August 30, 2016 “Revenge Porn” (* out of four) was a startlingly awful erotic thriller about an 18-year old (Tiera Skovbye) whose scumbag boyfriend posts nude photos of her online after they break up which leads to her being humiliated and threatened. Then, both her and her protective mother (Elisabeth Rohm) turn the tables and plan revenge. Interesting commentary about the internet and social media may have been better conveyed in a more intelligent film. Undone by some dreadful acting and gaping logic holes in the script. For a movie about online interaction with some style and brains, watch “The Fifth Estate”, “Blackhat”, or “Untraceable” instead. Continue reading →
August 30, 2016 “The Sighting” (* out of four) was a grade-Z thriller not worth getting in your sight about two recent high-school grads (Adam Pitman and Nathaniel Peterson) who go on a road trip where they are suddenly mauled and besieged by a giant sasquatch but the police investigate and soon suspect one of them is a liar and a murderer. Ineptly made and acted junk makes you nostalgic for the ’80’s when horror movies like these were actually fun. Co-director, co-writer, and co-star Pitman strikes out in all three areas and unfortunately bears most of the blame for this fiasco. Continue reading →
August 30, 2016 “Big Bad” (*1/2 out of four) was a big bad bore about a group of young brats and bad actors who spend the night in an abandoned jail for a school fundraiser when their chaperone suddenly vanishes and a vicious beast is on the prowl. Amateurish mix of teen comedy and adventure movie never gells. May remind some of early Spielberg work like “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” and Rob Reiner’s “Stand By Me” but viewers would be better off re-watching those masterworks than this dud. Continue reading →
August 30, 2016 “The Harvesting” (* out of four) was an unwatchable schlockfest about a family who move out to Amish country to escape their marital problems but they soon find themselves gripped by a sinister and demonic force that threatens the sanity of everyone around them (and the audience). Strictly for those who thought M. Night Shymalahan’s “The Village” was a timeless classic but this also manages to rip-off “The Amityville Horror”, “Village Of The Damned”, and “Children Of The Corn” just so nobody feels left out. Horror movies like these make you wonder when filmmakers are ever going to “harvest” any new ideas anytime in the next decade. Continue reading →
August 30, 2016 “Xoxo” (*1/2 out of four) was an embarrassingly awful teen adventure melodrama about six strangers whose lives intersect over the course of one adventurous night of chasing dreams, drugs, and romantic complications. Or something like that. So incoherent and haphazard you could watch it backwards and it would make just as much sense but this is by no means a recommendation. No hugs and kisses for the writer and director of this mess. Continue reading →
August 29, 2016 “The Sea Of Trees” (*1/2 out of four) was an incomprehensible mess about an American businessman (Matthew McConaughey) who treks into a mysterious dense forest in Japan called the Sea Of Trees where many go to commit suicide. Once there, he encounters a Japanese man (Ken Watanabe) also about to commit suicide who inspires him and re-affirms his love for life and his aloof wife (Naomi Watts). Since McConaughey’s character is never likeable, it’s hard to become involved in the proceedings but it moves at a snails pace anyway. Director Gus Van Sant who can make great films (“Drugstore Cowboy”, “Good Will Hunting”) shows the worst of his pretentious tendencies here. Kasper Tuxen’s beautiful cinematography is this film’s only asset. Easy to see why this was booed off the screen at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Continue reading →
August 29, 2016 “Our Kind Of Traitor” (*** out of four) was a compelling adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy novel about a couple (Ewan McGreggor and Naomi Harris) on vacation in Morocco who meet a mysterious Russian stranger (Stellan Skarsgard) who convinces them to carry a package for him but this soon puts them in a political and criminal crossfire between the Russian mafia and the British Secret Service and find they can trust neither. First-rate cast helps keep this lively and intriguing through-out. In this critic’s opinion, this is a much better Le Carre adaptation than the overrated and tedious “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” from a few years ago. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “I Am Not A Serial Killer” (0 stars out of four) was a bottom-of-the-barrel bore about a very strange Midwestern teen (Max Records) with homicidal tendencies who becomes aware of supernatural forces in his nowheresville town that he must try to stop while also controlling and preventing his own mental health psychosis as well. If you make it to the end of this mess, you might have mental health problems as well. Bewildering and ugly to say the least and ineptly made and directed. Christopher Lloyd has a key supporting role as the boy’s neighbor but I’m sure he wishes he could go back to the past when he had much better roles than this. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “Careful What You Wish For” (** out of four) was a predictable romantic thriller about a young kid (Nick Jonas) who begins having an affair with the wife (Isabela Lucas) of a wealthy investment banker (Dermot Mulroney). To the surprise of no one but him, she kills him and claims it was self-defense but this embroils them both in hot water. Jonas is good in his first leading role but he should be more “careful” to pick better and more original scripts. Well-made but obvious and empty. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “Don’t Breathe” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror thriller about three friends who break into the house of an old blind man (Stephen Lang) who turns out to be a serious sicko and turns the table and terrorizes them as they struggle to break out of his home and stay alive. Some scares and tense moments but story becomes increasingly implausible and ridiculous, especially since Lang is 65 years old and his character is blind. Promising directing work from Fede Alvarez who directed the solid remake of “Evil Dead” a few years ago. Continue reading →
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