Author: dlepikcom

“Darby And The Dead” (** out of four) was an uneasy teen melodrama about a high-schooler named Darby (Riele Downs) who finds that she can communicate with dead people after a near-death experience in childhood and she sets up a private practice (!) for this which makes her a social outcast and pariah in school. Not as bewildering and bizarre as it sounds and directed with flair and bounce by Silas Howard but still too strange to be fully enjoyed. Tony Danza actually has a supporting role and adds some pizazz as one of the main ghosts.

Continue reading →

“Christmas Ransom” (** out of four) was a lightweight caper comedy about two bumbling crooks (Bridie McKim and Genevieve Lemon) who hijack an elaborate toy store and it’s up to 2 kids (Evan Stanhope and Tahlia Sturzaker) and a female security guard (Miranda Tapsell) to save the day and thus save Christmas. Holiday hybrid attempt of “Die Hard” and “Home Alone” is too silly to have much impact but at least it’s directed with flair by Adele Vuko and moves fast enough. Ideal for younger kids but awfully thin stuff for anyone else.

Continue reading →

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” (** out of four) was a vapid adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s novel about an unhappily married aristocrat (Emma Corrin) who learns sexual liberation once she begins a heated affair with the gardener (Jack O’Connell) on her country estate. Plenty of sex and frank content like previous adaptations of this novel but film is visually and emotionally drab. Joely Richardson who previously starred in the BBC miniseries of this book here plays one of the character’s mothers.

Continue reading →

“Savage Salvation” (*1/2 out of four) was a listless melodrama about a recovering drug addict (Jack Huston) whose fiancé (Willa Fitzgerald) dies from an overdose and he seeks vengeance and his own form of capital punishment on the dealers who “killed her”. Meanwhile, the town sheriff (Robert De Niro) and a self-help guru (John Malkovich) try to intervene and settle things. Interesting moral questions about overdoses and drug dealers and accountability are overshadowed by third hand script and general plot tedium. De Niro sleepwalks through his role and at nearly 80 is a tad old to be playing a sheriff and Malkovich is wasted again in another easy paycheck role. Film should offer little “salvation” to these legends or their fans.

Continue reading →

“Metal Lords” (*** out of four) was an affecting coming-of-age drama about two friends (Jaeden Mitchell and Adrian Greensmith) who see heavy-metal as their salvation in life in their deadend town but this all leads to complications with a group of girls (Analesa Fisher and Isis Hainswort) who they meet. Not much plot per se as it wanders a little in its second half but agreeably performed and directed by Peter Sollett and script (from “Game Of Thrones” writer D.B. Weiss) has some scattered effective moments. Metal gods Scott Ian, Tom Morello, Kirk Hammett, and Rob Halford all show up in minor cameos and Morello was one of film’s executive producers.

Continue reading →

“Death On The Nile” (**1/2 out of four) was a sleek follow-up to 2017’s “Murder On The Orient Express” about the continuing adventures of detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh who also directed) who is called in to investigate the murder of a young heiress (Emma Mackey). Whodunit? Well- it could be her former partner (Armie Hammer), her childhood best friend (Gal Gadot) who stole him from her, or various other members of their inner circle party (Annette Bening, Tom Bateman, and others). Intriguing and alluring most of the way but final third becomes disappointingly flat when the story should shift into high-gear and film’s ending is somewhat of an abrupt letdown. Still overall worthwhile for Branagh and Agatha Christie fans. Gadot stands out in the magnificent cast.

Continue reading →

“Catch The Bullet” (** out of four) was a lackadaisical Western about a hard-nosed U.S. Marshall (Jay Pickett) who returns home from the trail and finds out that his young son (Mason McNulty) has been kidnapped by vicious criminals (Gattlin Griffith, Caldin Griffith, and others) and he sets out to retrieve him and settle a score. Another attempt at a neo-Western which has some nice moments but moves too ploddingly along it’s familiar trail and another film that cries out for Peckinpah, Leone, or Eastwood in their prime. Loosely based on the 30’s radio show “Powder River”.

Continue reading →

“Mandrake” (*1/2 out of four) was a torpid horror thriller about a probation officer (Deirdre Mullins) who is assigned to supervise and rehabilitate a notorious female killer (Derbhle Crotty) but finds that this affects her own mental health and sanity as she becomes subject to violent hallucinations and visions of a disturbing Hell that turns her life upside down. Moody film holds your interest for a little while but soon bogs down as it becomes alternately tedious and disgusting in equal measure. Viewers who make it to the end of this may need to seek out their own mental health treatment.

Continue reading →

“The Eternal Daughter” (* out of four) was an eternal bore about an artist (Tilda Swinton) and her elderly mother (Zinnia Davies-Cooke) who return to their family home and discover long-buried family secrets that threaten to destroy their present lives and thus their future. You keep thinking something significant will happen but it never does as film moves like molasses and goes nowhere. Even the usually excellent Swinton is stiff and dull. A real disappointment from talented writer/director Joanna Hogg.

Continue reading →

“Death Hunt” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster action potboiler about a land developer (Omar Tucci) and his girlfriend (Marlene Malcolm) who find themselves hunted in the wilderness by (what else?) three deranged rednecks (Greg Johnston, Terry Macdonald, Rick Amsbury) and have to fight back to stay alive. Yet another ripoff of “Deliverance” but film also brazenly rips off the cult hit “Surviving The Game” as well. Either way, you’ve seen it all before and better so there’s not much worth “hunting” here.

Continue reading →