April 27, 2020 “Sam’s Lake” (*1/2 out of four) was an enervated horror thriller about a young girl (Fay Masterson) who takes a group of her friends (Sandrine Holt, William Gregory Lee, and others) to the title lake where they are confronted by an ancient and evil force that threatens to kill them all one by one. Not all that different, if you think about it, from “Friday The 13th” which was a horror movie done with style and craft which this utterly lacks. This one is all washed up long before its predictable climax. Continue reading →
April 27, 2020 “Beastie Boys Story” (*** out of four) was an endearing documentary of the legendary NYC rap group as narrated by Mike D (Mike Diamond) and Ad-Rock (Adam Horowitz) at The Kings Theater in Brooklyn as they recount their formation, their highs and lows, and their 40+ years of friendship that kept them together musically and emotionally. Interesting for fans, with lots of rare photographs and backstories about their various albums and classics, but also a touching tribute to MCA (Adam Yauch) who died in 2012 which ended the group. A nice homage to a highly influential group whose career unexpectedly spanned over three decades. Continue reading →
April 26, 2020 “Trigger Points” (0 out of four) was an indescribably awful horror thriller about a woman (Denise Meller) in some sort of hospital who escapes to find a world in absolute chaos of which she must try to make sense and find her own place and source of continuance. First-half of the movie literally has almost no dialogue and features the main character mostly wandering around in a dull haze; second half is mostly incoherent. Ugly cinematography and obscure ending are icing on the moldy cake. If you make it to the end of this mess, you may find yourself needing to check into a hospital. A real head-scratching bore, to put it mildly. Continue reading →
April 26, 2020 “Extraction” (*** out of four) was a dynamite action thriller about a black-market mercenary soldier (Chris Helmsworth) who embarks on the most deadly mission of his career when he is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord in India but finds treachery and danger at every turn. Packed with hand-to-hand combat and gunfights that are tensely staged; it starts to get a little redundant after a while in the final third but at least it never stops moving and throwing action at you. A solid directorial debut for noted stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave and an adaptation of the graphic novel “Ciudad.” Continue reading →
April 26, 2020 “Enemy Lines” (**1/2 out of four) was an overall well-done action melodrama about a group of commandos (led by Jean-Marc Birkholz) who are sent behind enemy lines in WWII to extract a rocket scientist from the hands of the Nazis and end the war. Half of a standard war melodrama and half well-done action adventure but it never stops moving and holds your attention. Birkholz’ fierce performance and charisma in the lead hold film together. Byetheway- this has no relation to the “Behind Enemy Lines” action series. Continue reading →
April 25, 2020 “Endings, Beginnings” (** out of four) was a hazy melodrama about a young woman (Shailene Woodley) who falls in-and-out of love with a guy (Jamie Dornan) who she meets and she soon finds herself at a crossroads in her personal life and deciding what next steps she needs to take. Woodley is sincere and likeable as usual but story is threadbare at best and film overall has a cloudy sense of detachment that prevents you from getting involved. After a little while, it’s pretty tedious and loses its grip. Kyra Sedgwick has a minor part and played a similar lead role decades ago in “Singles.” Continue reading →
April 21, 2020 “Party Hard/ Die Young” (*1/2 out of four) was a lame horror thriller about a group of friends (Marlon Boess, Markus Freistatter, Michael Glantschnig, and others) on a graduation trip of sex and drugs and booze which turns upside down when (what else?) a slasher is on the loose and starts killing them all one a time. Pretty unimaginative and trashy throwback to ’80’s horror flicks lacks even any good kills or gore. You know a movie like this is in trouble when you’re pretty much rooting for the killer! Continue reading →
April 21, 2020 “Time Apart” (**1/2 out of four) was a moody but mild melodrama about a hedonistic yet emotionally reserved young woman (Bastian Navarria) who struggles to maintain a long-distance relationship with a guy (S.C. Wilson) who mysteriously disappears and then reappears for several years at a time and places herself in a crossroads in her life about whether to move on or not. Good soundtrack selections and musical score are enhanced by strong lead performance from Navarria but film is muted by an overall sense of aloofness. These characters are simply hard to read and to get emotionally invested in. Film’s ending is also an abrupt letdown. A mixed bag but has enough interesting touches to be worth your “time.” Continue reading →
April 21, 2020 “Hope Ranch” (**1/2 out of four) was an earnest inspirational Christian drama about a devoted mother (Marisa Brown) and her daughter (Grace Van Dien) who find themselves penniless and struggling when the patriarch (John Schneider) of the family dies and they have to restore their faith in God to help them stay afloat and to keep the girl’s horse (fittingly named Faith) and keep their ranch from foreclosure. Unabashedly corny story has expected themes about faith and Christianity that are hammered home at times but film does end up capturing you, thanks to nice scenes with the horse and gorgeous photography from Sea Mutarevic on beautiful Colorado locations. Young girls especially will find this rewarding. Continue reading →
April 21, 2020 “Stalker In The Attic” (** out of four) was a by-the-numbers timefiller about a determined single mother (Jen Landon) who breaks up with her bizarre boyfriend (Joshua Close) and then soon finds that there are strange noises and occurrences in her house which leads her to believe after a long while that he somehow moved in and has taken residence in her attic! Not as ridiculous as it sounds but won’t win any awards for the most believable or original story of the year. Good performances help disguise some story holes but they can only do so much. It’s movies like these that really make you wonder what filmmakers would have done had “Fatal Attraction” never been made. Continue reading →
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