October 6, 2023 “On Fire” (** out of four) was a serviceable melodrama about a family (Peter Facinelli, Fiona Dourif, Lance Henriksen, and others) whose wilderness home is displaced by a gigantic wildfire that threatens to engulf the area and they have to put aside their differences to stay together and stay alive. Sincere performances are hindered by cheesy visual effects and flimsy script. Facinelli also co-directed after original director Nick Lyon fell ill with COVID; despite his best efforts, this is unlikely to light much of a “fire” to his career. Continue reading →
October 2, 2023 “Muzzle” (** out of four) was a muddled police procedural thriller about a street cop (Aaron Eckhart) and former veteran with PTSD whose canine police partner dies and he is paired with a new canine-partner but can’t let go of the other dog’s death and plunges into the seedy darkness of L.A. to find and apprehend those responsible. What starts out as an interesting and intriguing psychodrama loses its way, as film becomes meandering and pretentious and doesn’t lead to a satisfying conclusion. Eckhart is strong as always. Continue reading →
October 2, 2023 “Saw X” (**1/2 out of four) was one of the better entries in this never-ending series about the dying John Cramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) who is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and travels to Mexico to meet with a doctor (Synnove Macody Lund) for a risky medical treatment but soon finds that this is a fraudulent program to scam the elderly and vulnerable and re-starts his torture chamber techniques to enact bloodthirsty revenge. More character development and subtlety than earlier entries and Bell is strong as always but film (as expected) eventually loses its way in bloody gore and ugliness in its final third although that’s probably what you’re paying for. Film actually takes place between the original “Saw” and “Saw II” for anyone keeping chronology. Continue reading →
October 1, 2023 “The Haunting At St. Joseph’s” (*1/2 out of four) was an interchangeable horror thriller about a young doctor (Tal Hymans) and her privileged friends (Tim Spriggs, Elke Heinricsen, and others) who go on vacation at a religious burial site where centuries ago there was an ancient sacrifice that (what else?) has come back to haunt them. Drab and artificial movie full of the usual religious omens, loud shock effects, and pseudo-important psychobabble. Can anyone actually tell any of these movies apart??? Continue reading →
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