September 30, 2019 “The Curse Of Buckout Road” (** out of four) was a trite horror story about a group of kids (Evan Ross, Dominique Provost-Chalkey, and others) who soon discover that urban legend regarding evil spirits on Buckout Road is terrifyingly real; meanwhile a hard-nosed cop (Henry Czerny) and a criminal psychiatrist (Danny Glover) try to investigate and sort all of this out. Good cast and director do what they can with tired material. It’s fun to see the usually villainous Czerny in a role as a cop and Glover is strong as always but this is still overcome by the overall “curse” of other and better movies. Continue reading →
September 28, 2019 “Obsession” (** out of four) was a fairly predictable Southern potboiler about a drifter (Mekhi Phifer) who is taken in by a wealthy landowner (Brad Dourif) and starts a steamy affair with his wife (Elika Portnoy) and they conspire to kill him and free her from her loveless marriage. Not all that different from “The Postman Always Rings Twice” except this one lacks atmosphere and sizzle. Good performances help keep it watchable but it never ignites like it should. Continue reading →
September 28, 2019 “10 Minutes Gone” (*** out of four) was a searing action melodrama about an underworld mobster (Michael Chiklis) trying to go straight but whose memory has been lost and cannot piece together the 10 minutes of a bank heist gone wrong and has to reconnect his memory and his conscience to find out if he was double-crossed by the ruthless CEO (Bruce Wilis) in charge or others so he can save his- and others’- lives. Tense story never takes a breath and is anchored and gripped by Chiklis who has never been more commanding or charismatic before in a lead role. A small-handed winner all around. Continue reading →
September 27, 2019 “Lie Low” (** out of four) was an elegantly made but empty horror story about a young man (Aaron Thomas Ward) who witnesses a gruesome stabbing and escapes to the French countryside with his family (Debra Baker, Isis Davis, and others) but soon finds that personal and psychological demons from the past threaten to haunt (and kill) them all. Several strong performances and some hallucinogenic and hypnotic visuals from director and cinematographer Jamie Noel hold your attention for a while but you soon realize that the story is much ado about nothing after a while. A film made up of strong components that unfortunately don’t congeal into a satisfying whole. Continue reading →
September 27, 2019 “Artik” (*1/2 out of four) was a wretched melodrama about a comic-book inspired serial killer (Jerry G. Angelo) who teaches his son (Gavin White) to get away with a series of brutal murders until the boy befriends a mysterious man (Chase Williamson) who threatens to expose them and put an end to their reign of murder once and for all. Promising story of cross-pollinating comic books and horror movies is completely botched, as film is in-your-face and unpleasant. Even at only an hour and 18 minutes, this still is pretty tough-going. Continue reading →
September 26, 2019 “Bare Knuckle Brawler” (** out of four) was a pretty routine action melodrama about a cop (Pete Passaro) who returns home and finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation of two bare-knuckle fighters but the plot thickens when his brother (Jesse Kove) is murdered and he himself has to enter the world bare-knuckle fighting to uncover his killer and solve the murder. By-the-numbers story of underground fighting and organized crime; not bad but nothing terribly original. Martin Kove is amusingly cast as a martial instructs instructor and seems to be playing John Creese all over again. Danny Trejo glowers and mumbles his way through his umpteenth role as a crime boss. Continue reading →
September 25, 2019 “Seeds” (* out of four) was an exceptionally dry and dull horror story about a young guy (Trevor Long) whose life is spiralling out of control and retreats to his family home along the New England coast but thereafter is haunted by paranormal activity which further threatens his sanity and safety. More fun may have ensued had he retreated back to a dusty street in the West with, say, Ben Stein and even the New England scenery looks dreary and depressing. Avoid at all costs. Continue reading →
September 24, 2019 “Doom: Annihilation” (**1/2 out of four) was a generally entertaining reboot of the Id video game series about a group of UAC marines (Louis Mandylor, Amy Manson, Nina Bergman, and others) who respond to a distress call on a top-secret scientific laboratory on a martian moon and soon find it has been overrun by ravenous demons and that they’re on the menu. Lots of action and visual effects to give action and video-game fans their money’s worth; just don’t look for too much in the way of character development or a story. Either way, this is a definite improvement over the doomed 2005 disaster with The Rock. Continue reading →
September 24, 2019 “The Wolf Hour” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary, ugly story set in the summer of 1977 in which a woman (Naomi Watts) who was once a counterculture figure has cut herself off from the outside world and is now a recluse in her South Bronx apartment but she continues to look at the escalating chaos and violence that is occurring outside her window and in the outside world. Don’t look for more plot than that or much else. Watts is much better than the material. This may have worked better as a play but it’s awfully tough to take as a feature-length film. Continue reading →
September 23, 2019 “Running With The Devil” (*** out of four) was a harrowing melodrama about the international drug trade as it effects different classes and elements of life; a ruthless C.E.O. (Barry Pepper) who has a lucrative side business involved in cocaine, a restaurant owner (Nicholas Cage) who is trying to be a family man, an operative (Laurence Fishburne) who has been developing a problem with using which is affecting his reliability, and a federal agent (Leslie Bibb) trying to make a difference in society by putting a stop to drugs and their influx. Impefect, as story sometimes wanders and lacks the grandeur and complexity of the similarly themed “Traffic”, but still holds you by the collar with its tense filmmaking and good performances. Cage is particularly strong in an unusual role for him. Continue reading →
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