KILLER ELITE

This looks like fun! Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro team-up for Killer Elite (not to be confused with Sam Peckinpah's 1975 thriller, The Killer Elite). According to the synopsis on the IMDb:  

When his mentor (De Niro) is taken captive, a retired member of Britain's Elite Special Air Service (Statham) is forced into action. His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader (Owen). 

Not sure about Owen's moustache, though...

Wednesday Cover: Mike Shayne

In 1962, Dell Comics published three issues of Mike Shayne, Private Eye, based on the character created by Brett Halliday. Issue #2 is the only one of these I actually own. Neither the Grand Comic Book Database nor I know the name of the uncredited artist who painted that gorgeous, two-fisted cover, but man, it's sweet.

China. Photo by Brandi

HATCHET FORCE JOURNAL

My Internet pal Jack Badelaire digs old Men's Adventure fiction - you know, stuff like The Executioner, The Destroyer, Nick Carter: Killmaster, Ninja Master, Able Team, et al - as much, or more, than I do. But he's not satisfied just reading old paperbacks until they crumble to dust in his hands, he blogs about them. And now, he's launching an e-zine, Hatchet Force Journal, available at Amazon for the Kindle, dedicated to their testosterone-fueled legacy - as well as the genre's present & future.

Early this morning, I came across the cover image that Jack had created for his 'zine, and as a guy who made his living for 25 years as a graphic artist and art director, I thought it could use some improvement.

Brief rant: In general, I think that 90% of the images I see as "covers" for e-books and 'zines are truly horrid, and although I know they don't serve quite the same purpose as covers on hardcopy print volumes, I believe that the authors and publishers of these publications are not doing themselves any favors with - frankly - crap artwork. Generic stock photos, hastily-applied text with ill-chosen fonts, garish color choices... well, I sincerely believe that these "covers" are another reason that this bibliophile has no interest in buying any of these virtual publications. They turn me off.

Honestly, though, Jack's original cover wasn't as bad as all that, just lacking cohesion -- so, as I've been itching to knock out a magazine cover again, and I really dig the concept of Jack's 'zine, it seemed like it would be fun to do. Using the same art and copy from his original layout, I tried to give it an old Soldier of Fortune flavor, with a bit of my old tabloid newspaper "flair" (if you want to call it that). For the logo, I attempted something that evoked the Gold Eagle paperbacks (Able Team, Phoenix Force) design style.

Anyway, I spent about an hour, hour-and-a-half on it, and e-mailed it off to Jack this morning. He liked it, and I've agreed to design the covers for any future issues as well.

Check out Jack's blog, Post-Modern Pulps, and remember, you can buy the first issue of his new e-zine here: Hatchet Force Journal Issue #1

Zoe. Photo by Brandi

This Week @ The Late Show

It's that time again: another reminder that I also write regular reviews of cult, B-movie and genre DVD and Blu-Rays, and publish them over at my DVD Late Show website.

After a couple of weeks of me not feeling much like watching - never mind reviewing- movies, I'm back on my game. This week, in fact, I intend to have a minimum of two reviews posted each day, and I'm off to a good start. Today's reviews are High School Hellcats and the latest animated DC Comics super-hero film, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. For tomorrow, I have My Gun Is Quick and Mega Python Vs Gatoroid already written and queued up.

Other recent reviews include: Queen of Blood with John Saxon, Dennis Hopper and Basil Rathbone; the new Blu-ray restoration of The Terror, with Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff; The Dorm That Dripped Blood on Blu-ray; Lee Marvin & Oliver Reed in The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday; Tom Selleck in Daughters of Satan; the animated adventures of Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos; the stylish film noir with Antonio Banderas, The Big Bang; Ballistica; Lynda Carter in Bobbi Jo And the Outlaw; The Bionic Woman, Season Two; The Challenge Of The Gobots; the Blu-ray remaster of Francis Coppolla's Dementia 13; and Shout! Factory's great new Eat My Dust / Grand Theft Auto double feature with Ron Howard. Check it out!

Wednesday Cover: Green Lantern

It's been a long time since I've posted a "Wednesday Cover," but as I'm trying to post here regularly again, I decided to revive the feature - and what better way to start than with this iconic Green Lantern cover by my pal Joe Staton? I still love the Green Lantern oath - and get a chill when I hear Ryan Reynolds recite it in the trailer for the new movie.

As you may suspect, I'm very much looking forward to seeing Martin Campbell's Green Lantern film in a couple weeks. I may even break down and pay to see it in 3-D.

Hobo WIth A Shotgun

Back when the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino Grindhouse double feature was released - with its accompanying bogus trailers for non-existent exploitation films - the studio held a contest for aspiring filmmakers to create their own fake "grindhouse" trailers. The winner of that contest was Canadian filmmaker Jason Eisener, and his trailer was for a violent urban vigilante flick called Hobo With A Shotgun. Nasty, violent, and politically incorrect, Eisener's trailer had a nicely authentic, suitably sleazy grindhouse flavor.

But, just as Rodriguez's fake trailer, Machete, led to an actual feature, so did Hobo, and it's due out on video in July after limited theatrical showings. I'm looking forward to checking it out on disc next month. The trailer above is for the actual feature, and stars Rutger Hauer in the lead (I love his soliloquy in the trailer above). David Brunt, who played the hobo in the original trailer, apparently has a role in the feature as a cop.

Here is the original faux trailer:

Private Eyes on Netflix Instant

Just discovered a couple of private eye flicks that I've never seen before are now available on Netflix Instant: Blake Edwards' 1967 Peter Gunn feature, Gunn, and the 1957 Mickey Spillane adaptation, My Gun Is Quick, "introducing" Robert Bray as Mike Hammer.

Weirdly, Netflix's print of Gunn has French titles and credits, and is, unfortunately, presented in pan & scan instead of its proper 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This makes certain scenes very cramped, and, in the case of a love scene between Craig Stevens and Laura Devon (replacing the TV show's Lola Albright as Gunn's main squeeze, Edie), disturbingly intimate. Still, I'm grateful for the opportunity to finally see it; to the best of my knowledge, it's never been released on U.S. home video, and I've never stumbled across it on TV.

My Gun Is Quick has a bad reputation among Spillane fans and film buffs, but as it's a 50s Mike Hammer film, I've wanted to see it for years. Even if it's bad, it will be cool seeing the Mike Hammer character in his proper time and setting, shot while the books were still the hottest things on the shelves. Like Gunn, I don't think it's ever been on video, and it eluded me for decades on cable TV. It is coming out on manufactured-on-demand DVD-R from the MGM Limited Collector's Edition line in a month or so, but I'd like to see it before shelling out cash to buy a copy for my collection... so....

I found both of these completely by accident - Netflix's instant titles are infuriatingly difficult to search through. There are some surprising - and rare - gems hidden in there, but they're damned hard to find.

Hey, Warner Archives!

A few years ago, when my wife and I lived in Florida, our cable package included the GoodLife Network. This channel specialized in old TV shows and Rascal scooter/men's enhancement product commercials. But one night a week, they ran a spy night (I Spy, The Avengers and The Persuaders) and on another, it was Warner Brothers private eye night, with back-to-back episodes of the "shared universe" P.I. shows 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye and Surfside Six. (No Bourbon Street Beat, though. I wonder why?) 

Anyway, although my wife can be kinda picky about old television shows, we both enjoyed 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye a lot. The shows were stylish, witty and featured fun ensemble casts and charming leads.

I'd love to have them all on DVD, but they've never been released on disc. I was talking about it with Brandi the other day, and it occurred to me that these shows would be ideal for the Warner Archive manufactured-on-demand DVD program. Like the many Hanna-Barbara cartoon shows that they've been issuing in complete series sets, the WB private eye shows would probably only be of interest to a comparatively small group of fans - but those fans would certainly be willing to pay to have them in authorized, complete season/series sets. They just started putting out The F.B.I. on DVD, so, obviously, they're not opposed to releasing some of their live-action TV back catalog.

I know I would collect them, if affordably priced. Anyone else out there want to see Warner Archives pull these great shows out of the vault?

Remembering Peter Cushing

Remembering the late, great Peter Cushing on his birthday. He was born on this day in 1913. Whether he was playing Van Helsing, Frankenstein, Doctor Who, Grand Moff Tarkin or Sherlock Holmes, Cushing was always a delight to watch.

CHUCK NORRIS KARATE KOMMANDOS

My review of this awesome 80s animated series is now posted at DVD Late Show, but I just had to share this video here. Enjoy!

THE BIG BANG Giveaway @ DVD Late Show

Every once in a while, I get the opportunity to give away free DVDs over at my DVD Late Show review site. Right now, I'm running a one-week contest with the prize, courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment, being the new nuclear noir, The Big Bang, starring Antonio Banderas, Sam Elliot, Autumn Reeser, Thomas Kretschmann, William Fictner, and Delroy Lindo.

I'll be reviewing this quirky, stylish Raymond Chandler homage on the Late Show site shortly, but I wanted to direct your attention to this contest, just in case you don't visit the Late Show regularly (and I really wish you would - over the past couple of weeks, I've posted reviews of Queen of Blood, The Terror on Blu-ray, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, The Great Scout And Cathouse Thursday and Daughters of Satan, and I've got The Big Bang, The Ambulance, Dementia 13 and Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos coming up soon! ).

Anyway, here's a LINK to the DVD Late Show Contest Page, with complete details on how to enter to win this disc. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully - a lot of people don't send me their names and addresses, and then I have to discard their entries. (Gotta have some rules, right?) Good luck!

Free Comic Book Day!

Today is Free Comic Book Day at participating comic book stores around the country. Unfortunately, I won't be able to participate this year, but I encourage every comics fan to head out to their local comics retailer, and bring a friend along!

There are a lot of great-looking giveaway books this year from all the major publishers. I'm particularly enthusiastic about the Civil War Adventure comic from my pal Chuck Dixon and artist Gary Kwapisz - which features action-packed historical tales of the American Civil War... and the all new Richie Rich comic from Kizoic/Ape Entertainment. It's an exciting new, action-adventure-oriented update of the classic comics character, and a perfect introduction to comics for young readers. 

And don't worry that your kids won't know who Richie Rich is - the same comic includes a Kung Fu Panda adventure, based on the Dreamworks animated movies. Both stories look great!

If historical tales and kid's comics aren't your thing, don't worry. Marvel offers the ever-reliable Spider-Man, DC has upcoming movie star Green Lantern, IDW offers Joe Hill's Locke & Key, and Archie Comics have, well, Archie (& the gang)! So drop by your local store today, and check out all the free comics goodness!

New Blog: Movie Poster Vault

My wife and I love movies... and movie posters. And I thought it would be fun to collect scans of amazing movie poster art on a site for our own enjoyment. But we wanted there to be some sort of unifying theme, so we decided that we would only post the theatrical posters for movies we actually own on DVD, Blu-Ray or Laserdisc. As we possess over 3,000 titles... and counting... this may take a while. Especially since we only post a batch of posters to it every once in a while.

If you've ever been curious about what my video collection looks like, well, the Mills Movie Poster Vault should give you an idea of the variety of films that my wife and I (though most of the posters so far are from movies that are more "mine" than "ours.") have collected. 

I probably should have set it up on Tumblr, since it seems to be a more image-oriented service, but I'm used to Blogger, so I set it up there. Check it out if you're interested.