May 12, 2026 “Predatory Behavior” (* out of four) was a grisly pulp melodrama about sex workers that are vanishing all over the city from a ruthless killer and two detectives (Keon Taylor and Dorrean Wilson) try to put an end to his reign of terror before he kills again. Taylor and Wilson actually make a decent team but film is hamstrung by its tawdry production and ugly violence. Strictly for the late-night grindhouse crowd. Continue reading →
May 12, 2026 “Ice-Pocalypse” (** out of four) was an utterly conventional action disaster melodrama in which a new moon is caught in Earth’s gravitational pull that results in a new ice age; scientists and militants (Patrick Labyoryeaux, Danielle Titus, Krymis J. Fernando, and others) race against the clock to destroy the second moon and save mankind as we know it. A disaster movie made only for those who’ve never seen a disaster movie, specifiically “The Day After Tomorrow” or “2012” which told more-or-less the same story better. Some decent effects and filmmaking make this OK viewing for what it is. Continue reading →
May 8, 2026 “Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come” (*1/2 out of four) was a tiresome sequel to the unlikely 2019 hit about Grace (Samara Weaving) and her sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) who survived one deadly game and now must compete against four other ruthless families (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, and others) all vying in a game of death for a priceless throne. Plenty of gore for those who want it but it’s all pretty senseless and stupid and you’ll eventually be numbed by all the monotonous unpleasantness after a while. Good cast is mostly wasted including director Cronenberg whose early work (“The Brood”, “Rabid”) this was obviously inspired by. Continue reading →
May 8, 2026 “Mortal Kombat II” (** out of four) was a curiously bland sequel about the group of warrior champions (Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, and others) who are now joined by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) and are pitted against one another to stop the world domination threat of Shao Khan (Martyn Ford). Full of the usual martial-arts mayhem and hand-to-hand combat but it all seems pretty by-the-numbers with one-note characters and a paper-thin script that don’t do the video game justice. Enough to satisfy long-time “Kombat” fans but others will likely want to press game over. Continue reading →
May 7, 2026May 7, 2026 “Money Ain’t Everything” (** out of four) was a stylish but empty urban melodrama set in Detroit about a street hustler (Champ Finley) who battles betrayal within his own crew (Dion Rice, 6IAOR, and others) and various corrupt cops (H. Carrington, Shalada Hunter, and others) as he struggles to survive the game. Guns, sex, drugs, cash, etc etc by-the-numbers in this overly familiar story although fast-moving enough to remain watchable. Finley shows some promise in the lead role. Continue reading →
May 7, 2026 “Insidious Inferno” (* out of four) was an insidiously awful horror thriller about a young couple (Neil Green and Stephanie Leet) who rent a cottage in a secluded village that is (what else) haunted and had a series of gruesome past murders that remain unsolved. Umpteenth rip-off of “The Amityville Horror” and also “The Haunting” with the “Insidious” title added as a crash cash-in. Whatever; film is permeated with tired cliches and looks cheap. Continue reading →
May 6, 2026 “Brown Sugar” (*1/2 out of four) was a sour urban melodrama about a young woman (Shamia Lassiter) desperate for money who turns to the streets and to prostitution and gets involved with a kingpin drug dealer (Leon Griffin) and has to use all her survival skills to stay alive. Sleazy story filled with unlikeable characters and you really don’t care about who’s doing what to whom and who comes out on top. Allegedly inspired by the D’Angelo song of the same name but other D’Angelo song titles “Ain’t That Easy” and “1000 Deaths” are more apt descriptions of the proceedings. Continue reading →
May 6, 2026 “Hijacked” (** out of four) was a derivative suspense potboiler about a father (Tremayne Norris) who realizes his daughter (Chrissy Stokes) and friends (Lateria Hope and Jessica Jarrell) have been abducted by a deranged rideshare driver (Ken Lawson) and he frantically attempts to track all of them down and save their lives. Made entirely of spare parts from other movies (“The Call”, “Kidnap”, to name a few) but overall proficiently done and watchable. Stokes also wrote and directed. Continue reading →
May 6, 2026 “Project Hail Mary” (** out of four) was an interminable sci/fi melodrama about a science teacher (Ryan Gosling) who wakes up alone on a spaceship in outer space with no memories of how he got there; while trying to piece together memories from his past, he then discovers a plot to affect Earth’s future. Some scattered effective moments and Gosling’s usual likeable performance are swallowed up by film’s meandering nature and overlength at nearly three hours. Yet another space opera that cannot escape the classic shadow of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Continue reading →
May 6, 2026 “Brothers Under Fire” (*1/2 out of four) was a colorless action melodrama about a world-weary military captain (Kiefer Sutherland) whose squadron (Ashton Sanders, Fredy Yate, and others) are on leave for a wedding in Mexico but soon find themselves under siege from a bloodthirsty Mexican cartel (Omar Chaparro, Solly McLeod, and others) and have to fight to the death to survive. You can only imagine what Sam Peckinpah or Walter Hill would have done with material like this but Justin Chadwick instead turns this into a plodding bore. Sutherland walks through a token paycheck role. Continue reading →
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