February 28, 2021 “Cashing Out” (*1/2 out of four) was a losing hand about an aspiring poker player (Tyler Mills) who begins to find out that the real money exists in robbing helpless gamblers and he gets sucked into the vicious criminal underworld of robbery and theft as he still continues to try and make a stake for himself in the poker field. Title is sadly ironic since mostly everyone on hand seems to be here for cashing a check. Writer/director Alex Srednoselac seems to be trying for a gritty cross between “Mean Streets” and “The Gambler” but his ambition outweighs his craft. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Body Brokers” (***1/2 out of four) was a mesmerizing melodrama about a criminal junkie (Jack Kilmer) who is rescued by a former addict (Michael Kenneth Williams) and sent to a residential rehab center but soon discovers the ugly side of the rehab business and that it is a multi-billion dollar industry which thrives on addiction and relapses! A searing indictment of the multi-tentacled treatment business which is powerful and thought-provoking. Kilmer is OK in the lead but Williams is sensational as a rehab “recruiter” and so is Frank Grillo in a brief role as the oily CEO. A bullseye effort from writer/director John Swab who is a former addict himself. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Sleepless Beauty” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster snooze about a young woman (Polina Davydova) who is kidnapped by a mysterious organization called Recreation; they then speak to her through a loudspeaker and start to take over her mind and she soon realizes she is being used as a twisted and tormenting psychological experiment. Much of film has no dialogue, only mood and music, and film soon sputters to a halt. Davydova is good under the circumstances but is unable to enrich or enliven this unpleasant material. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Ice House” (** out of four) was an ineffectual thriller about two friends (Greg Berman and Roger Wayne) who spend the night in an ice house on a frozen lake in Minnesota which leads to them unearthing dark secrets about one another that lead to hidden agendas and duplicity. Snowbound Minnesota locations and Steve Friederichson’s sleek cinematography are definite plusses but they easily outweigh the weak script and story which goes on far too long at nearly two hours. Might have worked better as a two-character play. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Safer At Home” (* out of four) was a maddeningly tedious horror melodrama set 2 years into the pandemic about a group of friends (Alisa Allapach, Adwin Brown, Katie L. Hall, and others) who throw a wild online party in which they all take ecstasy but soon find that what is going on in the outside world may be more terrifying to them and that perhaps they need to stay indoors and introspect. More of an experiment than an actual film (almost the entire film is online) and on that level runs out of steam (and story) pretty quickly. Viewers will likely feel much “safer at home” avoiding this and uploading something else on Netflix. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Armageddon Tales” (*1/2 out of four) was a disjointed post-apocalyptic horror thriller about 4 tales set in a worldwide pandemic; two men with two entirely different agendas, two women from a survival colony, a young girl and a young man as they form alliances as they walk across the survivalist landscape, etc. Many of the stories vary in quality and interest but none are strung together with any cohesion or cohesiveness. Gritty and eerie cinematography (from 3 cinematographers no less) provides film’s only worthwhile component. Continue reading →
February 27, 2021 “Last Call” (*** out of four) was a minimalist but affecting drama about a suicidal and lonely alcoholic (Daved Wilkins) who is depressed after a night at the bar and calls a help-prevention hotline and accidentally speaks to a janitor (Sarah Booth) and they proceed to make a connection with one another that helps and saves both of their lives. Improbable two-character storyline is given fierce conviction by first-rate acting from the two leads which makes this unexpectedly endearing and moving. Entire film is shot in split-screen in one take without any cuts. Continue reading →
February 26, 2021 “Tom And Jerry” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly entertaining adaptation of the classic cartoon series about their origins and how Tom and Jerry first meet through a kindly young hotel worker (Chloe Grace-Moretz) and try to help her through her various ups-and-downs at work with her various cohorts (Michael Pena, Collin Jost, and others). Lots of energy and some scattered laughs make this fitfully amusing but its thin story prevents it from gelling although it might make its mark with young kids and families. Nowhere near as uproarious as some of the classic T and J cartoons but a definite improvement over their last lackluster 1993 movie. Continue reading →
February 24, 2021 “Adverse” (** out of four) was fairly routine pulp about a recently released felon (Thomas Ian Nicholas) who works as a rideshare driver and soon finds that his sister (Kelly Arjen) is indebted to a dangerous crime syndicate (led by Mickey Rourke) and he returns to the vicious criminal underworld to free her and settle the score. Not the worst of its grungy ilk but film doesn’t have style or spark to distinguish itself from far too many other “Taxi Driver” ripoffs. Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Astin, and Penelope Ann Miller are all wasted in throwaway roles; Rourke mumbles and sleepwalks his way through his umpteenth role as a thug but by now even his most “adverse” fans may wish he just made “The Wrestler 2.” Continue reading →
February 24, 2021 “Alpine Lake” (* out of four) was an amateurish horror mess about five college friends (Melvin Jackson Jr, Christine Guerra, Ellyanna, and others) who head to a cabin (cue ominous music) for a weekend getaway when they are suddenly stalked and slashed by a deranged lunatic out on the prowl. Does anybody in movies like these ever go to a cabin the woods and just have a good time? Schlocky and silly time-waster goes nowhere slowly and drowns in its own tackiness. Trash like this was more fun in the ’80’s. Continue reading →
dlepikcom 