December 12, 2020 “Archenemy” (** out of four) was a murky sci/fi saga about a grizzled homeless drifter (Joe Manganiello) who rants and raves about being a hero from another dimension who fell to Earth and no longer has any powers; no one believes his story except for a local teen (Skylan Brooks) who soon begins to realize that he might be telling the truth which could mean apocalypse now. Lots of style and noise but little substance and even less sense in this nihilistic end-of-the-world thriller. Far from being the worst of its grungy ilk but don’t exactly hold a spot for this at next year’s Academy Awards. Continue reading →
December 12, 2020 “Wander Darkly” (**1/2 out of four) was a reverent but remote drama about new parents (Sienna Miller and Diego Luna) who encounter various difficulties and trauma in their relationship which forces them to reflect on their past and what led to their present problems and how they need to change their future. Interesting film has some effective moments and some compelling and surreal touches from writer/director Tara Miele which at the same time keep you off-balance and give this frustrating film a sense of overall detachment that prevent it from fully connecting. A film one can admire without fully being able to enjoy. Continue reading →
December 11, 2020 “Battle Of The Bulge: Winter War” (** out of four) was an only serviceable WWII action drama about an American lieutenant (Steven Luke who also wrote and directed) and his platoon (Aaron Courteau, Brittany Benjamin, and others) who must defend a vital supply of weaponry from German attack while following through on orders from his superiors (Tom Berenger and Billy Zane) and also fighting against various allied traitors. Lumbering story re-tells a historical period which has been covered much more richly and fervently in many better films. Film features a “Sniper” reunion of both Berenger and Zane but still mostly fires all blanks. Continue reading →
December 11, 2020 “The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special” (**1/2 out of four) was a diverting animated feature about the young girl Rey (voiced by Helen Sadler) who leaves her friends for a life in the Force but is soon thrown into a cross-timeline adventure involving Darth Vader (voiced by Ben Prendergast), Han Solo (voiced by A.J. LoCascio), and Luke Skywalker (voiced by Eric Bauza). Relatively brief and thus yielding relatively moderate results but features enough colorful action and striking animation to make it worthwhile and fun, especially for Lego and “Star Wars” fans. This takes place directly after the events of “Star Wars IX: The Rise Of Skywalker.” Continue reading →
December 11, 2020 “The Wrong Affair” (*1/2 out of four) was a thoroughly by-the-numbers timewaster about a recently separated career woman (Vanessa Papa) who meets a younger man (James Hartenfeld) at a bar and they have a steamy one-night encounter but when she tries to break it off- she realizes he is a serious nutjob who stirs even more problems as he begins dating her daughter! Umpteenth “Fatal Attraction” rip-off without any surprises and thus no scares or impact. Papa and Hartenfeld try but this is overall the wrong movie to check out. Continue reading →
December 11, 2020 “Smiley Faced Killers” (*1/2 out of four) was a listless melodrama about a young soccer player (Ronen Rubinstein) who believes he is going insane which alienates virtually everyone around him and leads to him eventually unraveling mentally and psychologically. Unpleasant story exploitively deals with mental illness without much depth or interest and winds up a waste of time. A disappointment from director Tim Hunter (“River’s Edge”) and writer Brett Easton Ellis (“American Psycho” and “Less Than Zero”) who have covered similar terrain in other films much more poignantly. Continue reading →
December 10, 2020 “Never Hike In The Snow” (**1/2 out of four) was a slight but entertainingly done fan-made short “Friday The 13th” thriller about the return of Jason Voorhees (Vincent DiSanti) who is skulking and stalking around the woods but Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) re-appears to try to stop him while the local sherriff (Vincent Guastaferro) tries to maintain control. A particular treat for fans of “Friday The 13th VI: Jason Lives” as it reunites and continues the characters of Matthews and Guastaferro. Too minor and too short to have any real impact or resonance but better than many of the other “Friday The 13th” sequels and fan-made entries. Continue reading →
December 10, 2020 “Nightfire” (*** out of four) was a tensely done action melodrama about two rogue American agents (Lorenzo Pisoni and Greg Hadley) who are hired to retrieve top-secret military chips but the mission goes awry when a political prisoner (Dylan Baker) enters the picture and tries to intercede and dissuade them from their mission to help him instead. Taut and stylish movie benefits from sleek direction and a sharply written script by Brando Benetto and Los Silva. Not particularly original per se but good of its kind even more so when learned it was shot in only 12 days! Continue reading →
December 10, 2020 “Deadlocked” (*1/2 out of four) was an enervatingly predictable and derivative zombie-shocker about a group (Taylor Tunes, Nick Champa, Kyle English, and Sophie Giberson) who are trapped in an elevator in the midst of a zombie virus and soon realize that one of them may be a carrier and they have to race against the clock to find out who and also to prepare themselves against the ward of zombies that awaits them outside of the elevator. Potentially intriguing story and idea is itself deadlocked by its own familiarity and cliched characters. Sadly by this point, there may not be much new that filmmakers can do with films about zombies and viruses. Continue reading →
December 10, 2020 “Faith Under Fire” (** out of four) was a lugubrious Christian melodrama about a dedicated fireman (Nick Vlassopoulos) who has saved many on the job but finds himself in the midst of a personal and religious crossroads when both his wife and daughter (Keyna Reynolds and Tenley) have cancer and he turns to both their doctor (Kevin Sorbo) and a local religious leader (Dean Cain) for spiritual comfort. Typically earnest and well-meaning production is also typically hackneyed and hokey although sincere performances help keep it watchable. Based on Gary Allison’s best-selling story “There Is A Season”; fans of his book and religious fundamentalists may like this better. Continue reading →
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