September 7, 2020 “Snatchers” (*1/2 out of four) was a dumb-and-dumber horror comedy about a disaffected teenager (Mary Nepi) who has sex for the first time and wakes up the next day pregnant with alien twins and all Hell breaks loose in the surrounding town and with her bratty friends (Gabrielle Elyse, J.J. Nolan, Austin Fryberger). Amusing opening but film soon sputters to a witless halt, as it runs out of steam (and brains) pretty quickly. Adapted from a 5-minute short story and short is what it should have remained. Nepi does what she can in the lead but don’t bother “snatching” this one up. Continue reading →
September 6, 2020 “Cut Throat City” (** out of four) was an ambitious but limited melodrama set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in which four boyhood pals (led by T.I.) run out of options and soon find themselves in real desperation and plot out a dangerous heist; meanwhile, a hard-nosed cop (Eiza Gonzalez) investigates and soon realizes this may have ties all the way up to a wealthy city counselman (Ethan Hawke) and others (Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard, Isaiah Washington in the city). Gritty story of childhood ties, the lure and dangers of the street, and corruption has unfortunately been told many times before and loses its thrust at over two hours. Gonzalez is good as the cop but much of the supporting cast is wasted. Continue reading →
September 5, 2020 “Secrets In The Woods” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster thriller about a young woman (Brittany Underwood) who goes along with her boyfriend (Taylor Frey) for a romantic getaway to his cabin in the woods where he was raised but soon meets his nutjob father (Jim Klock) and realizes she is trapped and is unable to escape. Plodding and predictable thriller covers all the usual backwoods thriller cliches (loony gas-station owners, prowling rednecks, etc.) without much craft or style although Klock is amusing as the father. Maybe it’s about time they made a movie about going to the middle of the woods and the characters live happily ever after! Continue reading →
September 5, 2020 “Killer Island” (** out of four) was a pretty shallow suspense melodrama about a married couple (Barbie Castro and Brian Gross) who become targeted by a vindictive killer when they begin to suspect one of the locals of committing a series of recent murders on the island and they attempt to escape before it is too late. Competently made and acted enough to be a decent time-filler but is usurped by its predictability and lack of surprises. Anyone who’s ever watched a suspense thriller or whodunit won’t be terrible surprised by any of the plot twists. Highlighted by Jon Schellenger’s vibrant cinematography and attractive location scenery. Continue reading →
September 4, 2020 “The 2nd” (** out of four) was a fairly routine action potboiler about a world-weary secret service agent (Ryan Phillippe) who is on his way to pick up his estranged son (Jack Griffo) from college when they both find themselves besieged by a psychopathic terrorist (Casper Van Dien) who will stop at nothing to kill his son and his friend (Lexi Simonsen) who is the daughter of a prominent Supreme Court judge. Moves relatively quickly and features the requisite amount of firepower and gunplay but doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen before. Not bad but overall pretty 2nd-rate. Continue reading →
September 4, 2020 “Sorority Secrets” (** out of four) was a suspenseless suspense thriller about a college sorority whose members start suddenly dying and one particular member (Brytnee Ratledge) tries to find out why and get to the bottom of who is killing everybody off. Slickly made and shot but lacking in any surprises or shock value and thus comes up hollow and predictable. This feels like a semester of school we’ve been through all-too-many times. Watch “Sorority Row” or “Sorority House Massacre” for the same story with more style and more plot twists. Continue reading →
September 3, 2020 “Greenland” (**1/2 out of four) was a brooding action disaster thriller about a construction worker (Gerard Butler) who receives word from the government that it’s apocalypse now and him and his family (Morena Baccarin and Roger Dale Floyd) must go into hiding at a government underground facility before it’s too late but will they survive and make it in time? Intensely done story holds its grip with overall story tension but it starts to lag a little in the second half and many film lovers may notice it’s a little too similar to other end-of-the-world disaster movies (“2012” and “Deep Impact” especially). Butler is rock solid as usual in the lead. Continue reading →
September 2, 2020 “X-Men: The New Mutants” (** out of four) was a tepid action melodrama about five young mutants (Maisie Williams, Anna Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga) who discover their secret and superpower abilities while being held in a secret facility and being mentored by a protective doctor (Alice Braga) but they soon fight to escape and protect themselves from both their past and their future. Thirteenth (and allegedly final) entry in the “X-Men” series is one of its most bland as it takes too long to get going and get off the ground; final third finally delivers the goods and has some flashy special effects but this still feels unsatisfying and unnecessary. Filmed in 2017/2018 and was re-shot and re-edited for years to not much avail. Continue reading →
September 2, 2020 “The Binge” (*1/2 out of four) was a dismal comedy set in the not-too-distant future in which all drugs and drug use are illegal and highly punishable except for one day of the year; several teenagers and troublemakers (Skyler Gisondo, Dexter Darden, Eduardo Franco, and others) and the school principal (Vince Vaughn) try to get in on the action but soon realize this may be one mighty long night. Clever storyline is an obvious homage to “The Purge” but that’s about all that’s clever about it; one pretty funny scene of them bringing a cow back to life provides the only laughs in the movie. Beware of song-and-dance number in the final third and the grating soundtrack which are particularly painful. It’s movies like this that may make you check out an N.A. meeting instead. Continue reading →
September 1, 2020 “Centigrade” (** out of four) was a pretty banal melodrama about a married couple (Vincent Piazza and Genesis Rodriguez) who find themselves trapped in their submerged vehicle after a blizzard and struggle to survive amid the frigid temperatures, lack of food and water, and other multiple obstacles. Film is an entirely two-character story which we’ve seen many times before (“Open Water”, “The Road”, etc.) and may have worked better on the stage than as a feature film. Both Piazza and Rodriguez are good and do what they can with underdeveloped roles but this still doesn’t quite make the grade. Continue reading →
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