"MAGIC CITY" Season One (2012) Episode Ranking

Below is my ranking of the Season One episodes of the Starz Channel's series called "MAGIC CITY". Created by Mitch Glazer, the series starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olga Kurylenko and Danny Huston: 


"MAGIC CITY" SEASON ONE (2012) EPISODE RANKING



1. (1.05) "Suicide Blonde" - Hotel owner and boss Ike Evans goes through great lengths to save the life of prostitute and murder witness Judi Silver from Miami mobster Ben Diamond. Ike's second wife Vera tries to get pregnant, while a bond forms between Ike's second son Danny and Mercedes Lazaro, the daughter of the hotel's manager. 





2. (1.07) "Who's the Horse and Who's the Rider?" - Danny confronts older brother Stevie Evans about the latter's affair with Ben Diamond's new wife, Lily. State Attorney Jack Klein confronts Ike with damning evidence. And the latter is forced to make a deal with Diamond.





3. (1.06) "The Harder They Fall" - Ike and Diamond bet on a boxing match. Danny stumbles across blackmailing photos of Stevie and Lily. And Klein stumbles something that might prove to be a threat to Ike.





4. "The Year of the Fin" (1.01) - The series premiere begins on New Year's Eve 1958 and introduces Ike, his family and his situation with Diamond. Ike's conflict with union representative Mike Strauss takes a deadly turn. And Stevie begins an affair with Lily, unaware of her marriage to Diamond.





5. (1.08) "Time and Tide" - In the season finale, Judy falls into Klein's hands, hotel manager Victor Lazaro and his daughter Mercedes receive bad news from Cuba, and Ike's future becomes uncertain.





6. (1.03) "Castles Made of Sand" - Ike tries to convince government officials to legalize gambling in Florida and asks former sister-in-law Meg Bannock for financial help. And Diamond begins to worry that Lily is sleeping around.





7. (1.02) "Feeding Frenzy" - Ike is forced to deal with the aftermath of Strauss' disappearance. Also, Stevie continues his affair with Lily after discovering her true identity.





8. (1.04) "Atonement" - While Ike deals with a break-in at the hotel; Vera plans an extravagant charity function that she hopes will attract the attention of Jackie Kennedy and Victor struggles to get his wife out of Cuba.

"MAGIC CITY" Season One (2012) Photo Gallery

Below are images from Season One of the STARZ cable series, "MAGIC CITY". Created by Mitch Glazer, the series stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olga Kurylenko and Danny Huston: 


"MAGIC CITY" SEASON ONE (2012) Photo Gallery

"THE LOSERS" (2010) Review

”THE LOSERS” (2010) Review

For the umpteenth time, Hollywood took a comic book series and adapted it for the screen. One of the latest comic book movies to appear in the movie theater happened to be an adaptation of a Vertigo Comics series created by Andy Diggle called ”THE LOSERS”.

Directed by Sylvain White, ”THE LOSERS” told the story of five members of an elite U.S. Special Forces team that is sent into the Bolivian jungle to search and destroy a notorious drug lord. But when their CIA handler, a wealthy man named Max, betrayed them with an attempt on their lives, the team made plans to even the score. They are joined by a mysterious woman who offered financial aid for an operation to ensure Max’s death and foil his plans to start a new high-tech global war.

”THE LOSERS” is obviously one of the latest in a never ending line of movie adaptations of comic book series and graphic novels. In other words, these adaptations are becoming a dime-a-dozen. But I had no idea that the movie was based upon a comic book series when I saw the trailers. Had I known, would I have avoided the movie? I rather doubt it. The trailer struck me as rather appealing, if I must be honest. Do I regret seeing the movie? Not at all.

I had expected to be mildly entertained by ”THE LOSERS”. Instead, I found it a great deal of fun to watch. Mind you, I had some problems with it. Sylvain White’s use of slow motion action became worrisome at times. The most annoying use of slow motion involved a love scene between the two leads – the leader of the Special Forces team and the mysterious woman. I mean . . . honestly. Slow motion sex? It brought back memories of certain love scenes from television dramas and miniseries in the 1970s and 80s. I was not particularly impressed by John Ottman’s score for the movie. And I never understood the need for a fight scene between the two leads – when the mysterious woman approached the team leader in order to form an alliance against Max.

Quibbles aside, I still enjoyed the movie very much. One, screenwriters Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt created a very entertaining story filled with sharp humor and plenty of exciting action. Even better, Berg and Vanderbilt provided plenty of angst, revenge, mistrust and betrayal that gave extra bites to the movie. The action featured in the movie struck me as pretty first-rate. I was especially impressed with the action sequences in Bolivia and the movie’s final showdown in Los Angeles.

By the way, I have to say that the cast turned out to be the movie’s best asset. Jeffrey Dean Morgan led the cast as Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Clay, leader of the Losers. Morgan’s Clay is as tough and ruthless as they come. Yet, the actor did a great job in balancing his character’s ruthlessness with streaks of idealism and compassion that sometimes proved to be his Achilles heel. Idris Elba portrayed Captain William Roque, the team’s second-in-command. Elba’s subtle portrayal of Roque is a cooler personality with a dangerous and self-serving edge that made him quite unpredictable. And his screen personality proved to be just as strong and dynamic as Morgan’s. Chris Evans proved to be hilarious as ever, portraying the team’s computer expert, Corporal Jake Jensen. Evans also created a funny screen chemistry with Columbus Short, who portrayed Sergeant Linwood 'Pooch' Porteous, the team’s transportation expert. I was also impressed by Short, whose performance struck me as wry and very witty. And Óscar Jaenada gave a charismatic performance as Sergeant Carlos 'Cougar' Alvarez, the team’s gifted marksman with only a few lines. But the most impressive performance in my book belonged to Zoe Saldaña, who portrayed Aisha, the mysterious woman who recruited the Losers to seek revenge against Max. Her Aisha was not only a skilled arms handler and fighter, she was also intense and extremely complex. However, she certainly had stiff competition from not only Morgan and Elba, but from also Jason Patric. Who, by the way, gave a sardonic, yet off-beat performance as the team’s murderous, yet manipulative CIA handler, Max.

While watching ”THE LOSERS”, it occurred to me that its film style strongly reminded me of another comic adaptation, 2008’s ”WANTED”. Granted, the older movie seemed to have superior production values and bigger stars. But I still found ”THE LOSERS” more enjoyable. Why? Aside from the hotel fight scene between Morgan and Saldaña, Sylvain White did not indulge in too much over-the-top action sequences and graphic gore. Also, ”THE LOSERS” definitely possessed a sharper sense of humor and a more solid story, thanks to Berg and Vanderbilt’s script. Those traits, along with a strong cast made ”THE LOSERS” one of my favorite movies of this year’s spring season.

"THE LOSERS" (2010) Photo Gallery

Below are photos from the new action movie, "THE LOSERS". Directed by Sylvain White, the movie stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldaña, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Óscar Jaenada and Jason Patric:

"THE LOSERS" (2010) Photo Gallery