Month: March 2024

“Accidental Texan” (** out of four) was an amiable but ambling character melodrama about a young man (Rudy Pankow) who winds up stranded in Texas and hooks up with a bankrupt oil driller (Thomas Haden Church) and they set off on an adventure across Texas to outwit a corrupt oil company from foreclosing on them both. Genteel feel, with some nice moments in Julie Denny and Cole Thompson’s script and beautiful photography by Matt Wise, but story is flat-footed and never really gets going. Church is strong as usual in a role that fits him like a glove.

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“Followers” (*1/2 out of four) was a vaporously generic suspense psychodrama about a group of friends (Michael Bonini, Revell Carpenter, Cole Cuomo, and others) who survive a brutal attack and a year later they find themselves under siege again from a deadly and dangerous cult that are willing to stop at nothing to achieve retribution. Suspenseless and silly story moves quickly but is really much ado about nothing. Film’s poster may remind hard-core fans of the cover of Billy Idol’s “Cyberpunk” but this is basically cyberjunk instead.

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“Frogman” (* out of four) was a dog man. Simply awful horror hodgepodge about three friends (Nathan Tymoshuk, Benny Barrett, Ali Daniels) who go in search of the local title legend who is a historic serial killer and find out (yawn) he is more than a legend and is very real and is coming after all of them. Yet another movie that seems inspired by the success of “The Blair Witch Project” except that movie was made with craft and skill. Relentless and shoddy camera movements will make you reach for the dramamine if not Pepto Bismol.

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“5 Lbs Of Pressure” (** out of four) was a flavorful but flawed underworld melodrama about an ex-con (Luke Evans) who returns home from prison for murder and is trying to piece his life back together but the brother of the man he killed seeks vengeance by any means necessary which results in him having to either walk away or return back to his past history of violence. Gritty NYC atmosphere (even though it was filmed in England) and solid performance from Evans can’t help you forget this is a story you’ve seen many times before, going all the way back to 1973 with Scorcese’s “Mean Streets.”

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“Killer Night Shift” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror melodrama about a woman (Ashleigh Dorrell) who begins her first night shift working in a hotel with a murderous past and finds herself stuck in a time loop in which she has to escape the notorious hotel murderer again-and-again and stay alive and maintain her sanity. Good performance by Dorrell and proficient direction from Stephen Hall keep this watchable but a little of this goes a long way as film becomes thin and repetitive. Original title was “Night Shift” but no one will confuse this with that zany 1982 comedy.

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“Murdaritaville” (* out of four) was strictly amateur-hour about a group of Jimmy Buffett fanatics (Kenny Bellau, Heather Campos, and more) who are on their way to a Buffett-impersonation contest when they are suddenly stalked and killed one-by-one by a half-man/half-parrot (no that is not a misprint). Supposed homage to Jimmy Buffett and his ardent supporters and Parrotheads (hence the clever title) is brutal, in every sense of the word. You won’t hear “Margaritaville” here but other Buffett song titles like “Fruitcakes”, “The Slow Lane”, and “Hopelessly Gone” suggest what it’s like sitting through this.

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“Battle Over Britain” (*** out of four) was a compellingly done historical war drama set in the title Britain in which various military fighter pilots (David Dobson, Jeffrey Mundell, Callum Burn, and others) fight to defend their country, no matter the odds or differences with one another. Not a great film and not on anywhere near the grand or expansive (or expensive) canvas that it needs but is well-acted and well-told with many strong and powerful moments that make it better than most others of its genre. Lyrical music score by Ben Thatcher is key attribute to film’s emotional content and helps film to connect that much more.

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“Mercy Falls” (** out of four) was a humdrum suspense psychodrama about a group of friends (Lauren Lyle, Nicolette McKeown, and others) who go hiking in the Scotland Highlands in search of a long-lost cabin but after a tragedy happens and they realize they are far apart from civilization, various feelings of suspicion and betrayal set amongst one another which leads to deception and murder. Proficiently acted and filmed but by the end you realize that this is one more derivation of “Lord Of The Flies” that you didn’t need. Too long and not really for horror and suspense fans.

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