February 27, 2018 “Con Man” (**1/2 out of four) was a slick but superficial melodrama about Barry Minkow (Justin Baldoni) who grew up a charismatic young enterpreneur who gradually became a wealthy CEO by lying and cheating and embezzling church donations which gradually led to his imprisonment. Interesting story of greed and capitalism but lacks the grandeur and electricity of “The Wolf Of Wall Street” and “War Dogs” which covered similar territory in recent years. Baldoni is good in the lead role but much of the supporting cast (including James Caan, Armand Assante, Talia Shire, and VIng Rhames) is criminally wasted. Continue reading →
February 25, 2018 “Beast Of Burden” (** out of four) was a tedious action thriller in which an airplane pilot (Daniel Radcliffe) has to deliver a plane full of illegal cargo within one hour and has to alternately assure the DEA, a professional hitman, and a drug cartel that nothing is wrong otherwise his wife may be killed! Radcliffe is literally the whole show here having to carry most of the film on his own and tries his best but unfortunately he’s not a commanding or charismatic enough actor for the task. Story sounds a lot more tense and nerve-wracking than it plays out as it takes the form of a one-character play. Continue reading →
February 25, 2018 “Mute” (**1/2 out of four) was an alluring but abstract Netflix futuristic melodrama set in Berlin 40 years from now in which a mute bartender (Alexander Skarsgard) is determined to find his beloved partner who disappeared on him but this puts him up against ruthless gangsters in the city’s underworld and two mysterious surgeons (Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux) who keep trying to thwart him. Alternately striking, intriguing, murky, and derivative; film is full of style and keeps you watching but never fully takes off. Skarsgard does what he can with a role with almost no dialogue but Rudd dominates every scene he’s in, in one of his most entertaining performances ever and makes this worth watching at least for a little while. Continue reading →
February 25, 2018 “Game Night” (*1/2 out of four) was a scoreless action comedy about a group of friends (Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and others) who meet at the house of Bateman’s brother (Kyle Chandler) who is kidnapped and nearly murdered and they follow in hot pursuit but they all think it’s a gag and part of the game, get it? One-joke movie is as dumb as it is contrived although at least it moves fast. One scene involving Bateman bleeding on a dog is the only laughs in the movie. Cliff Martinez’ moody music score is one of the few virtues but doesn’t belong in this movie. Continue reading →
February 24, 2018 “Holy Terror” (*1/2 out of four) was a holy mess about a young couple (Jesse Hlubik and Kelly Lynn Reiter) who recently lost their son and they subsequently find that he is haunting their house and they have to enlist the help of a disgraced priest (Mel Novak) to perform a dangerous exorcism to restore their house and their sanity. I’m falling asleep writing this because this could have easily been the plot for at least 1,000 other horror movies. Good performances make you think initially that this will be something more than the ordinary but story soon becomes routine and silly. Time to let these possession and religious exorcism movies go back to Hell where they belong. Continue reading →
February 24, 2018 “Curvature” (** out of four) was a muddled time-travel thriller in which a young engineer (Lyndsy Fonseca) has to travel back in time to stop herself from committing a murder and is helped by a young doctor (Noah Bean) and pursued ruthlessly by two sinister cops (Glenn Morshower and Alex Lanipekun). Pulsating music score from Adam Taylor and Noah Rosenthal’s stylish cinematography are definite plusses but story never gets going and eventually decays into stale corn. Watchable on a draggy night but you’d just as well watch “Total Recall” or “Blade Runner” instead. Continue reading →
February 23, 2018 “Winchester” (*1/2 out of four) was a good-looking but drab horror movie about the heiress (Helen Mirren) of the Winchester rifle company who believes she is being haunted by the souls of those killed by her rifle company; a young doctor (Jason Clarke) is subsequently hired to prove she is mentally unfit and moves into her California mansion but soon comes to realize that she might not be a crazy old dame after all. Inventive use of color and design but nothing else about the story is inventive, as it becomes yet another story about a haunted house and hallucinations and characters wondering what’s going on. And speaking of what’s going on- what the hell is Mirren doing in this movie? Continue reading →
February 22, 2018 “Selfie From Hell” (*1/2 out of four) was an all-too-familiar horror story about a young vlogger (Meelah Adams) who comes from Germany to visit her cousin (Alysson Walker) and then mysteriously falls ill, prompting her cousin to research her online activities which leads to an onslaught of consequences. Just a series of ideas borrowed from other (and better) movies. It might be time to temporarily put to rest horror movies involving the internet. Continue reading →
February 21, 2018 “Dead Shack” (*1/2 out of four) was a dismayingly awful horror show about three kids (Cameron Andres, Lizzie Boys, Hannah Rochelle Burr) staying in a cabin in the woods with their parents and discover that their next-door neighbor (Lauren Holly) has a plan to feed them all to her family to keep them alive. Don’t worry- there’s no Hansel or Gretel here! Cheesy production values are matched by complete lack of scares and thrills. Particularly sad to see solid character actress Holly reduced to junk like this but evidently her career has hit some turbulence in the last two decades. Continue reading →
February 20, 2018 “Wunderland” (*** out of four) was a stirring retelling of “The Battle Of The Bulge” in WWI in which an American soldier (Wade Everett) and his platoon were ordered to hold off an aggressive German army which wanted to obtain a road junction which was crucial to the war. Film is overshadowed by “Platoon” and “A Midnight Clear” which it often resembles but still is a powerful and well-told recreation of an important and lesser-known component of the war. Tom Berenger has a key role as the soldiers’ major. Continue reading →
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