Author: dlepikcom

“Richard Jewell” (***1/2 out of four) was a shattering melodrama based on the true story of the title character (Paul Walter Hauser) who was an American security guard and saved thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics but then was subsequently vilified by opportunists in the press and the FBI who falsely believed that he was a terrorist which destroyed the life of him and his mother (Kathy Bates). Director Clint Eastwood employs his usual simple and eloquent style to tell a story that is engrossing and deeply moving. Anchored like an oak by Hauser who is superb in the title role but also features fine supporting work from Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm and features Bates’ best dramatic performance in years. Marie Brenner co-wrote the screenplay based on her own magazine articles from 1996.

Continue reading →

“Saving Zoe” (** out of four) was a languid teen melodrama about the sister (Laura Marano) of an older high-school girl (Vanessa Marano) who was murdered who finds her diaries which begins to shed new light on her death but this leads her into a sordid underworld of sex, drugs, and secrets which begins to affect her life. Director Jeffrey Hunt employs a hallucinatory style in a story similar to “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” which initially holds you but after a while it becomes unpleasant and uninvolving. Cory Geryak’s visually dazzling cinematography and Laura’s effective lead performance make this worth watching for a little while.

Continue reading →

“Code 8” (** out of four) was a muddled sci/fi melodrama about a construction worker (Robbie Amell) with mysterious superpowers who falls in with a group of criminals (Stephen Amell, Greg Bryck, and others) in order to raise money for his ailing mother (Kari Matchett) but this leads to unforeseen consequences for all of them. Just a hodgepodge of ideas derived from other (and better) sci/fi and horror movies. Never boring but never exactly enthralling either. Director Jeff Chan expanded this from his own short story of the same name.

Continue reading →

“Black Christmas” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring remake of the 1974 horror movie classic about a group of female college sorority students (Lily Donoghue, Brittany O’Grady, Imogen Poots, and others) who are stalked by a mysterious stranger during their Christmas break and they have to fight back to stay alive as they are all slashed one-by-one. Completely unnecessary rehash totally lacks the scares and conviction and aura of the original or even its last remake which was only in 2006! Horror fans would best leave this as one Christmas present they shouldn’t unwrap.

Continue reading →

“6 Underground” (*** out of four) was a full-throttle action thriller about six crime fighters (Ryan Reynolds, Melanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Adria Arjona, and Dave Franco) who fake their own deaths to form a vigilante death squad intent on taking down the world’s most notorious and dangerous criminals. Director Michael Bay utilizes his usual hyperkinetic ADD directing-and-editing style and throws in everything but the kitchen sink to make sure you’re entertained with wall-to-wall action for over two hours. Not much sense per se but it (literally) never stops to take a breath and moves so fast and furious with nonstop action and style that you likely won’t care and it’s fun just the same.

Continue reading →

“The Aeronauts” (**1/2 out of four) was a somewhat uneven action drama about an iconoclastic scientist (Eddie Redmayne) and a determined pilot (Felicity Jones) who attempt to make crucial and groundbreaking discoveries in a gas balloon but things go haywire and they find themselves fighting for their lives while at the same time attempting to prove that gas baloons can fly. Visually spectacular at times but dramatically scattershot as film takes a while to (literally) get off the ground. Both Redmayne and Jones’ strong performances keep you involved and make this overall worth watching.

Continue reading →

“Beyond The Law” (** out of four) was a murky underworld cop melodrama about a former hitman turned legit businessman (Steven Seagal) who has to team up with a hard-nosed cop (DMX) to deal with a vengeful ex-cop (Johnny Messner) out to find the killer of his son. Fast-paced enough to make it an OK view but features too many characters, too many subplots, and too much you’ve seen in other movies. Still, you have to give it credit in that this is better than the last Seagal/DMX collaboration “Exit Wounds.” Speaking of which- when the hell did Seagal start speaking in a Southern accent?

Continue reading →

“Jumanji: The Next Level” (** out of four) was a silly continuation of the series about the returning gang (Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and others) who have to return to the game but find that it’s been changed as they have to face new perils involving arid deserts and snowy mountains to come out alive. Fourth in the series is really more-of-the-same and is for fans of the series only. Even the visual effects and sets seem pretty by-the-numbers. Brings to mind the term “bored games” in more ways than one.

Continue reading →

“Where’d You Go Bernadette” (** out of four) was a curiously unmoving and aloof story about a devoted mom (Cate Blanchett) who decides to return to her creative passions for engineering after years of sacrificing herself for others and her family (Billy Crudup and Emma Nelson) but this new start takes her on a personal and professional adventurous journey that will change her life and that of her family. Disappointing teaming of Blanchett, director Richard Linklater, and writer Maria Semple for whom this novel is based on. Blanchett and Crudup are solid as always but story is unfocused and less-than-compelling.

Continue reading →

“Untouchable” (*** out of four) was a powerfully done documentary about the rise and fall of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein from his beginnings in being a small-time concert promoter in Buffalo to being the chairman of Miramax Films and the multiple women he allegedly abused and assaulted over the years which eventually came out and destroyed his career. Film features candid interviews with Rosanna Arquette, Erika Rosenbaum, and shows interesting archive footage of Weinstein on interviews showing a man who many (including myself) idolized as an icon of independent film but was allegedly a monster and how this was hidden from the public for decades.

Continue reading →