September 17, 2021 “Another Girl” (** out of four) was an overly bland teenage melodrama about a disaffected high-school student (Samantha Hanratty) battling depression and anxiety and becomes increasingly obsessed with the female heroine of a novel she’s reading and soon begins to believe this character is real which starts to blur the lines between allusion and reality for her. Some nice directorial touches from director Allison Burnett fail to sustain this story which is just too plodding and odd to come together. Hanratty’s sincere performance is a definite plus but you’d best pick “another” movie. Continue reading →
September 16, 2021 “Royal Jelly” (** out of four) was a genuinely bizarre horror melodrama about a high school outcast (Elizabeth McCoy) who is mysteriously taken under the wing of a mentor (Sherry Latanzi) and finds she is being groomed for the being queen of the local bee-hive which the mentor controls for revenge purposes. Well-acted and certainly has some interesting individual stylistic touches of originality but is too off-putting and weird by the end. Incidentally, this is not inspired by the Ronald Dahl story of the same name despite some similarities also in its story. Continue reading →
September 16, 2021 “Bad Candy” (* out of four) was a stale horror trifle set on Halloween Eve in which two clueless radio DJ’s (Zach Galligan and Corey Taylor) spin a horror anthology on-air which terrifies local residents and leads to most of them meeting their demise. Yet another horror anthology movies made with little skill or scares and makes you appreciate even more how great “Tales From The Darkside” and “Creepshow” were all those decades ago. Galligan is wasted and seems to be wondering what is going on with “Gremlins 3”. Continue reading →
September 14, 2021 “Last Call In The Dog House” (*1/2 out of four) was a meandering NYC melodrama set at a legendary bar called The Dog House in which various patrons (Yance Butler, Judy Geeson, Adam Jacobs, David Chokachi, and others) come in with numerous problems but feel better and feel absolved of their difficulties in life. Practically plotless film feels like superficial and lightweight Woody Allen. This may have worked better as a NYC Broadway play than as a feature film. Viewers would best leave this one in the dog-house and re-watch “Manhattan” or “Annie Hall” instead. Continue reading →
September 13, 2021 “Prisoners Of The Ghostland” (*1/2 out of four) was an incoherent jumble about a legendary criminal (Nicolas Cage- even more wooden and blank than usual) who must break an ancient curse to rescue an abducted girl (Sofia Boutella) from the clutches of a ruthless psycho (Nick Cassavettes) and a sinister governor (Bill Moseley chewing and throwing up the scenery). Cage’s latest paycheck in the form of a disposable action picture is hard to follow and even harder to care about; Sohei Tanakawa’s deliberately garish and candy-colored cinematography provides only entertainment throughout. Director Sion Sono’s first English-language film but something clearly got lost in translation. Continue reading →
September 13, 2021 “Copshop” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous thriller about a slimy con artist (Frank Grillo) who purposely gets himself arrested to hide out from a lethal assassin (Gerard Butler) but plans go awry when that assassin gets himself arrested also and winds up in the same jail cell and (!) another even more nutty assassin (Toby Huss) shows up to kill all of them while the arresting rookie cop (Alexis Louder) tries to make sense of all this and stay alive. Yet another over-the-top and stupid thriller from writer/director Joe Carnahan (“Smokin’ Aces”, “Narc”) with his usual nonstop violence and ugliness; this one gets sillier with each new plot twist. Louder’s strong performance is one of film’s few virtues. Another imitation of “Assault On Precinct 13” that’s an assault on one’s intelligence instead. Continue reading →
September 12, 2021September 12, 2021 “The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre” (*1/2 out of four) was a sputtering, stupid horror thriller about two former pro wrestlers (Chris Margaretis and Mike Carey) who are relegated to low-budget wrestling/MMA work to stay active and find that their latest job is to fight zombies in a caged arena and save humanity. Obviously you know with a title like that watch you’re paying for but film is done with little conviction and thus runs out of steam soon. Naming the brothers Manson is cleverest thing in this one-joke script; D.B. Sweeney also shows up as a sleazy promoter named Vic Quickbuck (are you laughing yet?). Continue reading →
September 12, 2021 “Synapse” (**1/2 out of four) was an intermittently compelling and engaging futuristic melodrama in which dealers sell memories to people on the street who become addicted to them like drugs; one such dealer (Adam G. Simon) becomes chased by federal narcotics agents and various criminal underworld figures determined to keep some of these memories (and his own memories) locked and hidden forever. Half standard underworld chase thriller but also half original with a clever premise and at least it never stops moving. Very similar story was told in 1995’s excellent and underrated “Strange Days.”ynapse” (**1/2 out of four) was an intermittently compelling and engaging futuristic melodrama in which dealers sell memories to people on the street who become addicted to them like drugs; one such dealer (Adam G. Simon) becomes chased by federal narcotics agents and various criminal underworld figures determined to keep some of these memories (and his own memories) locked and hidden forever. Half standard underworld chase thriller but also half original with a clever premise and at least it never stops moving. Very similar story was told in 1995’s excellent and underrated “Strange Days.” Continue reading →
September 10, 2021 “Malignant” (*** out of four) was a skillfully done horror thriller about a young woman (Annabelle Wallis) who becomes paralyzed by visions of grisly murders that she soon realizes are terrifying realities as the lines are blurred in her life between what’s imaginary and what’s real and she has to find her way out. Stylish and scary horror venture is augmented even more by writer/director James Wan’s typical atmosphere of melancholic dread. Story starts to run out of steam in the middle but still has more shocks and chills up its sleeve. Continue reading →
September 9, 2021 “Hellbox” (*1/2 out of four) was a crummy supernatural thriller set across five centuries in which an ancient and mysterious box passes through the hands of a brave knight (Bret Ootes), a group of college girls (Rachel Macmillan, Erin Moore, and others), a suicidal psychiatrist (David Scott), and other swell folks and alters their lives and shows them a piece of Hell. Both overlong and underdone and none-too-scary either. Horror fans would best watch “Hellraiser” (or any of its sequels) again instead. This was originally released in 2008 as “All That Is Hidden” and was re-edited and reworked for years but should have stayed hidden. Continue reading →
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