August 7, 2021 “The Pit” (* out of four) was a pitiful timewaster about two retard rednecks (Les Stroud and Stacy Brown, Jr.) who fall into a hole and are trapped for 85 days in which they gradually go from lifelong friends to bloodthirsty predators willing to do anything and everything to survive. If you make it to the end of this dreck, you’ll likely know exactly how they feel. Poorly directed and made with unlikeable characters being the icing on the moldy cake. Similar story told much more skillfully and effectively in Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours.” “The Pits” would have been a more apt title for this one. Continue reading →
August 7, 2021 “Zone Drifter” (*1/2 out of four) was a slipshod futuristic thriller about a former soldier (Charles Conkin) who has to travel through a ravaged post-war wasteland full of trained killers while searching for his brother and begins to wonder whether he is still alive or not. Writer/director/star Conkin shows some good ideas and keeps the pace relatively brisk but he’s hindered by a very low budget and a derivative and overly familiar storyline. By this point, the future simply isn’t what it used to be. Viewers would best “drift” to watching “28 Days Later” again instead. Continue reading →
August 5, 2021 “Righteous Blood” (* out of four) was an unrighteous mess about a world-weary Western gunslinger (Michael Pare) who is on the run from the law when he saves a damsel in distress (Alexandra Amarell) from a vicious thug (Hoyt Baker) and they soon fall in love but find that walking off into the sunset together is a troubled road. Inept and inert; further sunk by weak production values and unfocused filmmaking. You keep constantly thinking back about what Sergio Leone or Sam Peckinpah may have done with this material. Even the usually dynamic Pare looks as bored as everybody else. Continue reading →
August 3, 2021 “Hostage House” (** out of four) was an overly generic suspense thriller about a realtor (Jennifer Taylor) and her daughter (Julia Terranova) who are held hostage by a pair of hard-edged criminals (Emily Sweet and Justin C. Schilling) during an open house and have to think fast to stay alive and outsmart them and make it through the night alive. Fairly economical and compact direction and decent acting can’t make this more than a run-of-the-mill home invasion thriller. After “Desperate Hours”, “Panic Room”, “The Purge”, and too many other movies like these over the years, maybe it’s best to give this genre a rest before the audience feels held hostage. Continue reading →
August 2, 2021 “Fear Street- Part Three 1666” (** out of four) was a fairly lackluster third entry in this hit series showing the origins of Sarah’s (Kiana Madeira) curse as it harks back to the early ages in 1666 and then comes back full circle to the present in which she and other Shadysiders (Benjamin Flores Jr, Elizabeth Scopel, and others) may be altered forever! As usual- film is packed with lots of great soundtrack selections and stylized direction but they fail to enrich film’s flimsy and formulaic storyline so film never really comes together. Yet another time-travel/history change movie that pales in comparison to the “Back To The Future” series. Continue reading →
August 2, 2021 “Jungle Cruise” (** out of four) was a broadly silly adaptation of the Disneyland theme park ride where a group of travelers (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramirez, and others) travel up the river through a jungle with aggressive reptiles and animals and supernatural danger. Moves fairly fast but lacks in charm or personality and will likely only be of entertainment value to very small kids. Film has everything money can buy but still feels like an assembly-line big-budget Hollywood “product.” Even The Rock seems to be just going through the motions and him and Blunt don’t exactly set the screen on fire with their chemistry. Continue reading →
July 31, 2021 “Gunpowder Milkshake” (**1/2 out of four) was a groovy action comedy about a group of crime-fighting women (Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Carla Gucino, Karen Gillan, and others) who fight back against sinister and evil forces that threaten them and also possibly world domination. Engagingly directed and told with wall-to-wall soundtrack, one-liners, and action which overpowers an extremely thin and feeble storyline. After a while, film starts to grow monotonous as it resembles a video game. Great cast compensates to some degree but this is a “milkshake” of tasty but empty calories without any filling. Continue reading →
July 31, 2021 “The Boy Behind The Door” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately well-done horror melodrama about two friends (Lonnie Chavis and Ezra Dewey) who are kidnapped and taken to a house out in the middle of nowhere; one escapes but soon realizes he cannot leave his best friend behind and goes back to save him, no matter what the cost. Writer and directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell make this suspenseful and gripping enough although it starts to grow a little repetitive after a while which prevents it from fully excelling. Strong work from the two boys makes this overall worth watching. Continue reading →
July 31, 2021 “Old” (*1/2 out of four) was an aptly titled clunker from the tired mind of M. Night Shymalahan about a group of friends and family (Vickie Krieps, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and others) on a tropical holiday who suddenly discover that the secluded beach resort they are staying at is suddenly causing them to rapidly age and they realize they now only have one more day to live unless they can escape and discover a reverse cure! Potentially intriguing and frightening storyline is hamstrung by Shymalan’s usual plodding place and predictable and cliched approach. Based on the graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederick Peeters. You can only imagine what the David Cronenberg of “The Fly” and “The Brood” would have done with this material. Continue reading →
July 29, 2021 “Bloomfield” (* out of four) was an unendurable horror thriller about a young girl (Brianna Young) who goes to live with her eccentric aunt (Jennifer Moriarty) in the title town of Bloomfield and she subsequently finds out that her aunt is an evil witch who engages in sadism and sacrifice. Star Young also wrote and directed and unfortunately bears most of the blame for this unpleasant bore. Made it even worse by shoddy production values and inexcusably overlong at nearly two hours. Moriarty also executive produced. Continue reading →
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