November 18, 2018 “Bohemian Rhapsody” (***1/2 out of four) was a sweeping biography of the legendary rock group Queen whose flamboyant lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) drove them to artistic and performing heights but succumbed to AIDS at 45. Malek is nothing short of sensational in the lead role and always gives you the sense that you are watching the actual Freddie Mercury in front of you. Films musical numbers are electric and climax at Live Aid in 1985 is spectacular! Some historical inaccuracies and superficiality to be sure but never fails to be entertaining. Supporting cast members are dead-ringers for Queen members and Mike Myers is amusingly cast (and unrecognizable) as a defensive record exec who says that “teenagers will never bang their heads in cars to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody'”. Continue reading →
November 18, 2018 “Texas Cotton” (**1/2 out of four) was a richly atmospheric and detailed story of corruption in a small Texas town as an aging lawman (Vincent Berger) becomes convinced that a stranger arrested is innocent which uncovers coverups and corruption leading back to his sergeant (George Hardy) and the town’s mayor (Jason Douglas). Engrossing story of power and politics and murder holds your attention without ever quite stirring your emotions or taking flight and is lukewarm as a result. Obviously inspired by the works of Sam Peckinpah and also Walter Hill but never transcends its origins. Continue reading →
November 17, 2018 “Nobody’s Fool” (** out of four) was an occasionally amusing but shrill comedy about a woman (Tika Sumpter) in an online relationship with a man (Mehcad Brooks) who may not be what he appears and all this is complicated by the return of her sister (Tiffany Haddish) who has just gotten home from prison. Fans of Haddish (I’m not) and writer-director Tyler Perry may want to boost rating by a star but regardless, it’s a mixed bag at best and wears out after a while. Whoopi Goldberg adds some laughs as the girl’s mother. Byetheway, this is not a remake of the 1986 Roseanna Arquette comedy although story is somewhat similar. Continue reading →
November 17, 2018 “Brute Sanity” (*1/2 out of four) was a brutally awful sci/fi thriller about an F.B.I. neuropsychologist (Adjovi Koene) teams up with a thief (Steven Lawlor Jones) to find a mind-altering device that unleashes virtual reality while her megalomaniacal former boss (Sam Vanivray) plants both physical and psychological traps to try and stop her. It’s much easier to simply stop the movie instead. Intriguing ideas and premise is totally botched, as film becomes crushingly monotonous and murky. Bad acting and wooden direction is no help. It’s movies like these that make you appreciate “The Matrix” that much more nearly 20 years later. Continue reading →
November 17, 2018 “Lake Fear 3” (** out of four) was a more-of-the-same sequel about the continuing horrors of Remmington (Joshua Winch) who escaped the evil cabin of the last entry but comes in contact with a couple (Katelyn Newberry and Shanon Snedden) looking for their missing sister and also a failing t.v.-show host (Devi Khajishvili) and all their lives and sanity are soon threatened. By the very low standards of these direct-to-DVD horror sequels, this isn’t bad and features enough gore and horror to give fans their money’s worth, but you’ve seen it all before and done better. Let’s hold off on a fourth entry until Fangoria Magazine comes back into production. Continue reading →
November 17, 2018 “Speed Kills” (** out of four) was a perfectly watchable but unexceptional underworld crime melodrama about a speedboat racing champion and multimillionaire (John Travolta) who leads a double life involving the mob (including James Remar as Meyer Lansky and Tom Sizemore as a mob enforcer) and various illegal affairs that eventually end his marriage to his wife (Jennifer Esposito) and seal his demise. Travolta tries hard but is simply too old to convincingly play more-or-less the same role that Johnny Depp did in “Blow” years ago which this film emulates. Fast-paced and reasonably well-made but appears to be following a much-too-familiar pattern and predictability. It’s routine B-movies like these that “killed” Travolta’s career a second time. Continue reading →
November 16, 2018 “Death Of A Nation” (** out of four) was a scattershot documentary from right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Sousza focusing on Trump’s presidential win and how he claims it was set in motion by the idealism of liberals going back to Lincoln’s presidency which had oppressed freedom and truth (or something or other). Attempt to link Trump’s current presidency and events to Lincoln’s office term and even Hitler and Stalin’s regime (!) doesn’t work although he does present some thought-provoking and interesting ideas as usual. Whether you like D’Sousza (or Trump) will surely affect your enjoyment of the film. An interesting companion piece to D’Sousza’s own “2016: Obama’s America.” Continue reading →
November 16, 2018 “No Good Deed” (*1/2 out of four) was no good movie about a successful businesswoman (Haley Webb) who meets a young girl (Haley Pullos) who is from her same sorority and they spark an unlikely (read: contrived) friendship and the woman is painfully unaware of the girl’s suspicious and psychotic behavior even as she begins to take over her life. Apparently, this woman never watched “Fatal Attraction” or “The Crush” or “Single White Female” or the hundreds of other movies this liberally rips off. Thoroughly predictable and by-the-numbers although Webb is decent in the lead. Continue reading →
November 16, 2018 “Lasso” (*1/2 out of four) was a clunky horror comedy about a tour group (led by Lindsey Morgan and Andrew Jacobs) who go to a rodeo where the nutty local cowboys start abducting and killing them one at a time. “Scream” made fun of horror movies like this and turned them inside out over 20 years ago. Inauspicious directorial debut for visual effects specialist Evan Cecil. Sean Patrick Flannery has a minor role as (what else?) one of the local rednecks but he should finally start trying to lasso himself some better parts. Continue reading →
November 15, 2018 “Nazi Overlord” (** out of four) was a wholly derivative but entertaining horror thriller in which a D-Day invasion becomes ugly when a determined group of American soldiers (Anthony Jensen, Matthew Amerman, Greg Furman) become trapped behind enemy lines and find that the Nazis are performing numerous experiments on soldiers and they struggle to escape. The kind of B-movie that is bankrolled to capitalize on the success of a much larger-scale one (in this case “Overlord” if you hadn’t guessed) but the story, title, and even characters are so copied it’s almost plagiarism. Having said that, it’s fast-paced and features plenty of action and cheeky humor. Dominique Swain shows up and adds some style as a Nazi doctor and Tom Sizemore as a cameo as the boy’s sergeant. Continue reading →
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