December 26, 2016 “The Night Watchman” (*1/2 out of four) was a molasses-moving melodrama not worth watching about a former convict (Matt Horan) who returns to his dead-end hometown after 2 years and takes a job as the night watchman of an abandoned mine but begins to suspect that a sinister presence is watching over him and the rest of the town. Don’t look for more plot than that or much else either. Film is part small-town melodrama, part character study, and part moody horror story and is an all bore. Director Miguel Angel Jimenez obviously watched “The Deer Hunter” a few times before making this but this fires all blanks. Continue reading →
December 26, 2016 “The Strike” (*1/2 out of four) was a strike-out about three moronic actors (Katie Morrison, Guillermo Ivan, Erin Fogel) struggling to break through in NYC who attempt to go on strike to get the recognition they crave. No one in this lame and unfunny movie is likely to get any recognition. Lackluster movie feels like diluted and reheated Woody Allen or even Edward Burns, both of whom made much sharper and funnier movies than this in their heyday decades ago. Long-lost ’80’s character actor Bronson Pinchot picks up a few bucks in a throwaway supporting role. Continue reading →
December 26, 2016 “La La Land” (*** out of four) was pleasant fluff about a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) who falls in love with an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) and how their careers take them on eventual different paths. Not a great film as many critics have said but an overall affectionate homage to musicals from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Music score and numbers are hit-or-miss but Gosling and Stone’s chemistry and camaraderie (in their third film together) make this entertaining. Opening and closing scenes are terrific. Continue reading →
December 26, 2016 “Assassin’s Creed” (** out of four) was a joyless adaptation of the famous video game about an assassin (Michael Fassbender) who learns in captivity that he is a descendant of a secret assassin’s society and rebels against his sinister captors (Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons). Lots of action but film has little story or characters to care about and has no sense of humor either. Film resembles a video game in that it gives you lots to look at but almost nothing to feel. Terrific cast can’t do much to enrich this material Continue reading →
December 26, 2016 “Kill Ratio” (**1/2 out of four) was a proficient action thriller about an American covert operative (Tom Hopper) living in Eastern Europe and is pitted against a ruthless military general (Nick Dunning) who is attempting to take over the country and threatens his family when they get in the way. Nothing original or groundbreaking but features the requisite amount of shootings and hand-to-hand combat. Dunning, who looks a lot like Jimmy Page, makes a strong villain. Continue reading →
December 26, 2016 “The Other Halves” (** out of four) was a mediocre horror thriller about a team of programmers (Lauren Lakis, Mercedes Manning, Lianna Liew) who develop a dating app which initially seems like a breakthrough but they subsequently find it has strange side effects involving paranoia, hallucinations, and murder. Potentially chilling story of online technology, social media, and consumerism has some stylish touches but needed a much stronger writer and director to pull its diversive elements together. Similar to “Nerve” which came out earlier this year. Watch an “other” movie instead. Continue reading →
December 24, 2016 “Mississippi Murder” (*1/2 out of four) was an inept murder mystery set in the backwoods of Mississippi about a young woman (Hani Furstenberg) whose dark and mysterious past comes back to haunt her as she is pursued by a ruthless villain (Malcolm McDowell) and a cop (Luke Goss) trying to help her. McDowell chews the scenery in his umpteenth creepy villain role and Furstenberg isn’t compelling enough to navigate an entire movie. Goss is cool and charismatic as usual but is wasted in a throwaway role. Watch “Mississippi Burning” instead. Continue reading →
December 24, 2016 “Kamikaze” (** out of four) was a murky international espionage thriller about a former M.I.6 agent (Marcus Shakesheff who also directed) turned mercenary for hire who does mysterious work for a British Cabinet Minister (Laurence Patrick). When a top-secret operation backfires, the minister orders his partner to be kidnapped forcing him to be a one-man vigilante fighting against spies and various government thugs to get her back. Throwback to ’80’s action thrillers of Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris is hard to follow but is fast-moving enough and packed with enough hand-to-hand combat and violent action to make it watchable for action junkies. One scene of Shakesheff using a car to defeat 6 different bad guys is particularly impressive and is reminiscent of Jackie Chan. Continue reading →
December 24, 2016 “Panzer” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror melodrama about an archaeology student (Melina Matthews) who discovers a Nazi bunker called Valhalla and searches for stolen art with her friends but they soon realize it’s guarded by a slaughtering beast and are running for their lives. Opening half is dour and talky, as film takes too long to get going, but second half features some good kills and delivers the goods. Love that chain that the beast carries around! Worth watching on a very draggy night Continue reading →
December 24, 2016 “Harley And The Davidsons” (** out of four) was an ambitious but overlong, underwritten saga of the Davidson family and the various personal and financial crisises they endured in inventing the Harley and developing it into the most successful motorcycle of the 20th century and an American icon. Many moments of individual power and good performances but story tells you both more and less than you want to know and lacks the sweep and epic grandeur that it needs. Handsomely shot and features some good individual scenes but still rings hollow. Continue reading →
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