January 3, 2026 “Paradise Records” (* out of four) was an obnoxious comedy about the owner (Diedrich Bader) of the title record store and his eccentric staff (Pauline Dorsey, Tajh Jordan, and others) and the various customers (Kevin Corrigan, Arkira Chantarantana, and others) they interact with over the course of 24 hours. Crude, stupid movie with shrill characters and desperately dumb dialogue. Film’s final half-hour is especially tough to endure. This make the similar “Empire Records” look like a masterpiece by comparison. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Kevin Smith, and Jason Mewes all show up in unfunny cameos. Continue reading →
January 3, 2026 “Please Don’t Feed The Children” (*1/2 out of four) was a vapid horror melodrama about a gang of orphans (Zoe Colletti, Andrew Liner, Dean Scott Vazquez, and others) who are forced to travel down South in the wake of a viral outbreak that decimates society but soon find themselves at the mercy of a psychopathic woman (Michelle Dockery) with a series of dark secrets. Directed by Steven Spielberg’s daughter Destry but let’s just be kind and say she doesn’t appear to have inherited his superior filmmaking skills. Often laughable went it isn’t boring. Film’s end credits actually say “no children were eaten during the making of this film.” Continue reading →
January 3, 2026 “Eye For An Eye” (*1/2 out of four) was an obtuse melodrama about a young woman (Whitney Peak) whose parents die and she relocates to the backwoods of Florida to live with her grandmother (S. Epatha Merkerson) and finds that there are strange occurrences going on that threaten her sanity and safety. Grim and dour at the beginning and then goes in multiple different directions and becomes erratic and overly weird. Peak’s strong performance is film’s strongest asset. Incidentally- this is not a remake of the 1996 Sally Field/Kiefer Sutherland cult classic of the same name. Continue reading →
January 1, 2026 “Kill Me Again” (*1/2 out of four) was a grindingly monotonous and unpleasant pulp melodrama about a serial kiler (Brendan Fehr) who finds he’s repeating the same 24 hours over-and-over again with the same waitress (Majandra Delfino) whom he meets at a diner; initially he embraces this fate but soon finds (as does the audience) that it wears down on his sanity. Imagine “Groundhog Day” with a mass-murderer instead of a weatherman and minus its razor-sharp wit and irony and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect here from the grim proceedings. Juergen Heinemann’s striking cinematography is one of film’s few assets. Continue reading →
January 1, 2026 “Sew Torn” (** out of four) was an ungainly comic melodrama about a seamstress (Eve Connolly) who takes a briefcase that she finds from a drug deal gone wrong and has to play a livewire game of cat-and-mouse with the small-time drug dealer (Callum Worthy) who it belonged to with a multitude of consequences for both of them. Writer/director Freddy Macdonald works in an off-the-wall style that harks back to early Peter Jackson (“Bad Taste” and “Dead/Alive” especially) but it soon runs thin and wears out after a while. Even still, this won the Baia del Silenzio-Redelfi award for Best Film at the 2025 Riviera International Film Festival. Continue reading →
January 1, 2026 “Oh What Fun” (** out of four) was a misbegotten holiday comedy about a mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) who feels forgotten by her family (Denis Leary, Chloe Grace Mortez, Dominic Sessa) until they notice her absence and how special she is and she returns to give them all the unified Christmas celebration they all deserve. Funny at first, with some sharp dialogue and ironic and clever touches, then turns syrupy and mundane and never fully recovers. Winning cast helps to keep this watchable but can’t make this live up to it’s title. Continue reading →
January 1, 2026 “Die My Love” (*1/2 out of fou) was an oppressively unpleasant Midwestern gothic melodrama about a young mother (Jennifer Lawrenc) who finds herself drifting away into madness and her redneck partner (Robert Pattinson) and elderly parents (Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte) watch helplessly from the sidelines. Strikingly shot by Seamus McGarvey but film drowns in an excess of pretentious symbolism and winds up aimless and adrift. Lawrence once again proves she’s game at playing difficult characters but that doesn’t mean we like or care about her much- and the same goes for the film. Continue reading →
January 1, 2026 “Finding Nicole” (** out of four) was an earnest but superficial melodrama based on the true story of Nicole Beverly (Kaiti Wallen) who endured years of domestic violence and abuse from her husband (Mari G) before finally leaving and getting him arrested only to face even more abuse and frustration in dealing with the courts and the criminal justice system and fighting for her life. Inspirational story about one woman’s personal and emotional crusade and what women of domestic violence have to go through but result is overly pat and predictable and film’s climax is unconvincing. Try and see if you can recognize Richard Tyson here as a (very) liberal judge. Continue reading →
December 28, 2025 “Christy” (**1/2 out of four) was a sprawling but uneven biographical melodrama of Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) who became the most successful female boxer of the 1990’s only to be nearly undone by her husband (Ben Foster) and his controlling behavior which later escalated to attempted murder. Well-acted and overall well-told but limited in its emotional power and impact because it seems to be following a much-too-familiar mold and pattern of other sports boxing movies (“The Fighter” and “Million Dollar Baby” especially). The real-life Christy Martin is shown in stills and photographs towards the end over the closing credits. Continue reading →
December 28, 2025 “Anaconda” (**1/2 out of four) was a likeably silly comic remake of the 1997 cult classic about a group of guerilla filmmakers (Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Thandie Newton, and others) who decide to venture into the Amazon to do a remake of the title film which they describe as “their favorite movie growing up” but soon encounter the real thing and have to run for their lives. Pretty thin stuff but has enough good-natured laughs and zany camaraderie between the leads to make it entertaining although the movie it might remind you most of is “Tropic Thunder.” Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez have amusing cameos towards the end. Continue reading →
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