December 5, 2020 “What Lies Below” (** out of four) was a muddled psychodramatic thriller about a young teenager (Emma Horvath) who returns home to find that her dedicated mother (Mena Suvari) has a new boyfriend (Trey Tucker): at first, it seems like he has it all but the daughter soon begins to discover he’s an otherworldly alien who plans to divide them apart and kill them. Film begins passably but then becomes unnecessarily unpleasant with sci/fi touches that are abitrary and don’t help film from going nowhere in several different directions. Jimmy Jung Lu’s striking cinematography is a definite highlight throughout. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “Wander” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless crime melodrama about a mentally unstable private investigator (Aaron Eckhart) who is hired to investigate a suspicious death in the title town of Wander and soon becomes convinced that this death is linked to a conspiracy and cover-up that entailed the death of his daughter. Aptly titled story meanders and wanders through all-too-familiar and unpleasant terrain; first-rate cast (including Tommy Lee Jones and Heather Graham) is unable to enrich the proceedings and film ends with obtuse abruptness. Eckart played a similar role in the far more potent and effective “Rabbit Hole” years earlier. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “Bird’s Eye” (0 stars out of four) was an excruciatingly inept and low-grade melodrama about a paintball team (Holly Bonney, Jonathan Dixon, Carlton Gray, and others) who venture onto private property where they incur the wrath of a reclusive landowner (Danny Todd) who strikes out at them with a series of deadly remote-controlled vehicles. Unbelievably shoddy filmmaking and acting has to be seen to be believed but that is by no means a recommendation; this looks like it was shot (and budgeted) on someone’s Obamaphone. “Birdseed” would have been a better title for this dreck. Continue reading →
December 4, 2020 “Intersection” (**1/2 out of four) was a jagged thriller about wealthy business owner conman (Matt Doran) who receives a frantic call while on the road that his son has been abducted and he is forced to drive through the midnight hours of Sydney and complete an escalating series of tasks to appease the unseen kidnapper and save his son’s (and his own) life. Tense story is stylishly shot and directed but begins to lose its grip in its final third as story becomes frustratingly pretentious and surreal; still worthwhile overall. No relation to the 1994 Richard Gere/Sharon Stone thriller of the same name but bears some resemblance to the 2002 thriller “Phone Booth” with Colin Farrell/Kiefer Sutherland. Continue reading →
December 3, 2020 “Dune Drifter” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately engaging sci/fi action thriller about the survivor (Phoebe Sparrow) of a devastating orbital space battle who crashlands on a desolate planet and must survive against otherworldly creatures and fend for herself before her life support expires. Well-produced and overall well-done on a slender budget, with some stylish visual effects and cinematography, but hampered by its overall derivation of other sci/fi classics such as “Dune” (if you couldn’t guess from its title”) and also “Alien” and “Stargate.” Still, though, better than most direct-to-DVD trifle. Continue reading →
December 3, 2020 “The Quick And Dirty” (** out of four) was a slick and routine crime melodrama set in the deep South in which a career criminal (Sean C. Dwyer) is lured into taking one final job that may prove to be his big score or may be his undoing. Co-directors Jordan Krug and Nicholas Shields show their obvious homages to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Mann, and early Quentin Tarantino but it’s enervatingly routine and you’ll likely forget it as “quickly” as you watch it. For no particular reason, this is set in the 1970’s. For no particular reason should you waste your time on this anyway. Continue reading →
December 2, 2020 “Break Even” (** out of four) was a lukewarm action thriller about four friends (Tasya Telles, Brent Bailey, and others) on vacation on a remote island who discover $50 million in cash that was left there by corrupt D.E.A. agents (led by Joanna Pacula) on an underground drug deal and they will stop at nothing to make sure this is retrieved and their score is settled. Not bad by the standards of these things with an overall brisk pace, but you’ve seen this roughly 50 million times before, done better and done much worse. Pacula is ferocious in her best role in years and to make this a long-lost ’80’s party Steve Guttenberg pops up also in a supporting role. Continue reading →
December 2, 2020 “Complete Strangers” (** out of four) was a lurid love melodrama about a recovering alcoholic (Pau Maso) who returns to his hometown after several years and falls in love with a man (Matthew Crawley) which soon turns into a wild obsession that affects both their lives and threatens their sanity. Intensely acted and stylishly made and directed but eventually wears out and gets bogged down in overall unpleasantness. Even still, this has won substantial and significant critical praise. Maso also wrote and directed Continue reading →
December 1, 2020 “The Loss Adjuster” (** out of four) was an unsatisfying melodrama comedy about an insurance claims adjuster (Luke Goss) whose life starts to go into freefall when his wife announces she’s leaving him for somebody else but soon finds that this may be the catalyst towards getting his life back on track as he goes through an odyssey of self-assessment and re-discovery. Sporadically interesting and moving story is too slack and thus fails to cohere or congeal into a solid whole. A game attempt by Goss at changing his action-hero/martial-arts image but he’s unfortunately going to have to chalk this up as a “loss.” Continue reading →
December 1, 2020 “The Croods: A New Age” (** out of four) was an unnecessary sequel to the 2013 hit about the prehistoric family The Croods (voiced by Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and others) who soon become challenged by a rival family The Bettermans (voiced by Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, and Kelly Marie Tran) which leads to a rivalry and showdown. Pretty animation and some mildly cute touches are undone by thin storyline and film’s overall lack of point and purpose. Fans of the original and kids may like it anyway but they’d really best re-watch the original. This film marks the longest gap for Dreamworks between sequels. Continue reading →
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