August 31, 2019 “Mean Girls” (*** out of four) was a colorful musical adaptation of the 2004 classic about a new girl in school (Erika Henningson) trying to find herself and gets taken in by a nasty clique called The Plastics (Taylor Louderman, Krystina Alabado, Kate Rockwell) who make their own rules. Not as “fetch” or as ruthlessly clever as the original film but agreeably performed and designed and entertaining. One complaint: why did they cast actors for Regina George and Karen Smith who look exactly alike? (Sometimes it was hard to tell them apart) Continue reading →
August 31, 2019 “Bat Out Of Hell” (*** out of four) was an extravagant adaptation of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman’s blockbuster 1977 album stretched out into a story of a rebel named Strat (Andrew Polec) who falls in love with a girl named Raven (Christina Bennington) while civilization and society around them are crumbling into chaos. Thin storyline won’t hold up to much scrutiny but visually dazzling and glitzy musical numbers literally take center stage and make this entertaining. This incorporates music from all three “Bat Out Of Hell” albums, not only the first. Fans of Steinman and his over-the-top approach will definitely like this; others needn’t bother. Kudos to production designer Ryan J. Bell and for including one of Meat Loaf’s most overlooked gems “Dead Ringer (For Love)”. Continue reading →
August 29, 2019 “Youth In Oregon” (** out of four) was a disappointing melodramatic comedy about a man (Billy Crudup) who is tasked with driving his strong-willed father in law (Frank Langella) to be euthanized in Oregon and along the way attempts to help him rediscover his reason for living and his love of life. Good cast tries to pump all the humor and drama they can into this uneasy material but it’s too thin and contrived to work. Christina Applegate, Mary Kay Place, and Josh Lucas round out the under-utilized supporting cast. Continue reading →
August 28, 2019 “2:22” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average DVD thriller about an air-traffic controller (Michael Huisman) whose life gradually unfolds in an ominous pattern of events that repeats itself in the same manner ending at 2:22 P.M. Is he losing his mind or does this particular time carry some significance? Stylishly done thriller moves fast and is loaded with portent but becomes overreaching after a while and wears out. Intelligent screenplay by Todd Stein with Hitchcockian overtones may have worked better as a short story. Continue reading →
August 28, 2019 “The Good Nanny” (** out of four) was a plodding and predictable thriller about a strong-willed nanny (Briana Evigan) who takes a job at a luxurious estate taking care of a beautiful young girl (Sophie Guest) but she soon comes to realize that things aren’t quite right with her parents (Peter Porte and Ellen Hollman) and she attempts to uncover the mystery of what’s really going on. Attractively shot and competently acted but offers little in the way of surprises or thrills and seems to be following a much-too-familiar format. Tatyana Ali has a key supporting role but you wonder whether all these direct-to-tv movies are “good” for her career or not. Continue reading →
August 28, 2019 “Pilgrimage” (* out of four) was a miserable bore set in 13th century Ireland in which a group of monks (Richard Armitage John Lynch, Jon Berthal, and others) and a young novice (Tom Holland) must escort a sacred relic across a landscape and face danger which cause them all to re-examine their personal and religious beliefs in life. Molasses-moving story takes its time but has no real story to tell. What the hell is Holland doing in this movie? Don’t make the “pilgrimage” to Redbox for this time-waster. Continue reading →
August 28, 2019 “Big Top Evil” (*1/2 out of four) was a gory, one-note horror freak show about five delinquent youths (J. Larose, Austin Judd, and others) who embark on a road trip to locate the site of a mad slasher and instead end up lost and pursued by a group of cannibal clowns (led by Bill Moseley). Imagine Rob Zombie’s “The Devil Rejects” with no laughs but plenty of gore and crude humor (and clowns) and you’ve got an idea of what to expect here. Moseley seems to be more-or-less playing the same role he did in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” and he’s just as over-the-top and annoying. Continue reading →
August 28, 2019 “Midsommar” (*1/2 out of four) was a stultifying horror drama about a couple (Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor) who travel to Sweden to visit a rural mid-summer festival and go on an isolated retreat but they are instead taken into an increasingly lurid and violent competition by a mysterious pagan cult. Director Ari Aster utilizes a hypnotic mood and visual style that may remind you of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”……….but you soon realize that’s all the movie is, since it moves like molasses and goes on forever at nearly two-and-a-half hours. Many critics and fans thought highly of this but I’m not one of them. Continue reading →
August 27, 2019 “The Wizard Of Lies” (** out of four) was a superficial drama centered around Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro) whose corrupt empire crumbled when his Ponzi scheme was exposed as it defrauded $65 billion from unsuspecting victims and became the largest fraud in U.S. history. Director Barry Levinson bombards you with financial and personal details of Madoff and his family but never really tells you much about him you don’t already know and doesn’t get into his motivations or backstory leaving this film with a frustrating aloofness. De Niro is OK in the lead but Michelle Pfeiffer fares best as his struggling wife Ruth Madoff. This marks their fourth collaboration together. Continue reading →
August 27, 2019 “Residue” (** out of four) was a mindless horror thriller about a private investigator (James Clayton) who reads a book involving sinister origins and unwittingly puts him and his daughter (Taylor Hickson) in jeopardy in a fight for their lives in which nothing is what it appears. Attempt to mix together elements of fantasy, horror, and underworld melodrama scores points for originality but becomes tiresome after a while. Matt Frewer is amusingly over-the-top as a criminal boss but Clayton is one-note and blank in the lead. Continue reading →
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