December 23, 2023 “Breakwater” (** out of four) was an overly familiar and trite melodrama about an ex-con (Darren Mann) who is released from prison and tries to track down the daughter (Alyssa Gross) of his mentor (Dermot Mulroney) from prison but this places them all on a collision course of fate and consequences that questions all of their identities and alterior motives. Watchable but never much more than that; good performances help to keep film on track but it’s never as incisive or involving as it might have been. Film’s only real distinction is it was shot on a single camera without any add-ins or effects. Continue reading →
December 22, 2023 “Bad Behaviour” (* out of four) was an inexcusably bad melodrama about a former child actor (Jennifer Connelly) who attempts to repair her relationship with her daughter (Alice Englert) by going to a retreat led by an eccentric spiritual leader (Ben Whishaw) but they all find that the road to redemption can be one long shaky road. Earnest movie full of good intentions but also full of molasses pacing and leaden dramatics and winds up a self-righteous snooze. Connelly is more flat and wooden than usual; Englert also wrote and directed and this marks her ungainly feature-film directing debut. Continue reading →
December 21, 2023 “Angel Baby” (*1/2 out of four) was a thirdhand melodrama about a wife (Isabel Cueva) and her husband (Dan Thiel) who suffer the devastating death of their twin children and move to a remote cabin in the wilderness where (yawn) they are overtaken by an evil supernatural entity that threatens to tear them apart. Does it ever happen when people move to a cabin and live happily ever after? Film is so hollow and solemn that you could mistake it at times for a parody except it’s not funny (or the least bit scary). Rebecca De Mornay is wasted as a town bartender. Continue reading →
December 21, 2023 “The Unbinding” (** out of four) was a mundane documentary-like horror story about occult researchers (Greg and Dana Newkirk) who are called in after a strange statue is found in the Catskills which leads to an escalating series of paranormal activity phenomena and they have to uncover what may be behind things. By the fairly low and awful standards of these things, this isn’t bad and is told with a cautionary sense of dread, but film simply isn’t very revelatory or scary. One more found-footage/documentary thriller with “Blair Witch” in its DNA. Continue reading →
December 21, 2023 “Three Blind Mice” (*1/2 out of four) was an excessively ugly and unpleasant horror melodrama about a recovering drug addict (May Kelly) whose family go with her to the middle of the wilderness to help her get off drugs but they are naturally besieged by a group of vicious killers and she has to use what she has learned from selling and using drugs to stay alive. Passable beginning soon goes out the window as film goes way overboard with numbing gore and cerebral violence. Watch “Mousehunt” again instead. Continue reading →
December 20, 2023 “Control” (** out of four) was a stylish but sterile psychodrama about a secretary (Lauren Metcalfe) for the British Prime Minister who is on her way home one night when she finds that her car has been overtaken and thus hijacked by a villain (voice of Kevin Spacey) who communicates with her through the monitoring system while rampaging her car through the city of London. Well-directed film grows unavoidably monotonous after a while. Metcalfe is strong in the lead and Spacey’s voice is perfect as the cackling villain but film can’t transcend derivations from “Locke” and also “Phone Booth.” Continue reading →
December 19, 2023 “Ferrari” (** out of four) was an arthritic autobiography set in the summer of 1957 about the legendary Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) with his empire and relationship to his wife (Penelope Cruz) crumbling and who decides to regain his determination and verve by competing in the Mille Miglia which was one of the most deadly and dangerous races of its kind all across Italy. Film has a stalled engine, as it covers territory seen before (and better) in “Lamborghini”, “Ford Vs. Ferrari”, and “Rush.” Disappointing excursion from director Michael Mann who usually has more sizzle and style. There’s a faint pulse whenever Cruz is on screen who is first-rate. Continue reading →
December 18, 2023 “Spaghetti” (*1/2 out of four) was an undercooked horror platter about a nurse (Brittany Lucio) who believes she has met the perfect man (Newton Mayenge) but when she suspects him of cheating on her, she casts a voodoo spell on him that ends up cursing the both of them. Unappetizing and uninvolving pretty much all the way through. Somehow, this was nominated at Cannes, the Venice Film Festival, and Indiefare International but they all must have had something else on their minds. Continue reading →
December 17, 2023 “FinestKind” (*1/2 out of four) was a listless crime melodrama about a group of blue-collar Boston fishermen (Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Ismael Cruz Cordova) who hit hard times and start drug smuggling for a local kingpin (Aaron Stanford) but find themselves all hitting rough waters. A real disappointment from writer/director Brian Helgeland who in better days wrote “L.A. Confidential” and “Mystic River” which were far superior; this time his story is muddled and aloof. Foster can play this slimeball role in his sleep by now and Tommy Lee Jones is sorely wasted as his ailing father. Continue reading →
December 17, 2023 “The Family Plan” (**1/2 out of four) was a lively if lightheaded action comedy about a former international assassin (Mark Wahlberg) whose past catches up to him and he has to confess and take his unsuspecting wife (Michelle Monaghan) and children (Zoe Margaret Colletti and Van Crosby) on the run from a ruthless terrorist organization. Briskly paced fluff is entertaining while it lasts but many (including this FB reviewer) may find it a little overly similar to “True Lies” and (to some extent) “Mr. And Mrs. Smith.” Likeable cast led by the always dependable Wahlberg makes it fun and worthwhile. Continue reading →
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