November 27, 2020 “Belushi” (** out of four) was a superficial documentary about the legendary comedian and actor John Belushi from his humble beginnings with his Albanian family and upbringing in Chicago to his immediate fame on “Saturday Night Live” to movie stardom with “Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers” to his undoing with drugs and excess which led to his death. Film features numerous interviews and recordings with Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Carrie Fisher, Lorne Michaels and many others but doesn’t tell you much about him that you don’t intuitively know (is it a surprise by now that he liked drugs and liked to party hard?). At least it’s better than 1989’s “Wired” which was a disastrous adaptation of Bob Woodward’s novel. Those wanting to appreciate his comic genius would best re-watch his “SNL” episodes or “The Blues Brothers” instead of this. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “True To The Game 2” (**1/2 out of four) was a gritty sequel to the 2017 cult favorite about a NYC journalist (Erica Peeples) who is targeted by a criminal thug (Andra Fuller) looking to collect on an underworld debt and this puts her in the crossfire of him and several other ruthless factions (Vivica A. Fox, Darius McCrary, and others) and she struggles to pit them against one another and get out and survive. Vibrant and high-style filmmaking and direction keep you watching for a while although it’s repetitive storyline starts to wear you out in its second half. Faith Evans plays herself and Tamar Braxton show up both in minor supporting roles. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “The Man In The Woods” (** out of four) was a stilted melodrama set in 1963 in which a student goes missing in the woods and many of her friends and fellow students (Marin Ireland, Kevin Corrigan, and others) search for her yet uncover more layers and secrets on which the foundation of their school (and overall society) is built on. Gorgeous silhouette black-and-white photography by Nick Remy Matthews is a highlight throughout but story is emotionally flat and never builds substantial interest or momentum. Perhaps best watching (for a little while) with the sound off. Sam Waterston is solid as usual in a key role as the school headmaster. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “Hillbilly Elegy” (** out of four) was an overall detached adaptation of J.D. Vance’s autobiographical novel about his (Gabriel Basso) upbringing in Kentucky with an abusive and drug-addled mom (Amy Adams) and how he later grows up to be a successful student who enrolled in Yale in love with a successful girlfriend (Freida Pinto) but still can’t escape the ties that bind at home. Adequate drama holds your attention without ever sufficiently engaging your emotions. For the first time, Adams is good without being fully convincing but Glenn Close is terrific (and almost unrecognizable) as the family grandmother. One of director Ron Howard’s more unusual films and one of his more disappointing. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “The Christmas House” (** out of four) was a synthetic Hallmark holiday concoction about two parents (Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence) who have their two now-grown children (Robert Buckley and Jonathan Bennett) home for Christmas and they all divulge various personal and financial secrets that all result in them growing stronger as a family unit. Typical Hallmark production is harmless but bland with endless holiday cliches and plot points. This made history as the first Hallmark film to feature a gay couple but it has little distinction beyond that. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “Sky Sharks” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous action horror mishmash about a team of geologists (Naomi Grossman, Lar-Park Lincoln, and others) who embark on a search deep in the heart of the antarctic and uncover an old Nazi laboratory which created genetically altered sharks that could fly; a subsequent military task force of reanimated U.S. soldiers (led by Tony Todd) who died in Vietnam are put together to prevent the sharks from dominating the world. Insane storyline starts out fun but then becomes monotonous and dumb as it turns into a repetitive video game. It would be pretty offensive also, if it wasn’t so stupid and one were to take its plot seriously. Perhaps it’s best if the whole shark genre were put to rest by now because by this point it’s really toothless. Continue reading →
November 25, 2020 “Christmas On The Square” (** out of four) was a mawkish musical adaptation of Dolly Parton’s stage play about an embittered and dying female scrooge (Christine Baranski) who plans to sell her small town but is subsequently helped to realize by an angel (Parton) of this mistake and its effects on the various town residents (Jennifer Lewis, Josh Segarra, Treat Williams, and others). Baranski plays her umpteenth role as a vindictive bitch and Parton yet again plays a good-hearted redneck; the rest is all pleasant but trivial fluff. Inevitable happy ending rings especially false. Continue reading →
November 24, 2020 “Pretty Cheaters, Deadly Lies” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty bland thriller about a high-school senior (Keara Graves) who thinks she can stop her cousin’s (Sydney Meyer) vindictive blackmail by taking her college exams for her but soon finds out that her cousin has even darker and deadlier plans for her and she has to play psychological warfare with her to the death in which only one of them will come out on top. Routine story of doublecrossings and deceptions seems prefabricated and spit out of a computer. Sorely lacking in any scares or thrills. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “Lowdown Dirty Criminals” (*1/2 out of four) was a terminally arch story set in England of two moronic criminals (Samuel Austin and James Rolleston) who try to make some extra cash by working for an underworld figure (Scott Wills) and end up getting mired up with an even more dangerous criminal (Rebecca Gibney) and all their lives soon are caught in the crossfire. Plays like a Guy Ritchie crime comedy without its bounce or fizz but with lots of noise and ugliness in-your-face instead. One autopsy scene is particularly gruesome and hard to take and rest of film is disposable. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “The Artist’s Wife” (*1/2 out of four) was a rambling and ineffectual melodrama about the wife (Lena Olin) of a renowned artist (Bruce Dern) whose lives are thrown into disarray when he begins showing sudden and escalating signs of Altzheimer’s disease and may not be able to complete his paintings for his final show which the family is dependent on. Self-indulgent and self-important story never connects emotionally, despite the two talented stars. “Still Alice” was a far more passionate and moving look at the same subject matter. Continue reading →
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