-psychotics and given how "normal" people think of any medicine for depression to dementia she is trying to keep it under wraps.

Jaime is making sure she adheres to her pill intake and boy that can't be stressful. Camila clearly suffers from bi-polar mental issues as the flashbacks indicate and I think they portrayed it well.

With that, the night belongs to scumbags. They would look at an single mother and her impressionable young son as open season. Would it also be bad to point out they don't seem to so much as have a patrol car doing a drive-by to see the neighborhood?

Such isolation the lovely home wouldn't matter as there are no real neighbors about. Just open desert, vacant houses and too much silence.

Thank God for the craft store. The one refuge from pure unadulterated boredom. Ran by Mr( Jon Jon Briones of Moonlight, Sons of Anarchy, Proud American, Brown Soup Thing, Southland, The Mentalist, American Horror Story and Ratched) and Mrs Fan (Cici Lau of Torchwood, Whitney, Breaking In, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Mantervention, Love Arcadia and Fear the Walking Dead).

Enter Walker (Jasper Cole of Alien Nation, Friday the 13^th: The Series, Pride & Joy, Once and Again, What Should You Do?, Prom Queen and Nothing But the Truth), a guy living in an RV and looks as stable as nitroglycerine. He has also laid claim to several of Camila's personal effects. Surprised he isn't rubbing them all over himself.

I liked the premise, the pacing of the movie and the general vibe of the sinister element hidden in the shadows. Nothing is what it appears to be.

Monique's performance was nothing short of astonishing, the cinematography is impressive and this cast and crew had passion for this project.

This film gives a decent view into history of mental illness, what it is to be a single mother and how awful it is to recover from a recession. Proof if proof was needed, that there is no such thing as secure. Whether it is a job or a home, there will always be something or someone lurking out there if they really want to.

Oh Johnny Depp?  Mmm girl I have stories.

Back in Blaxploitation: Velvet Smooth

What's happenin' cats and kittens...welcome to Day 2 of Back in Blaxploitation and today we are gabbing about a super sleuth that all is gathering around for. No, I ain't talkin' about Shaft. Can you dig it? I mean the kitten that purrs so but carries claws when she needs it. Only one bit of sweetness to get to the bottom of this obvious kettle of fish. This is Velvet Smooth.

Ron Jeremy is Leatherface in: A Cut Above the Rest.

Our private eye with her foxy sidekicks is on the case, Velvet (Johnnie Hill of Velvet Smooth) gets a sit down with the man, King Lathrop (Owen Watson of Black Force, Velvet Smooth and Bon annivesaire Juilette) as someone is muscling him out of his territory. The possibility is so mind boggling to Lathrop that he has to hire the best P.I. In the business and Velvet fits the bill. With her help of friends Ria (Elsie Roman of Black Force, Velvet Smooth and Gang Wars) a lawyer and rough and tough Frankie (Rene Van Clief of Dolemite and Velvet Smooth) the scumbags better beware!

Frankie works undercover to ferret out the man causing Lathrop so much hell that they are convinced it may be an inside job by one of Lathrop's own men. Did I mention all these ladies are supposed to be adept in martial arts. Kung Faux from the looks of that and no I did not error on my spelling because the fight scenes look so damn hokey, I guess they were convinced the girls would get hurt and blah blah blah but more than half of these fight scenes are shot at long distance so you barely see what is really happening and the other half...well you really weren't missing the astounding choreography of a fourth grader's attention to detail. Why not make the girls bar room brawlers instead or a bit of street fight but I guess opting to fit them with bonking frying pans and attitude was skipped thankfully but not by much.

She cut a bitch!  Mostly, with those nails.

The general vibe says not to trust anyone, then why did the kingpin hire Velvet at all and what is really going on? Love the street gangs' Leatherface meets Hannibal masks as well. Clashes a bit with their funky threads but that happens from time to time. And ladies, lay off the kick and punches to the nuts already!! Girl power aside, the twig and berry fatalities were getting insane!

A few nitpicks now. Holy crap I have not seen the boom mic that many times outside of Dolemite. Get the boom mic top billing! Running Back two-time Emerson Boozer for the NY Jets (1966-1975) was kind of a point of interest but you get the overall reason why his career in acting didn't go sky rocketing. Didn't have the chops, baby. The sound effects foley artist fell asleep as half of the slaps, punches and kicks don't match up with the action followed by a drum crash seemingly to accompany every other punch to skin.

Not the worst blaxploitation thus far but certainly not the better talented to be working on this project. Still it beats Dolemite everytime.

Operation: Grabass is under way!

Adrian Paul Week: Nemesis Game

Greetings folks and welcome back for Day 3 of Adrian Paul Week. Initially I was going to just do a review on The Breed but then I thought, "I have already seen this film and enjoyable as it was, I shall not view anything new." With that in mind, I found what IMDB considers an obscure mystery thriller revolving around a introspective student obsessed with puzzles and no her name is not Edlyn Nigma, you Bat-Man fanatics. With the story following a young college girl, you may ask yourself, "Well where does Adrian Paul fit in this equation?" This is Nemesis Game.

Yeah I went blonde.

Our film opens with a girl, name of Emily (Rena Owen of Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, The Straits, The Last Survivor and The Dead Lands) being interrogated by Detective Jeff Novak (Ian McShane of A.D., Lovejoy, Dallas, Nine Lives, Deadwood, Death Race and Kings) who clearly is befuddled by this woman who had everything and anything at her fingertips for life had to offer and then snaps like a twig in 1996 trying to drown a small boy in a lake and the crazy just keeps on a comin'. Apparently she knows the meaning of life and the absurdity of the cosmos. So did Jean Paul Satre, baby and all he had was a pipe, beret and turtleneck sweater.

Comic book shop/memorabilia owner and amateur philosopher Vern (Adrian Paul of Susan's Plan, The Void, Code Hunter, Tracker, Alien Tracker, Moscow Heat, Tides of War and Throttle) attempts to find meaning in life, its context, is it really straightforward and planned or does it simply revel in chaos? Vern begins to wax ideology and metaphysics with his customer Dennis (Brendan Fehr of The Foresaken, Roswell, Sugar, The Other Side of the Tracks, CSI: Miami, Samurai Girl and Bones) when a young girl walks in the shop idly browsing as one would believe. Heaven fore-fend girls liking graphic novels. Wracked with guilt and confusion of her mother's death in a car crash, Sara (Carly Pope of Dirt, YPF, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, 24 and Outlaw) finds scholastics to be dull and takes her away from her true love which is puzzles and riddles of the macabre or bizarre.

Transient, hobo or homicidal lunatic??

Vern and Sara seem to have a dynamic relationship of self-destruction, lawbreaking and more than a few misdemeanors between the two of them. Gifted minds that are not challenged enough and reprobates in their own mind against the rules, this pair of misfits test themselves and the boundaries of the system we all drift in. Games at first of course. Sara and Jeff's family ties are rocky at best, so much the good girl he wants to see in her but not realizing she needs her own life. Sara recieves an invitation to solving riddles of a different facet. Vern tells her that a local mystery occurs in vehicular accidents, random fires with no meaning or possibly even an unexplained murder. Are they truly without meaning? A elite petition is made to solve these puzzles but from where and by whom? Sara finds a student missing, dead and strung up and only because she interacted with him daily. How deep does this rabbit hole go?

Director/writer Jesse Warn goes for almost Michael Mann lighting style, close pan zooms on the actors to get as much expression, lots of hand held Mostly a techno/industrial soundtrack that gives the film a good steady pace but will not also lose the 30 second attention span crowd. The crane technique shots of the city, steady cam and some old school dolly track gives a nice eerie feeling to encompass the vibe of the film. I wasn't really pondering the riddles or reflective on the nothingness of being but found the film to at least be entertaining and the cast brought their "A" game to this whimsical view of life and all its "order".

Come hither stare?

Season One Shows: Almost Human

Ah sci-fi cyberpunk. I will never tire of it in whatever form of media. Welcome back to Day 3 of Season One Shows. Not certain what it is about a sci-fi crime drama but it doesn't seem to get the love to last more than a handful of episodes. With the establishment of the evolution of technology and not enough morality to combat it cyber augmentation for limbs, bones and organs giving humans near immortality and enhanced, speed, agility and strength. To battle this, the police forms the necessary addition to the force. A combat android. This is Almost Human.

Okay buddy, here's your sex robot and he's fully capable in multiple techniques.

The year is 2048 and the full creation of mega corporations, fringe gangs, cyberpunks, combat droids, matrix hackers and hired guns roam the streets. Genetic manipulations, surgerical augments and cyberlink to the hypernet.

Similar to the worlds created by Issac Asimnov, Phillip K. Dick, William Gibson, William Shatner and such kindred worlds we follow Detective John Kennex (Karl Urban of Xena: Warrior Princess, Ghost Ship, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Bourne Supremacy, The Chronicles of Riddick, Doom, RED and Dredd) a cop that commanded a squad two years prior to raid a vicious gang known only as The Syndicate but were outnumbered, outmaneuvered and outgunned. Kennex tried to save his partner's life but the android officer attached to Kennex's command drug him out instead of his partner due to the survival expectancy was higher for Kennex.

17 months later Kennex wakes from a coma to find he has a cybernetic leg to replace the damaged one and enormous gaps in his memory. Once released, Kennex chose to go to the black market and have his memory hacked to recall anything of that night, The Syndicate and how it all went horribly wrong, coupled with the fact his girlfriend Anna (Mekia Cox of I Kissed a Vampire, 90210, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Undercovers, Mob City and After Dark) had left him.

You broke our spoon quickly... No cuddling anymore?

Back in the world, Kennex has been brought to active duty by his superior Captain Maladonado (Lili Taylor of Mystic Pizza, Say Anything..., Arizona Dream, Ready to Wear, Four Rooms, The Haunting, High Fidelity and Six Feet Under) who teams him with an identical logic based android MX-43 android as his partner/back-up. The MX-43 records Kennex's actions and deems he must alert the captain of his behavior so Kennex "accidentally" released him out of the moving vehicle. Given this loss of hardware, Kennex is issued an older model android call a DRN unit that is as close to humanity as possible. Called Dorian (Michael Ealy of Bad Company, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Sleeper Cell, Seven Pounds, The Good Wife, Underworld: Awakening and About Last Night), Kennex notes Dorian exhibits a unique personality, wit and even hints of sarcasm. Can these two be able to work together in spite of their differences? Is a budding bud cop story arc possible in this distant future?

A few comments about the show now. Reminiscent of shows like Alien Nation, Tek War and Total Recall 2070, this show has all the hallmarks human drama, humor, suspense and mystery. Giving the feel of a timeline all its own using slang, concepts and attitudes mirror the early 1990s and the current time. With a hybrid of CGI and prosthetic makeup this series gives sci-fi effects combined with cop drama/mystery. A nice use of narrative gives you almost a detective pulp novel from the 1930s with a view of a technophobe unable to fully except the new world and prefer simpler times.

I especially liked the Detective Valerie Stahl (Minka Kelly of Devil's Highway, State's Evidence, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights, The Roommate, Charlie's Angels and The World Made Straight) character do to the genetic engineered creation. Unlike the Eugenics War characters of Star Trek like Khan, this young woman is sharp, keen and capable that moves with the grace of a dancer but the attitude of a warrior. Why would she ever go into law enforcement is as baffling as it is to her species of human known as Chromes. I assume that is based of the flawless skin aspect.

Writer J. H. Wyman (The Mexican, Keen Eddie, 13 Graves, Fringe, Dead Man Down and Warriors) working with along writer/director/producer J.J. Abrams (Regarding Henry, Armageddon, Joy Ride, Felicity, Mission: Impossible III, Alias, Lost and Undercovers) they manage to create a world with hope in sight versus the typical dystopian and bleak futures to the like of Minority Report or Bladerunner.

J. J. Abrams personally recommended Karl Urban for Kennex's role after working with him on Star Trek and Star Trek Into the Darkness. Not a bad plug there, huh?

I'll avenge you, man... guess I should have backed up better.

Indiana Jones Week: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Day 5 of Indiana Jones Week and yes we still are NOT reviewing Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. YAY!!!!   For reasons following that, how about another Young Indy adventure?  This time around I thought I would bring us stateside with Indy surviving the horrors of High School, being a soda jerk and dating Nancy Stratemeyer (daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Bobsy Twins, Tom Swift and Nancy Drew).  Not too interesting, you say?  How about a Spring Break that ends with a Mexican Revolution?   This is The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure.

Father drones on after a few sherries. 

Pancho Villa:  I thought I was riding with men, not killers.  Soldiers and heroes not looking for more spoilers to be spilled.




In February 1916 with Spring Break on the rise, Indy (Sean Patrick Flanery of The Storyteller, Into the Fire, Masters of Horror, The Insatiable, Stephen King's Dead Zone and Dexter) is itching to take his gal Nancy (Robin Lively of Wildcats, Teen Witch, The Karate Kid, Part III, A Deadly Obsession and The Wrong Woman) to the prom.  But Mr. Stratemeyer is busy with the latest Tom Swift and hasn't the time to have the car repaired before the dance.  Thomas Edison's assistant Professor Thompson (Mark L. Taylor of Innerspace, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Arachnophobia) assures Indy he can fix the generator to the car when thugs steals Edison's new battery design plus the prototype.  With the break-in, the theft of both plans and battery swiped and word of German spies; Nancy and Indy try to unravel the mystery.

Gee whiz, bicycles don't get you girls!

The adventure doesn't end there when Indy travels with his father to visit family in Albuquerque New Mexico where Indy goes "camping" with his cousin Frank (Stephen Graf of No Job for a Lady, Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal and 6:41) to Columbus New Mexico for a taste of a good ole brothel.  Unbeknownst to the boys, Pancho Villa (Mike Moroff of La Bamba, Robocop, Cage, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) and his revolutionaries had raided the town for goods and supplies.  Indy chases the bandito Francois (Francesco Quinn of Platoon, Casablanca Express, Murder Blues, Top Dog, Nowhere Land and The Young and the Restless) jumps the guy and the two start grappling.  Indy is taken at gun point thinking this is the end when Villa is less than pleased with this petty behavior, chastises the men and they fall in line.
Stirred by the General's passion and words, Indy joins the revolution and carries on the fight to free Mexico as the US forces seethe their way into Mexico waging war against the revolutionaries at the request of the Mexican government.

A few comments to make about the film now.   During the riding sequence, Flanery got to ride Tornado, the horse Harrison Ford rode in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  This episode is later referenced in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as Indy talks with Mutt.

 Mike Moroff's grandfather actually rode alongside the actual Pancho Villa and his aunt received love letters from the revolutionary himself which Moroff inherited.  A true piece of history in Moroff's eyes.

One more Frito Bandito joke and you are off the picture!

Indiana Jones Week!

Afternoon/evening fans of mine and welcome to the beginning of the new week.  This week I have been putting off for more than a few months now, I felt it was about time that I pay a bit of respect to a childhood hero of mine that was a blatant rip off of Alan Quartermain and Julian Sorel with a dash of Philip Marlowe.  I speak of none other than the archaeologist, Professor Indiana Jones.  That's right kiddies, this week is devoted to explosions, faces melting, Wilhelm screams and one man bucking the odds and still coming out on top of it all.

Yeah I need a shave, so what?

This fellow has fallen under hero/anti-hero so many times in the eyes of different gatherings of people.  Some call him a tomb robber, grave digger and despoiler of the dead.  Others call him a brilliant scientist.  From the humble beginnings of Lucas and Spielberg, this iconic character has had books, video games on various platforms, action figures, lunch boxes, Halloween costumes for both children and adults and even a bobble head.  Harrison Ford may actually receive more mail about this character than any other including Han Solo of Star Wars, so yeah Indy is kind of a big deal.   You have all week to figure that out of course so enjoy the write-ups, feel free to drop me a line or comment on either the fb page rottenreelz or directly on the blog.

A&E Mysteries: Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime

Greetings to the remainder of A&E Mysteries this week and again I do apologize for being gone for the first three days.  Today I thought we would look into some more colorful and flamboyant characters of Agatha Christie, a married couple of the names of Tommy and Tuppence.   This couple hails from the 1920’s as Tommy is a veteran of WWI vibrant in his 20’s enjoying the Jazz Age.  To relieve the boredom of a well to do life our heroes buy out a defunct international detective agency to help those in need.  This is Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime

Excellent Title Card

Phyllis Betts: Tell me, just how spoiler are you, Mr. Blunt?

Our series follows the adventures of the Beresfords, a husband and wife sleuth team sink their money in a failing detective agency for something to do but they find out they have a knack for this line of work from anything from missing jewels, femme fatales and even a few murders as well.  

House Atreides shall never relinquish the spice!

Tommy (James Warwick of The Terracotta Horse, Rock Follies, The Bell, Doctor Who, Iron Man and Star Wars: Obi-Wan) and Tuppence (Francesca Annis of Run with the Wind, Great Expectations, Madame Bovary, Krull, Dune, Headhunters and Reckless) muse over each unique case and the repercussions that could or more likely will occur.   Unlike most Christie characters and themes this is a lot more lighthearted and whimsical in this era.  Our flatfoots enjoy a bit of cosplay in their various disguises to fool their prey allowing them that much closer to the truth. 

Of course what well oiled machine would operate without their faithful confidant?  Enter young Albert (Reese Dinsdale of A Private Function, The Storyteller, Home to Roost, Haggard, Full Stretch, Hamlet and Coronation Street) their gopher and all around assistant juggling bills, dry-cleaning and clients in the registry.   And no Christie benevolent bloodhounds would be complete without interaction with John Law or in this case Inspector Marriott (Arthur Cox of A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery, The Zero Option, Agatha Christie: Poirot, The House of Eliott, Girl from Rio and Christmas Carol: The Movie) and his fine chain of low cost high quality hotels.

Now I had a few critiques about the show itself.   I was most vexed finding out it was two seasons totaling 10 episodes.   As you know, the British do not rob your life with 14 to 22 episodes a season and while that is time saving you are also left wanting more.  Go figure, the audience demands more entertainment yet again.  Coupled with the fact that three of the anthology DID not get to see the light of the small screen I was a bit sadden that they were not given a chance.  They were “The Man that was No. 16, The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger and Blindman’s Bluff.  

Again, this is a highly captivating series with the right amount of tongue-in-cheek humor and for all ages to revel in.   Besides, any parent not bringing kids up on a wonderful writer the likes of Agatha Christie needs a proper thumping.

I deduce this champer is divine!

Larson 80s TV Week: Magnum P.I.

Hiya kiddies and welcome back for another helping of Larson 80’s TV Week.   Boy I make the weeks longer and more confusing than Mapquest directions.  This time around I thought we would find us another tough guy with even better hair, better build and rocking a solid mustache.  He hails from Hawaii though sounds like he is from Chicago.  This is Magnum P.I.

Yeah a delicious shake and a two hour workout.

Mac: Time has little do with spoiler and jelly donuts.

Based in Honolulu Hawaii our shameless shamus stays at the palatial Robin’s Nest Estate owned by world acclaimed novelist Robin Masters…who is never ever at this amazing crib.  Seriously, I have never seen this cat appear in any episode.   It was eluded in the pilot episode that our flatfoot Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck of Daughters of Satan, 3 Men and a Baby, An Innocent Man, The Closer, Friends, Jesse Stone: Stone Cold and Blue Bloods) had done Masters a serious favor…guess he hid all the dead hookers that one time in Vegas…anyway apparently since Masters is nowhere on the premises he allows Magnum the run of the roost if you will including being about to roll up in a GORGEOUS Ferrari 308 GTS and probably raids the wine cellar for the good stuff.  

Whadda mean I ain't rocking the Bogart?? Jerks.

Between his cases he has to contend with Masters’ groundskeeper, butler and all around handyman John Higgins (John Hillerman of Blazing Saddles, Chinatown. At Long Last Love, Ellery Queen and Valerie) a former British Army Sergeant Major who was the model of a major general who has information, vegetable, animal and mineral…oh wait, no sorry that’s The Pirates of Penzance.   Higgins patrols the grounds with two horrible abominations before the eyes of the Lord, Doberman Pinschers named Zeus and Apollo.   I guess one is faster than lightning and sleeps with anything that moves and the other is very sunny. 

Aside from his daily grind with Higgins, Magnum’s…associates…cohorts???  Ah screw it, his sidekicks.    One is T.C.  Calvin (Roger E. Mosley of Hit Man, Cruise Into Terror, The Jericho Mile, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Letters from a Killer and FCU: Fact Checkers Unit), former Marine recon now tourist helicopter pilot for the island and their buddy Rick Right (Larry Manetti of Sudden Death, Black Sheep Squadron, Battlestar Galactica, Swamp Thing and Hawaii Five-0) also former Marine recon that now owns Rick’s Place a nice homage to Casablanca and hey, who doesn’t love Bogart?    To give the show a nice throwback to the 30’s dimestore detective Magnum does a lot of narrative in each case giving it humorous content in the midst of even the most dire of situations.

I had just a few points about the show now.   It has been established that Magnum and his buddies are from the same Vietnam outfit but we never saw any of them using Marine takedowns, martial arts or handle their firearms in that level of training.  However, this show was the first portrayal of Vietnam vets in a positive light and that has to count for something there alone.  It was hinted at that the producers wanted Orson Welles to appear as the enigmatic Robin Masters but sadly he passed away shortly after voice acting in Transformers: The Movie as the planet devouring Unicron.    

With the series lasting 9 years, a bevy of female and male clients and a memorable TV intro theme, Selleck was proud to be a part of TV history but only after the writers laxed his character a bit instead of making him too smooth and lady killer but more of a down to Earth jock type.

What's wrong with my shirt?

Dunaway Week: The Thomas Crown Affair

Welcome back again fans of the written text to Day 3 of Dunaway Week and I find this particular film to be enjoyable, clever and well-written.  The oddest thing is I actually enjoy the remake of this movie a tad bit more than its original but of course it did lack our leading lady of the week in a more substantial role.  What happens when a billionaire and sportsman gets bored with the daily grind of the 9 to 5?  How about a multi-million dollar heist for the kicks?  If I have tickled your fancy, grab those schematics, keep your safecracker tools at the ready and prep your getaway.  This is The Thomas Crown Affair.

Hey, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...pervs.

Thomas Crown: What a funny, dirty little spoiler!

Vicki Anderson: It’s a funny, dirty little job!  So shoot me in the leg!

Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen of The Great Escape, Bullit, The Getaway, Papllion and The Hunter) is a millionaire businessman, a man’s man and a go getter plotting a heist to having five guys lift 2.6 million from a bank in Boston and hide it in a trash can in a cemetery.  Brilliant hiding spot to be certain, Thomas does not have any interaction during ore before the crime and these men do not even know one another.  Thomas scoops up the money and sends the deposit to a Geneva account.

With the local law enforcement baffled an insurance investigator, Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway of Casanova, Barfly, Midnight Crossing, Burning Secret, Double Edge, Albino Alligator and Last Goodbye) has a contract to look into this heist, receive 10% of the money that was taken if she can managed to recover it.  With a bit of instinct and know how she suspects Crown as the mastermind behind the swindle.

Don't look up her skirt, don't look up her skirt. Crap, I just looked.

She profiles Crown as one of those playboy millionaires that bore easily and sky diving or golf is just not enough to end boredom.  Maybe he should consider martial arts and an elaborate bat costume but not sure if it would help.  The two begin the mating dance i.e. cat and mouse that Anderson will figure out how she will prove Crown the thief.  Shockingly enough Vicki starts to fall for Crown and he as well with her but she aids Detective Eddie Malone (Paul Burke of Naked City, 12 O’Clock High, Valley of the Dolls, Hot Shots and Dynasty) crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s but will she reveal her findings to the cops in spite of her feelings for Crown?

I just had a few minor nitpicks and observations at this time for the movie.  I saw in the robbery scene that the robbers had quite a few revolvers with silencers that somehow snapped on and off easily, I am no expert in this but commonly unless it is a custom job a silencer will not work on a revolver.  From three angles I witnessed the character Carl put his glove ( I think his left one) on three times.  Now this could be a matter of dramatic build up but more likely a continuity error.   Written by the talented Alan Trustman (Bullitt, They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Lady Ice, Hit! and Crime and Passion) this is a diverting and leisurely film with a good build up of suspense and very character driven with a kicky soundtrack.

Girl on the move, ladies and gents.

Blog#330!!! PC Games of 1997: Blade Runner

Welcome back my collective of nerd to Day 3 of PC Games of 1997.  Journey with me to Westwood Studios, creators of such games as: Battle Tech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception, Mars Saga, Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun, Young Merlin and Monopoly

As these titles captured the imagination they still lacked graphics punch up or an amazing voice cast all the while still dealing with popular themes.   This time they decided to tap into one of Ridley Scott’s films but not retell the story but have the game operate as more of an additional story during same time.   So get ready to do some interrogation, calibrate the Voight-Kampff machine and get ready to make wild gestures.  This is Blade Runner.

I wish to register a complaint about your Norwegian Blue.

Clovis: “I was angry with my spoiler. I told my wrath, my wraith did end. I was angry with my foe. I told my wraith, my wrath did grow.”

Our game opens with a typical cut scene showing our would be villains tormenting a pet shop owner claiming all his animals are pure pedigrees of the highest quality and the suspects felt that butchering these creatures would teach him a good lesson in being truthful.  Enter our hero/protagonist Ray McCoy (Mark Benninghoffen of The Larry Sanders Show, Chicago Hope, Always Say Goodbey and Money Talks) Rookie Blade Runner assigned to the case due to all other Runners are tending more difficult cases.  Ray is happy to be doing something other than paperwork for a change, his Lieutenant Guzza (Jeff Garlin of Hero, Robocop 3, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Goldbergs) a blobby and lazy man whose shirt and tie looks like a casualty in a catering food fight gives him the heads up that he is facing Nexus 6 Replicants (bioengineered droids who resemble humans) the usual watch your ass rookie speech and shoos him away.  Ray has never faced a Nexus 6 and is nervous as hell.

My God I can see gravy stains in his neck folds!

If you were hoping for some Deckard action team-up buddy cop drama…well you are out of luck kids.  Sadly our Rick Deckard is referred in passing or and there are a few gags of the same crime scenes duplicated from the film but no glorious team-up.  On the upside several members of the original cast came in to reprise their roles. 

And now a few points to be made about the game play.   This is a point and click adventure game so think the Monkey Island standings.  From solving puzzles, clues and getting people come clean with the info.  We even have a few interrogations with the Voight-Kampff device to gauge emotional reactions that Replicants cannot fully duplicate.  The gathering of evidence is using your eyes and the mouse for an interactive system known as the Knowledge Integration Assistant for easy access and allowing you to go over the Crime Scene photos to look for further clues that may have been missed or hidden away from you.

The overall look of this game fits the same crowd and dystrophic environment of Los Angeles 2019 down to the Tyrell building from the movie to the look of Chinatown and the 3D models is based in an amount of pixels with width, height and depth rather than a scanned copy of background, green or blue screen and rougher pixelation.

Alright subway rat, spread 'em!

BBC Week: Mystery!: Campion

Greetings and a warm welcome to all you little, enthusiastic readers.   Well we have seen a bit of space oddities and a loopy duo sketch comedy but what do you say to a little murder?   Oh not yours of course… (for now) but a poor miscreant that knew not where to turn.   So grab your meerschaum pipe, observe all and interrogate everyone.  This is Campion

 

A Doctor? Well I was once.

Albert Campion: Albert Campion- born May the 20^th 1900. Name known to be a spoiler. Education: priviledged.  Embarked on an adventurous career, 1929. Justice neatly executed, nothing sordid, deserving cases preferred. Police no object. Business address: 17 Bottle Street, Piccadily, London W1. Specialist in fairy stories.

A posh gentleman of well to do decides to use his cunning intellect to benefit people well deserving of some Justice, our Albert Campion (Peter Davison of Doctor Who, All Creatures Great and Small, The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything, Mrs. Bradley Mysteries, At Home with the Braithwaites and Law and Order:UK) is a believer in his clients and will stand by them until the truth is unveiled.  Oh he has come to expect his clients to tell the odd fib or the blatant lie but with his companion of ill repute Magersfontein Lugg (Brian Glover of An American Werewolf in London, Doctor Who, Lost Empires, To Kill a Priest, Kafka and Alien 3), a man of many talents and friends in low places the two seek out to prove who done it, how they did it and why. 

Commonly Campion deals in the unusual cases or be it the unorthodox.   Many is the time his deductive reasoning is called into play when a murder has occurred and he does his level best to remain objective.  That being said the dear fellow does have a wandering eye for the most unavailable lady but steadies himself to not pursue such endeavors in spite of his manservant Lugg’s teasings.

When utterly baffled Campion’s police friend Stanislaus Oates (Andrew Burt of Emmerdale, The Bill, Oscar Charlie, I’m Alan Partridge and MI-5) does come around for the advice on a case if not a hire for that same case.

Whut you lookin' at? Clear off!

And now I have a few tidbits about the creation of itself.  This show is set in the 1930’s as a nod to its phenomononal writer Margery Allingham. Campion was nothing more than a minor character in The Crime at Black Dudley but came back strong in Mystery Mile.  After a less than stellar response to her occult in mystery series, Campion seemed to be a winner with three novels under her belt and she even wrote short stories and some journalism for The Strand Magazine.  Campion was such the success that she went on to create 17 more novels and over 20 short stories of the fellow.  Campion has ties in nobility and government as well as known to get around the more dubious in the criminal underworld allowing his ear to always be able to catch a thing or two.  Rather than the obsessive nature of Sherlock Holmes, Campion’s series is a bit more lighthearted and jovial even in the face of danger.

And that is my badger impersonation. Nifty, huh?

Hitchcock Week: The Lady Vanishes

Howdy all and welcome to the end of Hitchcock Week.   A film that is clever, witty, confusing and conflicting is clearly in order here.  So head out to the lobby, get a soft drink and a heaping bowl of popcorn. This is The Lady Vanishes.

Average waiting line at Olive Garden.

If only we hadn’t missed that spoiler at Budapest.

A young English tourist named Iris (Margaret Lockwood of Honours Easy, Midshipman Easy, Irish for Luck, Doctor Syn, Three on a Weekend, Rulers of the Sea and Night Train to Munich) arrives back at the Gasthof Petrus Inn with her two friends after a long hike and soon to head back to England to marry an aristocrat she does not even love.  A local avalanche has blocked the railroad line so Iris, her friends and several other people are stranded in this village in Europe.   Two of the tourists are typical Englishmen Charters (Basil Radford of The Girl Was Young, Captain’s Orders, Convict 99, Night Train to Munich and Whiskey Galore) and Caldicott (Naunton Wayne of For Love of You, Night Train to Munich, Millions Like Us, Dead of Night, A Girl in a Million, Helter Skelter, The Hidden Room and Trio) and by typical I mean they gripe about the food, the weather, the service and in general life itself.   Iris complains to the innkeeper about the music and dancing above her room.  With a fistful of cash later the innkeeper is officially bribed to remove the noisy hooligans.  

A spoonful of sugar? It helps in the most delightful way, dearie.

Later that evening the music producer Gilbert(Michael Redgrave of Climbing High, The Stars Look Down, Lady in Distress, Jeannie, Thunder Rock and the Importance of Being Earnest) drops by to Iris and complains how if she learned to appreciate the folksy music she won’t be such a stick in the mud.  Reluctantly Iris asks for the innkeeper to give back Gilbert his room and she learns to take in the jaunty tunes as she slumbers. As she closes the window to her room a singer downstairs has been…dealt with BUM BUM BUM DA DA BUMMMMM!!!!  

The next day Iris is accidently clocked with a planter pot and a nice mature woman Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty of The Little Minister, Night Must Fall, The Thirteenth Chair, Conquest, Parnell, Mary Rose, The Royal Family and Rake’s Progress) helps Iris to the train and keeps her company for fear that Iris is suffering from a concussion. Also on the train is Gilbert, Caldicott, Charters, a young lawyer name of Mr. todhunter and his “wife” Mrs. Todhunter.  Iris wakes after fainting prior and Miss Froy invites her to tea in the dining car.  Unable to hear above the train’s noise; Miss Froy writes her name on the window with her finger.  After tea, Iris needs more sleep.

Shortly after awakening, Miss Froy has up and disappeared.  Searching desperately for the lady, Iris finds that no one on board claims to have seen this woman and that she may be delusional.  Gilbert is the only one that believes her and the two attempt find our interpret lady.   People seem shifty, shady and all sort of curious on this train and nothing truly is what it seems.

 

One can hardly resist a girl in a fetching lobster bib.

A few notes on the story and technical specs if you will.   The train shots are done with a series of proper lighting and side projection, meaning a screen is running footage while being recorded for the movie itself. A few objects are waved in front of the lights to give the effect of motion and the cabins via train are on a soundstage being rocked from side to side by a few strong lads to show a variance in the track and motion once again.

This film has suspenseful moments, comic relief and quite possibly some adventure to be had.  A must for any Hitchcock fans.