For those of you who weren't there to see it live, the 1980's were replete with an incredible number of motion pictures that explored our planet's impending apocalypse.

A lot of this was owed to the popularity of Australia's Mad Max (1979) and its follow-up sensation The Road Warrior (1981), so who can blame the various filmmakers and storytellers around the world for trying to (cough cough) cash in on a popular theatrical trend?  In fairness -- while reserving my critical opinion -- many of these weren't very good; instead they were quick and cheap knock-offs meant to separate a fool and his money with a reasonable substitute for the real thing.  A good deal of them essentially involved total screen badasses all decked out in leather, and the stories were half-baked iterations exploring the chaos resulting from the fall of man.

Italian auteur Enzo G. Castellari was particularly smitten with the idea about exploring the end of civilization, and some have written that the man really was at the forefront of keeping these Mad Max rip-offs going for as long as they did.  His Escape From The Bronx (1983) was billed as a direct sequel to 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982); and a third film -- The New Barbarians (aka Warriors Of The Wasteland) -- even took the Intellectual Property off in another direction.  Castellari crafted the story with longtime contribution Tito Carpi, and he brought along such stars for the ride as Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Valeria D'Obici, Giancarlo Prete, and Paolo Malco.

Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:

"A vicious corporation tries to kill and starve the last remaining habitants of the Bronx in order to build their own high-rise developments. A lone long-haired, hot-tempered warrior, Trash, is his only obstacle. Trash, a psychopathic bomb-maker and his equally psychopathic preschool son and an annoying activist help him out by kidnapping "the President" (of the corporation), a Richard Dreyfuss look-alike. Henry Silva plays another psychopath, this one on the side of the corporations. A favorite movie of Mystery Science Theater 3000 series."

I think it's safe to suggest that Escape is the kind of film that has a cult audience somewhere out there, though I don't run into them all that often in my pursuits.  Castellari's flicks -- from those I've seen -- have a basic low-budget sensibility to them; and they typically frolic along in search of high body counts along with a splattering of useful violence.  IMDB.com's trivia page for the film states that Escape's body count -- as an example -- nears 200 victims (in its uncut version), and that's honestly the kind of business these flicks did very well in the 1980's.  Often viewed as excuses to be exploitative, they're largely dismissed by mainstream audiences as little more than curiosities, so maybe it's best we let bygones be bygones.
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As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

History lesson time, kiddies.  Buckle up.

On November 18, 1992 in Superman #75, the big himself -- the Man of Steel -- actually died.

Yes, yes, and yes.  You read that right.  Superman died.

Now, of course, it didn't last, and Superman got better.  (Monty Python fans should appreciate that little barb.)  And -- in fairness to those of us who were there on that fateful date way back then -- I don't think any of us expected that it was real.  You can't keep an icon like Superman down, but the storytelling stewards at DC Comics did intend to keep Big Blue out of the limelight for a while.  After his massive throwdown with Doomsday, Supes needed time to recover; and while none of us truly knew what happened to him and/or his body after the fight, one thing was for sure ... his absence was going to be a boon for the criminals of Metropolis, and that's nearly what happened.

But out of the ashes of that devastation, an all-new Superman emerged ... well, not one ... not two ... not three ... but an incredible four different versions of Superman took up residence in Metropolis, and they began cleaning up the streets while Big Blue was absent from the scene.

One of these new characters introduced in the books was John Henry Irons ... and, in 1997, Warner Bros. brought this particular incarnation to the silver screen.  His superhero name was Steel, and -- for his inaugural and only outing to this date -- he was played by none other than basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal.

​Written (in part) and directed for the screen by Kenneth Johnson -- the creative genius behind TV's original V property -- Steel starred O'Neal, Judd Nelson, Richard Roundtree, Charles Napier, and 'God's gift to men everywhere' the lovely and talented Annabeth Gish.  Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:

"A scientist for the military turns himself into a cartoon-like superhero when a version of one of his own weapons is being used against enemies."

Naturally, I don't want to make a big deal out of this superhero property.  Steel had a measure of popularity during the whole 'Death And Return Of Superman' Saga, and the character played a reasonably integral part in the DC Universe for some time in the wake of that best-selling saga.  Had the producers actually cast a proven acting talent for the outing, then it may've had minimally an opportunity to achieve cult status: I don't think a silver screen audience was all that interested in watching Shaq in the role, so this thing pretty much came and went at the box office fairly quickly.  I have read that some producers likened it to having Michael Jordan in Space Jam (1996), but (cough cough) Jordan was a real-life superstar who played himself opposite some of filmdom's biggest animated stars so the comparison falls flat for me.

Whatever the case was, history hasn't been kind to Steel.  The picture has largely been forgotten, and the character -- despite some strong prospects -- has been relegated to the trash heap.  That's a shame because anyone who's read the books knows well enough that John Henry Irons deserved a real opportunity to step out of Superman's shadows and seize his own day in the sun.  It could've been something grand ... and maybe it will be if Hollywood decides to go back to the drawing board.
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As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

Good morning, gentle readers!

Apologies for the minorly late start today.  Got up early, took a quick power nap, and then had to run a few quick errands outside the house today before I could settle into the Daily Grindhouse ... but I'm here now.  I do have some content that I'll be sprinkling into the August 15th page over the course of the morning, so keep your eyes fixed on that space for some new additions.  Otherwise, it might be a slow afternoon as well.  I do have a few items I'm going to try to view in the P.M., so that means new reviews might be coming but probably not today.  More likely, I'll have them up and running tomorrow.  We'll see, as they say.

Otherwise, let's dispense with the pleasantries and get about our business.  Here's what you came here for:
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As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

All right, haters: hear me out ...

Last week sometime during one of the podcasts I listened to that dealt in no small way with the Walt Disney Company's (cough cough) Earnings Call, there was a board of several pundits throwing around various ideas and/or exercises that they thought might invigorate the failing Star Wars franchise.  While I think that there was some consensus that excursions to that galaxy far, far away have always worked best on the silver screen, the discussion quickly turned to how a new studio head for Lucasfilm might best incorporate all media in an inclusive strategy meant to kickstart cultural interest.  I think what kinda/sorta was mentioned but got glossed over in the chat was precisely how Star Wars pretty much returned from the dead back in the early 1990's and how this orchestrated roll-out works magnificently almost every single time it's tried.

Pay attention, younglings and padawans: this is a brief history lesson.

Believe it or not, our beloved Star Wars faded into near-obscurity not long after Return Of The Jedi (1983) came and went from the box office.  Oh, of course, there were home video releases and a few TV incarnations that tickled only a modest fancy; but by the end of the 1980's it seemed as though Luke, Han, Leia, Darth, Chewie, and the whole gang were pretty much forgotten.  Also, there was the occasional mention in the press that George Lucas was eventually intending to tell 'the rest of the story,' but fans were given absolutely no timeframe with which we could cling to or hold out hope for more of the same.  In practical terms, Star Wars was dead ... only until it wasn't.

This turnabout came, largely, in the spring of 1991 when Timothy Zahn's stellar Heir To The Empire so fantastically catapulted audiences back to these beloved worlds in a hugely successful way.  Our original heroes were back in action, battling the forces of evil that emerged long after the fall of Palpatine's Empire; and readers were ultimately treated to what many felt like should have been the Sequel Trilogy instead of what the Mouse House delivered.  (No, no, and no: we are not having this argument again, people.  I'm just stating facts!)  Zahn gave fans a taste of what the future for Star Wars could've looked like, and it was upon this new wave of interest that Lucasfilm expanded its universe with novels, comic books, and games.

Somewhere along the way, Dark Horse Comics also tapped a very fluid vein with the creation of several Rogue Squadron event series.  These multi-issue stories were arguably a bit deeper and maybe even more ponderous than the usual comic book fare, enticing readers with adventures that (in no small way) fill in the voids left around many of the larger novels.  Several of these characters jumped from the pages of print into full comic's color; and there were even many events explored from multiple perspectives across all media.  This was, indeed, a fabulous time to jump aboard the exploding Star Wars universe; and I think this is why so many pundits in fandom these days still harken back to the E.U. (Expanded Universe) as being the franchise's second Golden Age.

(I will say that, having not read all that came out in this time, I'd still agree with those sentiments.  There was a lot of really, really, really good stuff introduced into canon -- a mythology that the Walt Disney Company, sadly, excised -- and here's hoping if nothing else you folks might go out and pick something up today to see what you missed.  It's quite dynamic.)

​Now, the reason I bring this up is that one of the pundits in a podcast I listened to (I believe it was YouTube.com's WDWPro) suggested that Lucasfilm might want to look to the past in order to chart a better path to the future ... and one of those properties might very well be to re-introduce Rogue Squadron.  I'm here to say that I strongly agree.

For those unaware, Rogue Squadron came about from Dark Horse with its first issue in 1995, and it ran for what Google.com reports to be 35 issues.  While some might not see that as a particular ly impressive run, I could still make a strong argument that Rogue rather deftly stepped into and around a whole lot of what was going on fictionally in the Star Wars galaxy at that time, plucking the occasional character here and there from one of the novels and giving him or her a wider backstory with which to evolve.  As imperfect as it may've been executed at the time, Rogue conceptually was a near perfect foundation with which to explore the growing people, places and events.  Personally, I think the reason it may not have endured could be that it tried a bit too hard to fit in with other stories when it could very well have branched out on its own as an entirely separate entity.  I don't mind a bit of crossover, but you risk offending readers who aren't as involved with Star Wars' emerging timelines by invoking those particulars.  Rogue never felt like it was written for the casual fan who just wanted to dip his or her toes in the Outer Rim, and I wonder if that may've worked against it in building a wider readership.

​Director and storyteller Patty Jenkins clearly saw the potential around such an extension within fandom, and her quickly greenlit but never materialized film incarnation stumbled and chugged about as well as something juryrigged by wayward Jawas.  You can't seriously launch a project of that magnitude and hope for it to be authentically successful without having a rough draft of a shooting script in mind; the idea alone was never going to carry the day, so it's no wonder that her project was inevitably shelved by the Mouse House.

But in the wake of that failure ... could an all-new Rogue Squadron be exactly what Star Wars needs to make a small screen comeback?

While others on the podcast largely dismissed such prospects as Bantha poodoo, I think it could be a grand idea.  The X-Wings and its cadre of fighter pilots are probably as remembered and revered from the I.P. as are the original characters.  Back in the days of my distant youth, every boy in school wanted to be Luke Skywalker buzzing about the stars in the cockpit of a fighter jet; and certainly the popularity of such films as Top Gun (1986) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) suggest that audiences might well be equally jazzed by the prospects of flitting about the wide blue yonder in pursuit of bogies and bandits.  Maybe a series of modestly produced television series -- the kind of which run about four to six episodes -- might be a way to renew fandom for what could be one more Golden Age in the world that George built.

It's familiar.  It's popular.  And it's pliable in such a way as it could function on more than a single level.  Damn near any story could be wrapped around a team of crack star commandos sent out in service to the Republic and/or the Rebellion.

If you're listened, Lucasfilm, why not encourage audiences to buckle up once again?

​-- EZ

One of the things I've always loved about fandom is that we never stop thinking about that which interests us most.

Our films, TV series, and novels endure.  They not only speak to us in the present -- when we've experienced them for the very first time -- but they continue to resonate well into the years.  Some of these new reflections come when we're inbibing them the second, third, fourth, or dozenth time; and it's amazing how we can notice something today that perhaps we missed on those earlier occasions.  This may not mean that we weren't watching closely in those days gone by; rather, we -- as a people -- keep evolving, and it's this evolution that more often than not helps us to focus in on something months and years later when we're burying ourselves in the art once again.  This might increase our love for a particular element, or -- in some cases -- it may produce a grimace.  You never know what you're going to get when you get to whatever it is you're going to know.

​In order to bolster attendance, a local budget theater starting bringing back classic showings -- old films and some not-so-old -- into its regular line-up of blockbusters that have overstayed their welcome.  In perhaps one of the boldest moves of the summer, the manager opted to bring back the Original Trilogy from Star Wars, and he followed that up with screenings of both Rogue One (2016) and the somewhat ill-fated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).  As those proved popular with audiences, he then decided to go deep into the well and bring back the Prequel Trilogy ... so this past weekend I had the good fortune of taking in a showing of -- yes, you guessed it -- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Ahhh ... screen miracles never cease to amaze me!

Think what you will of the George Lucas spectacle (I won't trouble you with a full accounting of its strengths and merits because that's not really why I'm here today), but like any of the installments in the wider Skywalker Saga it's a film that's still best experienced on the silver screen.  Nothing but nothing looks so grand up in the lights and shadows than do these bigger-than-life star thrillers; and Menace -- with it's somewhat lackluster pacing -- is arguably just as good up there as it ever way.  Yes, yes, and yes: like so many, I've had my share of issues with it over the years, but unlike so many I just don't see the point in giving the flick a full post-mortem.  I may do that in this space in some future review, but for today I just want to underscore what I said way back then -- upon walking out of the moviehouse in 1999 -- because I think it's really still relevant today.

​Put simply: The Phantom Menace is a feature that's missing one central story.

I thought back then -- like I still do today -- that Menace needed to be an adventure that belonged to one character.  While it was great meeting some new players and widened the mythological universe, Lucas' failure to nail down one point-of-view truly hampered the yarn's prospects at reaching out into the hearts and minds of those watching.  Instead, I think that Menace unspools in an almost start-and-stop fashion -- perhaps a bit too similar to those classic film serials of old that George has admitted to loving so much in his youth -- and the inability to hone in one a single perspective kills the forward motion in the first two-thirds of its running time.  Once the introductions are fully out of the way and the narrative centers on the Naboo conflict, there's finally a thread worth following, and it stays true until the end.

Also -- unlike so many -- I think that result was achievable with just about everything Lucas shot.  It would've required a bit of reshoot here and there to tighten the pieces that remained, but when evaluating art I do try to avoid playing the 'Monday morning quarterback.'  While I do consider myself a storyteller, I don't like tinkering so directly in completed tales as do so damn many entertainment pundits out there on the Information Superhighway.  I may undertake such an exercise some day -- I might tell you what I would've done to tighten the story if I were in charge -- but for now I'll just leave you with my long-stated assessment: there's a good film wrapped up in a lesser one that remains the start of the whole saga.

Be thankful for it.  It truly brought Star Wars back to the big screen where it deserves to be.  You don't have to love it.  Just be thankful it finally happened after such a huge, huge, huge delay.

​-- EZ

Good morning, gentle readers, and welcome to yet one more Monday morning!  I hope this new week gives you a sense of hope for what should be shaping up to be another grand adventure in this experience called life!

Not a whole lot to report upon casually this morning.  Yes, yes, yes: we're still in the midst of a writer's and actor's strike here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, so the news of any entertainment developments is a bit slim.  I did see the fuss being made online about Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy putting her house up for sale; and -- like so many -- I wonder what that's all about.  I know the Vegas odds certainly suggest that this means her time in charge of All Things Star Wars might be nearing its end (as do other contributing factors), but until she's packed up and gone -- with the obligatory studio announcement of the end of her tenure -- I'm not going to be counting any chickens before they hatch.  Unlike so many, I don't fault her for everything that's gone wrong with the Intellectual Property -- there are far too many movie parts in any franchise to point the finger at a sole individual -- but, yes, evidence minimally suggests that perhaps she didn't have the best interests of Luke, Han, and Leia in mind at any stage of the game.  I understand the desire to "move along," but why should you do that merely for the sake of doing it?  Why not give our cultural heroes one last hurrah when you had the chance?  Oh, well.  It is what it is.

​Other than that, it was a reasonably quiet weekend, and yet I still managed to squeeze in some Star Wars stuff that I'll likely be talking about in another post.  In short, I caught that screening of The Phantom Menace on Saturday that I had spoken about last week, and I wanted to offer up a humble reflection.  But I also picked up a Rogue Squadron trade paperback, finished it after a few feverish hours of reading, and I might have a little 'something something' to say about that as well later today.  Keep your eyes peeled.

In any event, enough with the pleasantries and let's get down to the brass tacks:
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Also, if you could, say a little prayer for the people of Lahaina?  What an absolutely devastating reality those folks have found themselves in.  I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to visit the Hawaiian island of Maui and to walk Lahaina's storied streets, but it's a wonderful place.  The wifey and I -- back in 2013 or 2014 -- had the good fortune on a business trip; and we just fell in love with the place.  So peaceful and so damn beautiful.  We took in a few small(ish) touristy stops there, and we just loved it.  The pictures of the fire devastation are just so heartwrenching.  Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to those trying to recover.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

Though I could be wrong, I suspect that a film like District 9 could've been a difficult proposition -- on paper -- for any studio to get behind.

Why do I say such a thing for a highly regarded Science Fiction gem?

​Studios -- and storytellers, occasionally -- do not like to mix formulas all that often, and -- in case you've not seen the motion picture -- roughly the first half of it is told in a mockumtary format.  This arrival of aliens to our planet unfurls in documentary style, and there's a good deal of unintended humor to it.  However, at one point, that narrative structure goes completely away; and it becomes one of the big screens most profound explorations of the human spirit -- in an alien guise -- that perhaps we've seen in some time.  In fact, writer/director Neill Blomkamp has long promised a follow-up to this early picture in his career; while he's gone on to a good deal of lackluster flicks, I'd love to see him revisit this if for no other reason to resolve that story thread left dangling in the feature's closing moments.
​
Of course, it goes without saying that any revisitation to the world as created in the original is a pretty significant risk.  The first was done to well and resonated with so many who saw it on so many levels that a cheap, quick, and dirty attempt would likely leave viewers with a bad taste in their mouths not only for the follow-up but could tarnish the charm of the predecessor.  Having done a bit of searching online regarding the status for what's been rumored to be 'District 10,' I think it's still safe to say that Blomkamp hasn't been entirely successful in getting something off the ground.  At times, he's said (in 2021) that a smaller, less theatrical script was in development; but now I'm seeing indications that Sony -- the studio almost always associated with the follow-up -- was wanting something bigger.  From an article I found published in May of 2023, there's still no indication of a project being greenlit.
​

Lastly, I think even actor Sharlto Copley has both talked up the prospects for a sequel as well as hinting at some frustrations with Blomkamp's inability to be honest with all involved about the project.  Will it happen?  Or will it be forever relegated to that growing stockpile of sequels that just never -- for whatever reason -- transpired?  It would be sad, true, if we were never given the proper closure to the story ... but viewers have been left with unanswered questions with far too many Science Fiction and Fantasy projects over the decades ... so buckle up for the long haul, folks.
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As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ

Now, let me be blunt: just because I may not have enjoyed a particular film isn’t necessarily any reason for me to suggest that you may not enjoy the same.
 
Granted, I like horror films.  While I do enjoy a good slasher film every now and then, the central story usually tends to be a bit too conventional for my tastes.  But with slasher films I prefer flicks to – at minimum – bring something worthwhile to the project.  If it’s the same-old-same-old kid picks up an axe and decides to start whacking all of his friends with little or no logical reason, then I tend to tune out just a bit.  We’ve seen those far too often before, so there’s little freshness to any of it.
 
Still … if the deaths are inspired, I might perk up  When it all feels like everyone just showed up for a paycheck, I check out mentally before the first corpse hits the ground.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the product packaging:
“This football season, Hogeye High Warriors and cheerleaders are out for blood.  Unfortunately, someone is out for theirs and they’ll take one for the team.  After the big Halloween football game, the students are joined by an uninvited guest dressed as their high school mascot armed with a bow and arrow, a battle-ax, and an insatiable appetite for butchery.  They find themselves fighting for more than the winning score as terror becomes the name of the game.”
 
Blech.
 
Well, like I said at that top, I don’t like every horror film that I receive to review/preview, and sadly Varsity Blood (2014) – despite a pretty killer name and an interesting premise – just didn’t fill out my dance card, readers.  The high school bloody murder scene has been done to death, and, as much as writer/director Jake Helgren probably suspected he was bringing something new to the game here, this one fails to inspire on so many levels.
 
For starters, so much of Helgren’s scriptwriting is just plain awful.
 
Everything – and I do mean everything – gets explained in extended scenes filled with exposition by just about anyone in range of the microphones.  There’s a long scene on a park bench in the beginning wherein three characters pretty much give the audience insight into what happened ‘oh so many years ago’ and set the stage for how it’ll all figure into this feature.  Then – not all that much latter – the town sheriff takes a radio call from his dispatcher where we listen to the woman babble on about every conceivable plot point one can possibly imagine.  Seriously, Jake, have you never heard of ‘nuance’?  I get that maybe you don’t understand what character development is, but couldn’t you have at least shown up to put in work on your own script?
 
To worsen matters, once Helgren takes off his scriptwriting hat and puts on his director’s cap the picture grinds to a halt.  It’s all photographed so blandly that one suspects maybe he was taking his cues from the actors instead of the other way around.  The last half of the picture takes place at the cleanest abandoned farmhouse you’ll ever see in film … well, except that you can’t see much of anything once the sun goes down.  The picture could probably win an award for the worst night-time shooting ever (though I have seen worst) as very little of the action is even remotely identifiable.
 
Still, there’s a kill or two that tweaked my interests.  Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have sat through this one to the bitter end … and wouldn’t you know it?  They left it open for a sequel.
 
Varsity Blood (2014) is produced by DAVED Productions and Flashback Films.  DVD distribution is being handled by RLJ Entertainment and Image Entertainment.  As for the technical specifications?  Blech.  Well, that’s not fair.  The production’s sound work is just fine, especially given the fact that it’s basically a low budget run-of-the-mill horror picture; but the cinematography leads an awful lot to be desired.  It’s shot with little to no inspiration for the subject matter, and the night-time videography is some of the worst I’ve ever seen, so much so it grows increasingly difficult to see what’s going on, who’s chasing who, etc.  And what do you know?  There are no special features.  I didn’t miss ‘em, either.
 
Alas … barely recommended … and that’s a rare rating, folks. 
 
I suppose if you like the teen scene slasher flicks that you might find some modest (and I do mean ‘modest’) enjoyment with Varsity Blood.  Me?  I’d just as soon letter in something else.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at RLJ Entertainment and Imagine Entertainment provided me with a DVD copy of Varsity Blood by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

I’ve been told that actors live in constant fear of finding themselves typecast in a certain kind of role over the life of their careers in the entertainment industry.
 
And – to be honest – who can blame them?  When you’re finally educated and respected in the art of your craft, isn’t that when you’d love to be challenged by a variety of work instead of finding yourself pigeonholed into the same character over and over and over again?  As a fan of Science Fiction, I’ve met many actors who’ve kinda/sorta lamented “I never should’ve taken that Star Trek role because it’s followed me around my entire life,” and – sure – on one level, I feel sorry for them.
 
However, I think the same thing may’ve happened to actor Tony Sirico.
 
For those of you who know that name, Sirico played Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri – a rather significant and central role to HBO’s long-running crime drama The Sopranos.  In Zarra’s Law (2014), he plays a retired police detective … but for the life of me I couldn’t stop waiting for him to break loose the way a ‘made man’ should, and it may’ve hampered my ability to remain completely impartial.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the product packaging:
“Retired cop Tony (Tony Sirico) finds he is unable to forget the murder of his younger brother, who was in the mob.  He’s outraged when he finds out the man he holds responsible is getting out of prison after only two years.  He needs to find answers fast and if necessary, seek revenge.  Joined by his attorney nephew, Gaetano (Brendan Fehr), he infiltrates the seamy world of organized crime and gets lost in a labyrinth of greed, dead ends, and lies.”
 
Well …
 
That isn’t quite how I saw all of Zarra’s Law playing out, but it’s a very close approximation.
 
The veteran Sirico makes the best of the role given what appears to be his limited range (that’s not an insult to the actor; it’s only a statement that perhaps playing an officer of the law may not be his best suit).  The script by Joseph Scarpinito and Charles Kipps traffics far too heavily in clichés – i.e. cops have hearts of gold; mobsters are in the biz for life; former soldiers make for great hometown heroes – and this ends up feeling more than a bit like a TV-movie-of-the-week upgraded by way of the many Brooklynese F-bombs.
 
Still, the chief problem I had with so much of Law is none of it felt even remotely organic.  Clearly, these characters are set in motion due entirely to the conventions of scripted drama (Tony cares so much for his aging mother than he’s never taken a wife; all Gaetano wants to do is see justice served for his every client; never trust a mobster who welches on a deal; etc.), so it’s hard to see any other way for these events to unfurl except for the most predictable way.  Even Gaetano is given a motorcycle as a means of defining his character (he’ll park that thing on the sidewalk simply because he doesn’t ‘follow’ the rules others do), and it felt more like this film’s answer to The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) by dishing out ‘The Motorcycle Lawyer.’  (Maybe that was its shooting title?)
 
To make things worse, there’s even an added subplot involving the FBI.  Rather than use that element to give this tale greater gravitas, instead that ends up being little more than a mechanism to introduce greater conflict … though come the conclusion I couldn’t tell you beans about what the FBI were hoping to prove and whether or not they really did prove anything.  Suffice it to say, it does end … but did anyone really care?  I think not.
 
Zarra’s Law (2014) is produced by Scarpe Diem Productions and Snapper Films.  DVD distribution is being handled by the reliable Arc Entertainment.  As for the technical specifications?  It’s all photographed and miked fairly well, so let’s just all be thankful for small favors.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features then you’re in for a disappointment since all they served up was a theatrical trailer.
 
Alas … only mildly recommended.
 
Honestly, I’ve been bored worse by worse pictures, but there was a modest charm to Zarra’s Law that kept me focused until the end.  Largely what I looked for was that moment when former Sopranos’ tough guy Tony Sirico broke loose and busted caps into everyone, everywhere, and everything in sight.  Sadly, that wasn’t quite what director Juha Wuolijoki had in mind here, so I did come away disappointed.  Maybe those with minds more open than mine won’t.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arc Entertainment provided me with a DVD copy of Zarra’s Law by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

Is it ... is that ... why, yes ... it's finally here ... Happy Friday, gentle readers!

You did it!  You made it through another week of grinding work only to arrive at the weekend once more!  And you know what that means!  Food!  Drinks!  Wine!  Women!  Song!  And a good time should be had by all!

Aaaaaah ...  back to business ...

Not a whole lot to report for today.  I had to take one of the kitties to the vet for a shot.  I think the cat's dealing with a bit of feline ataxia, but the vet seems to think it might just be the onset of arthritis (sp?).  What do I know?  So they wanted to give Jo another shot of this special meds to see if another 30 days might show a different result.  It's sad to watch a pet in decline -- no matter what ails them -- but I soldier ever onward.  

Otherwise, there's a bit to behold on August 11th.  I did look at the page yesterday, and I was reminded of the great work Stuart Gordon brought to genre entertainment.  He was a bit of a mad genius when it came to adapting the works of H.P. Lovecraft to something, and I've no doubt that will always be his enduring legacy.  His Robot Jox (1989/1990) remains a feature that I think it was the better B-Movies to emerge from the 1980's; if you've not seen it, then you're missing something special.

But here it is ... in all of its glory ...
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Otherwise, I have a chance to see Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on the silver screen tomorrow, and I'm thinking I'll take it.  No, no, and no: it's certainly not one of my favorite Star Wars films -- by any stretch of the imagination -- but you don't get to see something that visually stunning on the big screen all that often, so I don't think I can pass it up.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ