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  1. Vince is back with our Weekly Picks just in time for your weekend reading!

    Featuring:

    📖 Atmosphere by #TaylorJenkinsReid (# Standalone)
    📖 The Penance List by #SCCunningham (#TheDavidTrilogy)
    📖 Fangirl Down by #Tess Bailey (#BigShots)

    Read all of Vince’s picks online at our site. 📚

    #reading #books #getnotified
    ⤵️
    booknotification.com/blog/week

  2. Vince is back with our Weekly Picks just in time for your weekend reading!

    Featuring:

    📖 Atmosphere by #TaylorJenkinsReid (# Standalone)
    📖 The Penance List by #SCCunningham (#TheDavidTrilogy)
    📖 Fangirl Down by #Tess Bailey (#BigShots)

    Read all of Vince’s picks online at our site. 📚

    #reading #books #getnotified
    ⤵️
    booknotification.com/blog/week

  3. Vince is back with our Weekly Picks just in time for your weekend reading!

    Featuring:

    📖 Atmosphere by #TaylorJenkinsReid (# Standalone)
    📖 The Penance List by #SCCunningham (#TheDavidTrilogy)
    📖 Fangirl Down by #Tess Bailey (#BigShots)

    Read all of Vince’s picks online at our site. 📚

    #reading #books #getnotified
    ⤵️
    booknotification.com/blog/week

  4. Vince is back with our Weekly Picks just in time for your weekend reading!

    Featuring:

    📖 Atmosphere by #TaylorJenkinsReid (# Standalone)
    📖 The Penance List by #SCCunningham (#TheDavidTrilogy)
    📖 Fangirl Down by #Tess Bailey (#BigShots)

    Read all of Vince’s picks online at our site. 📚

    #reading #books #getnotified
    ⤵️
    booknotification.com/blog/week

  5. Vince is back with our Weekly Picks just in time for your weekend reading!

    Featuring:

    📖 Atmosphere by #TaylorJenkinsReid (# Standalone)
    📖 The Penance List by #SCCunningham (#TheDavidTrilogy)
    📖 Fangirl Down by #Tess Bailey (#BigShots)

    Read all of Vince’s picks online at our site. 📚

    #reading #books #getnotified
    ⤵️
    booknotification.com/blog/week

  6. Crafters:

    I just discovered a Canadian source for Sizzix-quality embossing and die-cutting machines. Prices for Vevor are half that of Sizzix on amazon.ca, and even less on vevor.ca ... currently with free shipping! (These are heavy suckers).

    I have a Sizzix Bigshot and my 6" Vevor compares well for weight, quality, materials. Metal moving parts 👍 for one thing.

    Let me lead you into temptation bwahahahaha
    #crafters #crafting #embossing #sizzix #bigshot

  7. Maybe you'll find that promised love
    The tingle to the touch
    Girl and I hope it comes through for you in a clutch...
    But I wouldn't bet much

    #PowerPop #80sMusic #MitchEaster #GameTheory #LoudFamily #ScottMiller #BigShotChronicles

    youtu.be/iXGG-8aGXqo

  8. Maybe you'll find that promised love
    The tingle to the touch
    Girl and I hope it comes through for you in a clutch...
    But I wouldn't bet much

    #PowerPop #80sMusic #MitchEaster #GameTheory #LoudFamily #ScottMiller #BigShotChronicles

    youtu.be/iXGG-8aGXqo

  9. Maybe you'll find that promised love
    The tingle to the touch
    Girl and I hope it comes through for you in a clutch...
    But I wouldn't bet much

    #PowerPop #80sMusic #MitchEaster #GameTheory #LoudFamily #ScottMiller #BigShotChronicles

    youtu.be/iXGG-8aGXqo

  10. Maybe you'll find that promised love
    The tingle to the touch
    Girl and I hope it comes through for you in a clutch...
    But I wouldn't bet much

    #PowerPop #80sMusic #MitchEaster #GameTheory #LoudFamily #ScottMiller #BigShotChronicles

    youtu.be/iXGG-8aGXqo

  11. Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

    While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
    Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

    Advertisements

    Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
    However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
    Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

    Advertisements

    I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
    Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

    Advertisements

    From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
    It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

    Advertisements

    While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
    🌟🌟🌟

    RETURN TO TALES FROM THE CRYPT REVIEWS


    #1991 #Comedy #HBO #Horror #JohnKassir #JonPolito #MargHelgenberger #RichardHerd #RichardJordan #TalesFromTheCrypt #TVReview #WalterHill
  12. Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

    While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
    Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

    Advertisements

    Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
    However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
    Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

    Advertisements

    I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
    Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

    Advertisements

    From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
    It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

    Advertisements

    While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
    🌟🌟🌟

    RETURN TO TALES FROM THE CRYPT REVIEWS


    #1991 #Comedy #HBO #Horror #JohnKassir #JonPolito #MargHelgenberger #RichardHerd #RichardJordan #TalesFromTheCrypt #TVReview #WalterHill
  13. Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

    While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
    Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

    Advertisements

    Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
    However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
    Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

    Advertisements

    I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
    Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

    Advertisements

    From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
    It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

    Advertisements

    While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
    🌟🌟🌟

    RETURN TO TALES FROM THE CRYPT REVIEWS


    #1991 #Comedy #HBO #Horror #JohnKassir #JonPolito #MargHelgenberger #RichardHerd #RichardJordan #TalesFromTheCrypt #TVReview #WalterHill
  14. Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

    While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
    Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

    Advertisements

    Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
    However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
    Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

    Advertisements

    I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
    Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

    Advertisements

    From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
    It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

    Advertisements

    While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
    🌟🌟🌟

    RETURN TO TALES FROM THE CRYPT REVIEWS


    #1991 #Comedy #HBO #Horror #JohnKassir #JonPolito #MargHelgenberger #RichardHerd #RichardJordan #TalesFromTheCrypt #TVReview #WalterHill
  15. Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

    While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
    Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

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    Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
    However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
    Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

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    I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
    Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

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    From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
    It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

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    While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
    🌟🌟🌟

    RETURN TO TALES FROM THE CRYPT REVIEWS


    #1991 #Comedy #HBO #Horror #JohnKassir #JonPolito #MargHelgenberger #RichardHerd #RichardJordan #TalesFromTheCrypt #TVReview #WalterHill
  16. Five more high profile #BigLaw legal firms have capitulated to Downmarket Mussolini's fascist threats in order to keep raking in federal contracts; even as 500 of their contemporaries in US law are actively proving that fighting the Trump regime is an option:

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

    Trump says five more law firms agree to pro bono work to avoid punitive executive orders

    "Donald Trump said on Friday that five major law firms reached agreements to together provide his administration $600m in pro bono legal work, among other terms, to avoid executive orders punishing them, a significant capitulation to the president as he attacks the legal profession.

    The five firms – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – are among the most prestigious and recognized firms in the US.

    Trump’s announcement on Friday on Truth Social means he has secured a total of $940m in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the US.

    The orders come as Trump’s attack on the legal profession has divided the most prestigious firms in the US. More than 500 firms signed an amicus brief last week in support of a legal challenge to executive orders punishing the firm Perkins Coie. But many of the country’s biggest firms – including those that reached agreements announced on Friday – were conspicuously absent."

    Frankly, I'm tired of repeating myself so I'll keep this brief. These firms are all kissing the fascist toad in the White House's ring because standing up to him, even when the law is on their side, risks too much of their ability to make money and that's more important to them than the law, or any sort of moral obligation to oppose fascism from those in a position to do so. Like every other Big Law firm before them, these folks have traded away their independence and integrity without any guarantee whatsoever that this represents the end of Downmarket Mussolini's demands; which means, even if they don't realize it, all of these law firms work for Trump now. Maybe these bigshot lawyers honestly believe, as former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen reported in the interview I shared above, that they can outsmart the regime, but that presupposes the Trump administration is playing by a set of rules - which is an idea that is wholly discredited by the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and threats from the White House that brought us to this moment in the first place.

    Finally I would encourage folks not to dismiss the almost 1 billion dollars in promises for pro bono services to the regime and causes Trump himself supports, that Der Leader has extracted here. Downmarket Mussolini is forcibly recruiting massive law firms to help him conduct an assault on our civil rights and the American legal system itself, and when he says the firms have agreed they “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and Government Officials, employees, and advisors” he's making that explicitly clear. I mean let's cut the bullshit here, this is a regime that has argued that white people, and fundamentalist Christians are "politically disenfranchised groups" in fucking writing, so I don't think it's hard to imagine what kind of cases Trump is going to deploy his new minions to argue on behalf of his fascist, white nationalist regime. Trump just bought himself an army of lawyers to do fascism with, and it didn't cost him anything more than the paper his unconstitutional executive orders were printed on.

    #Fascism #Trump #Courts #VichyEstablishment #CivilRights #KirklandEllis #LathamWatkins #AOShearman #Cadwalader #SimpsonThacherBartlett #Collaboration #Cowardice

  17. Five more high profile #BigLaw legal firms have capitulated to Downmarket Mussolini's fascist threats in order to keep raking in federal contracts; even as 500 of their contemporaries in US law are actively proving that fighting the Trump regime is an option:

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

    Trump says five more law firms agree to pro bono work to avoid punitive executive orders

    "Donald Trump said on Friday that five major law firms reached agreements to together provide his administration $600m in pro bono legal work, among other terms, to avoid executive orders punishing them, a significant capitulation to the president as he attacks the legal profession.

    The five firms – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – are among the most prestigious and recognized firms in the US.

    Trump’s announcement on Friday on Truth Social means he has secured a total of $940m in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the US.

    The orders come as Trump’s attack on the legal profession has divided the most prestigious firms in the US. More than 500 firms signed an amicus brief last week in support of a legal challenge to executive orders punishing the firm Perkins Coie. But many of the country’s biggest firms – including those that reached agreements announced on Friday – were conspicuously absent."

    Frankly, I'm tired of repeating myself so I'll keep this brief. These firms are all kissing the fascist toad in the White House's ring because standing up to him, even when the law is on their side, risks too much of their ability to make money and that's more important to them than the law, or any sort of moral obligation to oppose fascism from those in a position to do so. Like every other Big Law firm before them, these folks have traded away their independence and integrity without any guarantee whatsoever that this represents the end of Downmarket Mussolini's demands; which means, even if they don't realize it, all of these law firms work for Trump now. Maybe these bigshot lawyers honestly believe, as former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen reported in the interview I shared above, that they can outsmart the regime, but that presupposes the Trump administration is playing by a set of rules - which is an idea that is wholly discredited by the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and threats from the White House that brought us to this moment in the first place.

    Finally I would encourage folks not to dismiss the almost 1 billion dollars in promises for pro bono services to the regime and causes Trump himself supports, that Der Leader has extracted here. Downmarket Mussolini is forcibly recruiting massive law firms to help him conduct an assault on our civil rights and the American legal system itself, and when he says the firms have agreed they “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and Government Officials, employees, and advisors” he's making that explicitly clear. I mean let's cut the bullshit here, this is a regime that has argued that white people, and fundamentalist Christians are "politically disenfranchised groups" in fucking writing, so I don't think it's hard to imagine what kind of cases Trump is going to deploy his new minions to argue on behalf of his fascist, white nationalist regime. Trump just bought himself an army of lawyers to do fascism with, and it didn't cost him anything more than the paper his unconstitutional executive orders were printed on.

    #Fascism #Trump #Courts #VichyEstablishment #CivilRights #KirklandEllis #LathamWatkins #AOShearman #Cadwalader #SimpsonThacherBartlett #Collaboration #Cowardice

  18. Five more high profile #BigLaw legal firms have capitulated to Downmarket Mussolini's fascist threats in order to keep raking in federal contracts; even as 500 of their contemporaries in US law are actively proving that fighting the Trump regime is an option:

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

    Trump says five more law firms agree to pro bono work to avoid punitive executive orders

    "Donald Trump said on Friday that five major law firms reached agreements to together provide his administration $600m in pro bono legal work, among other terms, to avoid executive orders punishing them, a significant capitulation to the president as he attacks the legal profession.

    The five firms – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – are among the most prestigious and recognized firms in the US.

    Trump’s announcement on Friday on Truth Social means he has secured a total of $940m in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the US.

    The orders come as Trump’s attack on the legal profession has divided the most prestigious firms in the US. More than 500 firms signed an amicus brief last week in support of a legal challenge to executive orders punishing the firm Perkins Coie. But many of the country’s biggest firms – including those that reached agreements announced on Friday – were conspicuously absent."

    Frankly, I'm tired of repeating myself so I'll keep this brief. These firms are all kissing the fascist toad in the White House's ring because standing up to him, even when the law is on their side, risks too much of their ability to make money and that's more important to them than the law, or any sort of moral obligation to oppose fascism from those in a position to do so. Like every other Big Law firm before them, these folks have traded away their independence and integrity without any guarantee whatsoever that this represents the end of Downmarket Mussolini's demands; which means, even if they don't realize it, all of these law firms work for Trump now. Maybe these bigshot lawyers honestly believe, as former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen reported in the interview I shared above, that they can outsmart the regime, but that presupposes the Trump administration is playing by a set of rules - which is an idea that is wholly discredited by the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and threats from the White House that brought us to this moment in the first place.

    Finally I would encourage folks not to dismiss the almost 1 billion dollars in promises for pro bono services to the regime and causes Trump himself supports, that Der Leader has extracted here. Downmarket Mussolini is forcibly recruiting massive law firms to help him conduct an assault on our civil rights and the American legal system itself, and when he says the firms have agreed they “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and Government Officials, employees, and advisors” he's making that explicitly clear. I mean let's cut the bullshit here, this is a regime that has argued that white people, and fundamentalist Christians are "politically disenfranchised groups" in fucking writing, so I don't think it's hard to imagine what kind of cases Trump is going to deploy his new minions to argue on behalf of his fascist, white nationalist regime. Trump just bought himself an army of lawyers to do fascism with, and it didn't cost him anything more than the paper his unconstitutional executive orders were printed on.

    #Fascism #Trump #Courts #VichyEstablishment #CivilRights #KirklandEllis #LathamWatkins #AOShearman #Cadwalader #SimpsonThacherBartlett #Collaboration #Cowardice

  19. Five more high profile #BigLaw legal firms have capitulated to Downmarket Mussolini's fascist threats in order to keep raking in federal contracts; even as 500 of their contemporaries in US law are actively proving that fighting the Trump regime is an option:

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

    Trump says five more law firms agree to pro bono work to avoid punitive executive orders

    "Donald Trump said on Friday that five major law firms reached agreements to together provide his administration $600m in pro bono legal work, among other terms, to avoid executive orders punishing them, a significant capitulation to the president as he attacks the legal profession.

    The five firms – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – are among the most prestigious and recognized firms in the US.

    Trump’s announcement on Friday on Truth Social means he has secured a total of $940m in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the US.

    The orders come as Trump’s attack on the legal profession has divided the most prestigious firms in the US. More than 500 firms signed an amicus brief last week in support of a legal challenge to executive orders punishing the firm Perkins Coie. But many of the country’s biggest firms – including those that reached agreements announced on Friday – were conspicuously absent."

    Frankly, I'm tired of repeating myself so I'll keep this brief. These firms are all kissing the fascist toad in the White House's ring because standing up to him, even when the law is on their side, risks too much of their ability to make money and that's more important to them than the law, or any sort of moral obligation to oppose fascism from those in a position to do so. Like every other Big Law firm before them, these folks have traded away their independence and integrity without any guarantee whatsoever that this represents the end of Downmarket Mussolini's demands; which means, even if they don't realize it, all of these law firms work for Trump now. Maybe these bigshot lawyers honestly believe, as former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen reported in the interview I shared above, that they can outsmart the regime, but that presupposes the Trump administration is playing by a set of rules - which is an idea that is wholly discredited by the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and threats from the White House that brought us to this moment in the first place.

    Finally I would encourage folks not to dismiss the almost 1 billion dollars in promises for pro bono services to the regime and causes Trump himself supports, that Der Leader has extracted here. Downmarket Mussolini is forcibly recruiting massive law firms to help him conduct an assault on our civil rights and the American legal system itself, and when he says the firms have agreed they “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and Government Officials, employees, and advisors” he's making that explicitly clear. I mean let's cut the bullshit here, this is a regime that has argued that white people, and fundamentalist Christians are "politically disenfranchised groups" in fucking writing, so I don't think it's hard to imagine what kind of cases Trump is going to deploy his new minions to argue on behalf of his fascist, white nationalist regime. Trump just bought himself an army of lawyers to do fascism with, and it didn't cost him anything more than the paper his unconstitutional executive orders were printed on.

    #Fascism #Trump #Courts #VichyEstablishment #CivilRights #KirklandEllis #LathamWatkins #AOShearman #Cadwalader #SimpsonThacherBartlett #Collaboration #Cowardice

  20. Anime Series Featuring YouTube Streamer IShowSpeed, Written by ‘One Piece’ Showrunner Matt Owens, in the Works at Brian Robbins’ Big Shot Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)

    fed.brid.gy/r/https://variety.