August 8, 2020 “Shifter” (* out of four) was an abysmal potboiler psychodrama about a young woman (Nicole Fancher) who begins to experience various painful and gruesome side effects after she experiments with time travel and she gradually begins to realize that her plans have backfired. Molasses-moving story is recommended only for those who thought the “Back To The Future” trilogy was in any way overrated; a real bore, despite Fancher’s sincere performance. Film’s underlying theme is how time is precious so don’t waste any of yours on this clunker. Continue reading →
August 7, 2020 “A Murder To Remember” (**1/2 out of four) was an adequately done adaptation of Ann Rule’s novel about a couple (Maddie Nichols and Kevin Rodriguez) celebrating their anniversary on a camping trip which ends with him being killed; as the woman’s memories come piecing back together as she is investigated and interrogated by a seasoned small-town sherriff (Leslie Hendrix), she begins to suspect that there was more to this murder than meets the eye. Directorial debut from Robin Givens is moodily captured with eerie atmospherics and definitely a Hitchcockian storyline but it stops just short of hitting the mark. Final plot twist and finale is curiously subdued, as film holds your attention without fully detonating. Continue reading →
August 7, 2020 “Mile High Escorts” (** out of four) was an earthbound thriller about a young flight attendant (Christina Moore) working for a private airline who becomes strapped financially and becomes involved in the seedy side business of working as an escort for high-rolling executives both in the air and on the ground but doesn’t realize how sleazy and shady this business really is. Neither as hilariously campy or entertainingly provocative or embarrassingly awful as it sounds but film flounders as it never takes off or gets off the ground as it should. Director Sam Irvin tries to inject as much visual style in this as he can but is unable to enrich this thin material. Continue reading →
August 7, 2020 “She Dies Tomorrow” (* out of four) was an incomprehensible melodrama about a mentally unstable woman (Kate Lynn Sheil) who becomes convinced she is going to die tomorrow and this feeling soon passes on to various members of her friends and family (Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, and others) as they all become overwhelmed with anxiety and worry. Film is so baffling and muddled that you’ll think the filmmakers are the real ones with mental health problems. Hypochondria isn’t the easiest subject to satirize but this movie “dies” literally as soon as it begins. Josh Lucas and Michelle Rodriguez show up in bewildering cameos; why they signed onto this mess is film’s real mystery. Continue reading →
August 6, 2020 “Day 13” (** out of four) was a tepid suspense thriller about a young wiseguy (Alex MacNicoll) who meets a cute girl next door (Meyrick Murphy) but soon begins to suspect that her father (Martin Kove) is evil and he begins to snoop around and engage in surveillance until he finds out for sure. Reasonably well-made and MacNicoll is a winning actor but many find this all-too-similar to Shea Labeouf’s “Disturbia” which in itself was a derivation of “Rear Window.” Story also morphs into silly and hokey supernatural territory in its final third. Kove is well-cast but wasted as the neighbor. Continue reading →
August 6, 2020 “Another Mother” (** out of four) was a glossy but predictable and by-the-numbers thriller about a young couple (Alex McKenna and Adam Huss) whose happiness is shattered by the arrival of the boyfriend’s daughter’s mother (Juliana Dever) who has just been released from prison but is a serious sicko who wants to turn their lives upside down and take back their daughter (Joey Ray Blair) as her own. Umpteenth thriller to rip-off “Fatal Attraction” (and also “Mother’s Boys” for film geeks) is glamorously shot and decently acted but bereft of any suspense or surprises. Fans would best seek out another movie instead. Continue reading →
August 5, 2020 “Behind The Line: Escape To Dunkirk” (**1/2 out of four) was a sporadically effective WWII melodrama about a group of British soldiers who are captured after retreating from the Germans toward Dunkirk; once in captivity, their lead soldier (Sam Gittins) is forced into the ring to compete in boxing as they all struggle to escape. Nowhere near as captivating or stirring as the subject matter calls for and lacks the epic sweep and grandeur of most WWII movies (and hindered by its limited budget) but is still overall well-captured both on the war field and in the boxing ring. Climactic boxing bout is hard-hitting and makes this worth sticking through even if it doesn’t all quite hang together. Continue reading →
August 5, 2020 “Useless Humans” (* out of four) was a useless sci/fi comedy about four none-too-bright friends (Josh Zuckerman, Rushi Kota, Davida Williams, and Luke Youngblood) celebrating a thirtieth birthday when a mysterious creature (James Croak) crashes the party and (yawn) the fate of the world and mankind is hanging in the balance. Irritatingly stupid characters and writing make this a chore to sit through. Cast attempts to enliven the terrible script by overacting as much as possible but it’s like squeezing blood from a stone. Continue reading →
August 4, 2020 “Suburban Wildlife” (*1/2 out of four) was a crushingly bland story about a group of high-school graduates (Maddy McWilliam, Hannah Lehmann, Priscilla Doueihy, and others) who are unsure of their direction in life and end up engaging in the usual sex, drugs, and partying to distract themselves from the precious next steps they need to take. Tame and cliched story of the young and the reckless goes down the same roads countless other movies have covered at a molasses pace. Almost 25 years exactly after “Kids” told the same story far more electrically and realistically, it’s hard to watch this comparative trifle and not yawn. Continue reading →
August 4, 2020 “Ice Cream In The Cupboard” (** out of four) was a well-intentioned but limited melodrama about a husband and wife (Dana Ashbrook and Claudia Ferri) whose happiness is suddenly and severely affected by her bizarre and erratic behavior and they soon have to face the reality that she has deteriorating Altzheimer’s disease but they realize that this cannot take away from the memories they have together. Solid performances from the leads keep this on track as much as possible but film never shifts into high-gear and never hits a dramatic peak as it should. “Still Alice” with Julianne Moore covered similar territory with more emotional power and insight. Continue reading →
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