July 12, 2020 “Greyhound” (***1/2 out of four) was a white-knuckle action melodrama set early in WWII in which an inexperienced U.S. Navy captain (Tom Hanks) must lead an allied convoy on the Greyhound submarine but they find themselves in treacherous waters when they begin being stalked and terrorized by Nazi U-boats and have to outsmart and outbattle them in order to survive. Hold on tight! A rock-solid dramatization of war on the high seas with particular kudos to Shelly Johnson’s magnificent cinematography, Blake Neely’s stirring (and scary) music score, Mark Czyzewski and Sidney Wolinsky’s razor-sharp editing, and Aaron Schneider’s tense and swift direction. Hanks is solid as an oak as usual in a role similar to “Saving Private Ryan” and “Captain Phillips.” Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “The Old Guard” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately entertaining adaptation of Greg Rucka’s graphic novel about a covert team of immortal mercenaries (led by Charlize Theron) who suddenly become exposed and must fight and risk losing their immortality to keep their identities a secret as they take on a new recruit (KiKi Layne) and have to battle a multimillionaire business mogul (Harry Melling) who initially helped fund and sustain them. Film begins strong, with sharp dialogue and stylized action, but then begins to stall midway through and then revs up again at the ending by which point its already gone on too long. Uneven but Theron’s usual robust performance and good chemistry between her and Layne makes this overall worth checking out. Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “Wyatt Earp Shoots First” (* out of four) was a cheapjack Western that shoots all blanks about the legendary gunslinger (Paul Clayton) and how he returns to being a lawman and has to question his own past beliefs about not firing first as he sees lawlessness and murder in his own town. Film covers all the usual banalities of Westerns (shooting standoffs, saloons, whiskey, etc.) and is utterly threadbare and amateurish. Some of film’s shootouts look like they were shot in the filmmaker’s backyard! For a much richer and vivid film on Earp, watch 1993’s “Tombstone” instead. Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “Restricted Area” (* out of four) was a horrendous horror thriller about four friends (Paige Lindsay Betts, Philip Andre Botello, Rose Britz, and others) who take a camping trip into the wilderness where- to the surprise of no one- they are besieged by a redneck hillbilly cult and they have to fight back and survive. Both “Deliverance” and “Mother’s Day” told virtually this same story nearly 40 years ago with much more charge and vital shock and “Wrong Turn” stylized and updated this for a new generation about 20 years ago so perhaps this tired material should in itself be a “restricted area.” Ridiculously overlong also, at nearly two hours. Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “The Beach House” (** out of four) was a sputtering horror thriller about two young lovebirds (Noah Le Gros and Liana Liberato) who go on a romantic getaway to a beachfront property when a mysterious infection sets in and affects all of them and they realize that they have to get out before they are all killed one-by-one. Film takes a long while to get going and offers some creepy scares once it does but then lags once again and never sufficiently rises and congeals to a solid whole. Director Jeffrey A. Brown shows some promise but is hamstrung by rote material. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “Body Of Night” (* out of four) was an over-the-top and garish melodrama about a playful young woman (Ro’shae Etienne) who begins to explore the dark side of online dating when she meets a young businessman (Jason Toler) who introduces her to the dangerous and erotic adventures of S & M and extreme sex. Unintentionally and hilariously awful dialogue and acting may give you some yuks but unfortunately this isn’t meant as a comedy. Film aspires to be in the vein of “50 Shades Of Grey” but winds up 50 shades of awful instead. Watch “Body Of Evidence” instead. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “Broil” (*1/2 out of four) was a laughably obtuse horror psychodrama about a family of demons (Timothy Murphy, Alyson Bath, and others) who (yes) like to broil and devour their victims and become concerned about the future of their family empire especially as a new series of victims prove trickier but perhaps tastier to capture. A failed attempt at absurdist black comedy which wins some points for audacity but otherwise is a waste of time. Overcooked (no pun intended) in more ways than one; some unintentional laughs provide only amusement. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “The Barge People” (** out of four) was a passable horror thriller set on the British countryside in which two sisters and their boyfriends (Kate Davies-Speak, Makenna Guyler, Mark McKirdy, and Matt Swales) set off for a relaxing vacation on a barge when they are suddenly besieged by mutant flesh-eating fish that turn their trip into a nightmare. Occasionally jolting and does feature a few scares but not enough to sustain a full feature-length film as movie thins out at only about an hour-and-20 minutes. “Humanoids From The Deep” and “Deep Star Six” told similar story with more camp and laughs and charge. Good music score by Sam Benjafield. Continue reading →
July 8, 2020 “Browse” (* out of four) was an abysmal psychodrama about a solitary man (Lukas Haas) who starts to mentally unravel as he begins to be convinced that someone hacked into his devices and they’re being used to manipulate and control him. By the end of this misfire, you’ll feel as if you’re starting to mentally unravel also. Molasses-moving (and minimalist) film takes forever to get going but turns into a hodgepodge even when it does. One-time child star Haas (“Witness”, “Solarbabies”) is still a likeable actor but needs to “browse” some better scripts instead. Continue reading →
July 7, 2020 “The Bone Box” (* out of four) was a stillborn horror thriller about a grave-robber (Aaron Schwartz) who comes to believe he’s being haunted by the ghosts of the corpses he’s stolen from over the years and this has destructive effects on his overall sanity and well-being. Sounds juicy and fun but is unbelievably dull and without even the saving grace of humor. You can only imagine what the Sam Raimi of the “Evil Dead” series would have done with a storyline like this but this one is bad to the bone. Continue reading →
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