January 9, 2022 “Weekend Warriors” (*1/2 out of four) was a sputtering action thriller about two young kids (Jack Gross and Juliet Rusche) who are taken into the wilderness by their uncle (Jason London) for a weekend getaway; upon arriving, their uncle is killed by a warrior survival group (led by Daniel de Weldon) and the kids themselves are marked for death and have to use their own survival and wilderness skills to survive. Promising story sounds like a mix of “Home Alone” and “Surviving The Game” but is bungled by feeble writing and meandering pacing. Corbin Bernsen has a key role as an over-the-hill cop who tries to rescue the children. Continue reading →
January 9, 2022 “Notorious Nick” (**1/2 out of four) was an earnestly done melodrama about a one-armed MMA fighter (Cody Christian) who gets a chance to compete for a championship and help his struggling mom (Elisabeth Rohm) and sees this as an inspirational opportunity for others with physical challenges. Gritty dialogue and surroundings and solid acting keep you watching but film seems to be following a much-too-familiar sports underdog movie pattern. Not surprisingly, this was from the producer of “Bloodsport” and “Kickboxer” which this movie often borrows from. Kevin Pollak has a minor supporting role as the boy’s grizzled trainer. Continue reading →
January 9, 2022 “West Side Story” (***1/2 out of four) was a sweeping adaptation of the 1957 musical about the rivalry between two street gangs the Jets and the Sharks and how a forbidden love affair (Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler) both tears them apart and at the same time unifies them in rivalry and bluster. Director Steven Spielberg reminds you again why he’s a blockbuster director as he weaves together first-rate musical numbers with the magic and uplift of the original in a story that never fails to entertain and carry you along. One of the rare contemporary films which evokes and echoes the Golden Era of Hollywood. Continue reading →
January 8, 2022 “Sensation” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly compelling sci/fi melodrama about a meek postman (Eugene Simon) who becomes inducted into a top-secret superhuman DNA facility at a research facility and soon finds that he can send, receive, and control information based on the senses and “sensations” of others but is this a gift or a curse? Promising beginning holds your attention, with its striking mood and aura and Kubrickian aloofness, but starts to flatten out in its final third and lose its grip as you start to see the core of its sci/fi derivations. A game effort that doesn’t quite sustain as a whole for feature length. Jamie Burr and Martin Groff’s cool cinematography and Neil Myers’ eerie music score are sensational plusses. Continue reading →
January 8, 2022 “Another Us” (*1/2 out of four) was pretty bland teenage melodrama about a disaffected high-schooler (Jarrett Bloom) who finds himself in an alternative reality in which his girlfriend (Bethany Visokay) and her family have no idea who he is and he finds himself at a crossroads as to whether continue in this reality or attempt to find a way back to reality as he knows it. Just another compound of ideas about reality and life taken from other and better movies (“The Matrix” and “Total Recall” off the top of my head to name a few). At least it’s refreshingly compact and short at only an hour-and-17-minutes but you’d still best pick “another” movie. Continue reading →
January 8, 2022 “The Woman Who Robbed The Stagecoach” (* out of four) was a pretty lame Western which robs you of nearly two hours time out of your life about a famous female outlaw named Pearl Hart (Lorraine Etchell) who meets up with a European drifter (Travis Mills) and together they turn to a life of crime and decide to pull of a monumental heist of robbing a stagecoach. Cheapjack production was actually filmed on someone’s IPhone and looks it and at times looks like a play shot in someone’s backyard! Strictly amateur night in terms of filmmaking and acting. Mills also wrote, produced, and directed Continue reading →
January 7, 2022 “See For Me” (*** out of four) was a cleverly done thriller about a blind housesitter (Skyler Davenport) whose mansion she is watching is broken into by three thieves and she frantically calls 911 and her only way of sight is an emergency dispatcher (Jessica Parker Kennedy) who tries to guide her via video-phone as they both try to defeat the thieves and survive the night. Yet another home-invasion story in the vein of “Desperate Hours” and “Wait Until Dark” but this one is a definite cut above the pack; well-paced and stylishly staged and held together by strong acting across the board. No classic but a small winner all around and well-worth “seeing.” Continue reading →
January 7, 2022 “Rucker (The Trucker)” (* out of four) was an unbearable horror thriller about a redneck truck-driver (Bobby C. King) who attempts to reconnect with his family by torturing and killing women who remind him of his ex-wife; while on the road he picks up a companion (Cheyenna Lee) who joins him on his killing spree and also while she’s at it films him for her documentary! Who the hell comes up with stories like these and then actually films them? Film suggests a “Dexter” episode gone terribly wrong. King does what he can in the lead but otherwise you’ve been warned. Continue reading →
January 7, 2022 “Night At The Eagle Inn” (*1/2 out of four) was a maddening horror melodrama about two fraternal twins (Amelia Dudley and Taylor Turner) who stay a night at the remote inn that their father disappeared from years earlier but soon find that they might not survive the night as their safety and sanity is soon pushed to the brink. Initially plodding and aloof but gradually becomes irritating and over-the-top as writer/director Erik Bloomquist tries too hard to enliven the proceedings to no avail. Yet another “Shining” imitation that doesn’t even come close. Thomson Nguyen’s chilling cinematography adds some style but don’t even think about staying in this “Inn.” Continue reading →
January 7, 2022 “Castle Falls” (** out of four) was a serviceable action potboiler about various underworld figures (Scott Hunter, Kim Delonghi, Dave Halls, and others) and a prison guard (Dolph Lundgren who also directed) who descend on a luxury condominium to find millions of dollars but have to first deal with the hard-nosed janitor (Scott Adkins) who found the loot first as every man is out for himself. Moves reasonably quick on its feet and features enough action for fans but gradually devolves into too much murk. Lundgren proves to be a capable action director and actually gets one of his better performances out of himself in this one. Continue reading →
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