January 21, 2019 “Deadly Patient” (** out of four) was a deadly predictable “Fatal Attraction” clone (don’t studios ever get tired of making these?) about a dedicated and caring doctor (Bree Williamson) who saves the life of a patient (Eddie Matos) who soon becomes fixated on her and turns her life (and that of everyone around her) upside down. Easy to watch but is at the same time the type of movie you can easily predict within the first 10 minutes and features the genre’s usual contrivances and plot holes. Matos is creepy in the lead role. Continue reading →
January 21, 2019 “The Goblin” (* out of four) was a nearly unendurable mess set in the 1920’s about a young boy (Robert Levey II) imprisoned in a mansion by an abusive recluse mother (Nicole Hargrove) who begins to conjure ideas of escaping when a mysterious goblin in the closet comforts him in the dark. Even at only about an hour, you’ll feel more imprisoned than the boy by the end of this dreck. Cheapjack production and terrible filmmaking make this a real brutal watch. Re-watch “Hansel And Gretel” instead. Continue reading →
January 21, 2019 “Don’t Come Back From The Moon” (** out of four) was a hazy and distant adaptation of Dean Bakopoulos’ 2005 novel about a young boy (Jeffrey Wahlberg) who lives with his mom (Rashida Jones) and little brother (Zackary Arthur) and they try to keep it together when their father walks out on them and find that fathers abandoning their families has become a recurring trend in their small desert town. Director Bruce Thierry Cheung shows some flair for mood and pretty imagery but film unfortunately has little plot and never gathers any significant momentum as it plods along. James Franco has a small but key role as the boy’s father. Continue reading →
January 21, 2019 “Only Mine” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly diverting thriller melodrama about a young woman (Amber Midthunder) who is captivated by a charming cop (Brett Zimmerman) and they begin a relationship but once she tries to break it off, she realizes he is a serious sicko who doesn’t take rejection or heartache easily. Yet another “Fatal Attraction” clone with predictable plot twists and the usual logic gaps but it’s better than average, due to a solid cast and interesting dramatics involving the police and its subsequent internal affairs investigation. Continue reading →
January 20, 2019 “Glass” (** out of four) was a tiresome sequel to both “Unbreakable” and “Split” about security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) who uses his supernatural abilities to capture the multiple-personality serial killer Kevin Crumb (James Macavoy) and they all wind up in a mental hospital with Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) under the care of a psychiatrist (Sarah Paulson) who tries to suppress and help them eliminate their supernatural powers. Fans of the previous M. Night Shymalahan movies (I wasn’t) and comic book fanatics might like this better. Strong performances (Macavoy is amazing in his scenes) hold your interest for a while but pretentious dialogue and plot developments make this wearying and it never gets off the ground. The director has a minor role as a hospital security guard. Continue reading →
January 20, 2019 “The 6th Friend” (*1/2 out of four) was a by-the-numbers timewaster about six college friends (Dominque Swain, Jamie Bernadette, Chantelle Albers, and others) who reunite but the party is crashed by an uninvited guest which leads to a night of revelations and bloodshed. Anyone who has seen a few horror movies in their lifetime will have no difficulties figuring out who will survive and who won’t. For the same story told with much more styles and scares, watch “Sorority Row” or “Black Christmas” (or their remakes) instead. Continue reading →
January 19, 2019 “Boy, Erased” (*** out of four) was a powerfully affecting story of the son (Lucas Hedges) of a religious family (Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) who realizes he is gay and is then forced to participate in a church-supported gay conversion program run by an unsympathetic preacher (Joel Edgerton) which leads to him further questioning his religious, familial, and personal identity in life. Director and co-star Joel Edgerton audaciously tells his story without pulling any punches and puts you right there center with the young man and his moral and emotional crossroads in life. Perhaps goes too far at times (and too long) but this is one of the rare films about homosexuality that does not cop out and is exceeded by a uniformly strong cast. Continue reading →
January 19, 2019 “Halloween At Aunt Ethel’s” (* out of four) was an utterly lame and forgettable horror show about a nosy old biddy named Aunt Ethel (Gail Yost) who has become legend for making pumpkin pie and candy out of the kids who trick-or-treat at her house. On one such Halloween, a group of sexed-up sorority brats (Melissa Daddio, Madeleine Murphy, and others) attempt to find out the truth and put an end to her legend once and for all. They should have focused on putting an end to the movie instead. With a title like that, one knows not to be expecting any groundbreaking or Oscar fare but the movie delivers zero in the form of sick thrills or scares. Re-watch any of the “Halloween” entries instead. Continue reading →
January 18, 2019 “Turbulent” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty awful melodrama about a husband-and-wife (Jeff Rose and Faith Murphy) whose plane crashlands in the wilderness leaving them stranded as they try to fight for survival and film flashbacks to their unstable and estranged relationship beforehand which led to their pending divorce. Hollow and wooden dramatics and clumsy storytelling and staging make this a real chore to sit through and it would have helped if the husband or wife were the least bit likeable. Promoted as a thriller which it is not. This has no relation to the 1997 cult classic “Turbulence”. Continue reading →
January 17, 2019 “Doom Room” (0 stars out of four) was an embarrassingly awful horror melodrama about a woman (Johanna Stanton) who wakes up in a room with no memories of how she got there and becomes tormented by the usual sadistic doctors and stick figures (Claire Jared, Nicholas Ball, and others) and has to uncover the truth of who she is and how she can escape. It’s much easier to simply escape the movie. All but unwatchable story is loaded with inept filmmaking and hilariously awful acting. Continue reading →
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