June 22, 2018 “Dark River” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary story about a young woman (Ruth Wilson) who returns home to the English countryside to her home village after a disappearance of 15 years to reclaim her family farm but she doesn’t count on old bitter wounds reopening with family feuds. Pretty scenery full of lush grass and hills reminds one of Ireland but otherwise this is pretty much of a bore. Wilson’s strong performance is unable to enliven or enrich the material. A real disappointment from director Clio Barnard whose previous works were “The Arbor” and “The Selfish Giant.” Continue reading →
June 21, 2018 “Joel” (** out of four) was a frustratingly remote and off-putting biographical crime drama of serial killer Joel Rifkin (Arnold Odo) who terrorized New York and murdered over seventeen prostitutes in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s. Film is told in flashbacks after he’s arrested and being interrogated by police. Oppressively unpleasant film shows in gory detail his interactions and murders with the prostitutes and makes us get to know a sick killer’s mind more than we need to. Aside from this, film doesn’t tell you much else about Rifkin or his personal life. Odo is OK in the lead role. Continue reading →
June 20, 2018 “Darkness Reigns” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror thriller about an amateur film crew (Ford Fanter, Jennifer Wenger, Zachary Mooren, and others) whose film set is ravaged by an unseen demon who is seeking vengeance for a past deal they made that promised them fame and fortune. Casper Van Dien is amusingly cast as himself as an actor starring in their low-budget project. Film gets going after a slow start and has a sufficient amount of scares and jolts but is too derivative of “The Exorcist” and “Alien” to really make a mark. Still, better than most of its kind and better than “Exorcist” sequels. Continue reading →
June 20, 2018 “Triassic World” (*1/2 out of four) was a low-rent knockoff of the “Jurassic” movies (hence the clever title) set in the future in which dinosaurs are used to grow organs for human transplants; at an underground facility, the dinosaurs naturally escape causing the scientists that created them (Joel Berti, Greg Furman, and others) to fight back and end their species once and for all. The kind of shoddy movie that is only made to capitalize on the success of a much larger one. Special effects aren’t bad considering films threadbare production budget but this is strictly for those who will rent anything in the Redbox machine Continue reading →
June 19, 2018 “Life Of The Party” (** out of the four) was a mild, middling comedy about a middle-aged mom (Melissa McCarthy) who returns to college with her daughter (Molly Gordon) to finish her degree after her lout husband abruptly asks for a divorce. Slapdash comedy has some scattered laughs but never excels or takes off. McCarthy’s likeability and charisma has to carry this a long way. Rodney Dangerfield had a far more entertaining and funny semester when he went “Back To School” in mostly the same movie in 1986. Continue reading →
June 18, 2018 “Set It Up” (*1/2 out of four) was an irritatingly stupid and contrived Netflix romantic comedy about two corporate executives (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) who hatch a plan for their bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) to fall in love which leads to numerous complications for all of them. Any resemblance to these people and actual human beings is strictly coincidental. Good cast can only do so much with lame and silly material and they should have set themselves up with a better script. No relation to “Set It Off” but that movie had more realism and laughs than this does. Continue reading →
June 17, 2018 “I Feel Pretty” (*** out of four) was an entertaining feel-good comedy about a woman (Amy Schumer) struggling with insecurities about her weight and her looks who awakens from a fall with newfound confidence and enthusiasm which causes a massive boost in her social abilities and business networking but she soon realizes that her appearance has never changed which causes a rippling effect. Funny comedy has a perfect role for Schumer and is also an unexpectedly touching story of self-acceptance and self-esteem. Overlength at nearly two hours is its main weakness. Continue reading →
June 17, 2018 “Escape Plan 2: Hades” (**1/2 out of four) was a fast-moving if uninspired sequel starring a grizzled-looking Sylvester Stallone going through the motions as a security expert who must lead a team inside Hades- which is the most impenetrable prison ever built- when one of his key operatives (Huang Xiaoming) is kidnapped and incarcerated there. Too many murky subplots and secondary characters get in the way but film moves quick and features enough hand-to-hand combat combat and gunplay to make this an improvement on its predecessor and worthwhile for action fans. Schwarzenneger’s comic relief from the original is missed. Continue reading →
June 17, 2018 “Superfly” (**1/2 out of four) was an above-average remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic about a young drug dealer (Trevor Jackson) trying to get out and leave the streets behind but finds himself caught between other warring factions (Jason Wright, Michael Kenneth Williams, Kaalan Walker) and corrupt police. Lots of violence and stylized action but it all gets a little repetitive and numbing after a while. Not bad but not better than the original and not distinguished enough from other underworld melodramas. Is another remake of “Shaft” far behind? Continue reading →
June 17, 2018 “The Incredibles 2” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably cute and engaging sequel to the 2004 classic about Mr. Incredible (voice of Craig T. Nelson) taking a backseat and being dad at home while Elastigirl (voice of Holly Hunter) is out saving the world from mind-tampering which threatens the city and subsequently their family. A few spectacular sequences (love the train-chase at the beginning) and Pixar’s usual lush animation make this worthwhile but it has its lulls as well and never reaches the dizzying highs of the original. Not quite incredible but still passable family entertainment Continue reading →
dlepikcom 