Cereal At Midnight

Power corrupts. This simple fact has been the theme of countless movies that showcase how the rise to power is so often followed by a fall from grace. Money, power, and corruption are the subjects of 1997's Hero, which is not to be confused with the 2002 Jet Li movie of the same name. The film takes place in 1897 Shanghai and chronicles the rise of Ma Wing Jing (played by Taiwanese/Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, an actor that video game fans may recognize as the star of  Onimusha ), a determined-but-poor working-class tough guy who impresses local mob boss Tam Sei (Biao Yuen) when he refuses to back down from a fight. The standard organized crime story follows as our protagonist grows in power and influence while becoming a target for rival, hatchet-wielding gang members as he ascends the ladder to the top.  Sound familiar? Hero is a remake of Chang Cheh's 1972 epic The Boxer from Shangtung , but with an entirely different aesthetic that fundamentally changes...

There's no denying that 1938's Angels with Dirty Faces  is a masterpiece. The iconic gangster film stars James Cagney, who had helped create the genre in 1931 with The Public Enemy , Pat O'Brien--no stranger to mobster pictures himself--and Humphrey Bogart, who had been playing gun-toting bad guys as long as Cagney, but had been further down the call sheet. All three actors are synonymous with Warner Bros. and mob movies, with Cagney and O'Brien being a part of the "Irish Mafia" in Hollywood during the 1930s. The pedigree of talent on the stage couldn't be higher, and the movie has become one of the most beloved films in the gangster cycle, even being parodied in Home Alone   by the fake movie Angels with Filthy Souls . "Keep the change, ya filthy animal!" The story of Angels with Dirty Faces tells the tale of two poor kids, Rocky and Jerry, who grew up on the mean streets, struggling to survive. One particularly mischievous night finds the boys...

Cereal At Midnight is joined by classic film aficionado Vanessa Buttino for a discussion on the life and mysterious death of Thelma Todd, one of the bright stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood! Put on your detective hat as we talk about the mob, the mystery, and what really happened on that cold December night in 1935! Follow Vanessa on Twitter @vanessabuttino Superveebs.com

In this Five Minute Review, we visit The Kitchen, a new mob/crime movie starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elizabeth Moss. The story is based on an original comic book series published under DC's Vertigo label and is both written and directed by Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) in her directorial debut.

The title of this video is not an exaggeration: I bought 33 pounds of pulp fiction on Ebay! More specifically, I purchased over 120 Mack Bolan: The Executioner novels in one fell swoop. Here's the story!