June 23, 2024 “Agent Recon” (**1/2 out of four) was a fast-paced if overly derivative B-action thriller about an aging captain (Chuck Norris) of an elite Earth security force who sends in a rookie fighter (Derek Sing) in on a mission to find an energy device in Mexico that could lead to the brink of nuclear war. Nonsensical script and story but never stops moving and has enough hand-to-hand combat and gunplay for genre fans. Norris is in very little which isn’t a surprise since he’s now 84 years old. Sing also wrote and directed. Continue reading →
June 20, 2024 “Road Wars: Max Fury” (*1/2 out of four) was a shoddy sci/fi thriller about two sisters (Chandni Shah and Preet Kaur) who set out across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to save their wounded mother and have to race against ruthless raiders on the road who will stop at nothing to have them killed. Typical cheap cash-in on a much more popular and bigger-budgeted film (“Furiosa” if you couldn’t guess) but sluggish and weak. Original “Road Warrior” star Vernon Wells shows up in a minor role. Continue reading →
June 16, 2024 “General Commander” (** out of four) was a pretty tame action melodrama about a C.I.A. operative (Steven Seagal) and his team of young recruits (Jai Day, Micah Javier, and others) who go after some vicious worldwide terrorists but all is not what it seems as they encounter various forms of duplicity and deception. Glossy and made with style but doesn’t feature much that Seagal hasn’t done in roughly 1,000 of his other made-for-DVD schlock over the last 30 years. Originally made as a television series but was expanded to feature length. Continue reading →
June 16, 2024 “Brats” (** out of four) was an annoying documentary about the famed “Brat Pack” of the 1980’s as told by narrator/star/director Andrew McCarthy as he reconnects with others from their golden age and vents his frustration about being labeled as a brat. Interesting for a little while especially with its interviews with other stars (Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy) but after a while you might grow tired of McCarthy’s whining and complaining about one word and being called The Brat Pack. By the end you feel like telling him to be thankful for the success he had which millions of other failed actors would have killed for. Conspicuously missing from any mention byetheway is Anthony Michael Hall who probably had better things to do. Continue reading →
June 16, 2024 “The Sintern” (*1/2 out of four) was a thoroughly obvious suspense thriller about a young woman (Evelyn Giovine) who is hellbent on exposing a pastor (Damon Dayoub) at a local church and takes a job as his intern. The type of movie you can pretty much guess from the first 15 minutes so watching the remainder of it is pointless and disposable. Clever title, though. Continue reading →
June 14, 2024 “The Primevals” (*1/2 out of four) was a slapdash hodgepodge about a group of explorers (Juliet Mills, Richard Joseph Paul, and others) who go off in search of a yeti but find themselves under siege from a group of ancient creatures who want to overtake the world. Made predominantly in 1994 but was incomplete for decades due to the death of director David Allen and was only recently finished 30 years later but hardly seems worth the bother. Result is a smorgasbord of sci/fi cliches that would have seemed stale even back then. Continue reading →
June 12, 2024 “Wild Eyed And Wicked” (*1/2 out of four) was an incredibly dull melodrama about a young woman (Molly Kunz) who seeks out her estranged father (Michael X. Sommers) to learn the art of swordplay and fencing and how to fight off supernatural monsters and hopefully ward off the demons of her past. Plodding and unconvincing, as both a father-daughter tearjerker and action melodrama. Colleen Camp adds some spice as usual in a supporting role and is one of film’s few virtues. Continue reading →
June 9, 2024 “Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge” (*1/2 out of four) was a by-the-numbers sequel about Monica (Raven Goodwin) who tries to start life over as the host of a Seattle television show; when her amnesiac sister (Amber Riley) sees her on tv, her vengeful memories come back and she proceeds to track her down for bloody revenge. Strictly for those who thought the 2022 original was robbed at Oscar time. Otherwise, this might be the single most unnecessary sequel of the year. Film’s climax and showdown are particularly silly. Continue reading →
June 9, 2024 “Campton Manor” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring horror thriller about a faded author (Jeremy London) who investigates a ghost story that leads him to the mansion of a wealthy businessman (Kenneth Welsh) but nothing is what it appears and he starts mentally unraveling. Yet another film that really makes you wonder what horror filmmakers would have done had “The Shining” not been made because it’s still being ripped off decades later. Of note solely for being the final film for Canadian character actor Welsh. Continue reading →
June 9, 2024 “The Watchers” (*1/2 out of four) was a sputtering horror thriller about a young artist (Dakota Fanning) who goes to Ireland where she gets stranded in an extensive forest in which she is stalked by mysterious creatures which begins to dismantle her sanity. Directorial debut from Ishana Shymalahan (daughter of M. Night) who unfortunately seems to have inherited her father’s worst film tendencies as film is well-lensed but pretentious, overblown, and dull. Fanning is strong as usual but this is hardly worth “watching.” Continue reading →
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