June 17, 2018 “Affairs Of State” (*** out of four) was an engrossing political thriller about a young campaign aide (David Corenswet) who gets in way over his head in a minefield of political corruption when he begins sleeping with both the wife (Mimi Rogers) and daughter (Grace Victoria Cox) of a wealthy presidential candidate and this leads to consequences he never imagined. Crafty and twisty drama provides Rogers and co-star Thora Birch with their best roles in years and a solid starring debut for Corenswet. Adrian Grenier is also solid in a key supporting role as one of the president’s other high-powered aids. Continue reading →
June 14, 2018 “Beyond The Sky” (** out of four) was a flashy but empty, overly familiar sci/fi melodrama about a young filmmaker (Jordan Hinson) making a documentary exposing the lies of alleged alien abductees who encounters a woman with dark secrets from her past that uncover disturbing truths about otherworld life. Some inventive use of set design and photography are undone by movie’s predictable story patterns and characters. “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” and “Alien” were nearly 40 years ago and they’re still being ripped off! Strong character actors Dee Wallace and Peter Stormare are wasted in throaway roles. Continue reading →
June 10, 2018 “Eyes In The Hills” (* out of four) was a practically worthless drama about a former couple (Hailey Clearwater and Devin Roane) who go on a hiking trip and he discusses his ongoing infatuation with her while a mysterious being lurks in the shadows over them. Not to be confused with “The Hills Have Eyes” but makes those movies (and their remakes) look like masterworks of terror by comparison. Promoted as a horror movie which it is not. Continue reading →
June 10, 2018 “In Memory Of” (*1/2 out of four) was a gory, ugly horror melodrama that viewers will want to forget memories of as soon as possible about the survivor (Jackie Kelly) of a series of medical experiments who escapes with nightmarish hallucinations and amnesia and is pursued by the sadistic doctors who initially captured her but she then embarks on a cross-country road trip to find a mysterious stranger who can help restore her memory. She should have attempted to track down a better writer and director for this mess instead. Kelly is good in a difficult role but this overlong and overly unpleasant film lets her down. Continue reading →
June 10, 2018 “Adrift” (** out of four) was an utterly basic lost-at-sea melodrama about a young couple (Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin) who fall in love and embark on a voyage at sea where they become stranded, starved, and have to test both of their mental and physical endurance to survive. Best thing about the film is Woodley’s stirring performance; otherwise this treads on all-too-familiar water and doesn’t feature anything done better in “Castaway” or (especially) “All Is Lost”. Directed by Baltasur Komasur who previously worked on “The Sea” and “Trapped” and may want to give the water a rest for a little while. Continue reading →
June 10, 2018 “Hereditary” (** out of four) was a trite horror thriller about a daughter (Toni Collette) whose mother and daughter both die suddenly leading her on a mental and emotional breakdown that uncovers dark secrets about her family (Alex Wolff and Gabriel Byrne) and their ancestry. Intriguing and interesting at first but story stalls after a while, and becomes yet another movie about exorcisms and paranormal activity. Collette’s first-rate performance makes up for a lot but even she gets swallowed up by film’s repetition and overlength. Many critics and horror fans thought highly of this (it does have some creepy moments) so you may want to judge for yourself. Continue reading →
June 10, 2018 “211” (*** out of four) was a jaggedly tense action thriller about a retiring police detective (Nicolas Cage) and his rookie son-in-law (Dwayne Cameron), who finds out that morning that his wife (Sophie Skelton) is pregnant, soon find themselves in the midst of an escalating bank heist involving international sharpshooters and terrorists. Nail-biting story never lets up and features one of Cage’s better roles and performances in a while. Refreshingly lean and short also, at only 86 minutes. Continue reading →
June 9, 2018 “Ocean’s 8” (*** out of four) was a fast and loose female reboot of the heist series about a recently released convict Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) who gathers an all-female crew (Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, and others) to attempt a daring heist at the yearly meeting at the NYC Met Gala involving a prime target (Anne Hathaway). Director Gary Ross ably duplicates the style and ease of director Steven Soderbergh from his previous “Ocean’s” films and the first-rate cast acquits themselves nicely. Blanchett is a standout as usual and Rihanna proves her acting flair in a dynamic supporting role. Continue reading →
June 8, 2018 “The Toxic Avenger: The Musical” (** out of four) was a mildly amusing musical (!) adaptation of the 1984 cult classic about a meek nerd who is thrown into toxic chemicals and becomes a crime-fighting avenger on the streets of New Jersey. One of the all-time strangest movies to possibly remake as a musical, this won’t win any Tony awards but isn’t nearly as bad as you might think. Some laughs and some decent musical numbers but it eventually runs out of steam. Come to think of it, though, this is better than the original movie which was a toxic mess. Continue reading →
June 8, 2018 “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (*** out of four) was a supremely entertaining sequel in which the two adventurers from the last entry (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) mount an expedition to rescue the remaining dinosaurs when a dormant volcano threatens their extinction but naturally things don’t go as planned and havoc ensues. By now, the basic plotline of all the “Jurassic” entries are familiar and predictable but this one more than entertains with first-rate visual effects and action scenes and plenty of hair-raising moments along the way. Both Pratt and Howard are superb and Jeff Goldblum makes a brief return as original scientist Ian Malcolm. Some sequences are strikingly similar to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original. Continue reading →
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