August 28, 2016 “War Dogs” (***1/2 out of four) was a bullseye comedy based on the true story of two young guys (Miles Teller and Jonah Hill) who became billionaire war profiteers by becoming involved in weapons deals with the Pentagon and Afghanistan and Albania. Razor-sharp and multilayered script is enhanced by the terrific performances of both Hill and Teller who also make a great team and have hilarious camaraderie together. Director Todd Phillips does an impressive job of maintaining a bouncy, light-hearted tone of a very serious story in what is easily his best movie since “The Hangover.” Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “Miles Ahead’ (*1/2 out of four) was a superficial biography about legendary jazz musician Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) whose biggest enemy off the stage was always himself, which led to him becoming involved in drugs, crime, and self-destruction. Film never really shows you how or why Davis became so embroiled in music and why this became such a passion for him and instead focuses on his involvement in drugs and crime and his relationship with an investigative reporter (Ewan McGreggor). Cheadle is OK as Davis but his voice is strained and McGreggor is unusually awkward. This was a labor-of-love for star Cheadle in his directing debut but a great film about Davis still remains to be made. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “They Found Hell” (*** out of four) was a gory, stylish Redbox horror show about a group of college students who become trapped in Hell after a teleportation experiment goes awry and they soon have to fight for their lives as the inhabitants of Hell are out to devour them. Whopper of a story is told to the hilt with gruesome and imaginative special effects and some genuine scares. Performances range from amateurish to passable but they sure know how to scream and run and that gets the job done. Opening half-hour is awkward and very off-putting but stick with it because this movie’s kitchen-sink approach and over-the-top attitude bring back memories of early Sam Raimi and his “Evil Dead” series. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “Blood Father” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably endearing and engrossing melodrama starring a well-cast Mel Gibson as a temperamental former alcoholic who reunites with his estranged 16 year old daughter (Erin Moriarty) to protect her when drug dealers are out to kill her forcing both of them to take it on the road. Gibson is good in a role that in many ways obviously parallels his own off-screen behavior and Moriarty is terrific as his daughter; otherwise this covers all-too-familiar ground involving father and daughter reconciliation and road-movie cliches. William H. Macy and Michael Parks have good supporting roles as Gibson’s friends. Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “Hard Target 2” (** out of four) was an unnecessary sequel to the 1993 Jean Claude Van Damme-John Woo action thriller about an MMA fighter (Scott Adkins) reeling from a recent death in the ring who is recruited by a millionaire businessman (Robert Knepper) and his wealthy cronies but soon finds he’s the prey in a “Most Dangerous Game” hunting match in which hunters kill people. Features enough fights and beautiful scenery to make it watchable for action junkies but starts to run out of steam in its second half. Actually, this bears more resemblance to “Surviving The Game” than the original “Hard Target”. Adkins’ one-note expressions and stiff line readings show he doesn’t quite have the acting canvas and poetic expressionalism of Van Damme Continue reading →
August 28, 2016 “American Conjuring” (* out of four) was an American dud about a family (Lynn Csontos and Darren Matheson) who move into an abandoned orphanage which turns out (yawn) to be haunted and the husband immediately starts losing his mind. Yet another rip-off of “The Amityville Horror” and “The Shining” is poorly directed and acted and wretchedly photographed. One of these days you hope that filmmakers will tire of making the same movie and will “conjure” up some new ideas. Continue reading →
August 25, 2016 “A Hologram For The King” (** out of four) was a sporadically amusing comedy about a failed American businessman (Tom Hanks) who looks to recoup his losses by travelling to Saudi Arabia and selling his ideas to a wealthy monarch and is a fish out of water. Hanks’ likeability carries this about as far as it can go but this one-joke idea is stretched well beyond its limit at nearly two hours. Hanks played a similar character in the much funnier “Charlie Wilson’s War” and a much sharper and more complex version of a similar story was told in Lasse Halstrom’s “Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.” Continue reading →
August 25, 2016 “American Conjuring” (* out of four) was an American dud about a family (Lynn Csontos and Darren Matheson) who move into an abandoned orphanage which turns out (yawn) to be haunted and the husband immediately starts losing his mind. Yet another rip-off of “The Amityville Horror” and “The Shining” is poorly directed and acted and wretchedly photographed. One of these days you hope that filmmakers will tire of making the same movie and will “conjure” up some new ideas. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “The Evil That Men Do” (* out of four) was a sleazy, boring melodrama about two hired assassins (Daniel Faraldo and Andrew Tarbet) working for the Mexican cartel who kidnap a precocious 10-year old girl to exchange to a rival cartel but naturally, complications ensue and nothing goes as planned. No relation to the Charles Bronson classic with the same title or the Iron Maiden song although you may pray for any and all to show up. Other Maiden songs “Wasted Years” and “The Prisoner” suggest how viewers may feel by the end of this mess. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “Black Road” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary, derivative futuristic melodrama set in 2029 about a drifter (Sam Daly) who risks his life to save a woman (Leilani Sarelle) from her violent ex-husband and is aided by an artificial-intelligence implant who guides him (and annoys the audience) every step of the way. Just another pile of ideas borrowed from other (and better) movies. Daly looks a little like Sam Worthington but sorely lacks sparks or charisma. Film fanatics may remember Sarelle as Sharon Stone’s lover from “Basic Instinct” which had more thrills and charge in any one scene than this fizzle has in nearly two hours. Continue reading →
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