October 31, 2019 “The Informer” (*** out of four) was an engrossing melodrama about a former criminal turned undercover informant (Joel Kinnaman) who has to go into federal prison on a last assignment but doesn’t realize the federal agents he’s working for (Clive Owen and Rosamund Pike) have an agenda of their own and he is caught up in a much larger conspiracy and operation than he realizes. Plenty of twists and turns in this familiar but entertaining story. Owen is aces in a role he can probably play in his sleep by now, Common is strong in his umpteenth role as a hard-boiled cop, and Kinnaman carries the movie in probably his best performance yet. A small gem all around Continue reading →
October 31, 2019 “Late Night” (** out of four) was a tiresome comedy about a late-night talk-show host (Emma Thompson) who has to sadly realize her glory days may be behind her and she hires a female writer (Mindy Kaling) to spice things up but this results in her losing control of her own show. Starts off funny and sharp, with engaging performances from Thompson and Kaling, but then flattens out and becomes repetitive and one-note and loses its comic punch. John Lithgow is wasted in a throwaway supporting role Continue reading →
October 29, 2019 “Water” (* out of four) was an almost completely inept horror film about various people (Sanel Budimlic, Big Brody, Amy Faithe, and others) living on an estate who soon come to realize that the water in their surroundings is taking on a life of its own and is resulting in strange occurrences taking place. Utterly dehydrated movie is amateurishly told and practically incoherent at times. Writer/director Phillip Penza seems to be trying to make a social commentary point with this story but what the hell is it? Lorenzo Lamas is wasted in a small supporting role. Continue reading →
October 28, 2019 “Black And Blue” (*** out of four) was a nerve-wracking thriller about a rookie police officer (Naomie Harris) in New Orleans who witnesses a corrupt fellow officer (Frank Grillo) committing murder and is shot but survives and has to struggle to stay alive with her body camera evidence while the rest of the police force and the community hunt her down! Tensely paced and staged and never stops moving even though story starts to get unbelievable in its final third, with credibility strained to the breaking point in its finale. Strong performances all around, especially Harris and Grillo. Continue reading →
October 28, 2019 “Girl On The Third Floor” (** out of four) was a muddled horror melodrama about a family man (Phil “CM Punk” Brooks) who tries to renovate a rundown mansion for his family (Trieste Kelly Dunn and Elissa Dowling) but soon finds out it has a troubled history and strange occurrences start happening. Reasonably well-directed and well shot but never really gets off the ground and doesn’t feature anything that “The Amityville Horror” didn’t cover much better over 40 years ago! Brooks is relatively good in his feature debut but is lucky to have other employment Continue reading →
October 26, 2019 “Rattlesnake” (** out of four) was a tepid melodrama about a young mother (Carmen Ejogo) whose daughter is bit by a poisonous rattlesnake along a desolate strand of road in the SouthWest. She accepts the help of a mysterious woman who gives her daughter rejuvenating powers but subsequently finds that she has made a deal with the devil and has to kill an innocent person for this deal to be finalized. Intriguing story keeps you tensely in its grip for a while but then wanders off and loses its grip as story unfolds in too many different directions. Ejogo’s palpable and believable performance make this worth watching, at least for a little while. Continue reading →
October 25, 2019 “Blue” (** out of four) was an overreaching emotional melodrama about a young woman (Callie Schuttera) suffering from depression and anxiety who is fired from her job and loses her grandmother and then attempts suicide and is placed in a hospital where she has to re-evaluate her life. Give writer-director Gabriela Ledesma points for tacking tough subject matter but in attempting to make a movie about the difficulties of finding help for one’s mental health, an indictment about the health care system, and personal/professional relationship problems- she’s taken on more than she can juggle and it grows tiresome after a while. Byetheway, for hard-core film fanatics like me- this is not a remake of Krzystof Kieslowski’s 1993 “Blue” which covered a similar storyline. Continue reading →
October 25, 2019 “Terminator: Dark Fate” (*** out of four) was a rock-solid entry in this legendary series marking the return of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) as she has to team up with the elderly terminator from the original (Arnold Schwarzennegger) and a bionically enhanced human sent from the future (Mackenzie Davis) to protect a young girl (Natalia Reyes) from an enhanced futuristic cyborg (Gabriel Luna) who is programmed to kill. Sixth entry is a direct sequel to “T2” and is the easily the best entry since then; packed with the usual large-scale action and impressive visual effects but anchored like a rock by Hamilton and her chemistry with Arnold and also Davis which makes this stand out from its unnecessary previous entries. Opening scene of C.G.I. work with Hamilton and Edward Furlong is a wow! Original visionary James Cameron returns here as executive producer and this is the first entry in years that bears some of the emotional power of the first two. Continue reading →
October 23, 2019 “Full Count” (** out of four) was a mawkish melodrama about a promising young pitcher (John Paul Kakos) who is forced to give up his dream of being a professional baseball player when his father (Jason London) dies and he has to return home to support the family farm and is placed at a personal/professional/economic crossroads in life. Earnest story has some effective moments in its first half but story goes in all different directions in its second half, especially as it goes into extra innings and goes on too long. Not a strike out but doesn’t connect emotionally as it should. Continue reading →
October 22, 2019 “Don’t Look” (*1/2 out of four) was a sub-routine horror show about five friends from NYC (Luciana Falhaber, Jeff Berg, Lindsay Eshelman, and others) who venture out to the countryside for a weekend in which they are (yawn) terrorized and mauled by a group of hillbilly rednecks who apparently couldn’t wait for “Deliverance” to be remade. Seriously- how many horror movies have there been by now with more-or-less this exact same story? Even the killers look bored and seem to be just going through the motions. “Don’t Watch” would have been a more apt title for this time-waster. Continue reading →
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