Richard D. Lewis
Author, Journalist, Explorer
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Meet the Author
(And His Wife Janet)
Richard D. Lewis is a graduate of the Defense Information School’s writing, broadcast, and public affairs programs. He has published bylines and/or TV clips in Blackbelt Magazine, FILMINK, Fangoria.com, Rocket Magazine, Geek Monthly, P3 Production Update, Campus Circle, Astro News, Space Country Times, Air Force.mil, BeyondHollywood.com, The History Channel, AMC Theatres, AAFES Theatres, KTLA, Torrance Channel 3, AFN TV, AFBS TV, PBS, The Pentagon Channel, Milsat Magazine, Santa Maria Times, and The Lompoc Record.
Richard is a published songwriter on Aska’s Nine Tongues LP, writing lyrics of the acclaimed single “The Dream” and he wrote screenplay treatments for Geoff Nicholls of Black Sabbath—pitched to the Horror Channel in England. Richard is also creator of the award-winning Pentagon Channel TV newsmagazine Air Force Space Today and author of The Paranormal Christian and Return of the Paranormal Christian.
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L.A. Film Reviews
COPSHOP is a 2021 American action thriller directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc) and written by Kurt McLeod (Laundry) and Carnahan, based on a story by McLeod and Mark Williams (Honest Thief). ![]()
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The film stars Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, and Alexis Louder, co-starring Toby Huss, and is set in a small-town police station that becomes the battleground between a hitman, a rookie cop, and a con artist.![]()
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Copshop was released in the United Kingdom on September 10, 2021, by STXfilms, and was released in the United States September 17, 2021, by Open Road Films.![]()
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Filming took place in Atlanta, Georgia and Albuquerque, New Mexico.![]()
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The story follows wily con artist Teddy Murretto (Grillo) who, screaming through the Nevada desert in a bullet-ridden Crown Vic, hatches a desperate plan to hide out from lethal hitman Bob Viddick (Butler).![]()
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The last action movie I saw where the protagonists were making their getaway in a vintage Crown Victoria, it was Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez in Harsh Times (2005). I wasn’t disappointed then, just like I wasn’t disappointed when I hit the accelerator on my own Crown Vic in 2006, until hydroplaning and doing inadvertent donuts on a rain-soaked 405 one night, and kissing the guard rail (car was undamaged, save a little scratch on the front bumper). ![]()
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Luckily, I made a safe getaway (and learned my lesson). But it’s no wonder those cars were used as police interceptors for so many years. Ugly thought they may be, they are fast and built like tanks.![]()
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Anyway, so Murretto sucker-punches rookie officer Valerie Young (Louder) to get himself arrested and locked up in a small-town police station. But jail can't protect the con man for long. ![]()
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Viddick schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission. When the arrival of a competing assassin (Toby Huss) ignites all-out mayhem, mounting threats force Viddick to get creative if he wants to finish the job and escape the explosive situation.![]()
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The film is currently certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an approval rating of 81%. Directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc, 2002, Smokin’ Aces, 2006), you know the action will be gritty. ![]()
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The story features an escalating battle of wits resulting in a showdown between tough guys Butler and Grillo, and with game newcomer Alexis Louder (Watchmen, 2019, The Tomorrow War, 2021) in the middle, the picture has all the makings of a bang-up actioner.![]()
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Ian Freer of Empire magazine said, “Copshop doubles down on pulpy, ’70s-styled fun” and “has enough vim and vigor to compensate."![]()
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IMDB
REDEEMING ROCKY V – How the Best Rocky Movie since the Original May Have Been the Only One in which the Title Character Doesn’t Step Into the Ring (and the One Almost Everyone Hated) –![]()
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Rocky V is a 1990 American drama written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, co-starring Talia Shire, Stallone's real-life son, the late Sage Stallone, and real-life fighter, the late Tommy Morrison, who plays boxer Tommy “the machine” Gunn, a talented yet troubled athlete whose on-screen exploits closely match the savage talent this young kid really had, along with the raw edge which ultimately led to a tragic, untimely death in real life. ![]()
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In the film, Tommy is an apt pupil. He has all the talent, but ultimately none of the heart – and certainly none of the loyalty – as he and Robert "Rocky" Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) go from friends to adversaries, while Rocky tries to pick up the pieces of his crumbling home life.![]()
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Sage plays Rocky Balboa, Jr., whose relationship with his famous father becomes strained, after Rocky takes Tommy Gunn under his wing. Sage, would go to act in other roles and become a film director, producer, and cofounder of Grindhouse Releasing film distribution company, before dying prematurely in 2012 of coronary artery disease brought on by atherosclerosis.![]()
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Although the reception of Rocky V was generally negative, this picture is well worth another look, for many reasons. For one thing, this film is the closest both in tone and style of the original. This movie gets back into the characters we fell in love with, who became caricatures over the course of the action movie arcs of Rocky III and especially Rocky IV.![]()
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Stallone himself directed the second through fourth films in the series, focusing on making the fights more and more realistic, and the films more commercial, but somewhere along the way, especially by Rocky IV, the series was losing its beating heart —![]()
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Which is not the inspirational cardio sessions in the gym, or even the epic Bill Conti “Gonna Fly Now” training sequences, or even better Bill Conti “Going The Distance” – songs which were soundtracks for Rocky’s strivings for greatness (love them though we do). ![]()
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No, it’s the relationship with his family, and the love story between Rocky and Adrian (Shire), which is really what motivates Rocky’s story arc more than anything – that and the singular love for his son, Rocky Jr., and his best friend Paulie Pennino (Burt Young).![]()
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The film also features a touching flashback where the filmmakers brought Burgess Meredith (as "Mickey" Goldmill) back to film – perhaps the finest moment the legendary actor ever shot. ![]()
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The scene is a previously unseen moment in the past as Rocky is finishing up his ring training for the night, right before taking on Apollo in the first fight. Rocky’s old trainer Mickey (Meredith) calls time, and Rocky goes to the center of the ring and the two have a chat. Mickey gives Rocky the “favorite thing he has on this earth.” It’s a cuff-link given to Mickey by the legendary undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano. ![]()
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The golden glove was turned into a necklace by Mickey and he gives it to the Rock as a reminder that Mickey, now very old with little time left, will always be with him, like an angel on his shoulder. And in this very poignant scene we finally learn how Rocky is able to get up from the mat, again and again, after being knocked down so many times. He will always get up, because he knows Mickey is watching over him, because he knows Mickey loves him.![]()
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The reason for this return to the core of the Rocky story is not only the wonderful script by Stallone, but the secret weapon in bringing back John G. Avildsen, whose direction of Rocky won him an Academy Award for Best Director.![]()
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After the savage beatings Rocky took at the hands of the likes of Clubber Lang (Mr. T.) in Rocky III and Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV, not to mention the wars fought with the great Apollo Creed (the fantastic Carl Weathers) in Rocky I and II, the Rock is suffering from severe brain trauma. Any further fights will literally be life-threatening and so his is finally forced to retire.![]()
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Then due to a scheming accountant tricking his brother-in-law Paulie, the Balboa family is suddenly broke again and right back to where they started in 1976 – those same, dirty Philly streets, and even their same old clothes. And it is the best thing that could have ever happened. ![]()
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We go from the flash and glitz to the dirt and grit, and Rocky is ultimately able to recapture the most important thing to him – the inseparable bonds of family.![]()
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Rocky dons his old had because, “it still fits.” And Adrian the glasses she wore all through the first film, until Rocky takes them off, and suddenly her flower blooms and they become an inseparable force.![]()
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Rocky V is the best showcase since the original film for the acting talent of Talia Shire as her Adrian fights to bring Rocky back from the brink, and open his eyes to what a bum this kid Tommy really is. Rocky takes Tommy in and gives him everything he’s got. In return, Tommy takes up with the Don King-esque wicked promoter George Washington Duke, a singular performance by Richard Gant that is so entertaining it should be illegal. ![]()
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He is a better Don King than Don King and could have instructed Johnnie Cochran how to find his grove in this kick-off to the 1990s, which stayed true to the 1970s.![]()
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The main thing Duke is after is to get Rocky back in the ring against his former pupil, Tommy, who he stole away, But Rocky absolutely won’t do it – and actually has no hard feelings toward Tommy. He even celebrates (and lives vicariously through his protégé) when the ingrate wins the heavyweight championship title.![]()
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Rocky even forgives Tommy when he and Duke and a TV camera crew abscond Rocky at his old bar, with his old bar friends, and the lovable Paulie by his side. But then some smack is talked, and of course, the fool-heartedly fearless Uncle Paulie gets in Tommy’s face, with his classic, “I don’t sweat you,” which is quickly met with a vicious hook by the new world champ, which collapses poor old Paulie.![]()
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Rocky cradles his friend on the ground. That look in Rocky’s eyes – we’ve seen it before. It’s the look he gave Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), when he cradled Apollo Creed’s (Carl Weathers) dying body in his arms. It’s the (sorry, I have to say it) “eye of the tiger.”![]()
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“You knocked him down," says Rocky. "Why don’t you try knocking me down.”![]()
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“Let’s go!’ says Tommy.![]()
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“In the ring, in the ring!” yells Duke.![]()
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“My ring’s outside,” says Rocky.![]()
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So the two step outside while the TV camera rolls. This elite young champion, Tommy Gunn. He’s the heavyweight champion, a true heavyweight – as Rocky always fought at the lower side of the weight class, barely a heavyweight, nearly a cruiser weight – and at times, looking like a middleweight (Rocky III). ![]()
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And Rocky taught Tommy everything he knows, and there was no Bill Conti training sequence for Rocky to get ready to fly this time, not to mention all that brain trauma. So there is no way the broken down bruiser would ever beat this punk kid in the ring.![]()
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But this isn’t the ring, it’s a street fight and these are Rocky’s streets.![]()
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The poor kid never had a chance.
Robert Durst found guilty of murder by LA jury-faces life in prison. Prosecutors allege he killed friend Susan Berman in December 2000 to silence her before she planned to tell authorities how she provided a false alibi when his wife-Kathie McCormack Durst-vanished in 1982. #news
3COPSHOP–Directed by Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces) you know the #action is gritty. An escalating battle of wits results in a showdown w tough guys Gerard Butler & Frank Grillo. W/ game newcomer Alexis Louder in the middle-it's a bang-up actioner https://www.facebook.com/L.A.FilmReviews/posts/568202624602473 #film #movies
3#Dodgers begin weekend series against the Reds this afternoon w/ #Buehler on the mound-as the Giants & Dodgers continue to battle for the NL West crown. 2 of the best teams in #baseball-NL West 2nd place will have to play a wild-card elimination game to make the playoffs. #MLB ⚾️
The #Dodgers send @buehlersdayoff to the mound to open up a 3-game series with the #Reds at 4:10 PM.
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The Paranormal Christian
Can a Christian be possessed? Do angels and demons dwell among us, engaged in spiritual warfare?
If you believe in the Bible, you have faith in the unseen. Unusual experiences are a testimony of the sacred scriptures and the supernatural never left us.
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