May 25, 2019 “Shed Of The Dead” (*1/2 out of four) was an utterly stupid horror story about a middle-aged loser (Spencer Brown) who accidentally kills his landlord which unknowingly leads to the zombie apocalypse and he has to rise to the challenge and become the warrior hero he’s always aspired to. Hard to believe but George Romero’s classic “Night Of The Living Dead” had more wit and style (and scares) over 50 years ago than this trifle. Stephen Murphy’s stylish cinematography is the only asset. Kane Hodder has a small but pivotal role. Can’t someone give him a good comeback already? Continue reading →
May 25, 2019 “The Perfection” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly disturbing psychodrama about two musical prodigies (Allison Williams and Logan Browning) who meet up while on a trip in China but things take a sinister turn when one of them gets ill. And that’s just the beginning of the story! First-two thirds are creepy and alluring, with a jigsaw-puzzle style that is reminiscent of David Cronenberg and Christopher Nolan. BUT unfortunately film’s final third goes astray and becomes extremely weird and off-putting and film’s ending is obscure and unsatisfying. An unusual but highly original film. Williams and Browning are perfection in the leads and make this worth sticking through. Continue reading →
May 24, 2019 “Aladdin” (** out of four) was an unnecessary live-action remake of the 1992 Disney classic about a street urchin named Aladdin (Mena Massoud) who discovers a magic lamp that unearths a genie (Will Smith) that enables him to find love with a beautiful princess (Naomi Scott) and later leads to violent conflict with the evil Jafar (Marwan Kenzari). Pleasant enough, with striking cinematography and some great set pieces (“A Whole New World” is a real wow in particular), but film is let down by a lack of a magic and fire. Director Guy Ritchie tries to throw in everything that money can buy but film never generates a sense of wonder that the original did. Continue reading →
May 24, 2019 “A Brilliant Monster” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless melodrama about a best-selling writer (Dennis Friebe) who has a monstrous secret: all his ideas come from an otherworldly creature in his upstairs room to whom he feeds unsuspecting women who he lures to his house. Friebe (who looks like a psychotic Chris Pine) is creepy in the lead but film is stupid and ugly and (after a while) boring. It’s hard to believe a writer with this much fame could stay so anonymous but credibility and intelligence aren’t these films strong points. Continue reading →
May 23, 2019 “Unwritten” (*1/2 out of four) was an almost unendurable psychological drama about an agoraphobic writer (Gabriel Burrafacto) who begins to spiral into unsanity when his estranged daughter (Brittany Hoza) shows up to try to resume their relationship and an unfinished story which he began years starts to haunt him. Hoza is good as his daughter but film is uninvolving, uninspired, and unpleasant. Despite film’s title, film sure could have used both a better writer and director. Continue reading →
May 22, 2019 “Trickster” (* out of four) was a pretty lame horror story without much tricks or treats about a nightmarish character called the Trickster who invades other’s subconsciousness and forces them to question the difference between reality and dreamworld and the hapless townsfolk (Erica Jenkins, Derek Thompson, and others) caught in the middle. Yet there’s no question that anyone who makes it to the end will be stuck in dreamworld because the film is a real snooze. Likeable enough cast can’t do anything with this weak material. Continue reading →
May 22, 2019 “Room 37: The Mysterious Death Of Johnny Thunders” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary melodrama which focuses on famed New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders (Leo Ramsey) and his last days in New Orleans when he checked into a hotel to straighten his life out but then died under mysterious and still unresolved circumstances. Interesting at first but becomes so lurid, cerebral, and unpleasant after a while that it winds up trash. Ramsey looks a little like Thunders, and does what he can with a paper-thin script, but you can’t put your arms around a memory. 2014’s “Looking For Johnny” was a much more incisive look at Thunders and his life. Continue reading →
May 21, 2019 “The Professor” (*** out of four) was a rewarding melodrama about an overly controlled college professor (Johnny Depp) who realizes he has terminal cancer and then decides to live his life with reckless abandon regardless of its consequences and then gradually begins to have the looming realization that his life is about to come to an end. Depp’s first-rate (and entertaining) performance highlights this unexpectedly moving and funny film. Uneven at times, with a few scenes that seem unnecessary, but still one of Depp’s best performances and films in years, and an interesting addition to his gallery of eccentric characters. Continue reading →
May 21, 2019 “Hunting Evil” (*1/2 out of four) was a graceless horror thriller about two former college roommates (Lanny Rethaber, Orchid Tao) who reunite years later to try and put an end to a ghost that is incurring paranormal behavior around a household and tearing apart the lives of a suburban family. Too much mumbo and jumbo and not enough scares or thrills in this routine clunker. Corbin Bernsen has a small role as the family patriarch but maybe it’s not a bad idea for him to find out about making “Major League 4.” Continue reading →
May 18, 2019 “Zoombies 2” (*1/2 out of four) was a mindless horror story which is sure to win an award for most unnecessary sequel of the year; when a game ranger (Jonathon Buckley) arrests poachers in the jungle, they soon find themselves surrounded by the title zombie animals and they both must form an uneasy alliance to stop the beasts from leaving the jungle and spreading the zombie virus to the rest of the world. You seen one animal attack, I think you’ve pretty much seen ’em all by now. Film is strictly for those who thought the recent “Pet Sematary” remake was too tame and tasteful. Continue reading →
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