October 1, 2022 “Nix” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretentious muddle about a dysfunctional family (Michael Pare, Dee Wallace, James Zimbardi, and others) who discover a mysterious and unknown entity that has manifested itself from their own madness and secrecy and only when they resolve their dysfunction and conflict can this creature go away. More fun (and scares) may have ensued if they had all embarked together on family counseling instead; ridiculous and molasses-moving psychobabble seems to be building but has no real story to tell. Ryan Broomberg’s moody and bleak cinematography is film’s only asset. It’s nice to see Wallace and Pare back on screen again but they and you should have “nixed” this from their list. Continue reading →
September 29, 2022 “Bring It On: Cheer Or Die” (*1/2 out of four) was a cheerless continuation of this series about a struggling cheerleading squad (Kerri Medders, Sierra Holder, Marlowe Zimmermand, and others) who start to utilize a creepy and closed gym for their practices but soon find themselves under siege from a masked assailant and they have to put aside their differences and unite to stay alive. Lame attempt to incorporate horror and slasher elements into its moldy story. For hardcore fans of the series only and others who thought the 2000 original was robbed at Oscar time. Continue reading →
September 29, 2022 “Girl In Room 13” (*** out of four) was a harrowing melodrama about a recovering drug addict (Larissa Dias) who is kidnapped by her boyfriend (Max Montesi) and held captive in a motel room and sold into human trafficking and the online sex industry while her determined mother (Anne Heche) refuses to believe she’s dead and keeps up the search until she is found. Hard to watch at times due to unpleasant subject matter but holds you in its grip. Heche is first-rate in one of her last film roles but so is Dias and especially Montesi. Imperfect but still a tensely made thriller combined with a jagged expose of what is a multi-billion dollar underbelly global business. Continue reading →
September 28, 2022 “Dig” (*1/2 out of four) was a tired potboiler about a widower (Thomas Jane) and his deaf daughter (Harley Jane) who are held hostage by two criminals (Emile Hirsch and Liana Liberato) and forced to dig under their house to find a hidden reward. By-the-numbers story ripoff of “Desperate Hours” covers all-too-familiar territory and gets really unpleasant at times (do we really need to see a kid hostage getting shot and executed?) Liberato fares best out of the whole cast. Both Thomas and Harley are actual father-daughter in real life but they both themselves should start to “dig” for better scripts. Continue reading →
September 28, 2022 “Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind” (*** out of four) was a stylish animated continuation of the legendary action scenes about a young warrior named Kenshi (voice of Manny Jacinto) who has to rise above his own insecurities and limitations and stop the havoc of Kano and the Black Dragon (voiced by David Wenham and Keston John) who become a deadly threat to the Outworld. No great shakes in terms of story and script but has colorful animation and enough refreshingly hard-edged and gory kills to make it worthwhile for “Kombat” addicts. Not the best of the series but more fun than the 2021 live-action reboot. Continue reading →
September 27, 2022 “When The Screaming Starts” (*1/2 out of four) was an irritatingly stupid horror comedy about an aspiring documentary filmmaker (Jared Rogers) who is invited into the home of an aspiring serial killer (Ed Hartland) and starts to think this may be what he needs to launch his career but naturally all does not go as planned. Some flashes of macabre humor and amusing satire are defeated by generally dumb writing and characters and a one-joke idea that soon wears thin. Hartland also was one of the co-writers and co-producers. Continue reading →
September 27, 2022 “Blank” (*1/2 out of four) was an aptly titled timewaster about a desperate writer (Rachel Shelley) who goes to a retreat to attempt to cure her writer’s block under the care of an A.I. humanoid (Heida Reed) but soon it malfunctions and (yawn) imprisons her from the outside world with no way out. A movie about artificial intelligence which fittingly enough is artificial without hardly any intelligence- and is also unbelievably dull. A lackluster pastiche of ideas borrowed from Kubrick, Cameron, and Phillip K. Dick that feels made by machines without any human touch. Continue reading →
September 25, 2022 “Bandit” (*** out of four) was a solidly engaging melodrama about a career criminal (Josh Duhamel) who escapes from prison to Canada and tries to start a new life with a new woman (Elisha Cuthbert) that he meets but finds he can’t leave his bank-robberies behind him and he proceeds to set a record for amount of robberies committed while being watched and tracked by a federal task force (Nestor Carbonnel and Swen Temmel). Duhamel has never been better and him and Cuthbert have strong chemistry that keep this light-hearted caper film breezy and entertaining. Mel Gibson has a key role as one of Duhamel’s partners. Continue reading →
September 25, 2022 “They Crawl Beneath” (*1/2 out of four) was a static sci/fi thriller about a young cop (Joseph Almani) who is trapped at home when an earthquake pins him beneath his car and he soon finds out that strange and squishy creatures are emerging from the fissures in the ground and he has to struggle to survive and maintain his sanity. Imagine “Tremors” almost set in the confines of one room and you pretty much have an exact idea of what to expect here. Film’s title is ironic since it “crawls” a lot on its own. Continue reading →
September 25, 2022 “Section 8” (**1/2 out of four) was an overall efficient action melodrama about a former soldier (Ryan Kwanten) who is sprung from prison and recruited by a shadowy government agency (Dolph Lundgren, Dermot Mulroney, Scott Adkins, and others) but realizes too-little/too-late they are sinister and vindictive and he turns against them and goes on the run. Routine story involving various “Bourne” elements is enlivened by strong cast and overall fast pace. Mickey Rourke shows up in a minor role as Kwanten’s boss; he played a similar character in 1987’s “A Prayer For The Dying.” Continue reading →
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