September 11, 2018 “Fogg” (** out of four) was a muddled and unpleasant melodrama about a murderous sociopath named Fogg (Ryan Wotherspoon) who undergoes testing to understand and correct his sociopathic behavior but a neuroscientist (Hayden Blane) who is treating him finds out he murdered her sister and plans and enacts revenge. Cross-pollination of psychological study and revenge thriller is undone by characters you don’t care about and film’s oppressively aloof feel and texture. Even still, this won Best Picture at last year’s Canadian Film Festival. Continue reading →
September 10, 2018 “My Teacher, My Obsession” (** out of four) was an utterly by-the-numbers thriller about a high-school loner (Laura Belgeri) who transfers to a new school where she befriends a fellow loner (Lucy Loken) who gradually becomes infatuated with her father (Rusty Joiner) who is one of their teachers at school. Both predictable and confusing at times although good performances help keep it watchable. It’s movies like these that make you realize how much of a masterwork “Fatal Attraction” was after all the countless times it has been ripped off Continue reading →
September 10, 2018 “China Salesman” (** out of four) was a speedy but stupid Redbox action thriller about a Chinese IT engineer (Dong-xue Li) who volunteers to go to North Africa to help his communications company win a competition but becomes swept up in a violent control battle involving a mercenary (Steven Seagal) and a former general (Mike Tyson) which leads to all-out war. Probably the only chance you’ll ever have to see Seagal and Tyson in the same movie and in multiple fistfights but Seagal sleepwalks through the movie as usual and Tyson is a terrible actor. Packed with explosive action and hand-to-hand combat but sorely lacking in any plot coherence. Continue reading →
September 9, 2018 “Nanny Surveillance” (** out of four) was an enervatingly derivative and predictable thriller about a yuppie couple ( Talya Carroll and Adam Huber) still reeling from a break-in who hire a nutjob nanny (Cinta Laura Kiehl) to watch over their family but soon find out she has watched “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle” a few too many times and is bent on destroying them and destroying their home. Not bad for this kind of movie and relatively well-made and well-acted but you’ve seen all this before and better. Final showdown is especially weak and disappointing. Continue reading →
September 9, 2018 “Megalodon” (** out of four) was a routine but reasonably reasonably well-done shark thriller about a military vessel (led by Michael Madsen) on the search for an unidentified submarine but soon find themselves besieged and attacked by a giant shark of whose proportions have never been seen or measured before. The kind of movie that gets bankrolled and made to capitalize on the success of a much more popular one (“The Meg” as if anyone can’t guess from its title) but this is actually faster and more fun but yet too by-the-numbers to succeed overall. “Jaws” still outchews all its imitators over 40 years later. Continue reading →
September 8, 2018 “The Nun” (*1/2 out of four) was an unholy mess about a priest (Demian Bichir) with a troubled past and a novice (Taissa Farmiga) on the threshold of her final vows who are sent by the Vatican in 1952 to investigate the mysterious death of a nun in Romania which leads them to (yawn) a demonic nun and various paranormal activity. Allegedly a prequel to “The Conjuring” but you’d be hard-pressed to tell because it’s yet another umpteen religious horror movie about Satanism and exorcism within the church which makes you wish horror filmmakers would finally conjure up some new ideas. Film finally gets going in the final third but it’s too far gone to matter. Continue reading →
September 7, 2018 “Kin” (**1/2 out of four) was a fairly engrossing melodrama about a recently released ex-con (Jack Treynor) who is forced to go on the run with his younger brother (Miles Truitt) when his father (Dennis Quaid) is murdered by ruthless thugs (led by James Franco) and they are pursued by the Feds and only have a mysterious intergalactic weapon as their source of protection. Mix of violent criminal underworld action, sentimental family story, and George Lucas-style science fiction takes on more than it can handle and starts to ring hollow but it’s entertaining nonetheless and made worthwhile by strong and sincere performances. Franco, in particular, is terrific and dominates all of his scenes. Continue reading →
September 6, 2018 “The Dawnseeker” (** out of four) was a wholly derivative sci/fi thriller set in the year 2245 in yet another futuristic wasteland in which five mercenaries (Franziska Schissler, Jason Skeen, Alexander Kane, and others) who travel to an uncharted planet to collect a rare mineral but when their spaceship crashlands- they are hunted and besieged by an unholy creature bent on eradicating mankind. Made almost entirely of parts of other and better sci/fi movies (“Predator”, “Alien”, and naturally “Blade Runner” just to name a few) but moves fast enough and features enough gunplay and slick visual effects to make it watchable. Neither the best nor worst of its kind but OK for what it is. Continue reading →
September 5, 2018 “Butterfly Caught” (*** out of four) was a searing melodrama about three aspiring actresses (Alex Sgambati, Jess Jacobs, Abigail Klein) who attempt to break into the competitive acting scene in Los Angeles but find that drugs, despair, and various disappointments make their road far more difficult and less glamorous than they imagined. Film often recalls “Requiem For A Dream” in its narrative style and tone and like that film- it is sometimes difficult to watch but offers many harsh and powerful moments. Solidly acted and made in very naturalistic fashion. An impressive directorial debut for writer-director Manny Rodriguez, Jr. who in spite of the subject matter never condescends or exploits his characters or their plights. Continue reading →
September 4, 2018 “UFO” (** out of four) was a dour sci/fi conspiracy thriller about a college student (Alex Sharp) who witnesses a UFO and consults with his stern professor (Gillian Anderson) and his friends to investigate its mathematic and scientific origins while the FBI (led by David Straithairn) follows closely behind. Story about alien sightings, government coverups, and paranormal activity is weirdly earthbound and you wish it were more fun. Sharp is strong in the lead role and Anderson is amusingly cast since she’s the star of “The X Files.” For a more entertaining look at a very similar story, watch 1996′ “The Arrival” instead. Continue reading →
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