December 8, 2020 “Knuckle Dust” (*1/2 out of four) was an overboiled action melodrama about a special unit team (led by Kate Dickie) who kick open the doors of an underground fight club called Knuckle Dust and find multiple levels of dead bodies; one fighter named Hard Eight (Moe Dunford) is still alive and they have to interrogate him to find out if he’s telling the truth or if there is more to this story. Senseless and silly and soon wears you out although it’s stylish direction and visuals keep you watching for a little while. Starts to resemble a hyperactive video game after a while but you may want to just play “Mortal Kombat” or “Streetfighter” instead. Continue reading →
December 7, 2020 “A Christmas Carol” (** out of four) was an umpteenth version of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic about a grandmother (Sian Phillips) who recites the story to a group of kids and Scrooge (Michael Nunn) who has to contend with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future which will transform him. Dour and flat retelling of this story is updated with contemporary language and cinematic stylistics but fails to come to much life. Even the cinematography and sets becomes monotonous after a while, much like the film itself after a while. Perhaps it’s time to close Dickens’ novel from future film adaptations and save it for reading instead. Continue reading →
December 6, 2020 “No Place” (*1/2 out of four) was a rudderless melodrama about a wannabe stand-up comic (Benjamin Madrid) who becomes embroiled in a scam in the Midwest involving his ex-flame (Afton Shepard) which proves more complicated and more dangerous than he was expecting and puts him at an unexpected crossroads in his life. For a movie about a comedian, it’s pretty witless and while we’re at it pretty hazy and flat also. “No Story” would have been a better title for this timewaster. Madrid also co-wrote the script. Continue reading →
December 6, 2020 “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” (**1/2 out of four) was a pleasant enough holiday story about the North Pole turning to Santa’s special friend (Mariah Carey) when they are in the midst of a crisis and it’s up to Mariah and her special friends (Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, and others) to save Christmas. Dramatic scenes are nonsensical and trivial but music and production numbers are colorfully and lavishly staged and make this a sufficiently entertaining Christmas present, especially for Mariah fans. If she’s a real personal friend of Santa Claus, however, before her next Christmas special- she may want to ask him for some more acting lessons. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “The Prom” (** out of four) was a bombastic musical adaptation of Matthew Sklar’s smash-hit Broadway show about a young girl (Jo Ellen Pellman) who is determined to take her girlfriend (Ariana DeBose) to the prom but the head of the PTA (Kerry Washington) finds out about this and decides to cancel the prom; elsewhere some Broadway legends (Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman) sense they can revitalize their stalled careers by helping the girl out. Lots of wall-to-wall music and singing and dancing (a few of the numbers especially at the climax are dynamite) but it’s all sapped by it’s weak storyline and is a lot of noise and flash over nothing. First-rate cast gives it their all but it still rings hollow. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “Mank” (**1/2 out of four) was an intermittently interesting biographical drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) and his development of “Citizen Kane” which many still cite as the greatest film of all time; film chronicles his dealings with various Hollywood insiders and actors (Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, Joseph Cross, and others) while film was in development. Director David Fincher beautifully recreates the aura and mood of golden-era Hollywood with striking and searing black-and-white cinematography from Erik Messerschmidt and various stylistic flourishes but the central story isn’t all that involving. Oldman is dynamic as always as Mank but we don’t know hardly anything about him except that he likes to drink and wants to have a hit. Hardcore Fincher fans and fans of “Citizen Kane” may find film as fascinating as intended. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “I Hate New Year’s” (** out of four) was a treacly drama about a rising music star (Dia Frampton) who heads back home to Nashville for New Year’s after a sudden and severe case of writer’s block and soon falls in love with a former friend (Ashley Argota) and rediscovers her passion for music and life in general. Harmless fluff benefits from upbeat performances and shimmering cinematography from Micah Ellers but is hamstrung by its overall predictability and story cliches. Hardly worth “hating” but not all that memorable; young girls may like this better. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “What Lies Below” (** out of four) was a muddled psychodramatic thriller about a young teenager (Emma Horvath) who returns home to find that her dedicated mother (Mena Suvari) has a new boyfriend (Trey Tucker): at first, it seems like he has it all but the daughter soon begins to discover he’s an otherworldly alien who plans to divide them apart and kill them. Film begins passably but then becomes unnecessarily unpleasant with sci/fi touches that are abitrary and don’t help film from going nowhere in several different directions. Jimmy Jung Lu’s striking cinematography is a definite highlight throughout. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “Wander” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless crime melodrama about a mentally unstable private investigator (Aaron Eckhart) who is hired to investigate a suspicious death in the title town of Wander and soon becomes convinced that this death is linked to a conspiracy and cover-up that entailed the death of his daughter. Aptly titled story meanders and wanders through all-too-familiar and unpleasant terrain; first-rate cast (including Tommy Lee Jones and Heather Graham) is unable to enrich the proceedings and film ends with obtuse abruptness. Eckart played a similar role in the far more potent and effective “Rabbit Hole” years earlier. Continue reading →
December 5, 2020 “Bird’s Eye” (0 stars out of four) was an excruciatingly inept and low-grade melodrama about a paintball team (Holly Bonney, Jonathan Dixon, Carlton Gray, and others) who venture onto private property where they incur the wrath of a reclusive landowner (Danny Todd) who strikes out at them with a series of deadly remote-controlled vehicles. Unbelievably shoddy filmmaking and acting has to be seen to be believed but that is by no means a recommendation; this looks like it was shot (and budgeted) on someone’s Obamaphone. “Birdseed” would have been a better title for this dreck. Continue reading →
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