Netflix To Offer Three-Part Docuseries Mob War: Philadelphia Versus The Mafia

PhillyDaily.com, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that Netflix has announced that they will offer a three-part docuseries called Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia. 

Netflix To Offer Three-Part Docuseries Mob War: Philadelphia versus The Mafia - Philly Daily

The docuseries portrays the internecine mob war in Philadelphia in the early 1990s between the South Philadelphia “Young Turks,” reportedly led by Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, and John Stanfa, the Sicilian-born boss of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra Organized Crime Family.

The young mobsters, the sons and nephews of the previous generation’s Cosa Nostra mobsters under then-Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, were South Philly “corner boys” who bristled under the strict leadership of a Sicilian boss to whom they felt no loyalty.

“The docuseries traces the turbulent saga of Philly’s mob, beginning with the power vacuum left by Scarfo’s 1986 arrest. John Stanfa, handpicked by New York’s Five Families to restore order and return business to the shadows, soon found his old-school grip threatened by a new breed of mobsters,” Netflix stated. “Led by Joey Merlino, these flashy, fearless upstarts had little respect for tradition and everything to prove. Their rebellion ignited a vicious war of shifting loyalties and deadly vendettas, tearing the City of Brotherly Love apart — and drawing the scrutiny of national media and the FBI. 

“The series features firsthand accounts from former mob associates, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and journalists who witnessed the war unfold. Through chilling wiretap recordings, surveillance footage, and reenactments, Mob War charts the FBI’s pursuit and eventual takedowns of Scarfo, Stanfa, and finally Merlino — though, as noted in the series, Joey Merlino denies being involved in violence or ever being a member of the Mafia.

“Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia unpacks a Shakespearean saga of shifting allegiances, family betrayal, and deadly vendettas in a true-crime story that changed Philadelphia and the American mob forever.”

 Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia premieres on October 22nd. 

The Netflix trailer of Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia can be viewed via the link below: 

Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia | Official Trailer | Netflix 

A Touch Of Edgar Allan Poe: Netflix’s Horror And Drama Series ‘The Fall Of The House of Usher’ Offers A Homage To The Late, Great Writer

 I’ve been an Edgar Allan Poe aficionado since I was a teenager, so I was curious to see what the Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher did with Poe’s characters, stories and poems. 

I enjoyed the interesting horror and drama miniseries, which is homage of sorts to the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Brian Tallerico at www. rogerebert.com offers a good review of the miniseries:   

“The Fall of the House of Usher” updates the work of Edgar Allan Poe for the era of Big Pharma, turning his most famous tales into a sprawling story of the decline of a wealthy American family. It’s “Succession” meets The Tell-Tale Heart, a story of vengeance, power, betrayal, and bloody parts. It can sometimes feel simultaneously overcrowded in its cramming in of various sources and narratively thin at the same time, but Mike Flanagan’s craft and his assemblage of returning performers keep this pendulum swinging through eight grisly episodes of horror television that should appeal to any fans of “The Haunting of Hill House” or “Midnight Mass.” In a month filled with surprisingly lackluster new streaming shows and films for horror fans, it’s a highlight.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link: 

The Fall of the House of Usher movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert

You can also read my Philadelphia Weekly Crime Beat column on Poe in Philadelphia below: 

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge. 

Netflix's 'Narco-Saints' Is A Terrific Crime Series

I've been watching the crime thriller series Narco-Saints on Netflix, and I'm enjoying the well-made South Korean drama (with English subtitles).

The series is about a South Korean businessman who gets entangled with a South Korean drug lord in Suriname in South America. He is recruited by South Korean intelligence/law enforcement to infiltrate the Korean's drug organization. 

The film is much like Netflix's fine Narcos series, only with Koreans and other Asians in the lead roles.

The crime series is based on a true story, although the producers and writers have added fictional aspects to the story, such as making the drug lord a pastor who uses his religious organization to smuggle drugs and commit other crimes.   

If you would like to watch another good dramatic and suspenseful series about drug trafficking, major criminals, and murder, I suggest you check out Narco-Saints.              

Charming Shelter Dog Story In ‘Rescued by Ruby’ Trailer From Netflix

 My wife and I enjoyed an interesting film on Netflix last night. 

As we are both dog lovers, we thoroughly enjoyed Recued by Ruby. The film is about an incorrigible dog who is rescued from a shelter by a state trooper who dreams of joining the K-9 unit with his new dog.

 

The film is based on a true story.

 

Alex Billington at usatribunemedia.com offers the below commentary and a link to the film’s trailer.

 

“I have faith in you, you just need to have faith in yourself.” Netflix has revealed the first official trailer for a charming feel-good dog movie titled Rescued by Ruby, about a fluffy shelter dog finding its connection with a frigidity state trooper. How adorable. It’s actually based on a true story! Made for Netflix, this seems like the kind of stuff that Disney used to drop straight-to-VHS. Chasing his dream to join an elite K-9 unit, a state trooper named Dan partners with a fellow underdog: clever but naughty shelter pup Ruby. As you can see in the trailer, she seems to be a Border Collie – not the usual German Shepherd or Doberman K9 dogs, but that’s all good! She seems awesome enough anyway. This stars Grant Gustin, Scott Wolf, Kaylah Zander, Camille Sullivan, Tom McBeath, and Sharon Taylor. Who doesn’t like a dog movie?! At least the dog is real in this one, and it seems wholesome enough, though completely obvious in every single way.

 

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the film’s trailer via the below link:

Charming Shelter Dog Story in 'Rescued by Ruby' Trailer from Netflix - USA Tribune Media 

 

Note: Below is a photo of the real Ruby and her K-9 handler:

'The Serpent': A Fascinating True Crime Series Now Streaming On Netflix

Last night my wife and I finished watching The Serpent, a true crime limited series that is now streaming on Netflix.  We enjoyed the grim but fascinating crime series. 

The series, which originally aired on the BBC in the United Kingdom, covers the horrific story of Charles Sobhraj (played by Tahar Rahim), a sociopathic conman and murderer who drugged, robbed and killed perhaps 24 or more young hippie travelers in the 1970s as they passed through Thailand and other countries.

With a stellar cast unknown to most Americans (I only recognized one British actor in the series) and exotic locales, the series is compelling. 

After watching the series, I went to AbeBooks.com and purchased a copy of the book the series was based on, On the Trail of the Serpent: The Epic Hunt for the Bikini Killer, by Richard Neville and Julie Clark (seen in the below photo). I look forward to learning more about this unrepentant murderer and thief. 

Richard Neville died, but his wife and co-author Julie Clark offers a piece at the Guardian on how they came to write the book. 

It was 1977 and my boyfriend and I were working as journalists in New York. I was 23 and Richard Neville, who later became my husband, was 33. Richard, who had already achieved notoriety in the UK with his anti-establishment Oz magazine, was offered a contract to write a book about Charles Sobhraj, a young French Vietnamese man who had just been arrested for murder after an international manhunt.

 Forever enterprising, the first thing Sobhraj had done after his arrest was sell the rights to his life story to a Bangkok businessman, who sold them on to Random House, who asked Richard to immediately get to Delhi. The case would become a sensation, involving trickery, drugs, gems, gun running, corruption, dramatic prison escapes and a glamorous female accomplice who was photographed wearing big sunglasses and holding a fluffy dog. “Death Stalks the Hippy trail!” read one headline. 

It was our connection with the so called hippy trail that had landed Richard the contract; the fact that crime reporting, and indeed the world of crime, was alien to us had seemed of no consequence. We bundled ourselves off to Delhi and landed ourselves in a moral quagmire.

In our hotel room we met with scarfaced crims bringing messages from Sobhraj in Tihar prison. Richard speedily learned the arts of bribery and corruption and arranged regular access to interview him. The first time we met Sobhraj he was chained to a guard and shackled, but he welcomed us graciously. (Did we really have to shake hands with him? Those hands had snapped necks.) And so began our immersion in his psychopathic world.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

On the Trail of The Serpent: the story behind the true crime classic | How I wrote | The Guardian

Note: I visited Southeast Asia in 1970-1971 while serving on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. Sobhraj didn’t try to victimize American soldiers or sailors for two reasons. One, a missing American serviceman would bring heat, and two, an American serviceman, even drugged, would have kicked his ass.

Who Were The Real ‘Peaky Blinders’? The Shelby Family Is Fictional, But A Real Street Gang Operated In Birmingham At The Turn Of The 20th Century

I’ve enjoyed watching the British crime drama Peaky Blinders on Netflix, although I know the show is historically inaccurate.

Meilan Sally at Smithsonian.com offers s piece on the real Birmingham street gang. 

The British screenwriter Steven Knight took inspiration from his father’s stories of “incredibly well dressed,” “incredibly powerful” gangsters active in turn-of-the-century England when he invented the Shelby clan—the family of razor blade-wielding mobsters at the heart of his BBC drama “Peaky Blinders.” But it turns out that the Birmingham gang that lends the series its name actually existed, albeit in a different form than the family-centered criminal enterprise.

The real-life Peaky Blinders weren’t quite as successful as the rags-to-riches Shelbys, whose criminal network evolves from a small local faction to a multi-country powerhouse over the course of the show’s five seasons. Still, the two share a number of core similarities: namely, savvy fashion sense, a brutal disregard for the law and a member base made up largely of young working-class men. These youths, hardened by the economic deprivation rampant in industrial England, created what Historic U.K.’s Jessica Brain deems a “violent, criminal and organized” subculture.

As historian Carl Chinn, author of “The Real Peaky Blinders” tells the Birmingham Mail’s Zoe Chamberlain, the main difference between the fictionalized Peaky Blinders and their historical counterparts is timing. Although the television drama is set during the 1920s and '30s, the actual Birmingham group rose to prominence closer to the 1890s. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-real-peaky-blinders-180973328/?utm_source=smithsonianhistandarch&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=201911-hist&spMailingID=41107765&spUserID=NzQwNDU4NTg2NjMS1&spJobID=

1641191350&spReportId=MTY0MTE5MTM1MAS2

Longmire, Netflix's Modern Western Crime Drama, Wraps Up

I watched the final episode of the sixth and final season of Longmire, the modern Western crime drama, on Netflix last night. 

The outstanding series was based on Craig Johnson's crime novels about a Wyoming sheriff. 

As I noted in my Washington Times review of Craig Johnson's latest Longmire novel, The Western Star, Walt Longmire is a big man who is taciturn and possesses a dry sense of humor. Craig Johnson describes him as overage, overweight and overly depressed, but he still gets up in the morning and tries to do his job. Longmire offers a modern take on what Craig Johnson calls the cowboy mythos and the romance of the old West.

Australian actor Robert Taylor portrayed Walt Longmire, Katee Sackhoff portrayed his deputy Victoria "Vic" Moretti, a South Philly girl and former Philadelphia cop, and Lou Diamond Philips portrayed Henry Standing Bear, Longmire's best friend. The series offers a good number of other fine cast members as well.

I enjoyed the series and I'll miss it.

You can read my Washington Times review of  The Western Star via the below link: 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2018/04/a-modern-take-on-cowboy-mythos-my.html

Note: The above photo is of author Craig Johnson. 

A Modern Take On The 'Cowboy Mythos': My Washington Times Review of 'The Western Star'

The Washington Times published my review of Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire novel, The Western Star.

I first became acquainted with Craig Johnson’s fictional modern-day Western sheriff by watching the TV series “Longmire,” which is based on Mr. Johnson’s novels. (The show first appeared on A&E; and is now on Netflix). I liked the Walt Longmire character and the rural crime stories, so I began reading the books. With most crime dramas set in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities, it is refreshing that Mr. Johnson’s novels are set in the fictitious Absarka County of Wyoming.

Walt Longmire is a big man who is taciturn and possesses a dry sense of humor. Mr. Johnson describes him as overage, overweight and overly depressed, but he still gets up in the morning and tries to do his job. Like his previous novels, “The Western Star” offers a modern take on what Mr. Johnson calls the cowboy mythos and the romance of the epic West.

The novel opens in the present time with Sheriff Longmire having a beer with Iron Cloud, an Arapaho sheriff, after completing a weapons certification course with his sidearm, a Colt 1911A1 .45, at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Cheyenne.

Sheriff Longmire requalified at the academy every four years, which coincided with the scheduled four-year parole hearing of one of the most dangerous men he has ever arrested. This year the criminal is using medical reasons for his parole and Longmire is dead set against him being released from his life sentence.

...Longmire, carrying his trusty Colt and a paperback copy of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” said goodbye to his wife at the station. Pondering his young and troubled marriage, he boarded the Western Star. In store for Longmire on this train journey with 24 sheriffs and other characters was a murder mystery that would haunt him for years.

“The Western Star” offers the series’ regular supporting characters, such as Longmire’s undersheriff, Victoria Moretti, a tough and tough-talking former South Philly cop. Also appearing is Henry Standing Bear, Longmire’s lifelong Cheyenne friend, and Longmire’s daughter Cady.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/23/book-review-the-western-star-by-craig-johnson/ 

Deep Undercover: Former Legendary FBI Undercover Agent Joseph Pistone Introduces Netflix True Crime Series

I met and interviewed legendary former FBI undercover agent Joseph Pistone (seen in the above and below photos) some years ago and I wrote a Crime Beat column about him.

Pistone infiltrated the New York Cosa Nostra Bonanno organized crime family for six years posing as jewel thief Donnie Brasco. He wrote a book about his amazing experiences and a popular film based on his book, Donnie Brasco, starred Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. Donnie Brasco is considered to be one of the most realistic organized crime films.

Now Joseph Pistone introduces stories of other undercover cops and agents who brought down drug kingpins and other criminals in the Netflix series, Deep Undercover. 

You can watch the dramatic and interesting series via the below link:

https://www.netflix.com/title/80201750

You can also read my Crime Beat column about Joe Pistone via the below link: 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/01/look-back-at-joseph-pistone-aka-donnie.html

And you can watch a documentary about Joe Pistone’s undercover operation via the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdJNBUFYbPQ

The Real Godfather: The True Story Of The Italian Cosa Nostra Boss Known As "The Tractor"

This week I watched an interesting BBC documentary on Netflix about Bernardo Provenzano, the then-73-year-old boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra who was finally arrested in April 2006 after 43 years as a fugitive. The hunt for Provenzano was one of the world's longest manhunts.

As the BBC noted, Provenzano was a teenage assassin for Cosa Nostra in the 1950s and rose swiftly through the ranks. His reputation for violence was so prolific that he became known as "The Tractor" because, as an informant put it, "he mowed people down."

You can read about Provenzano’s life and death in a piece in the British newspaper the Guardian via the below link:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/13/italian-mafia-boss-bernardo-tractor-provenzano-dies 

Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' Crime Film Heads To Netflix From Paramount

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Martin Scorsese's upcoming film The Irishman, starring Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and other fine actors, will heading to Netflix.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/martin-scorseses-irishman-heads-netflix-paramount-978333

The film is based on the true crime book I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case On Jimmy Hoffa, by Charles Brant. You can read my Crime Beat column on the book and the story via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/i-heard-you-paint-houses-man-who.html

You can also read an earlier post on the South Philly connection to the story via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2016/05/scorsese-assembles-hollywood-dream-team.html

Breaking Bad: Bryan Cranston's Inner Killer Helped Him Create Walter White

My wife and I recently finished watching all five seasons of Breaking Bad on Netflix.

We thought this clever and unpredictable TV series was one of the best we've ever seen. Bryan Cranston was quite brilliant in the role of a high school chemistry teacher who turned into a criminal meth kingpin.

From Mr. Chips to Scarface, is how Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan described the series.

So I was interested in reading Larry Getlen's piece in the New York Post on Bryan Cranston and his new book, A Life in Parts.

The woman screamed for her life, but Bryan Cranston says he couldn’t hear her as he repeatedly slammed her head into the brick wall, in retaliation for stalking him around the country and threatening him with death.

“I was surprisingly calm,” he reveals in his candid new memoir, “A Life In Parts” (Scribner, out Tues.). “Clumps of hair and bits of skin and brain matter stuck to the brick. Blood formed on the wall and then began dribbling to the floor. The screaming had stopped, of course.”

Before you remove “Breaking Bad” from your Netflix queue in disgust, know that this scene didn’t actually happen. Cranston imagined committing the murder while his “stalker” ex-girlfriend, who had allegedly threatened his life, banged on his front door in 1983. Cranston, then in his mid-20s, curled against the wall, paralyzed with fear, and slipped into a fantasy so lifelike he thought it was real — a feeling he later called upon to find the darkness in his most iconic character, Walter White.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2016/10/09/how-bryan-cranston-learned-he-was-capable-of-anything/

Hollywood Reporter: 'Narcos' TV Review

Tim Goodman at the Hollywood Reporter reviews Netflix's Narcos.

The world doesn’t seem to lack for Pablo Escobar biopics, so it should come as no surprise that Netflix also gets in on the action with a 10-part series called Narcos, which separates itself from the pack with an impressive breadth and depth.

In many ways, this series could end up being the critically-acclaimed international breakthrough for the streaming site thatMarco Polo wasn’t (though it got a second season), partly because the writing, acting and directing are superior and it has a grittier and more grounded feel to it.

Those factors are essential, since there have been so many movies about the Colombian drug kingpin already and the series is coming into a very crowded drama landscape. What Narcos has going for it is that Escobar’s story is, on so many levels, so stunning and strange, that the drama doesn’t have to be truncated or rushed, and can cover far more than just his rise and fall. In fact, Narcos is rumored to be well on its way to second-season renewal. 

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/narcos-netflix-pablo-escobar-816232?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2015-08-19%2012:54:05_Jfrosch&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews 

The Fall: A British Police Inspector Pursues A Serial Killer In Belfast

I just finished watching season one and two of The Fall on Netflix.

Created, written and directed by Allan Cubitt, the psychological thriller set in Belfast is about a British police inspector hunting another hunter - a serial killer.

I enjoyed the crime series and I thought Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan and the supporting cast were all outstanding.

Elisabeth Vincentelli at the New York Post offers a piece on The Fall. 

When Season 1 of “The Fall” debuted on Netflix last year, it pretty much flew in under the radar.

Yet another moody BBC thriller? Ho-hum.

Then word got around that the compact five-episode show was very creepy in a very addictive way.

And a lot of it has to do with Gillian Anderson’s career-defining performance as Superintendent Stella Gibson — a potential heir to Helen Mirren’s iconic Jane Tennison in “Prime Suspect.”

Gibson is in hot pursuit of Paul Spector, a fetishistic serial killer played by Jamie Dornan, the upcoming dominating hottie in the “50 Shades of Grey” movie (opening Valentine’s Day).

In Season 2, now streaming on Netflix, the cop describes her foe as “very controlled, calm, cold-blooded.” Those words also apply to the deliberately paced show and to Gibson herself — whom Anderson gives a quiet but steely determination.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the Netflix video trailer via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2015/01/19/gillian-andersons-a-legend-of-the-fall-in-netflix-series/

And you can read a piece about the crime series, written by Allan Cubitt, the creator of The Fall, at the British newspaper the Guardian via the below link:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/jun/07/the-fall-allan-cubitt-women-violence 

Netflix's 'Peaky Blinders' And The Real Peaky Blinders: The Victorian Gang Who Terrorised Birmingham And Sewed Razor Blades Into Their Caps To Headbutt Rivals

I recently began watching the British TV crime series Peaky Blinders on Netflix.

The period crime drama originally appeared on the BBC and Netflix is now streaming the first two seasons.

The TV show is well-written and clever, with very good performances by Cillian Murphy - who was good and creepy in the Batman film series - as the street gang leader, and Sam Neill - who was terrific in Reilly: Ace of Spies - as a tough old copper.

There are other fine performances as well. I especially like the historical setting of post-WWI Birmingham, England. 

 

You can read about the return of the series via the below link to deadline.com:

 

http://deadline.com/2014/11/peaky-blinders-netflix-season-3-bbc-two-1201283608/

You can also read about the real gang the TV show was based on via the below link to the British newspaper the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2417281/The-real-Peaky-Blinders-Victorian-gang-terrorised-streets-Birmingham-sewed-razor-blades-caps-headbutt-rivals.html