November 24, 2018 “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” (*1/2 out of four) was a lumbering second entry in J.K. Rowling’s blockbuster series about the continuing adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) as they attempt to thwart the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp looking embalmed) as they try to stay alive in a more divided wizard world. Liliting and magical at first but soon sputters to a halt and becomes surprisingly dull and only comes back alive at its climax. Some spectacular effects as you would expect but overall comes up empty. Die-hard “Harry Potter” fans may like this better but it’s less-than-fantastic for the rest of us. Continue reading →
November 24, 2018 “Widows” (** out of four) was a murky melodrama set in contemporary Chicago about four wives (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo) whose husbands die in a botched robbery leading them to take the law into their own hands to try and preserve their financial stability and future while elsewhere a corrupt politician (Colin Farrell) tries to live up to the political legacy of his father (Robert Duvall) leading them all on a collision course of moral ambiguity and fate. Great cast is stranded by a screenplay which meanders in unnecessary directions and rarely connects with any emotional power. And how many endings does the film expect us to sit through? Farrell stands out as usual and him and Duvall play well off each other but Liam Neeson and Garret Dillahunt are frivolously wasted in supporting roles. Continue reading →
November 23, 2018 “Graveyard Stories” (* out of four) was an amateurish and inept horror anthology narrated by actors Lloyd Kaufman and Jim O’Rear who tell 5 dreary stories of a masked killer, a mummy, a black magic doll, a hungry goblin, and ghosts haunting a corrupt cop. None of them is worth listening to. Obviously inspired by “Tales From The Darkside” and “Creepshow” but this makes those movies look like HItchcock in his prime by comparison. Terrible acting is by far the scariest element in the film. Continue reading →
November 23, 2018 “Truth Or Double Dare” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster horror thriller about a 2006 graduating class (Shaquita Smith, Gina Hiraizumi, Alyx Libby, and others) who reunite for their 10-year reunion but find that a killer is on the loose and is centering his murders around a game of truth or dare. A more daunting (and more entertaining) game may have involved daring viewers to watch this schlock in its entirety but they would likely have no takers. Co-star Smith also directed but the sad truth is she shows little flair at either Continue reading →
November 22, 2018 “The Perfect Mother” (*1/2 out of four) was a perfectly dismal thriller about a mean girl in high school (Audrey Whitby) who has already killed her own mother and will stop at nothing to make a popular bonding vlogger (Sunny Maybrey) her new mom, even if that means displacing the woman’s real daughter (Lili Sepe)……..and we’re into another bad “Fatal Attraction”/”The Crush”/”The Good Son” clone. Full of the genre’s usual plot holes and contrivances and dumb dialogue. Not exactly ideal Thanksgiving family entertainment Continue reading →
November 22, 2018 “Born Racer” (**1/2 out of four) was an overall endearing look at the live-and-die lifestyles of auto racers (Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kannaan, and others) and their camaraderie and bonding on-and-off the the track and its multitude of effects on both their mental and physical health and their families and their stability in trying to adapt to regular lifestyles. Interesting and perceptive look at the bond and brotherhood of those who face sudden death every day at work and features some good auto-racing footage, but film is too often superficial and you often wish it would go deeper and would further explore the long-term affects of those who enter in to this dangerous world. Continue reading →
November 21, 2018 “Aliens vs. Titanic” (* out of four) was a hilariously awful horror comedy about a group of space travelers (Tasha Tacosa, Robert Rhine, Brenton Jones, and others) aboard a humongous star-liner which is besieged by a sudden meteor storm which unleashes a deadly biological alien form aboard the ship which (yawn) threatens mankind. Laughably bad acting is matched by terrible script and direction and cheesy special effects and sets and one of the most unlistenable music scores in recent memory. With a title like that, you know not to expect Oscar fare but it’s worthless on almost every level and makes you think what “Aliens” would look like had it been directed by Ed Wood instead of James Cameron. Continue reading →
November 21, 2018 “A Reckoning” (** out of four) was a sputtering Western melodrama about a wife (June Dietrich) who enjoys her life home on the range but whose husband is brutally murdered and she leaves everything behind to seek frontier vengeance and hunt down his killer (Todd A. Robinson) but finds that the road to revenge is a difficult trail for her. Beautiful photography and stirring music score are definite plusses but story is logy and never develops significant or sufficient momentum. Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah used to make richer Westerns than this in their sleep. Lance Henriksen and Meg Foster show up in minor supporting roles but I can reckon that these aren’t the comeback roles they were hoping for. Continue reading →
November 20, 2018 “May The Devil Take You” (**1/2 out of four) was an extremely gory and stylish Indonesian horror show about a young woman (Chelsea Islan) whose father falls into a sudden coma and she returns to his old villa to find more answers about his condition but her and her stepsister uncover dark truths which include graphic bloodshed and threaten to destroy their sanity and the rest of their family. Director Timo Tjahnjanto shows flashes of originality and horror in ways that seem a throwback to the early works of Wes Craven and Sam Raimi but the violence and ugliness gets a little over-the-top after a while and film loses some of its impact by going on too long. Still, though, a considerable cut above most American horror movies and definitely worthwhile for horror and gore fans. Continue reading →
November 19, 2018November 19, 2018 “The Farm” (*1/2 out of four) was a grisly exploitation platter about a young couple (Nora Yessayan and Alec Gaylord) who get kidnapped and treated like farm animals after they stop at a roadsider diner to eat meat and are pursued by (who else?) local rednecks. Promising idea for a fun horror story is done in by needless gore and unpleasantness and basic horror-cliches. Movies like these make you realize what a masterwork the original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Wrong Turn” really were. Continue reading →
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