Netflix is killing it out there, running through the jungle and down the lost highway. Here are three upcoming Netflix Original movies that are on target for Frontier Partisans:
The Highwaymen (March 2019), with Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner, tells the tale of the takedown of Bonnie and Clyde. Costner plays Frank Hamer, one of the all-time great lawmen, and one who straddled the transition from the horseback Texas Ranger to modern law enforcement.
Frank Hamer in action.
I used to not care for Costner at all, but starting with his portrayal of Devil Anse Hatfield in Hatfields & McCoys, I’ve been nothing but impressed. The mature Costner has gravitas. He’ll do right by the role.
Speaking of doing right, True West Magazine has a nice in-depth look at how Joe Fusco brought this film to fruition on a handshake deal with Frank Hamer, Jr. to “do right by my daddy.” As prep, I strongly recommend reading John Boessenecker’s bio.
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Triple Frontier serves up your classic mercenary adventure scenario:
Struggling to make ends meet, former special ops soldiers reunite for a high-stakes heist: stealing $75 million from a South American drug lord.
The Triple Frontier of the title is the borderlands of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, where the terrain and jurisdictional complexities make a lovely haven for the lawless.
Kinda a throwback to ’70s and ’80s merc flicks. This one’s coming in March, too.
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And…
Made especially for Lane Batot and available NOW…
Directed by Andy Serkis (Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings), this looks like an astonishing rendering of Rudyard Kipling’s classic Jungle Book tales. And Kipling is and shall ever be one of the great bards of the Frontier Partisans.
This is purportedly a darker take on the story than the Disney version, which beat Serkis past the post. My money is on Smeagol…
Paul McNamee says
I need to making watching time a New Year resolution. More interested in reading and other hobbies. So much to catch up.
Keith West says
You are not alone in that.
Craig Rullman says
Costner’s gravitas is negatively impacted by his nasal whine and a tendency to make 3 hour films in which he is, annoyingly, in every…single…scene. I will give his Hamer a look, because Hamer deserves it, but Costner’s on a short leash. 🙂
Matthew says
Triple Frontier sounds like the plot of the Lawrence Block novel the Specialists which I have, but not read.
It always seems that any piece involving Frank Hamer involves Bonnie and Clyde. It’s a shame since Hamer was involved with so much more than that.
Netflix is doing a live action version of one of my favorite animes Cowboy Bebops. It was a space western about bounty hunters (“cowboys”) in the future. Well, a space western crossed with film noir, Hong Kong action movies, and yakuza flicks.
JimC says
Lawrence Block is one of the masters. I’ll have to run that down.
Ugly Hombre says
Looking forward to the Hamer film- just hope they don’t foul it up. The guys making it- already know that Frank Jr. was seriously contemplating ventilating Warren Beatty and Arther Penn for what they did to Frank Senior in the Bonnie and Clyde 67 film, so odds are they know better.
Frank Jr. was not joking, the Hamer clan was mighty riled and for good reason. The 67 film is good filmmaking but backwards history. All Penn needed to do was change the name but nah that would be to easy, Penn & company ended up paying the Hamers a sizable cash settlement and got off cheap. They got to keep their hides. Don’t mess with Texas.
I recently found my copy of the Boessenecker bio in my tattered shack and re-read it. Its first rate. Hamer was a rare breed, a man of honor who turned down large sums to tell his story or attach himself to Hollywood on principal. Near unheard of in America- even in Hamers time. Tom Threepersons was another lawman cut from the same cloth. Skeeter wrote Threepersons down in Silver City and wanted to interview him never got a letter back. A pity in a way but it was the way- they old breed did not talk much.
One thing about the Boessenecker book. Its good but he judges Frank, in some cases- views him through the lens of our times thats a mistake. You don’t look at the men of a century ago from our era’s state of mind.
Hamer was for the times, non- biased and fair, that’s for sure- but if you did Hamers job and were not tough as hell and hard minded you would not make it.
Wonder what they would think if the oldsters looked at our culture and its mores from Texas culture circa 1900?
Pretty sure it would put the Rangers off their feed.
lol
JimC says
The 1967 Bonnie and Clyde didn’t wear well. It really looks like an artifact of its time. I’ve never really been able to watch Warren Beatty comfortably. Something off-putting about him…
Ugly Hombre says
https://deadline.com/2018/02/john-fusco-bonnie-and-clyde-frank-hamer-the-highwaymen-warren-beatty-paul-newman-robert-redford-kevin-costner-paul-newman-john-lee-hancock-1202286500/
Yeah Beatty seems weasel like- he almost got plowed under, in the case of the Hamer’s for off putting the wrong clan.
“Frank Jr. stared across the table and said, “I’m still fixin’ to hunt up that Warren Beatty and put a bullet in the sonuvabitch.”
“Dad,” Frank III said with obvious exasperation and raising his voice for the hard-of-hearing elder. “I’ve told you, it wasn’t his fault. It was not Warren Beatty’s fault.”
“That’s right,” the older Hamer said, savoring his bourbon and reflecting. “It’s that Arthur Penn. Like to hunt him up, too.”
Real western..
“Frank III went on to remind his father that, during the character defamation trial vs Warner Bros., Arthur Penn “felt terrible,” “had tears in his eyes” and had apologized profusely to Hamer’s widow Gladys and then to Frank Jr. Penn was sincerely regretful, said Frank III, and the family won an undisclosed settlement.”
A classic Hollywood weasel episode.
Beatty has been on my personal chit list for a long time- esp since he made the movie “Reds”, giving kudos and glory to the murdering Bolshevik sumvitches.
Black Tyrone says
Those who have not read Kipling and I mean really read Kipling, have lost so much. Black Tyrone
My son knows his Kipling and I hope will read to his own.
lane batot says
Getting in on this a bit late again–I DO intend to go see the newest Jungle Book entry “Mowgli” on the BIG screen(I want to see the new Robin Hood, as well!…), and I’ve heard/read where it is a “darker” version too. Really? You mean possibly following the Kipling story more truthfully at last by calling it “darker”? The Kipling stories were FULL of species rivalry and death–Kipling’s Jungle was not a happy-go-lucky place, but brutally realistic throughout(and yes, GLORIOUSLY romanticized!)–yet even as a little kid, I never found that off-putting! My FAVORITE part of the Jungle Books(still is!) is the chapter about the “letting in of the jungle”, where Mowgli used his influence to get the jungle creatures to turn against the local village, and drive the humans OUT of the area! Having to see my childhood home destroyed, bit-by-bit, from “progress” likely had a lot to do with my feelings that way, in my young, formative years. Could I have benefited greatly in my campaigns of those long ago days,(which all eventually failed) by having an alliance with Hathi the elephant and his sons! So I’m hoping they at last portray this normally excluded chapter of the tales–we’ll see. The past Jungle Books have virtually ALL been toned down, saccharin-sweet adaptions of the stories, what is considered appropriate for sensitive children viewing, Which turns older kids and adults away, alas, from one of the grittier Kipling stories full of all manner of wisdom and satire–even if Kipling DID write them for his own kids! Apparently he felt his kids could handle things better than those of more modern sensibilities. Such stories were some of my first realizations regarding the struggle for survival and death–something we all have to deal with eventually. Sheltering kids too much from realities(even if presented in storybook form) can have unfortunate consequences in the long run, in my opinion. Anyway, let’s see what they’ve done with Kipling’s tales THIS time!
JimC says
You may want to save the $$ on Hood. My sources tell me it’s drek.
Kids’ tales, faerie tales — they SHOULD be scary and disturbing. That’s what kids need out of a story — fear and adversity overcome…
lane batot says
Well, had some days off–thought I’d see one of the movies I’ve had my eyes on–NONE playing anywhere near me! I think I missed the new Robin Hood, if it played at all nearby. And apparently “Mowgli” was only released to “selected theatres”, of which my po-dunk local movie house is most definitely NOT one of those, EVER! Reading up some more on “Mowgli”(via Google)–I was surprised to find it was NOT a sequel to the most recent Disney effort, but a totally independent version–interesting…..But alas, as good as it might be, it IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT following the original Kipling stories very closely. Again, no “letting in of the jungle” chapter representation(sigh). Just like the Burroughs Tarzan novels, Hollywood JUST WILL NOT follow the original stories very closely, for some reason…..I’ll still likely see it, but it may havta wait till it shows up on a cheap DVD(I have no “Netflix” deal). And as for the most recent Robin Hood–I’ll still likely get that, too–on a cheap, used DVD one day. Even if it IS a drek, I’ll be curious and wish to compare with all the plethora of past Robin Hood film efforts( a “collector’s” thing), of which I always find SOMETHING to like about this classic, most beloved tale and its characters! Apparently, the recent release has inspired Wal-Mart to have in stock several other past Robin Hood efforts, including one I’ve been wanting to see, but has been rather expensive up till now–the early 2006-2008 BBC series, that I heard mixed reviews about. I got the whole series for just $25 bux–CONSIDERABLY cheaper than it has been, and am well into it now. In it’s defense, I’ll say it IS supposed to get BETTER as it goes along(true for a lot of TV series, it seems). So far, I’d just say it is watchable for the Robin Hood aficionado, but it is NO “Robin Of Sherwood”–THE BEST(also BBC effort) from the ’80’s!
JimC says
You can access Netflix via your computer. You may find it worthwhile — there’s a LOT of content you would dig. Frontier; The Last Kingdom… a long list.
lane batot says
Nope(alas)–I cannot watch ANY film or listen to podcasts(dammit!) with my computer access without using up my monthly stipend of time seeing perhaps only ONE movie or documentary, etc.(I live rather isolated without direct access–unless I have the local company install lines to connect me, which I might investigate one day–seems too expensive, though, from what I’ve heard about it….) If I just use my monthly stipend(via a little plug-in doo-mah-hickey to my computer) for blogs, E-mail, Googling, etc., it handily lasts all month. And as you know, my workplace anal computer access is SEVERELY limited. No “Netflix” for moi(yet….)
JimC says
Ah… well, someday perhaps.