June 4, 2020 “Equal Standard” (*** out of four) was a searing police melodrama about the intersection of various cops and criminals in NYC and how one seasoned African-American detective (Marc John Jefferies) survives a shooting and tries to maintain his own moral compass as he finds himself at a crossroads in his life involving his career and family. Timely subject matter involving police brutality and corruption is told from numerous points-of-view and gets points for not being a simple pro-or-anti message movie and also (more importantly) being completely believable. Well-acted and well-captured on authentic NYC locations. Only detriment: supporting cast including Ice-T, Treach, and Fredro Starr are underutilized. Continue reading →
June 4, 2020 “They Reach” (** out of four) was a blah horror story set in 1979 in which a young girl (Mary Madaline Roe) stumbles upon a possessed tape player that unleashes a demonic entity that threatens to take her family and her surrounding small town straight to Hell. Tepid mixture of small-town drama, coming-of-age story, and supernatural horror elements. Competently directed and made but lacks the scares and electricity to make this really satisfying. All-too-obviously inspired by Stephen King’s “It” and “Stand By Me”. Continue reading →
June 3, 2020 “The Captive Nanny” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty stupid horror melodrama which holds the audience captive for nearly two hours in which a young woman (Karynn Moore) is hired as the nanny for a wealthy couple (Michael Aaron Milligan and Austin Highsmith) who turn out to be seriously loony but she finds this out too little and too late in which she then has to survive and defeat them. Passable beginning soon goes haywire as plot goes in a multitude of different directions without making much sense. Fran Drescher could have written a far funnier and scarier nanny story than this. Continue reading →
June 2, 2020 “Danny’s Game” (*1/2 out of four) was an uninvolving melodrama about an ex-con (Joshua Ungaretti) released from prison who owes for his protection in prison and gets lured back into high-stakes gambling and poker games against the mobsters who protected him and other various mobsters who want him killed while his brother (Mike Bredon) and girlfriend (Ava Justin) are all caught in the middle. Bredon is good as his brother but Ungaretti’s unlikeable character and performance and overall plot unpleasantness makes this a losing hand. “The Sting” told almost the same story far more mesmerically about 50 years ago! Continue reading →
June 1, 2020 “Trick Or Treat” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately compelling underworld gangster melodrama about a former mobster (Craig Kelly) whose estranged brother (Dean Lennox Kelly) shows up after having runover another gangster and needs his help and he is sucked back into the criminal underworld which he had attempted to leave behind. No great shakes, as story is familiar and leads mostly where you expect it to go, but both Kelly’s strong performances keep you involved and watching. Director Edward Boase evidently watched “Mean Streets” and “Kiss Of Death” a few times before filming this. Good electronic music score by Tristin Norwell. Continue reading →
June 1, 2020 “Cry For The Bad Man” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring revenge melodrama about a small-town feisty widow (Camille Keaton) who is being harassed about leaving her property by some hillbilly rednecks (are there any other kind in movies like these?) and seeks to turn the tables on them when they further attempt to terrorize her. Utterly stupid and dull and feels padded even at only an hour and 10 minutes; Keaton once starred in the original “I Spit On Your Grave” which this movie liberally rips off which makes one almost cry for the status of her career. Continue reading →
June 1, 2020 “The Screaming Silent” (** out of four) was a humdrum horror thriller about an independent filmmaker (Andrew Linqvist) who travels with two other friends (Ross Magnant and Bella McDiarmid) to the outback of Tasmania where they are naturally stalked and besieged by an evil force. Unusually good-looking horror movie is also too long and too sluggish; the more this goes on, the more you may realize this is a rip-off of “The Blair Witch Project”. Inauspicious directorial debut for David Davidson who worked on Midnight Oil videos in the ’80’s but this lacks both the power and passion of that band’s music. Continue reading →
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